They lie down beside every altar on garments taken in pledge. And in the house of their God, they drink wine obtained through fines.
Parallel translations
- WEB and they lay themselves down beside every altar on clothes taken in pledge; and in the house of their God they drink the wine of those who have been fined.
- KJV And they lay themselves down upon clothes laid to pledge by every altar, and they drink the wine of the condemned in the house of their god.
- NKJV They lie down by every altar on clothes taken in pledge, And drink the wine of the condemned in the house of their god.
- NASB “And on garments seized as pledges they stretch out beside every altar, And in the house of their God they drink the wine of those who have been fined.
- NLT At their religious festivals, they lounge in clothing their debtors put up as security. In the house of their gods, they drink wine bought with unjust fines.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Israel worships on garments seized from the poor and drinks wine bought with unjust fines, even in God's house. They turn worship into a celebration of their own oppression.
Overview
The Law required a poor man's pledged cloak to be returned by nightfall (Exodus 22:26-27), but here it is kept and used at pagan altars. Wine taken through extortion is consumed in worship. Their religion is funded and stained by injustice. God despises worship that coexists with cruelty, a theme that exposes hypocrisy and points to the need for a cleansed heart given in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Deut 24:12–17If he is a poor man, you must not go to sleep with the security in your possession;
- Exod 22:26–27If you take your neighbor’s cloak as collateral, return it to him by sunset,
- Amos 6:6You drink wine by the bowlful and anoint yourselves with the finest oils, but you fail to grieve over the ruin of Joseph.
- Ezek 18:12He oppresses the poor and needy; he commits robbery and does not restore a pledge. He lifts his eyes to idols; he commits abominations.
- 1 Cor 10:21You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot partake in the table of the Lord and the table of demons too.
- Ezek 18:7He does not oppress another, but restores the pledge to the debtor. He does not commit robbery, but gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with clothing.
- Judg 9:27And after they had gone out into the fields, gathered grapes from their vineyards, and trodden them, they held a festival and went into the house of their god; and as they ate and drank, they cursed Abimelech.
- Hos 4:8They feed on the sins of My people and set their hearts on iniquity.
- 1 Cor 10:7Do not be idolaters, as some of them were. As it is written: “The people sat down to eat and to drink, and got up to indulge in revelry.”
- Amos 6:4You lie on beds inlaid with ivory, and lounge upon your couches. You dine on lambs from the flock and calves from the stall.
- Amos 4:1Hear this word, you cows of Bashan on Mount Samaria, you women who oppress the poor and crush the needy, who say to your husbands, “Bring us more to drink.”
- Ezek 23:41You sat on a couch of luxury with a table spread before it, on which you had set My incense and My oil,
- 1 Cor 8:10For if someone with a weak conscience sees you who are well informed eating in an idol’s temple, will he not be encouraged to eat food sacrificed to idols?
- Isa 57:7On a high and lofty hill you have made your bed, and there you went up to offer sacrifices.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Amid judgment on injustice, Amos promises the raising up of David's fallen tent — read by James in Acts 15 as the ingathering of the nations into the kingdom of the risen Christ.
How Amos 2:8 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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