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 

“They do not know how to do what is right.” (The Lord is speaking.) “They store up ¹  the spoils of destructive violence ²  in their fortresses.

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.

Take away from me your ¹  noisy songs; I don’t want to hear the music of your stringed instruments. ² 

They stretch out on clothing seized as collateral; they do so right ¹  beside every altar! They drink wine bought with the fines they have levied; they do so right in the temple ²  of their God! ³ 

Can horses run on rocky cliffs? Can one plow the sea with oxen? ¹  Yet you have turned justice into a poisonous plant, and the fruit of righteous actions into a bitter plant. ² 

Ammon’s ¹  king will be deported; ²  he and his officials ³  will be carried off ⁴  together.” The Lord has spoken!

The Lord said to me, “What do you see, Amos?” I said, “Tin.” The sovereign One then said, “Look, I am about to place tin among my people Israel. I will no longer overlook their sin. ¹ 

Listen to this message, you cows of Bashan ¹  who live on Mount Samaria! You ²  oppress the poor; you crush the needy. You say to your ³  husbands, “Bring us more to drink!” ⁴ 

Does a bird swoop down into a trap on the ground if there is no bait? Does a trap spring up from the ground unless it has surely caught something?

If an alarm sounds ¹  in a city, do people not fear? ²  If disaster overtakes a ³  city, is the Lord not responsible? ⁴ 

Therefore, because you make the poor pay taxes on their crops ¹  and exact a grain tax from them, you will not live in the houses you built with chiseled stone, nor will you drink the wine from the fine ²  vineyards you planted. ³ 

I will remove ¹  Moab’s leader; ²  I will kill all Moab’s ³  officials ⁴  with him.” The Lord has spoken!

Don’t you realize the Lord’s day of judgment will bring ¹  darkness, not light – gloomy blackness, not bright light?

These are the ones who now take oaths ¹  in the name of the sinful idol goddess ²  of Samaria. They vow, ³  ‘As surely as your god ⁴  lives, O Dan,’ or ‘As surely as your beloved one ⁵  lives, O Beer Sheba!’ But they will fall down and not get up again.”

Seek the Lord so you can live! Otherwise he will break out ¹  like fire against Joseph’s ²  family; ³  the fire ⁴  will consume and no one will be able to quench it and save Bethel. ⁵ 

He said, “What do you see, Amos?” I replied, “A basket of summer fruit.” Then the Lord said to me, “The end ¹  has come for my people Israel! I will no longer overlook their sins. ² 

“I withheld rain from you three months before the harvest. ¹  I gave rain to one city, but not to another. One field ²  would get rain, but the field that received no rain dried up.

This is what the Lord says: “Because Judah has committed three covenant transgressions ¹  – make that four! ²  – I will not revoke my decree of judgment. ³  They rejected the Lord’s law; ⁴  they did not obey his commands. Their false gods, ⁵  to which their fathers were loyal, ⁶  led them astray.

When they had completely consumed the earth’s vegetation, I said, “Sovereign Lord, forgive Israel! ¹  How can Jacob survive? ²  He is too weak!” ³