behavior, but it to often as a result of violence, corruption, social injustice, and crimes against humanity. Amos preached in an environment of unparalleled prosperity for the upper class of Israel, though the vast majority of people still lived in poverty and oppression. The political expansion of Jeroboam II ensured a false sense of geopolitical security (see 2 Kgs 14:23–29); the Assyrian Empire was temporarily subdued by its own internal strife, and Israel had little to fear from other external