Amos 3:10

3:10 “They do not know how to do what is right.” (The Lord is speaking.)

“They store up ¹  the spoils of destructive violence ²  in their fortresses.

Amos 3:15

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

The houses filled with ivory ⁴  will be ruined,

the great ⁵  houses will be swept away.” ⁶ 

The Lord is speaking!

[3:10]  ¹ tn Heb “those who.”

[3:10]  ² tn Heb “violence and destruction.” The expression “violence and destruction” stand metonymically for the goods the oppressors have accumulated by their unjust actions.

[3:15]  ³ 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]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ tn Or “many,” cf. NAB “their many rooms.”

[3:15]  ⁶ 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.