Amos 5:11

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 

Amos 6:1

The Party is over for the Rich

6:1 Woe ⁴  to those who live in ease in Zion, ⁵ 

to those who feel secure on Mount Samaria.

They think of themselves as ⁶  the elite class of the best nation.

The family ⁷  of Israel looks to them for leadership. ⁸ 

Amos 9:8

9:8 Look, the sovereign Lord is watching ⁹  the sinful nation, ¹⁰ 

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

But I will not completely destroy the family ¹¹  of Jacob,” says the Lord.

[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.”

[6:1]  ⁴ tn On the Hebrew term הוֹי (hoy; “ah, woe”) as a term of mourning, see the notes in 5:16, 18.

[6:1]  ⁵ sn Zion is a reference to Jerusalem.

[6:1]  ⁶ tn The words “They think of themselves as” are supplied in the translation for clarification. In the Hebrew text the term נְקֻבֵי (nÿquvey; “distinguished ones, elite”) is in apposition to the substantival participles in the first line.

[6:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “house.”

[6:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “comes to them.”

[9:8]  ⁷ tn Heb “the eyes of the sovereign Lord are on.”

[9:8]  ⁸ tn Or “kingdom.”

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