Amos 6:12

Justice

¹⁰ And a man’s uncle shall take him up, and he that burneth him, to bring out the bones out of the house, and shall say unto him that is by the sides of the house, Is there yet any with thee? and he shall say, No. Then shall he say, Hold thy tongue: for we may not make mention of the name of the LORD.

¹¹ For, behold, the LORD commandeth, and he will smite the great house with breaches, and the little house with clefts.

Shall horses run upon the rock? will one plow there with oxen? for ye have turned judgment into gall, and the fruit of righteousness into hemlock:

¹³ Ye which rejoice in a thing of nought, which say, Have we not taken to us horns by our own strength?

¹⁴ But, behold, I will raise up against you a nation, O house of Israel, saith the LORD the God of hosts; and they shall afflict you from the entering in of Hemath unto the river of the wilderness.

This was said to Israel at a particular time, so it is wise to read it together with the surrounding text. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.

Compare

BSB: “Do horses gallop on the cliffs? Does one plow the sea with oxen? But you have turned justice into poison and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood—
KJV: Shall horses run upon the rock? will one plow there with oxen? for ye have turned judgment into gall, and the fruit of righteousness into hemlock:
WEB: Do horses run on the rocky crags? Does one plow there with oxen? But you have turned justice into poison, and the fruit of righteousness into bitterness,
ASV: Shall horses run upon the rock? will one plow [there] with oxen? that ye have turned justice into gall, and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood;
DARBY: Shall horses run upon the rock? will [men] plough [thereon] with oxen? For ye have turned judgment into gall, and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood,
BLB: “Do horses run on the rock? Or does one plow there with the oxen? Yet you⁺ have turned justice into poison, and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood,

ÅB: Springer vel hestene opp fjellet, eller pløyes det der med okser? siden dere har forvendt retten til gift og rettferdighetens frukter til malurt.
OTB: Løper hester på steinete klipper?
Pløyer man havet med okser?
Likevel har dere gjort rettferd til gift
og rettferdighetens frukt til bitterhet—
B1930: Springer vel hestene opefter fjellet, eller pløies det der med okser? siden I har forvendt retten til gift og rettferdighetens frukter til malurt.

Study notes (Tyndale)

Original text and word study

Cross references

Amos 5:7
Ye who turn judgment to wormwood, and leave off righteousness in the earth,
Read in context
Hosea 10:4
They have spoken words, swearing falsely in making a covenant: thus judgment springeth up as hemlock in the furrows of the field.
Read in context
Amos 5:11–12
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.
Read in context
Isaiah 59:13–14
In 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.
Read in context
1 Kings 21:7–13
And Jezebel his wife said unto him, Dost thou now govern the kingdom of Israel? arise, and eat bread, and let thine heart be merry: I will give thee the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.
Read in context
Isaiah 48:4
Because I knew that thou art obstinate, and thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy brow brass;
Read in context
Psalms 94:20–21
Shall the throne of iniquity have fellowship with thee, which frameth mischief by a law?
Read in context
Acts 7:51–52
Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye.
Read in context