When their close relatives, the ones who will burn the corpses, ¹  pick up their bodies to remove the bones from the house, they will say to anyone who is in the inner rooms of the house, “Is anyone else with you?” He will respond, “Be quiet! Don’t invoke the Lord’s name!” ² 

Archers ¹  will not hold their ground; ²  fast runners will not save their lives, nor will those who ride horses. ³ 

This is what the Lord says: “Because Moab has committed three crimes ¹  – make that four! ²  – I will not revoke my decree of judgment. ³  They burned the bones of Edom’s king into lime. ⁴ 

The sovereign Lord showed me this: I saw ¹  him making locusts just as the crops planted late ²  were beginning to sprout. (The crops planted late sprout after the royal harvest. ³ )

Bravehearted ¹  warriors will run away naked in that day.” The Lord is speaking!

The Lord decided not to do this. ¹  “It will not happen,” the Lord said.

Certainly the sovereign Lord does nothing without first revealing his plan to his servants the prophets.

For Israel’s sake I destroyed the Amorites. ¹  They were as tall as cedars ²  and as strong as oaks, but I destroyed the fruit on their branches ³  and their roots in the ground. ⁴ 

For this reason whoever is smart ¹  keeps quiet ²  in such a time, for it is an evil ³  time.

Disaster will be inescapable, ¹  as if a man ran from a lion only to meet a bear, then escaped ²  into a house, leaned his hand against the wall, and was bitten by a poisonous snake.

The sovereign Lord confirms this oath by his own holy character: ¹  “Certainly the time is approaching ²  when you will be carried away ³  in baskets, ⁴  every last one of you ⁵  in fishermen’s pots. ⁶ 

Amaziah the priest of Bethel ¹  sent this message ²  to King Jeroboam of Israel: “Amos is conspiring against you in the very heart of the kingdom of Israel! ³  The land cannot endure all his prophecies. ⁴ 

“Therefore this is what I will do to you, Israel. Because I will do this to you, prepare to meet your God, Israel! ¹ 

The Israelites ¹  hate anyone who arbitrates at the city gate; ²  they despise anyone who speaks honestly.

The Lord decided not to do this. ¹  The sovereign Lord said, “This will not happen either.”

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 ¹  at the bottom of the sea, from there ²  I would command the Sea Serpent ³  to bite them.

Listen, you Israelites, to this message which the Lord is proclaiming against ¹  you! This message is for the entire clan I brought up ²  from the land of Egypt:

As a matter of fact, ¹  Amos is saying this: ‘Jeroboam will die by the sword and Israel will certainly be carried into exile ²  away from its land.’”

This is what the Lord says: “Because the Ammonites have committed three crimes ¹  – make that four! ²  – I will not revoke my decree of judgment. ³  They ripped open Gilead’s pregnant women ⁴  so they could expand their territory.

The sovereign Lord confirms this oath by his very own life. ¹  The Lord, the God who commands armies, is speaking: “I despise Jacob’s arrogance; I hate their ²  fortresses. I will hand over to their enemies ³  the city of Samaria ⁴  and everything in it.”