Logos Bible Study

Amos 5:10–24

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5:10The Israelites28 hate anyone who arbitrates at the city gate;29

they despise anyone who speaks honestly.

5:11Therefore, because you make the poor pay taxes on their crops30

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 fine31 vineyards you planted.32

5:12Certainly33 I am aware of34 your many rebellious acts35

and your numerous sins.

You36 torment the innocent, you take bribes,

and you deny justice to37 the needy at the city gate.38

5:13For this reason whoever is smart39 keeps quiet40 in such a time,

for it is an evil41 time.

5:14Seek good and not evil so you can live!

Then the Lord, the God who commands armies, just might be with you,

as you claim he is.

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

Promote42 justice at the city gate!43

Maybe the Lord, the God who commands armies, will have mercy on44 those who are left from45 Joseph.46

5:16Because of Israel’s sins47 this is what the Lord, the God who commands armies, the sovereign One,48 says:

“In all the squares there will be wailing,

in all the streets they will mourn the dead.49

They will tell the field workers50 to lament

and the professional mourners51 to wail.

5:17In all the vineyards there will be wailing,

for I will pass through52 your midst,” says the Lord.

The Lord Demands Justice

5:18Woe53 to those who wish for the day of the Lord!

Why do you want the Lord’s day of judgment to come?

It will bring darkness, not light.

5:19Disaster will be inescapable,54

as if a man ran from a lion only to meet a bear,

then escaped55 into a house,

leaned his hand against the wall,

and was bitten by a poisonous snake.

5:20Don’t you realize the Lord’s day of judgment will bring56 darkness, not light—

gloomy blackness, not bright light?

5:21“I absolutely despise57 your festivals!

I get no pleasure58 from your religious assemblies!

5:22Even if you offer me burnt and grain offerings,59 I will not be satisfied;

I will not look with favor on your peace offerings of fattened calves.60

5:23Take away from me your61 noisy songs;

I don’t want to hear the music of your stringed instruments.62

5:24Justice must flow like torrents of water,

righteous actions63 like a stream that never dries up.

Read in Logos
Amos 5:23–24: Take away from me the noise of your songs; to the melody of your harps I will not listen. But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

Footnotes

  1. 28 Heb “they”; the referent (the Israelites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  2. 29 In ancient Israelite culture, legal disputes were resolved in the city gate, where the town elders met.
  3. 30 Traditionally, “because you trample on the poor” (cf. , , , , , ). 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 [], 49; S. M. Paul, Amos [Hermeneia], ).
  4. 31 Or “lovely”; , , “pleasant”; “choice”; “lush.”
  5. 32 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. 33 Or “for.”
  7. 34 Or “I know” (so most English versions).
  8. 35 Or “transgressions,” “sins.” See the note on the word “crimes” in and on the phrase “covenant violations” in 2:4.
  9. 36 Heb “Those who.”
  10. 37 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).
  11. 38 Legal disputes were resolved in the city gate, where the town elders met.
  12. 39 Or “the wise”; or “the prudent.” Another option is to translate “the successful, prosperous” and understand this as a reference to the rich oppressors. See G. V. Smith, Amos, 169–70. In this case the following verb will also have a different nuance, that is, the wealthy remain silent before the abuses they perpetuate. See the note on the verb translated “keeps quiet” later in this verse.
  13. 40 Or “moans, laments,” from a homonymic verbal root. If the rich oppressors are in view, then the verb (whether translated “will be silenced” or “will lament”) describes the result of God’s judgment upon them. See G. V. Smith, Amos, 170.
  14. 41 If this is a judgment announcement against the rich, then the Hebrew phrase עֵת רָעָה (’et ra’ah) must be translated, “[a] disastrous time.” See G. V. Smith, Amos, 170.
  15. 42 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).
  16. 43 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.
  17. 44 Or “will show favor to.”
  18. 45 Or “the remnant of” (, , , , ); “what’s left of your people.”
  19. 46 Joseph (= Ephraim and Manasseh), as the most prominent of the Israelite tribes, represents the entire northern kingdom.
  20. 47 Heb “Therefore.” This logical connector relates back to the accusation of vv. 10–13, not to the parenthetical call to repentance in vv. 14–15. To indicate this clearly, the phrase “Because of Israel’s sins” is used in the translation.
  21. 48 Or “the Lord.” The Hebrew term translated “sovereign One” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).
  22. 49 Heb “they will say, ‘Ah! Ah!’ ” The Hebrew term הוֹ (ho, “ah, woe”) is an alternate form of הוֹי (hoy), a word used to mourn the dead and express outwardly one’s sorrow. See 1 Kgs 13:30; Jer 22:18; 34:5. This wordplay follows quickly, as v. 18 begins with הוֹי (“woe”).
  23. 50 Or “farmers” (, , , , , ).
  24. 51 Heb “those who know lamentation.” Professional mourners are referred to elsewhere in the OT (2 Chr 35:25; Jer 9:17) and ancient Near Eastern literature. See S. M. Paul, Amos (Hermeneia), .
  25. 52 The expression pass through your midst alludes to Exod 12:12, where the Lord announced he would “pass through” Egypt and bring death to the Egyptian firstborn.
  26. 53 The term הוֹי (hoy, “woe”) was used when mourning the dead (see the note on the word “dead” in ). The prophet here either engages in role playing and mourns the death of the nation in advance or sarcastically taunts those who hold to this misplaced belief.
  27. 54 The words “Disaster will be inescapable” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
  28. 55 Heb “went” (so , ).
  29. 56 Heb “Will not the day of the Lord be.”
  30. 57 Heb “I hate”; “I despise.”
  31. 58 Heb “I will not smell.” These verses are full of vivid descriptions of the Lord’s total rejection of Israelite worship. In the first half of this verse two verbs are used together for emphasis. Here the verb alludes to the sense of smell, a fitting observation since offerings would have been burned on the altar ideally to provide a sweet aroma to God (see, e.g., Lev 1:9, 13, 17; Num 29:36). Other senses that are mentioned include sight and hearing in vv. 22–23.
  32. 59 Heb “burnt offerings and your grain offerings.”
  33. 60 Heb “Peace offering[s], your fattened calves, I will not look at.”
  34. 61 In this verse the second person suffixes are singular and not plural like they are in vv. 21–22 and vv. 25–27. Some have suggested that perhaps a specific individual or group within the nation is in view.
  35. 62 The Hebrew word probably refers to “harps” (, , ) or “lutes” ().
  36. 63 Traditionally, “righteousness.”

The NET Bible First Edition, Copyright 1996-2005 by Biblical Studies Press