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 6:8

6:8 The sovereign Lord confirms this oath by his very own life. ⁴ 

The Lord, the God who commands armies, is speaking:

“I despise Jacob’s arrogance;

I hate their ⁵  fortresses.

I will hand over to their enemies ⁶  the city of Samaria ⁷  and everything in it.”

Amos 8:2

8:2 He said, “What do you see, Amos?” I replied, “A basket of summer fruit.” Then the Lord said to me, “The end ⁸  has come for my people Israel! I will no longer overlook their sins. ⁹ 

Amos 9:5

9:5 The sovereign Lord who commands armies will do this. ¹⁰ 

He touches the earth and it dissolves; ¹¹ 

all who live on it mourn.

The whole earth ¹²  rises like the River Nile, ¹³ 

and then grows calm ¹⁴  like the Nile in Egypt. ¹⁵ 

[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.”

[6:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “swears by his life”; or “swears by himself.”

[6:8]  ⁵ tn Heb “his,” referring to Jacob, which stands here for the nation of Israel.

[6:8]  ⁶ tn The words “to their enemies” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[6:8]  ⁷ tn Heb “the city”; this probably refers to the city of Samaria (cf. 6:1), which in turn, by metonymy, represents the entire northern kingdom.

[8:2]  ⁷ tn There is a wordplay here. The Hebrew word קֵץ (qets, “end”) sounds like קָיִץ (qayits, “summer fruit”). The summer fruit arrived toward the end of Israel’s agricultural year; Israel’s national existence was similarly at an end.

[8:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “I will no longer pass over him.”

[9:5]  ¹⁰ tn The words “will do this” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[9:5]  ¹¹ tn Or “melts.” The verb probably depicts earthquakes and landslides. See v. 5b.

[9:5]  ¹² tn Heb “all of it.”

[9:5]  ¹³ tn Heb “the Nile.” The word “River” is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[9:5]  ¹⁴ tn Or “sinks back down.”

[9:5]  ¹⁵ sn See Amos 8:8, which is very similar to this verse.