Deuteronomy 32:22-25

32:22 For a fire has been kindled by my anger,

and it burns to lowest Sheol; ¹ 

it consumes the earth and its produce,

and ignites the foundations of the mountains.

32:23 I will increase their ²  disasters,

I will use up my arrows on them.

32:24 They will be starved by famine,

eaten by plague, and bitterly stung; ³ 

I will send the teeth of wild animals against them,

along with the poison of creatures that crawl in the dust.

32:25 The sword will make people childless outside,

and terror will do so inside;

they will destroy ⁴  both the young man and the virgin,

the infant and the gray-haired man.

Isaiah 3:6-8

3:6 Indeed, a man will grab his brother

right in his father’s house ⁵  and say, ⁶ 

‘You own a coat –

you be our leader!

This heap of ruins will be under your control.’ ⁷ 

3:7 At that time ⁸  the brother will shout, ⁹ 

‘I am no doctor, ¹⁰ 

I have no food or coat in my house;

don’t make me a leader of the people!’”

3:8 Jerusalem certainly stumbles,

Judah falls,

for their words and their actions offend the Lord; ¹¹ 

they rebel against his royal authority. ¹² 

Isaiah 24:17-20

24:17 Terror, pit, and snare

are ready to overtake you inhabitants of the earth! ¹³ 

24:18 The one who runs away from the sound of the terror

will fall into the pit; ¹⁴ 

the one who climbs out of the pit,

will be trapped by the snare.

For the floodgates of the heavens ¹⁵  are opened up ¹⁶ 

and the foundations of the earth shake.

24:19 The earth is broken in pieces,

the earth is ripped to shreds,

the earth shakes violently. ¹⁷ 

24:20 The earth will stagger around ¹⁸  like a drunk;

it will sway back and forth like a hut in a windstorm. ¹⁹ 

Its sin will weigh it down,

and it will fall and never get up again.

Jeremiah 48:44

48:44 Anyone who flees at the sound of terror

will fall into a pit.

Anyone who climbs out of the pit

will be caught in a trap. ²⁰ 

For the time is coming

when I will punish the people of Moab. ²¹ 

I, the Lord, affirm it! ²² 

Ezekiel 5:12

5:12 A third of your people will die of plague or be overcome by the famine within you. ²³  A third of your people will fall by the sword surrounding you, ²⁴  and a third I will scatter to the winds. I will unleash a sword behind them.

Amos 2:14-16

2:14 Fast runners will find no place to hide; ²⁵ 

strong men will have no strength left; ²⁶ 

warriors will not be able to save their lives.

2:15 Archers ²⁷  will not hold their ground; ²⁸ 

fast runners will not save their lives,

nor will those who ride horses. ²⁹ 

2:16 Bravehearted ³⁰  warriors will run away naked in that day.”

The Lord is speaking!

Amos 9:1-4

9:1 I saw the sovereign One ³¹  standing by the altar ³²  and he said, “Strike the tops of the support pillars, ³³  so the thresholds shake!

Knock them down on the heads of all the people, ³⁴ 

and I will kill the survivors ³⁵  with the sword.

No one will be able to run away; ³⁶ 

no one will be able to escape. ³⁷ 

9:2 Even if they could dig down into the netherworld, ³⁸ 

my hand would pull them up from there.

Even if they could climb up to heaven,

I would drag them down from there.

9:3 Even if they were to hide on the top of Mount Carmel,

I would hunt them down and take them from there.

Even if they tried to hide from me ³⁹  at the bottom of the sea,

from there ⁴⁰  I would command the Sea Serpent ⁴¹  to bite them.

9:4 Even when their enemies drive them into captivity, ⁴² 

from there ⁴³  I will command the sword to kill them.

I will not let them out of my sight;

they will experience disaster, not prosperity.” ⁴⁴ 

[32:22]  ¹ tn Or “to the lowest depths of the earth”; cf. NAB “to the depths of the nether world”; NIV “to the realm of death below”; NLT “to the depths of the grave.”

[32:23]  ² tn Heb “upon them.”

[32:24]  ³ tn The Hebrew term קֶטֶב (qetev) is probably metaphorical here for the sting of a disease (HALOT 1091-92 s.v.).

[32:25]  ⁴ tn A verb is omitted here in the Hebrew text; for purposes of English style one suitable to the context is supplied.

[3:6]  ⁵ tn Heb “[in] the house of his father” (so ASV); NIV “at his father’s home.”

[3:6]  ⁶ tn The words “and say” are supplied for stylistic reasons.

[3:6]  ⁷ tn Heb “your hand”; NASB “under your charge.”

[3:7]  ⁸ tn Or “in that day” (KJV).

[3:7]  ⁹ tn Heb “he will lift up [his voice].”

[3:7]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “wrapper [of wounds]”; KJV, ASV, NRSV “healer.”

[3:8]  ¹¹ tn Heb “for their tongue and their deeds [are] to the Lord.”

[3:8]  ¹² tn Heb “to rebel [against] the eyes of his majesty.” The word כָּבוֹד (kavod) frequently refers to the Lord’s royal splendor that is an outward manifestation of his authority as king.

[24:17]  ¹³ tn Heb “[are] upon you, O inhabitant of the earth.” The first line of v. 17 provides another classic example of Hebrew wordplay. The names of the three instruments of judgment (פָח,פַחַת,פַּחַד [pakhad, fakhat, fakh]) all begin with the letters פח (peh-khet) and the first two end in dental consonants (ת/ד, tet/dalet). Once again the repetition of sound draws attention to the statement and contributes to the theme of the inescapability of judgment. As their similar-sounding names suggest, terror, pit, and snare are allies in destroying the objects of divine wrath.

[24:18]  ¹⁴ tn The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.

[24:18]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “from the height”; KJV “from on high.”

[24:18]  ¹⁶ sn The language reflects the account of the Noahic Flood (see Gen 7:11).

[24:19]  ¹⁷ tn Once more repetition is used to draw attention to a statement. In the Hebrew text each lines ends with אֶרֶץ (’erets, “earth”). Each line also uses a Hitpolel verb form from a geminate root preceded by an emphatic infinitive absolute.

[24:20]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “staggering, staggers.” The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute before the finite verb for emphasis and sound play.

[24:20]  ¹⁹ tn The words “in a windstorm” are supplied in the translation to clarify the metaphor.

[48:44]  ²⁰ sn Jer 48:43-44a are in the main the same as Isa 24:17-18 which shows that the judgment was somewhat proverbial. For a very similar kind of argumentation see Amos 5:19; judgment is unavoidable.

[48:44]  ²¹ tn Heb “For I will bring upon her, even upon Moab, the year of her punishment.”

[48:44]  ²² tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[5:12]  ²³ sn The judgment of plague and famine comes from the covenant curse (Lev 26:25-26). As in v. 10, the city of Jerusalem is figuratively addressed here.

[5:12]  ²⁴ sn Judgment by plague, famine, and sword occurs in Jer 21:9; 27:13; Ezek 6:11, 12; 7:15.

[2:14]  ²⁵ tn Heb “and a place of refuge will perish from the swift.”

[2:14]  ²⁶ tn Heb “the strong will not increase his strength.”

[2:15]  ²⁷ tn Heb “the one who holds the bow.”

[2:15]  ²⁸ tn For the idiom of “holding [or “standing”] one’s ground” in battle, there is a similar phrase in Ezek 13:5; also related is the expression “to hold one’s own against” (or “to withstand”) in Judg 2:14; 2 Kgs 10:4; Dan 8:7 (see S. M. Paul, Amos [Hermeneia], 97). Other options include “will not endure” or “will not survive.”

[2:15]  ²⁹ tn The last two lines read literally, “The one fast in his feet will not rescue [his life], and the rider of the horse will not rescue his life.” The phrase “his life” does double duty in the parallelism and should be understood in both lines.

[2:16]  ³⁰ tn Or “the most stouthearted” (NAB); NRSV “those who are stout of heart.”

[9:1]  ³¹ tn Or “the Lord.” The Hebrew term translated “sovereign One” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[9:1]  ³² sn The altar is perhaps the altar at Bethel.

[9:1]  ³³ tn Or “the capitals.” The Hebrew singular form is collective.

[9:1]  ³⁴ tn Heb “cut them off on the head of all of them.” The translation assumes the objective suffix on the verb refers to the tops of the pillars and that the following prepositional phrase refers to the people standing beneath. Another option is to take this phrase as referring to the pillars, in which case one could translate, “Knock all the tops of the pillars off.”

[9:1]  ³⁵ tn Heb “the remnant of them.” One could possibly translate, “every last one of them” (cf. NEB “to the last man”). This probably refers to those who survive the collapse of the temple, which may symbolize the northern kingdom.

[9:1]  ³⁶ tn Heb “a fugitive belonging to them will not run away.”

[9:1]  ³⁷ tn Heb “a survivor belonging to them will not escape.”

[9:2]  ³⁸ tn Heb “into Sheol” (so ASV, NASB, NRSV), that is, the land of the dead localized in Hebrew thought in the earth’s core or the grave. Cf. KJV “hell”; NCV, NLT “the place of the dead”; NIV “the depths of the grave.”

[9:3]  ³⁹ tn Heb “from before my eyes.”

[9:3]  ⁴⁰ tn Or perhaps simply, “there,” if the מ (mem) prefixed to the adverb is dittographic (note the preceding word ends in mem).

[9:3]  ⁴¹ sn If the article indicates a definite serpent, then the mythological Sea Serpent, symbolic of the world’s chaotic forces, is probably in view. See Job 26:13 and Isa 27:1 (where it is also called Leviathan). Elsewhere in the OT this serpent is depicted as opposing the Lord, but this text implies that even this powerful enemy of God is ultimately subject to his sovereign will.

[9:4]  ⁴² tn Heb “Even if they go into captivity before their enemies.”

[9:4]  ⁴³ tn Or perhaps simply, “there,” if the מ (mem) prefixed to the adverb is dittographic (note the preceding word ends in mem).

[9:4]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “I will set my eye on them for disaster, not good.”