Amos 5:10

5:10 The Israelites ¹  hate anyone who arbitrates at the city gate; ² 

they despise anyone who speaks honestly.

Amos 6:7

6:7 Therefore they will now be the first to go into exile, ³ 

and the religious banquets ⁴  where they sprawl on couches ⁵  will end.

[5:10]  ¹ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Israelites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[5:10]  ² sn In ancient Israelite culture, legal disputes were resolved in the city gate, where the town elders met.

[6:7]  ³ tn Heb “they will go into exile at the head of the exiles.”

[6:7]  ⁴ sn Religious banquets. This refers to the מַרְזֵחַ (marzeakh), a type of pagan religious banquet popular among the upper class of Israel at this time and apparently associated with mourning. See P. King, Amos, Hosea, Micah, 137-61; J. L. McLaughlin, The “Marzeah” in the Prophetic Literature (VTSup). Scholars debate whether at this banquet the dead were simply remembered or actually venerated in a formal, cultic sense.

[6:7]  ⁵ tn Heb “of the sprawled out.” See v. 4.