Amos 2:1

NET Bible® (New English Translation)

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

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

כֹּ֚ה אָמַ֣ר יְהוָ֔ה עַל־שְׁלֹשָׁה֙ פִּשְׁעֵ֣י מוֹאָ֔ב וְעַל־אַרְבָּעָ֖ה לֹ֣א אֲשִׁיבֶ֑נּוּ עַל־שָׂרְפ֛וֹ עַצְמ֥וֹת מֶֽלֶךְ־אֱד֖וֹם לַשִּֽׂיד׃

Transliteration

kōh ʾāmar YHWH upon-šəlōšāh pišʿê môʾāb wə-upon-ʾarbāʿāh lōʾ ʾăšîbennû upon-śārəpô ʿaṣəmôt melek-ʾĕdôm laśśîd

Grammar Details

• *kōh*: adverb - thus/so
• *ʾāmar*: perfect, 3rd masculine singular - said/speaks
• *YHWH*: divine name - Yahweh/LORD
• *šəlōšāh*: cardinal number, masculine - three
• *pišʿê*: construct masculine plural of *pešaʿ* - transgressions/rebellions of
• *môʾāb*: proper noun - Moab
• *wə*: conjunction - and
• *ʾarbāʿāh*: cardinal number, masculine - four
• *lōʾ*: negative particle - not
• *ʾăšîbennû*: hiphil imperfect 1st singular with 3rd masculine singular suffix - I will not turn it back/revoke it
• *śārəpô*: infinitive construct with 3rd masculine singular suffix - his burning
• *ʿaṣəmôt*: feminine plural construct - bones of
• *melek*: masculine singular construct - king of
• *ʾĕdôm*: proper noun - Edom
• *laśśîd*: preposition + definite article + noun - to the lime/ash

Word Meanings

• *pišʿê*: transgressions/rebellions/crimes
• *ʾăšîbennû*: I will not turn it back/revoke it/reverse it
• *śārəpô*: his burning/calcining
• *laśśîd*: to lime/to ash/to dust/to calcium oxide (material used in plaster)

Referenced Verses

• Zeph 2:8-9 : 8 “I have heard Moab’s taunts and the Ammonites’ insults. They taunted my people and verbally harassed those living in Judah. 9 Therefore, as surely as I live,” says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel,“be certain that Moab will become like Sodom and the Ammonites like Gomorrah. They will be overrun by weeds, filled with salt pits, and permanently desolate. Those of my people who are left will plunder their belongings; those who are left in Judah will take possession of their land.”
• Jer 48:1-9 : 1 Judgment Against Moab The LORD of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel spoke about Moab.“Sure to be judged is Nebo! Indeed, it will be destroyed! Kiriathaim will suffer disgrace. It will be captured! Its fortress will suffer disgrace. It will be torn down! 2 People will not praise Moab any more. The enemy will capture Heshbon and plot how to destroy Moab, saying,‘Come, let’s put an end to that nation!’ City of Madmen, you will also be destroyed. A destructive army will march against you. 3 Cries of anguish will arise in Horonaim,‘Oh, the ruin and great destruction!’ 4 “Moab will be crushed. Her children will cry out in distress. 5 Indeed they will climb the slopes of Luhith, weeping continually as they go. For on the road down to Horonaim they will hear the cries of distress over the destruction. 6 They will hear,‘Run! Save yourselves! Even if you must be like a lonely shrub in the wilderness!’ 7 “Moab, you trust in the things you do and in your riches. So you too will be conquered. Your god Chemosh will go into exile along with his priests and his officials. 8 The destroyer will come against every town. Not one town will escape. The towns in the valley will be destroyed. The cities on the high plain will be laid waste. I, the LORD, have spoken! 9 Set up a gravestone for Moab, for it will certainly be laid in ruins! Its cities will be laid waste and become uninhabited.” 10 A curse on anyone who is lax in doing the LORD’s work! A curse on anyone who keeps from carrying out his destruction! 11 “From its earliest days Moab has lived undisturbed. It has never been taken into exile. Its people are like wine allowed to settle undisturbed on its dregs, never poured out from one jar to another. They are like wine which tastes like it always did, whose aroma has remained unchanged. 12 But the time is coming when I will send men against Moab who will empty it out. They will empty the towns of their people, then will lay those towns in ruins. I, the LORD, affirm it! 13 The people of Moab will be disappointed by their god Chemosh. They will be as disappointed as the people of Israel were when they put their trust in the calf god at Bethel. 14 How can you men of Moab say,‘We are heroes, men who are mighty in battle?’ 15 Moab will be destroyed. Its towns will be invaded. Its finest young men will be slaughtered. I, the King, the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, affirm it! 16 Moab’s destruction is at hand. Disaster will come on it quickly. 17 Mourn for that nation, all you nations living around it, all of you nations that know of its fame. Mourn and say,‘Alas, its powerful influence has been broken! Its glory and power have been done away!’ 18 Come down from your place of honor; sit on the dry ground, you who live in Dibon. For the one who will destroy Moab will attack you; he will destroy your fortifications. 19 You who live in Aroer, stand by the road and watch. Question the man who is fleeing and the woman who is escaping. Ask them,‘What has happened?’ 20 They will answer,‘Moab is disgraced, for it has fallen! Wail and cry out in mourning! Announce along the Arnon River that Moab has been destroyed.’ 21 “Judgment will come on the cities on the high plain: on Holon, Jahzah, and Mephaath, 22 on Dibon, Nebo, and Beth Diblathaim, 23 on Kiriathaim, Beth Gamul, and Beth Meon, 24 on Kerioth and Bozrah. It will come on all the towns of Moab, both far and near. 25 Moab’s might will be crushed. Its power will be broken. I, the LORD, affirm it! 26 “Moab has vaunted itself against me. So make him drunk with the wine of my wrath until he splashes around in his own vomit, until others treat him as a laughingstock. 27 For did not you people of Moab laugh at the people of Israel? Did you think that they were nothing but thieves, that you shook your head in contempt every time you talked about them? 28 Leave your towns, you inhabitants of Moab. Go and live in the cliffs. Be like a dove that makes its nest high on the sides of a ravine. 29 I have heard how proud the people of Moab are, I know how haughty they are. I have heard how arrogant, proud, and haughty they are, what a high opinion they have of themselves. 30 I, the LORD, affirm that I know how arrogant they are. But their pride is ill-founded. Their boastings will prove to be false. 31 So I will weep with sorrow for Moab. I will cry out in sadness for all of Moab. I will moan for the people of Kir Heres. 32 I will weep for the grapevines of Sibmah just like the town of Jazer weeps over them. Their branches once spread as far as the Dead Sea. They reached as far as the town of Jazer. The destroyer will ravage her fig, date, and grape crops. 33 Joy and gladness will disappear from the fruitful land of Moab. I will stop the flow of wine from the winepresses. No one will stomp on the grapes there and shout for joy. The shouts there will be shouts of soldiers, not the shouts of those making wine. 34 Cries of anguish raised from Heshbon and Elealeh will be sounded as far as Jahaz. They will be sounded from Zoar as far as Horonaim and Eglath Shelishiyah. For even the waters of Nimrim will be dried up. 35 I will put an end in Moab to those who make offerings at her places of worship. I will put an end to those who sacrifice to other gods. I, the LORD, affirm it! 36 So my heart moans for Moab like a flute playing a funeral song. Yes, like a flute playing a funeral song, my heart moans for the people of Kir Heres. For the wealth they have gained will perish. 37 For all of them will shave their heads in mourning. They will all cut off their beards to show their sorrow. They will all make gashes in their hands. They will all put on sackcloth. 38 On all the housetops in Moab and in all its public squares there will be nothing but mourning. For I will break Moab like an unwanted jar. I, the LORD, affirm it! 39 Oh, how shattered Moab will be! Oh, how her people will wail! Oh, how she will turn away in shame! Moab will become an object of ridicule, a terrifying sight to all the nations that surround her.” 40 For the LORD says,“Look! Like an eagle with outspread wings a nation will swoop down on Moab. 41 Her towns will be captured. Her fortresses will be taken. At that time the soldiers of Moab will be frightened like a woman in labor. 42 Moab will be destroyed and no longer be a nation, because she has vaunted herself against the LORD. 43 Terror, pits, and traps are in store for the people who live in Moab. I, the LORD, affirm it! 44 Anyone who flees at the sound of terror will fall into a pit. Anyone who climbs out of the pit will be caught in a trap. For the time is coming when I will punish the people of Moab. I, the LORD, affirm it! 45 In the shadows of the walls of Heshbon those trying to escape will stand helpless. For a fire will burst forth from Heshbon. Flames will shoot out from the former territory of Sihon. They will burn the foreheads of the people of Moab, the skulls of those war-loving people. 46 Moab, you are doomed! You people who worship Chemosh will be destroyed. Your sons will be taken away captive. Your daughters will be carried away into exile. 47 Yet in days to come I will reverse Moab’s ill fortune,” says the LORD. The judgment against Moab ends here.
• Ezek 25:8-9 : 8 A Prophecy Against Moab“This is what the Sovereign LORD says:‘Moab and Seir say,“Look, the house of Judah is like all the other nations.” 9 So look, I am about to open up Moab’s flank, eliminating the cities, including its frontier cities, the beauty of the land– Beth Jeshimoth, Baal Meon, and Kiriathaim.
• Isa 15:1-9 : 1 The Lord Will Judge Moab This is an oracle about Moab: Indeed, in a night it is devastated, Ar of Moab is destroyed! Indeed, in a night it is devastated, Kir of Moab is destroyed! 2 They went up to the temple, the people of Dibon went up to the high places to lament. Because of what happened to Nebo and Medeba, Moab wails. Every head is shaved bare, every beard is trimmed off. 3 In their streets they wear sackcloth; on their roofs and in their town squares all of them wail, they fall down weeping. 4 The people of Heshbon and Elealeh cry out, their voices are heard as far away as Jahaz. For this reason Moab’s soldiers shout in distress; their courage wavers. 5 My heart cries out because of Moab’s plight, and for the fugitives stretched out as far as Zoar and Eglath Shelishiyah. For they weep as they make their way up the ascent of Luhith; they loudly lament their demise on the road to Horonaim. 6 For the waters of Nimrim are gone; the grass is dried up, the vegetation has disappeared, and there are no plants. 7 For this reason what they have made and stored up, they carry over the Stream of the Poplars. 8 Indeed, the cries of distress echo throughout Moabite territory; their wailing can be heard in Eglaim and Beer Elim. 9 Indeed, the waters of Dimon are full of blood! Indeed, I will heap even more trouble on Dimon. A lion will attack the Moabite fugitives and the people left in the land.
• Isa 25:10 : 10 For the LORD’s power will make this mountain secure. Moab will be trampled down where it stands, as a heap of straw is trampled down in a manure pile.
• 2 Kgs 3:26-27 : 26 When the king of Moab realized he was losing the battle, he and 700 swordsmen tried to break through and attack the king of Edom, but they failed. 27 So he took his firstborn son, who was to succeed him as king, and offered him up as a burnt sacrifice on the wall. There was an outburst of divine anger against Israel, so they broke off the attack and returned to their homeland.
• Amos 1:3 : 3 This is what the LORD says:“Because Damascus has committed three crimes– make that four!– I will not revoke my decree of judgment. They ripped through Gilead like threshing sledges with iron teeth.
• Amos 2:4 : 4 This is what the LORD says:“Because Judah has committed three covenant transgressions– make that four!– I will not revoke my decree of judgment. They rejected the LORD’s law; they did not obey his commands. Their false gods, to which their fathers were loyal, led them astray.
• Amos 2:6 : 6 God Will Judge Israel This is what the LORD says:“Because Israel has committed three covenant transgressions– make that four!– I will not revoke my decree of judgment. They sold the innocent for silver, the needy for a pair of sandals.
• Mic 6:5 : 5 My people, recall how King Balak of Moab planned to harm you, how Balaam son of Beor responded to him. Recall how you journeyed from Shittim to Gilgal, so you might acknowledge that the LORD has treated you fairly.”
• Amos 1:6 : 6 This is what the LORD says:“Because Gaza has committed three crimes– make that four!– I will not revoke my decree of judgment. They deported a whole community and sold them to Edom.
• Amos 1:9 : 9 This is what the LORD says:“Because Tyre has committed three crimes– make that four!– I will not revoke my decree of judgment. They sold a whole community to Edom; they failed to observe a treaty of brotherhood.
• Amos 1:11 : 11 This is what the LORD says:“Because Edom has committed three crimes– make that four!– I will not revoke my decree of judgment. He chased his brother with a sword; he wiped out his allies. In his anger he tore them apart without stopping to rest; in his fury he relentlessly attacked them.
• Amos 1:13 : 13 This is what the LORD says:“Because the Ammonites have committed three crimes– make that four!– I will not revoke my decree of judgment. They ripped open Gilead’s pregnant women so they could expand their territory.
• Ps 83:4-7 : 4 They say,“Come on, let’s annihilate them so they are no longer a nation! Then the name of Israel will be remembered no more.” 5 Yes, they devise a unified strategy; they form an alliance against you. 6 It includes the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites, Moab and the Hagrites, 7 Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek, Philistia and the inhabitants of Tyre.
• Prov 15:3 : 3 The eyes of the LORD are in every place, keeping watch on those who are evil and those who are good.
• Isa 11:14 : 14 They will swoop down on the Philistine hills to the west; together they will loot the people of the east. They will take over Edom and Moab, and the Ammonites will be their subjects.
• Num 22:1-9 : 1 Balaam Refuses to Curse Israel The Israelites traveled on and camped in the rift valley plains of Moab on the side of the Jordan River across from Jericho. 2 Balak son of Zippor saw all that the Israelites had done to the Amorites. 3 And the Moabites were greatly afraid of the people, because they were so numerous. The Moabites were sick with fear because of the Israelites. 4 So the Moabites said to the elders of Midian,“Now this mass of people will lick up everything around us, as the bull devours the grass of the field.” Now Balak son of Zippor was king of the Moabites at this time. 5 And he sent messengers to Balaam son of Beor at Pethor, which is by the Euphrates River in the land of Amaw, to summon him, saying,“Look, a nation has come out of Egypt. They cover the face of the earth, and they are settling next to me. 6 So now, please come and curse this nation for me, for they are too powerful for me. Perhaps I will prevail so that we may conquer them and drive them out of the land. For I know that whoever you bless is blessed, and whoever you curse is cursed.” 7 So the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the fee for divination in their hand. They came to Balaam and reported to him the words of Balak. 8 He replied to them,“Stay here tonight, and I will bring back to you whatever word the LORD may speak to me.” So the princes of Moab stayed with Balaam. 9 And God came to Balaam and said,“Who are these men with you?” 10 Balaam said to God,“Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab, has sent a message to me, saying, 11 “Look, a nation has come out of Egypt, and it covers the face of the earth. Come now and put a curse on them for me; perhaps I will be able to defeat them and drive them out.” 12 But God said to Balaam,“You must not go with them; you must not curse the people, for they are blessed.” 13 So Balaam got up in the morning, and said to the princes of Balak,“Go to your land, for the LORD has refused to permit me to go with you.” 14 So the princes of Moab departed and went back to Balak and said,“Balaam refused to come with us.” 15 Balaam Accompanies the Moabite Princes Balak again sent princes, more numerous and more distinguished than the first. 16 And they came to Balaam and said to him,“Thus says Balak son of Zippor:‘Please do not let anything hinder you from coming to me. 17 For I will honor you greatly, and whatever you tell me I will do. So come, put a curse on this nation for me.’” 18 Balaam replied to the servants of Balak,“Even if Balak would give me his palace full of silver and gold, I could not transgress the commandment of the LORD my God to do less or more. 19 Now therefore, please stay the night here also, that I may know what more the LORD might say to me.” 20 God came to Balaam that night, and said to him,“If the men have come to call you, get up and go with them, but the word that I will say to you, that you must do.” 21 So Balaam got up in the morning, saddled his donkey, and went with the princes of Moab. 22 God Opposes Balaam Then God’s anger was kindled because he went, and the angel of the LORD stood in the road to oppose him. Now he was riding on his donkey and his two servants were with him. 23 And the donkey saw the angel of the LORD standing in the road with his sword drawn in his hand, so the donkey turned aside from the road and went into the field. But Balaam beat the donkey, to make her turn back to the road. 24 Then the angel of the LORD stood in a path among the vineyards, where there was a wall on either side. 25 And when the donkey saw the angel of the LORD, she pressed herself into the wall, and crushed Balaam’s foot against the wall. So he beat her again.
• Deut 23:4-5 : 4 for they did not meet you with food and water on the way as you came from Egypt, and furthermore, they hired Balaam son of Beor of Pethor in Aram Naharaim to curse you. 5 But the LORD your God refused to listen to Balaam and changed the curse to a blessing, for the LORD your God loves you.
• 2 Kgs 3:9 : 9 So the kings of Israel, Judah, and Edom set out together. They wandered around on the road for seven days and finally ran out of water for the men and animals they had with them.