2:1 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
2:2 So I will set Moab on fire, 5
and it will consume Kerioth’s 6 fortresses.
Moab will perish 7 in the heat of battle 8
amid war cries and the blaring 9 of the ram’s horn. 10
2:3 I will remove 11 Moab’s leader; 12
I will kill all Moab’s 13 officials 14 with him.”
The Lord has spoken!
2:4 This is what the Lord says:
“Because Judah has committed three covenant transgressions 15 –
make that four! 16 – I will not revoke my decree of judgment. 17
They rejected the Lord’s law; 18
they did not obey his commands.
Their false gods, 19
to which their fathers were loyal, 20
led them astray.
2:5 So I will set Judah on fire,
and it will consume Jerusalem’s fortresses.” 21
2:6 This is what the Lord says:
“Because Israel has committed three covenant transgressions 22 –
make that four! 23 – I will not revoke my decree of judgment. 24
They sold the innocent 25 for silver,
the needy for a pair of sandals. 26
2:7 They trample 27 on the dirt-covered heads of the poor; 28
they push the destitute away. 29
A man and his father go to the same girl; 30
in this way they show disrespect 31 for my moral purity. 32
2:8 They stretch out on clothing seized as collateral;
they do so right 33 beside every altar!
They drink wine bought with the fines they have levied;
they do so right in the temple 34 of their God! 35
2:9 For Israel’s sake I destroyed the Amorites. 36
They were as tall as cedars 37
and as strong as oaks,
but I destroyed the fruit on their branches 38
and their roots in the ground. 39
2:10 I brought you up from the land of Egypt;
I led you through the wilderness for forty years
so you could take the Amorites’ land as your own.
2:11 I made some of your sons prophets
and some of your young men Nazirites. 40
Is this not true, you Israelites?”
The Lord is speaking!
2:12 “But you made the Nazirites drink wine; 41
you commanded the prophets, ‘Do not prophesy!’
2:13 Look! I will press you down,
like a cart loaded down with grain presses down. 42
2:14 Fast runners will find no place to hide; 43
strong men will have no strength left; 44
warriors will not be able to save their lives.
2:15 Archers 45 will not hold their ground; 46
fast runners will not save their lives,
nor will those who ride horses. 47
2:16 Bravehearted 48 warriors will run away naked in that day.”
The Lord is speaking!