Amos 5:10-12

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

they despise anyone who speaks honestly.

5:11 Therefore, because you make the poor pay taxes on their crops ³ 

and exact a grain tax from them,

you will not live in the houses you built with chiseled stone,

nor will you drink the wine from the fine ⁴  vineyards you planted. ⁵ 

5:12 Certainly ⁶  I am aware of ⁷  your many rebellious acts ⁸ 

and your numerous sins.

You ⁹  torment the innocent, you take bribes,

and you deny justice to ¹⁰  the needy at the city gate. ¹¹ 

Amos 5:15

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

Promote ¹²  justice at the city gate! ¹³ 

Maybe the Lord, the God who commands armies, will have mercy on ¹⁴  those who are left from ¹⁵  Joseph. ¹⁶ 

[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.

[5:11]  ³ tn Traditionally, “because you trample on the poor” (cf. KJV, ASV, NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT). The traditional view derives the verb from בּוּס (bus, “to trample”; cf. Isa. 14:25), but more likely it is cognate to an Akkadian verb meaning “to exact an agricultural tax” (see H. R. Cohen, Biblical Hapax Legomena [SBLDS], 49; S. M. Paul, Amos [Hermeneia], 172-73).

[5:11]  ⁴ tn Or “lovely”; KJV, NASB, NRSV “pleasant”; NAB “choice”; NIV “lush.”

[5:11]  ⁵ tn Heb “Houses of chiseled stone you built, but you will not live in them. Fine vineyards you planted, but you will not drink their wine.”

[5:12]  ⁶ tn Or “for.”

[5:12]  ⁷ tn Or “I know” (so most English versions).

[5:12]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ tn Heb “Those who.”

[5:12]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ sn Legal disputes were resolved in the city gate, where the town elders met.

[5:15]  ¹² 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]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ tn Or “will show favor to.”

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

[5:15]  ¹⁶ sn Joseph (= Ephraim and Manasseh), as the most prominent of the Israelite tribes, represents the entire northern kingdom.