2:1 This is what the Lord says:
Because Moab has committed three crimes1
make that four!2I will not revoke my decree of judgment.3
They burned the bones of Edoms king into lime.4
2:2 So I will set Moab on fire,5
and it will consume Kerioths6 fortresses.
Moab will perish7 in the heat of battle8
amid war cries and the blaring9 of the rams horn.10
2:3 I will remove11 Moabs leader;12
I will kill all Moabs13 officials14 with him.
The Lord has spoken!
2:4 This is what the Lord says:
Because Judah has committed three covenant transgressions15
make that four!16I will not revoke my decree of judgment.17
They rejected the Lords 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 Jerusalems fortresses.21
God Will Judge Israel
2:6 This is what the Lord says:
Because Israel has committed three covenant transgressions22
make that four!23I will not revoke my decree of judgment.24
They sold the innocent25 for silver,
the needy for a pair of sandals.26
2:7 They trample27 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 disrespect31 for my moral purity.32
2:8 They stretch out on clothing seized as collateral;
they do this right33 beside every altar!
They drink wine bought with the fines they have levied;
they do this right in the temple34 of their God!35
2:9 For Israels sake I destroyed the Amorites.36
They were as tall as cedars37
and as strong as oaks,
but I destroyed the fruit on their branches38
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 religious devotees.40
Is this not true, you Israelites?
The Lord is speaking!
2:12 But you made the religious devotees 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 Archers45 will not hold their ground;46
fast runners will not save their lives,
nor will those who ride horses.47
2:16 Brave-hearted warriors will run away naked in that day.
The Lord is speaking!
Every Effect has its Cause