Amos 2:2

2:2 So I will set Moab on fire, ¹ 

and it will consume Kerioth’s ²  fortresses.

Moab will perish ³  in the heat of battle ⁴ 

amid war cries and the blaring ⁵  of the ram’s horn. ⁶ 

Amos 5:14

5:14 Seek good and not evil so you can live!

Then the Lord, the God who commands armies, just might be with you,

as you claim he is.

Amos 6:12

6:12 Can horses run on rocky cliffs?

Can one plow the sea with oxen? ⁷ 

Yet you have turned justice into a poisonous plant,

and the fruit of righteous actions into a bitter plant. ⁸ 

[2:2]  ¹ sn The destruction of Moab by fire is an example of a judgment in kind – as the Moabites committed the crime of “burning,” so the Lord will punish them by setting them on fire.

[2:2]  ² sn Kerioth was an important Moabite city. See Jer 48:24, 41.

[2:2]  ³ tn Or “die” (KJV, NASB, NRSV, TEV); NAB “shall meet death.”

[2:2]  ⁴ tn Or “in the tumult.” This word refers to the harsh confusion of sounds that characterized an ancient battle – a mixture of war cries, shouts, shrieks of pain, clashes of weapons, etc.

[2:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “sound” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV).

[2:2]  ⁶ sn The ram’s horn (used as a trumpet) was blown to signal the approaching battle.

[6:12]  ⁷ tc Heb “Does one plow with oxen?” This obviously does not fit the parallelism, for the preceding rhetorical question requires the answer, “Of course not!” An error of fusion has occurred in the Hebrew, with the word יָם (yam, “sea”) being accidentally added as a plural ending to the collective noun בָּקָר (baqar, “oxen”). A proper division of the consonants produces the above translation, which fits the parallelism and also anticipates the answer, “Of course not!”

[6:12]  ⁸ sn The botanical imagery, when juxtaposed with the preceding rhetorical questions, vividly depicts and emphasizes how the Israelites have perverted justice and violated the created order by their morally irrational behavior.