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14 Fast runners will find no place to hide;[a]
strong men will have no strength left;[b]
warriors will not be able to save their lives.
15 Archers[c] will not hold their ground;[d]
fast runners will not save their lives,
nor will those who ride horses.[e]
16 Bravehearted[f] warriors will run away naked in that day.”
The Lord is speaking.

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Footnotes

  1. Amos 2:14 tn Heb “and a place of refuge will perish from the swift.”
  2. Amos 2:14 tn Heb “the strong will not increase his strength.”
  3. Amos 2:15 tn Heb “the one who holds the bow.”
  4. Amos 2:15 tn For the idiom of “holding [or “standing”] one’s ground” in battle, there is a similar phrase in Ezek 13:5; also related is the expression “to hold one’s own against” (or “to withstand”) in Judg 2:14; 2 Kgs 10:4; Dan 8:7 (see S. M. Paul, Amos [Hermeneia], 97). Other options include “will not endure” or “will not survive.”
  5. Amos 2:15 tn The last two lines read literally, “The one fast in his feet will not rescue [his life], and the rider of the horse will not rescue his life.” The phrase “his life” does double duty in the parallelism and should be understood in both lines.
  6. Amos 2:16 tn Or “the most stouthearted” (NAB); cf. NRSV “those who are stout of heart.”