The final pair of oracles describes what God will do to Israel and Judah (2:4–6). The Israelites who were listening to Amos were probably a little surprised to hear that a prophet from Judah would condemn his own nation, but this adds to Amos’s credibility and the persuasiveness of his message, for a true prophet must speak everything God says and not show any favoritism. Israel and Judah had lived as separate nations for about two hundred years, and the two nations fought several wars against each other (1 Kings 14:30; 15:7, 16–21; 2 Kings 14:8–14), so the Israelites in Samaria had little love for the people of Judah. Following the established pattern, Amos speaks about the many rebellious deeds of Judah and God’s determination to hold them accountable. Two of Judah’s acts of rebellion a…