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.
Parallel translations
- WEB Therefore, because you trample on the poor, and take taxes from him of wheat: You have built houses of cut stone, but you will not dwell in them. You have planted pleasant vineyards, but you shall not drink their wine.
- BSB Therefore, because you trample on the poor and exact from him a tax of grain, you will never live in the stone houses you have built; you will never drink the wine from the lush vineyards you have planted.
- NKJV Therefore, because you tread down the poor And take grain taxes from him, Though you have built houses of hewn stone, Yet you shall not dwell in them; You have planted pleasant vineyards, But you shall not drink wine from them.
- NASB Therefore because you impose heavy rent on the poor And take a tribute of grain from them, Though you have built houses of cut stone, Yet you will not live in them; You have planted beautiful vineyards, yet you will not drink their wine.
- NLT You 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.
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
Because they trample the poor and extort their grain, they will not enjoy the fine houses and vineyards they built. Wealth gained by oppression will be taken away.
Overview
God pronounces a curse fitting their crime: those who exploited the poor to build luxurious stone houses and plant choice vineyards will lose them, never dwelling in the homes or drinking the wine. This reverses the covenant blessings (Deuteronomy 28) because of their injustice. Ill-gotten gain brings no lasting enjoyment. The verse warns that earthly security built on sin is hollow, directing true hope toward the lasting inheritance secured in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Deut 28:30Thou shalt betroth a wife, and another man shall lie with her: thou shalt build an house, and thou shalt not dwell therein: thou shalt plant a vineyard, and shalt not gather the grapes thereof.
- Mic 6:15Thou shalt sow, but thou shalt not reap; thou shalt tread the olives, but thou shalt not anoint thee with oil; and sweet wine, but shalt not drink wine.
- Zeph 1:13Therefore their goods shall become a booty, and their houses a desolation: they shall also build houses, but not inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, but not drink the wine thereof.
- Jas 2:6But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats?
- Rev 11:8–10And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.
- Hag 1:6Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes.
- Mic 3:1–3And I said, Hear, I pray you, O heads of Jacob, and ye princes of the house of Israel; Is it not for you to know judgment?
- Mic 2:2And they covet fields, and take them by violence; and houses, and take them away: so they oppress a man and his house, even a man and his heritage.
- Amos 3:15And I will smite the winter house with the summer house; and the houses of ivory shall perish, and the great houses shall have an end, saith the LORD.
- Isa 5:7–8For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant: and he looked for judgment, but behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry.
- Deut 28:38–39Thou shalt carry much seed out into the field, and shalt gather but little in; for the locust shall consume it.
- Isa 65:21–22And they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them.
- Isa 59:13–14In transgressing and lying against the LORD, and departing away from our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood.
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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 5:11 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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