Amos 5:12

Amos 5:12 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)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.
• New International Version (NIV)For I know how many are your offenses and how great your sins. There are those who oppress the innocent and take bribes and deprive the poor of justice in the courts.
• English Standard Version (ESV)For I know how many are your transgressions and how great are your sins— you who afflict the righteous, who take a bribe, and turn aside the needy in the gate.
• New King James Version (NKJV)For I know your manifold transgressions And your mighty sins: Afflicting the just and taking bribes; Diverting the poor from justice at the gate.

Context of Amos 5:12

10How you hate honest judges! How you despise people who tell the truth! 11You trample the poor, stealing their grain through taxes and unfair rent. Therefore, though you build beautiful stone houses, you will never live in them. Though you plant lush vineyards, you will never drink wine from them. For I know the vast number of your sins and the depth of your rebellions. You oppress good people by taking bribes and deprive the poor of justice in the courts. 13So those who are smart keep their mouths shut, for it is an evil time. 14Do what is good and run from evil so that you may live! Then the Lord God of Heaven’s Armies will be your helper, just as you have claimed.

Amos 5:12 word by word

כִּ֤י יָדַ֙עְתִּי֙ רַבִּ֣ים פִּשְׁעֵיכֶ֔ם וַעֲצֻמִ֖ים חַטֹּֽאתֵיכֶ֑ם צֹרְרֵ֤י צַדִּיק֙ לֹ֣קְחֵי כֹ֔פֶר וְאֶבְיוֹנִ֖ים בַּשַּׁ֥עַר הִטּֽוּ׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• For I knowיָדַעyâda‛ · to knowH3045
• your manifoldרַבrab · manyH7227
• transgressionsפֶּ֫שַׁעpesha‛ · transgressionH6588
• and your mightyעָצוּם‛âtsûm ‛âtsûm · mightyH6099
• sinsחַטָּאתchaţţâ'âh chaţţâ'th · sinH2403
• they afflictצָרַרtsârar · to vexH6887
• the justצַדִּיקtsaddîyq · righteousH6662
• they takeלָקַחlâqach · to take: takeH3947
• a bribeכֹּפֶרkôpher · ransomH3724
• and they turn asideנָטָהnâţâh · to stretchH5186
• the poorאֶבְיוֹן'ebyôn · needyH34
• in the gateשַׁ֫עַרsha‛ar · gateH8179

Cross-references for Amos 5:12

• Deuteronomy 31:21And when great disasters come down on them, this song will stand as evidence against them, for it will never be forgotten by their descendants. I know the intentions of these people, even now before they have entered the land I swore to give them.”
• Isaiah 66:18“I can see what they are doing, and I know what they are thinking. So I will gather all nations and peoples together, and they will see my glory.
• Jeremiah 29:23For these men have done terrible things among my people. They have committed adultery with their neighbors’ wives and have lied in my name, saying things I did not command. I am a witness to this. I, the Lord, have spoken.”
• Hebrews 4:12For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.
• 2 Kings 17:7This disaster came upon the people of Israel because they worshiped other gods. They sinned against the Lord their God, who had brought them safely out of Egypt and had rescued them from the power of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt.
• Isaiah 47:9Well, both these things will come upon you in a moment: widowhood and the loss of your children. Yes, these calamities will come upon you, despite all your witchcraft and magic.
• Amos 2:6This is what the Lord says: “The people of Israel have sinned again and again, and I will not let them go unpunished! They sell honorable people for silver and poor people for a pair of sandals.
• Acts 3:13For it is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—the God of all our ancestors—who has brought glory to his servant Jesus by doing this. This is the same Jesus whom you handed over and rejected before Pilate, despite Pilate’s decision to release him.
• Acts 7:52Name one prophet your ancestors didn’t persecute! They even killed the ones who predicted the coming of the Righteous One—the Messiah whom you betrayed and murdered.
• James 5:4For listen! Hear the cries of the field workers whom you have cheated of their pay. The cries of those who harvest your fields have reached the ears of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
• 1 Samuel 8:3But they were not like their father, for they were greedy for money. They accepted bribes and perverted justice.
• Psalms 26:9Don’t let me suffer the fate of sinners. Don’t condemn me along with murderers.
• Isaiah 1:23Your leaders are rebels, the companions of thieves. All of them love bribes and demand payoffs, but they refuse to defend the cause of orphans or fight for the rights of widows.
• Isaiah 33:15Those who are honest and fair, who refuse to profit by fraud, who stay far away from bribes, who refuse to listen to those who plot murder, who shut their eyes to all enticement to do wrong—
• Micah 3:11You rulers make decisions based on bribes; you priests teach God’s laws only for a price; you prophets won’t prophesy unless you are paid. Yet all of you claim to depend on the Lord. “No harm can come to us,” you say, “for the Lord is here among us.”
• Micah 7:3Both their hands are equally skilled at doing evil! Officials and judges alike demand bribes. The people with influence get what they want, and together they scheme to twist justice.

Commentaries on Amos 5:12

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 12I know your manifold transgressions - I have marked the multitude of your smaller crimes, as well as your mighty offenses. Among their greater offenses were, Their afflicting the righteous. Taking bribes to blind their eyes in judgment. And, 3. Refusing to hear the poor, who had no money to give them.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 12For I know - Literally, “I have known.” They thought that God did not know, because He did not avenge; as the Psalmist says, “Thy judgments are far above out of his sight” Psalm 10:5. People who do not act with the thought of God, cease to know Him, and forget that He knows them. “Your manifold transgressions;” literally, “many are your transgressions and mighty your sins.” Their deeds, they knew, were mighty, strong, vigorous, decided. God says, that…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 7-17Verses 7-17 The same almighty power can, for repenting sinners, easily turn affliction and sorrow into prosperity and joy, and as easily turn the prosperity of daring sinners into utter darkness. Evil times will not bear plain dealing; that is, evil men will not. And these men were evil men indeed, when wise and good men thought it in vain even to speak to them. Those who will seek and love that which is good, may help to save the land from ruin. It…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1-17Amos delivers three prophetic messages to Israel, criticizing their mistaken belief about being God's chosen people. The messages show a progression toward judgment.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1212. they afflict ... they take--rather, "(ye) who afflict ... take." bribe--literally, a price with which one who has an unjust cause ransoms himself from your sentence (1Sa 12:3, Margin; Pr 6:35). turn aside the poor in the gate--refuse them their right in the place of justice (Am 2:7; Is 29:21).Read the comment

Topics related to Amos 5:12

• Bribery
• Injustice
• Justice
• Oppression
• Poor
• Rulers
• Sin

In the dictionaries

• Manifold
• Seek
• Amos (1)
• Blindness, Judicial
• Bribery
• Calf, Golden
• Judge
• Shepherd
• afflict, affliction, distress

Commentaries on Amos 5

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings