Amos 5:13 — Meaning and Application

Forasmuch therefore as your treading {is} upon the poor, and ye take from him burdens of wheat: ye have built houses of hewn stone, but ye shall not dwell in them; ye have planted pleasant vineyards, but ye shall not drink wine of them. {pleasant...: Heb. vineyards of desire}

For I know your manifold transgressions and your mighty sins: they afflict the just, they take a bribe, and they turn aside the poor in the gate {from their right}. {a bribe: or, a ransom}

Therefore the prudent shall keep silence in that time; for it {is} an evil time.

Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live: and so the LORD, the God of hosts, shall be with you, as ye have spoken.

Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish judgment in the gate: it may be that the LORD God of hosts will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph.