God's judgments upon Moab, 1-3, upon Judah, 4, 5, and upon Israel, 6-8. God accuses them of ingratitude, 9-16.
1 Thus says the LORD:
"For three transgressions of Moab, and for four,/
I will not turn away his punishment,/
because he burned the bones/
of the king of Edom into lime.
2 But I will send a fire upon Moab,/
and it shall devour the palaces of Kirioth./
And Moab shall die with tumult,/
with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet.
3 And I will cut off the judge from the midst of it/
and will slay all its princes with him,"
says the LORD.
4 Thus says the LORD:
"For three transgressions of Judah, and for four,/
I will not turn away their punishment,/
because they have despised the law of the LORD/
and have not kept his commandments./
And their lies caused them to err,/
after which their fathers have walked.
5 But I will send a fire upon Judah,/
and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem."
6 Thus says the LORD:
"For three transgressions of Israel, and for four,/
I will not turn away their punishment,/
because they sold the righteous for silver/
and the poor for a pair of shoes.
7 They pant after the dust of the earth/
on the head of the poor/
and turn aside the way of the meek./
And a man and his father/
will go in to the same woman/
to profane my holy name.
8 And they lay themselves down/
upon clothes laid to pledge by every altar/
and they drink the wine of the condemned/
in the house of their god.
9 Yet I destroyed the Amorite before them,/
whose height was like the height of the cedars/
and he was strong as the oaks,/
yet I destroyed his fruit from above/
and his roots from beneath.
10 Also I brought you from the land of Egypt/
and led you forty years through the wilderness/
to possess the land of the Amorite.
11 And I raised up some of your sons for prophets/
and some of your young men for Nazarites./
Is it not even so, O children of Israel?"
says the LORD.
12 "But you gave the Nazarites wine to drink/
and commanded the prophets, saying, 'Do not prophesy.'
13 Behold, I am pressed under you/
as a cart is pressed that is full of sheaves.
14 Therefore, the flight shall perish from the swift/
and the strong shall not strengthen his force,/
neither shall the mighty deliver himself;
15 Neither shall he stand who handles the bow,/
and he who is swift of foot shall not deliver himself;/
neither shall he who rides the horse deliver himself.
16 And he who is courageous among the mighty/
shall flee away naked in that day,"
says the LORD.
Matthew Henry Commentary - Amos, Chapter 2[➚]
John Gill's Chapter Summary:
In this chapter the prophet foretells the calamities that should come upon the Moabites for their transgressions (verses 1-3); and the destruction of Judah and Jerusalem for their iniquities (verses 4-5); also the judgments of God that should come upon Israel, the ten tribes, for their sins, which sins are enumerated; their oppression of the poor, their lewdness and idolatry (verses 6-8); and which are aggravated by the blessings of goodness bestowed upon them, both temporal and spiritual (verses 9-12); therefore they are threatened with ruin, which would be inevitable, notwithstanding their swiftness, strength, and courage, and their skill in shooting arrows, and riding horses (verses 13-16).
[v.1] - "lime" - This may be read as "ashes."
[v.4] - Reference, Ezekiel 20:18-20; Acts 7:51.