Amos 1:6

1:6 This is what the Lord says:

“Because Gaza ¹  has committed three crimes ²  –

make that four! ³  – I will not revoke my decree of judgment. ⁴ 

They deported a whole community ⁵  and sold them ⁶  to Edom.

Amos 4:8

4:8 People from ⁷  two or three cities staggered into one city to get ⁸  water,

but remained thirsty. ⁹ 

Still you did not come back to me.”

The Lord is speaking!

Amos 5:15

5:15 Hate what is wrong, love what is right!

Promote ¹⁰  justice at the city gate! ¹¹ 

Maybe the Lord, the God who commands armies, will have mercy on ¹²  those who are left from ¹³  Joseph. ¹⁴ 

Amos 9:8

9:8 Look, the sovereign Lord is watching ¹⁵  the sinful nation, ¹⁶ 

and I will destroy it from the face of the earth.

But I will not completely destroy the family ¹⁷  of Jacob,” says the Lord.

[1:6]  ¹ sn Gaza was one of the five major Philistine cities (along with Ashdod, Ashkelon, Ekron, and Gath). It was considered to mark the southern limit of Canaan at the point on the coast where it was located (Gen 10:19).

[1:6]  ² tn Traditionally, “transgressions” (KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV) or “sins” (NIV). For an explanation of the atrocities outlined in this oracle as treaty violations of God’s mandate to Noah in Gen 9:5-7, see the note on the word “violations” in 1:3.

[1:6]  ³ tn Heb “Because of three violations of Gaza, even because of four.”

[1:6]  sn On the three…four style that introduces each of the judgment oracles of chaps. 1-2 see the note on the word “four” in 1:3.

[1:6]  ⁴ tn Heb “I will not bring it [or “him”] back.” The translation understands the pronominal object to refer to the decree of judgment that follows; the referent (the decree) has been specified in the translation for clarity. For another option see the note on the word “judgment” in 1:3.

[1:6]  ⁵ tn Heb “[group of] exiles.” A number of English translations take this as a collective singular and translate it with a plural (e.g., NAB, NIV, NRSV).

[1:6]  ⁶ tn Heb “in order to hand them over.”

[4:8]  ⁷ tn The words “people from” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[4:8]  ⁸ tn Heb “to drink.”

[4:8]  ⁹ tn Or “were not satisfied.”

[5:15]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “set up, establish.” In the ancient Near East it was the responsibility especially of the king to establish justice. Here the prophet extends that demand to local leaders and to the nation as a whole (cf. 5:24).

[5:15]  ¹¹ sn Legal disputes were resolved in the city gate (see the note in v. 12). This repetition of this phrase serves to highlight a deliberate contrast to the injustices cited in vv. 11-13.

[5:15]  ¹² tn Or “will show favor to.”

[5:15]  ¹³ tn Or “the remnant of” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV); CEV “what’s left of your people.”

[5:15]  ¹⁴ sn Joseph (= Ephraim and Manasseh), as the most prominent of the Israelite tribes, represents the entire northern kingdom.

[9:8]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “the eyes of the sovereign Lord are on.”

[9:8]  ¹⁶ tn Or “kingdom.”

[9:8]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “house” (also in the following verse).