Amos 5:22

5:22 Even if you offer me burnt and grain offerings, ¹  I will not be satisfied;

I will not look with favor on your peace offerings of fattened calves. ² 

Amos 5:25

5:25 You did not bring me ³  sacrifices and grain offerings during the forty years you spent in the wilderness, family ⁴  of Israel.

Amos 9:7

9:7 “You Israelites are just like the Ethiopians in my sight,” ⁵  says the Lord.

“Certainly I brought Israel up from the land of Egypt,

but I also brought the Philistines from Caphtor ⁶  and the Arameans from Kir. ⁷ 

[5:22]  ¹ tn Heb “burnt offerings and your grain offerings.”

[5:22]  ² tn Heb “Peace offering[s], your fattened calves, I will not look at.”

[5:25]  ³ tn Heb “Did you bring me…?” This rhetorical question expects a negative answer. The point seems to be this: Since sacrifices did not characterize God’s relationship with Israel during the nation’s formative years, the people should not consider them to be so fundamental. The Lord places a higher priority on justice than he does on empty ritual.

[5:25]  ⁴ tn Heb “house.”

[9:7]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew text has a rhetorical question, “Are you children of Israel not like the Cushites to me?” The rhetorical question has been converted to an affirmative statement in the translation for clarity. See the comment at 8:8.

[9:7]  ⁶ sn Caphtor may refer to the island of Crete.

[9:7]  ⁷ tn The second half of v. 7 is also phrased as a rhetorical question in the Hebrew text, “Did I not bring Israel up from the land of Egypt, and the Philistines from Caphtor, and Aram from Kir?” The translation converts the rhetorical question into an affirmation for clarity.