Amo 5:15 | NETfull | STEP | Hate what is wrong, love what is right! Promote justice at the city gate! Maybe the Lord , the God who commands armies, will have mercy on those who are left from Joseph.

Amos 5:15

15 Hate what is wrong, love what is right!
Promote ^{▼▼ Heb “set up, establish.” In the ancient Near East it was the responsibility especially of the king to establish justice. Here the prophet extends that demand to local leaders and to the nation as a whole (cf. 5:24).} justice at the city gate! ^{▼▼ Legal disputes were resolved in the city gate (see the note in v. 12). This repetition of this phrase serves to highlight a deliberate contrast to the injustices cited in vv. 11–13.}
Maybe the Lord, the God who commands armies, will have mercy on ^{▼▼ Or “will show favor to.”} those who are left from ^{▼▼ Or “the remnant of” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV); CEV “what’s left of your people.”} Joseph. ^{▼▼ Joseph (= Ephraim and Manasseh), as the most prominent of the Israelite tribes, represents the entire northern kingdom.}