Amos 3:10

10 And they could not do rightful thing/And they knew not (to) do rightful thing, saith the Lord, and they treasured wickedness and raven in their houses. (And they did not know how to do what is right/And they do not know how to be honest, saith the Lord, and they treasured wickedness and spoils in their palaces.)

Amos 3:10 Meaning and Commentary

Amos 3:10

For they know not to do right, saith the Lord
What is just and fight between man and man, no, not in one single instance; they did not regard it, or advert to it; they were under no concern about it; and were so much under the power of their lusts, that they knew not how to do it; and had used themselves so long to such wicked and unjust ways, that they had lost at least the practical knowledge of doing justice; they knew what was right in the theory, but not in the practice; bribes blinded their eyes; for this seems to design judges, civil magistrates, such who had the administration of justice and the execution Of the laws in their hands. The Targum is,

``they know not to execute the law;''

see ( Jeremiah 4:22 ) ; who store up violence and robbery in their palaces;
treasured up riches in their palaces, gotten in a violent way, by oppression and injustice; and which was no other, nor better, than robbery. This shows that persons in power and authority, that lived in palaces, in great splendour and grandeur, are here meant.

Amos 3:10 In-Context

8 A lion shall roar, who shall not dread? the Lord God spake, who shall not prophesy? (A lion shall roar, who shall not be afraid? the Lord God hath spoken, who shall not prophesy?)

9 Make ye heard in the houses of Ashdod, and in the houses of the land of Egypt; and say ye, Be ye gathered together on the hills of Samaria, and see ye many strong vengeances in the midst thereof, and them that suffer false challenge in the privy places thereof. (Make ye heard in the great houses, or the palaces, of Ashdod, and in the palaces of the land of Egypt; and say ye, Be ye gathered together on the hills of Samaria, and see ye many strong vengeances in their midst, and those who suffer oppression there.)

10 And they could not do rightful thing/And they knew not (to) do rightful thing, saith the Lord, and they treasured wickedness and raven in their houses. (And they did not know how to do what is right/And they do not know how to be honest, saith the Lord, and they treasured wickedness and spoils in their palaces.)

11 Therefore the Lord God saith these things, The land shall be troubled, and be (en)compassed; and thy strength shall be drawn down of thee, and thine houses shall be ravished [and thine houses shall be robbed]. (And so the Lord God saith these things, The land shall be troubled, and surrounded; and thy strength shall be drawn out of thee/and thy fortress shall be pulled down, and thy palaces shall be robbed.)

12 The Lord saith these things, As if a shepherd ravisheth from the mouth of a lion twain hips, either the last thing of the ear, so the children of Israel shall be ravished, that dwell in Samaria, in the country of (a) bed, and in the bed of Damascus. (The Lord saith these things, Like a shepherd taketh out of the mouth of a lion only two legs, or the last part of an ear, so only a few Israelites, who live in Samaria, shall be rescued, from the corner of a bed there, and from their beds in Damascus.)