Amos 5:7

5:7 The Israelites ¹  turn justice into bitterness; ² 

they throw what is fair and right ³  to the ground. ⁴ 

Amos 5:24

5:24 Justice must flow like torrents of water,

righteous actions ⁵  like a stream that never dries up.

Amos 5:15

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

Promote ⁶  justice at the city gate! ⁷ 

Maybe the Lord, the God who commands armies, will have mercy on ⁸  those who are left from ⁹  Joseph. ¹⁰ 

Amos 6:12

6:12 Can horses run on rocky cliffs?

Can one plow the sea with oxen? ¹¹ 

Yet you have turned justice into a poisonous plant,

and the fruit of righteous actions into a bitter plant. ¹² 

Amos 5:10

5:10 The Israelites ¹³  hate anyone who arbitrates at the city gate; ¹⁴ 

they despise anyone who speaks honestly.

Amos 5:12

5:12 Certainly ¹⁵  I am aware of ¹⁶  your many rebellious acts ¹⁷ 

and your numerous sins.

You ¹⁸  torment the innocent, you take bribes,

and you deny justice to ¹⁹  the needy at the city gate. ²⁰ 

Amos 6:3

6:3 You refuse to believe a day of disaster will come, ²¹ 

but you establish a reign of violence. ²² 

Amos 2:6

God Will Judge Israel

2:6 This is what the Lord says:

“Because Israel has committed three covenant transgressions ²³  –

make that four! ²⁴  – I will not revoke my decree of judgment. ²⁵ 

They sold the innocent ²⁶  for silver,

the needy for a pair of sandals. ²⁷ 

[5:7]  ¹ tn Heb “Those who”; the referent (the Israelites) has been specified in the translation for clarity. In light of vv. 11-13, it is also possible that the words are directed at a more limited group within the nation – those with social and economic power.

[5:7]  ² tn There is an interesting wordplay here with the verb הָפַךְ (hafakh, “overturn, turn”). Israel “turns” justice into wormwood (cf. 6:12), while the Lord “turns” darkness into morning (v. 8; cf. 4:11; 8:10). Israel’s turning is for evil, whereas the Lord’s is to demonstrate his absolute power and sovereignty.

[5:7]  ³ tn Heb “they throw righteousness.”

[5:7]  ⁴ sn In v. 7 the prophet begins to describe the guilty Israelites, but then interrupts his word picture with a parenthetical, but powerful, description of the judge they must face (vv. 8-9). He resumes his description of the sinners in v. 10.

[5:24]  ⁵ tn Traditionally, “righteousness.”

[5:15]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ tn Or “will show favor to.”

[5:15]  ⁹ tn Or “the remnant of” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV); CEV “what’s left of your people.”

[5:15]  ¹⁰ sn Joseph (= Ephraim and Manasseh), as the most prominent of the Israelite tribes, represents the entire northern kingdom.

[6:12]  ¹¹ tc Heb “Does one plow with oxen?” This obviously does not fit the parallelism, for the preceding rhetorical question requires the answer, “Of course not!” An error of fusion has occurred in the Hebrew, with the word יָם (yam, “sea”) being accidentally added as a plural ending to the collective noun בָּקָר (baqar, “oxen”). A proper division of the consonants produces the above translation, which fits the parallelism and also anticipates the answer, “Of course not!”

[6:12]  ¹² sn The botanical imagery, when juxtaposed with the preceding rhetorical questions, vividly depicts and emphasizes how the Israelites have perverted justice and violated the created order by their morally irrational behavior.

[5:10]  ¹³ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Israelites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[5:10]  ¹⁴ sn In ancient Israelite culture, legal disputes were resolved in the city gate, where the town elders met.

[5:12]  ¹⁵ tn Or “for.”

[5:12]  ¹⁶ tn Or “I know” (so most English versions).

[5:12]  ¹⁷ tn Or “transgressions,” “sins.” See the note on the word “crimes” in 1:3 and on the phrase “covenant violations” in 2:4.

[5:12]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “Those who.”

[5:12]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “turn aside.” They “turn aside” the needy by denying them the justice they deserve at the city gate (where legal decisions were made, and therefore where justice should be done).

[5:12]  ²⁰ sn Legal disputes were resolved in the city gate, where the town elders met.

[6:3]  ²¹ tn Heb “those who push away a day of disaster.”

[6:3]  ²² tn Heb “you bring near a seat of violence.” The precise meaning of the Hebrew term שֶׁבֶת (shevet, “seat, sitting”) is unclear in this context. The translation assumes that it refers to a throne from which violence (in the person of the oppressive leaders) reigns. Another option is that the expression refers not to the leaders’ oppressive rule, but to the coming judgment when violence will overtake the nation in the person of enemy invaders.

[2:6]  ²³ tn For this translation see the note at 2:4.

[2:6]  ²⁴ tn Heb “Because of three violations of Israel, even because of four.”

[2:6]  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. Only in this last oracle against Israel does one find the list of four specific violations expected based on the use of a similar formula elsewhere in wisdom literature (see Prov 30:18-19, 29-31). This adaptation of the normal pattern indicates the Lord’s focus on Israel here (he is too bent on judging Israel to dwell very long on her neighbors) and emphasizes Israel’s guilt with respect to the other nations (Israel’s list fills up before the others’ lists do). See R. B. Chisholm, “‘For three sins...even for four’: the numerical sayings in Amos,” BSac 147 (1990) 188-97.

[2:6]  ²⁵ 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.

[2:6]  ²⁶ tn Or “honest” (CEV, NLT). The Hebrew word sometimes has a moral-ethical connotation, “righteous, godly,” but the parallelism (note “poor”) suggests a socio-economic or legal sense here. The practice of selling debtors as slaves is in view (Exod 21:2-11; Lev 25:35-55; Deut 15:12-18) See the note at Exod 21:8 and G. C. Chirichigno, Debt-Slavery in Israel and the Ancient Near East (JSOTSup). Probably the only “crime” the victim had committed was being unable to pay back a loan or an exorbitant interest rate on a loan. Some have suggested that this verse refers to bribery in legal proceedings: The innocent are “sold” in the sense that those in power pay off the elders or judges for favorable decisions (5:12; cf. Exod 23:6-7).

[2:6]  ²⁷ tn Perhaps the expression “for a pair of sandals” indicates a relatively small price or debt. Some suggest that the sandals may have been an outward token of a more substantial purchase price. Others relate the sandals to a ritual attached to the transfer of property, signifying here that the poor would be losing their inherited family lands because of debt (Ruth 4:7; cf. Deut 25:8-10). Still others emend the Hebrew form slightly to נֶעְלָם (ne’lam, “hidden thing”; from the root עָלַם, ’alam, “to hide”) and understand this as referring to a bribe.