“Thus says Yahweh.
‘For three transgressions
Of Israel,
And for four,
I will not revoke
The punishment.
Because they sell
The righteous
For silver.
They sell the needy
For a pair of sandals.
They trample
The head of the poor
Into the dust
Of the earth.
They push the afflicted
Out of the way.
A father
With his son
Goes into the same girl.
So,
My holy name
Is profaned.
They lay themselves down
Beside every altar,
On garments
Taken in pledge.
In the house
Of their god,
They drink
The wine
Bought with fines
They imposed.”
Finally, Yahweh issued a diatribe against Israel itself. Yahweh, via Amos, invoked the same language or literary form as he had used against Damascus, the Philistines, Tyre, Edom, Ammon, Moab, and Judah. He also used the same non-forgiving numeric formula of 3 and 4, as in Proverbs, chapter 30. The Israelites were, also involved in the slave trade, as they sold the righteous ones for silver. At the same time, they sold the needy for a pair of shoes or sandals. They trampled the heads of the poor into the dust of the earth. Both father and son would have sex with the same temple female prostitute. They profaned the holy name of Yahweh, as they laid down at any altar, with garments that they had taken as interest down payments. They drank wine in the houses of their gods bought with the fines that they had imposed on the poor people. They had committed serious crimes.
Eugene Finnegan Bible Project 