Amos 5:11-12

5:11 Therefore, because you make the poor pay taxes on their crops ¹ 

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 ²  vineyards you planted. ³ 

5:12 Certainly ⁴  I am aware of ⁵  your many rebellious acts ⁶ 

and your numerous sins.

You ⁷  torment the innocent, you take bribes,

and you deny justice to ⁸  the needy at the city gate. ⁹ 

Amos 8:4-6

8:4 Listen to this, you who trample ¹⁰  the needy,

and do away with ¹¹  the destitute in the land.

8:5 You say,

“When will the new moon festival ¹²  be over, ¹³  so we can sell grain?

When will the Sabbath end, ¹⁴  so we can open up the grain bins? ¹⁵ 

We’re eager ¹⁶  to sell less for a higher price, ¹⁷ 

and to cheat the buyer with rigged scales! ¹⁸ 

8:6 We’re eager to trade silver for the poor, ¹⁹ 

a pair of sandals ²⁰  for the needy!

We want to mix in some chaff with the grain!” ²¹ 

Isaiah 5:22-23

5:22 Those who are champions ²²  at drinking wine are as good as dead, ²³ 

who display great courage when mixing strong drinks.

5:23 They pronounce the guilty innocent for a payoff,

they ignore the just cause of the innocent. ²⁴ 

Isaiah 29:21

29:21 those who bear false testimony against a person, ²⁵ 

who entrap the one who arbitrates at the city gate ²⁶ 

and deprive the innocent of justice by making false charges. ²⁷ 

Joel 3:3

3:3 and they cast lots for my people.

They traded ²⁸  a boy for a prostitute;

they sold a little girl for wine so they could drink. ²⁹ 

Joel 3:6

3:6 You sold Judeans and Jerusalemites to the Greeks,

removing them far from their own country. ³⁰ 

Micah 3:2-3

3:2 yet you ³¹  hate what is good, ³² 

and love what is evil. ³³ 

You flay my people’s skin ³⁴ 

and rip the flesh from their bones. ³⁵ 

3:3 You ³⁶  devour my people’s flesh,

strip off their skin,

and crush their bones.

You chop them up like flesh in a pot ³⁷  –

like meat in a kettle.

[5:11]  ¹ 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]  ² tn Or “lovely”; KJV, NASB, NRSV “pleasant”; NAB “choice”; NIV “lush.”

[5:11]  ³ 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]  ⁴ tn Or “for.”

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

[5:12]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ tn Heb “Those who.”

[5:12]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ sn Legal disputes were resolved in the city gate, where the town elders met.

[8:4]  ¹⁰ tn See the note on the word “trample” in 2:7.

[8:4]  ¹¹ tn Or “put an end to”; or “exterminate.”

[8:5]  ¹² sn Apparently work was prohibited during the new moon festival, just as it was on the Sabbath.

[8:5]  ¹³ tn Heb “pass by.”

[8:5]  ¹⁴ tn The verb, though omitted in the Hebrew text, is supplied in the translation from the parallel line.

[8:5]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “sell grain.” Here “grain” could stand by metonymy for the bins where it was stored.

[8:5]  ¹⁶ tn Here and in v. 6 the words “we’re eager” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[8:5]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “to make small the ephah and to make great the shekel.” The “ephah” was a unit of dry measure used to determine the quantity purchased, while the “shekel” was a standard weight used to determine the purchase price. By using a smaller than standard ephah and a heavier than standard shekel, these merchants were able to increase their profit (“sell less for a higher price”) by cheating the buyer.

[8:5]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and to cheat with deceptive scales”; NASB, NIV “dishonest scales”; NRSV “false balances.”

[8:6]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “to buy the poor for silver.”

[8:6]  ²⁰ tn See the note on the word “sandals” in 2:6.

[8:6]  ²¹ tn Heb “The chaff of the grain we will sell.”

[5:22]  ²² tn The language used here is quite sarcastic and paves the way for the shocking description of the enemy army in vv. 25-30. The rich leaders of Judah are nothing but “party animals” who are totally incapable of withstanding real warriors.

[5:22]  ²³ tn Heb “Woe [to]….” See the note at v. 8.

[5:23]  ²⁴ tn Heb “and the just cause of the innocent ones they turn aside from him.”

[29:21]  ²⁵ tn Heb “the ones who make a man a sinner with a word.” The Hiphil of חָטָא (khata’) here has a delocutive sense: “declare a man sinful/guilty.”

[29:21]  ²⁶ sn Legal disputes were resolved at the city gate, where the town elders met. See Amos 5:10.

[29:21]  ²⁷ tn Heb “and deprive by emptiness the innocent.”

[3:3]  ²⁸ tn Heb “gave.”

[3:3]  ²⁹ sn Heb “and they drank.” Joel vividly refers to a situation where innocent human life has little value; its only worth is its use in somehow satisfying selfish appetites of wicked people who have control over others (cf. Amos 2:6 and 8:6).

[3:6]  ³⁰ tn Heb “border.”

[3:2]  ³¹ tn Heb “the ones who.”

[3:2]  ³² tn Or “good.”

[3:2]  ³³ tn Or “evil.”

[3:2]  ³⁴ tn Heb “their skin from upon them.” The referent of the pronoun (“my people,” referring to Jacob and/or the house of Israel, with the Lord as the speaker) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[3:2]  ³⁵ tn Heb “and their flesh from their bones.”

[3:3]  ³⁶ tn Heb “who.”

[3:3]  ³⁷ tc The MT reads “and they chop up as in a pot.” The translation assumes an emendation of כַּאֲשֶׁר (ka’asher, “as”) to כִּשְׁאֵר (kish’er, “like flesh”).