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.

AMOS 5:12KJV
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Amos 5:12 (KJV)

What does Amos 5:12 mean?

Amos 5:12 says that God knows the many wrongdoings and serious sins of the people: they mistreat honest people, accept bribes, and deny justice to the poor at the city gate. The verse calls out the leaders and people for corrupt actions that harm the vulnerable and twist justice.

The prophet Amos is speaking to the people of Israel, especially those in positions of power. In their society, the city gate was where legal matters were settled, so turning aside the poor “in the gate” means denying them a fair hearing. Amos is warning that God sees their injustice and will not ignore the way they abuse their authority.

The Hebrew behind Amos 5:12

  • "Transgressions" (פֶּשַׁע, peshaʿ) means willful rebellion or breaking of trust, not just accidental mistakes. Amos is accusing the people of deliberate wrongdoing.
  • "Afflict" (צָרַר, tsarar) means to oppress or cause distress. The verse points out that the just—those who do right—are being actively harmed.
  • "Gate" (שַׁעַר, shaʿar) refers to the place where legal cases were judged. Mentioning the gate highlights that the injustice is happening in the very place meant for fairness and public justice.
  • "Poor" (אֶבְיוֹן, ʾevyon) means someone who is needy or powerless. The verse emphasizes that those with the least protection are being denied their rights.

Why Amos 5:12 matters

  • Amos 5:12 makes clear that God is not just concerned with religious rituals but with everyday justice and how people treat one another, especially the vulnerable.
  • The verse exposes how corruption can twist systems meant for fairness, showing that injustice often happens in public and official spaces, not just in secret.
  • This verse connects to the larger message of Amos, where the prophet repeatedly warns that true faith must be shown in just actions, not just in worship or ceremony.

Where else these words appear

“bribe” Hebrew H3724 · used in 17 verses

  • Genesis 6:14 Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch.
  • 1 Samuel 6:18 And the golden mice, according to the number of all the cities of the Philistines belonging to the five lords, both of fenced cities, and of country villages, even unto the great stone of Abel, whereon they set down the ark of the LORD: which stone remaineth unto this day in the field of Joshua, the Bethshemite.
  • Proverbs 6:35 He will not regard any ransom; neither will he rest content, though thou givest many gifts.

“mighty” Hebrew H6099 · used in 31 verses

  • Genesis 18:18 Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?
  • Deuteronomy 26:5 And thou shalt speak and say before the LORD thy God, A Syrian ready to perish was my father, and he went down into Egypt, and sojourned there with a few, and became there a nation, great, mighty, and populous:
  • Isaiah 60:22 A little one shall become a thousand, and a small one a strong nation: I the LORD will hasten it in his time.

“afflict” Hebrew H6887 · used in 56 verses

  • Exodus 12:34 And the people took their dough before it was leavened, their kneadingtroughs being bound up in their clothes upon their shoulders.
  • 2 Chronicles 6:28 If there be dearth in the land, if there be pestilence, if there be blasting, or mildew, locusts, or caterpillers; if their enemies besiege them in the cities of their land; whatsoever sore or whatsoever sickness there be:
  • Psalms 69:17 And hide not thy face from thy servant; for I am in trouble: hear me speedily.

“poor” Hebrew H34 · used in 58 verses

  • Exodus 23:6 Thou shalt not wrest the judgment of thy poor in his cause.
  • Psalms 40:17 But I am poor and needy; yet the Lord thinketh upon me: thou art my help and my deliverer; make no tarrying, O my God.
  • Proverbs 30:14 There is a generation, whose teeth are as swords, and their jaw teeth as knives, to devour the poor from off the earth, and the needy from among men.