Amos 1:14

1:14 So I will set fire to Rabbah’s ¹  city wall; ² 

fire ³  will consume her fortresses.

War cries will be heard on the day of battle; ⁴ 

a strong gale will blow on the day of the windstorm. ⁵ 

Amos 2:2

2:2 So I will set Moab on fire, ⁶ 

and it will consume Kerioth’s ⁷  fortresses.

Moab will perish ⁸  in the heat of battle ⁹ 

amid war cries and the blaring ¹⁰  of the ram’s horn. ¹¹ 

Amos 3:15

3:15 I will destroy both the winter and summer houses. ¹² 

The houses filled with ivory ¹³  will be ruined,

the great ¹⁴  houses will be swept away.” ¹⁵ 

The Lord is speaking!

Amos 9:2

9:2 Even if they could dig down into the netherworld, ¹⁶ 

my hand would pull them up from there.

Even if they could climb up to heaven,

I would drag them down from there.

[1:14]  ¹ sn Rabbah was the Ammonite capital.

[1:14]  ² sn The city wall symbolizes the city’s defenses and security.

[1:14]  ³ tn Heb “it”; the referent (the fire mentioned in the previous line) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:14]  ⁴ tn Heb “with a war cry in the day of battle.”

[1:14]  ⁵ tn Heb “with wind in the day of the windstorm.”

[1:14]  sn A windstorm is a metaphor for judgment and destruction in the OT (see Isa 29:6; Jer 23:19) and ancient Near Eastern literature.

[2:2]  ⁶ sn The destruction of Moab by fire is an example of a judgment in kind – as the Moabites committed the crime of “burning,” so the Lord will punish them by setting them on fire.

[2:2]  ⁷ sn Kerioth was an important Moabite city. See Jer 48:24, 41.

[2:2]  ⁸ tn Or “die” (KJV, NASB, NRSV, TEV); NAB “shall meet death.”

[2:2]  ⁹ tn Or “in the tumult.” This word refers to the harsh confusion of sounds that characterized an ancient battle – a mixture of war cries, shouts, shrieks of pain, clashes of weapons, etc.

[2:2]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “sound” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV).

[2:2]  ¹¹ sn The ram’s horn (used as a trumpet) was blown to signal the approaching battle.

[3:15]  ¹² tn Heb “the winter house along with the summer house.”

[3:15]  sn Like kings, many in Israel’s wealthy class owned both winter and summer houses (cf. 1 Kgs 21:1,18; Jer 36:22). For a discussion of archaeological evidence relating to these structures, see P. King, Amos, Hosea, Micah, 64-65.

[3:15]  ¹³ tn Heb “houses of ivory.” These houses were not made of ivory, but they had ivory panels and furniture decorated with ivory inlays. See P. King, Amos, Hosea, Micah, 139-48.

[3:15]  ¹⁴ tn Or “many,” cf. NAB “their many rooms.”

[3:15]  ¹⁵ tn The translation assumes the form is from the Hebrew verb סָפָה (safah, “to sweep away”) rather than סוּף (suf, “to come to an end”), which is the choice of most versions. Either option effectively communicates the destruction of the structures.

[9:2]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “into Sheol” (so ASV, NASB, NRSV), that is, the land of the dead localized in Hebrew thought in the earth’s core or the grave. Cf. KJV “hell”; NCV, NLT “the place of the dead”; NIV “the depths of the grave.”