Amos 5:10–15

They hate the one who rebukes in the gate,
And they abhor the one who speaks uprightly.
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.
For I know your manifold transgressions
And your mighty sins:
Afflicting the just and taking bribes;
Diverting the poor from justice at the gate.
Therefore the prudent keep silent at that time,
For it is an evil time.

Seek good and not evil,
That you may live;
So the LORD God of hosts will be with you,
As you have spoken.
Hate evil, love good;
Establish justice in the gate.
It may be that the LORD God of hosts
Will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.

Corruption starts at the top, and the top in a walled city is in the gates.

City gates were huge, with multiple chambers. It would be insecure to have a door or gate where you could go from outside a city to inside in a single step. Attackers would just love that. So, you enter a walled city through many chambers, making you subject to review, or even attack, the whole way.

The city elders sat in these gates in an ad-hoc court system—a corrupt one. Afflicting the just and taking bribes. Diverting the poor from justice at the gate.

But it’s not too late to repent. Hate evil, love good; establish justice in the gate.

It may be that the LORD God of hosts will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.

Justice does not come naturally to our fallen selves. As bad as it was in ancient Israel, it’s no better here; it’s just mostly on-line now. Scams and fraud are everywhere. Make sure your on-line passwords are strong (containing numbers and characters like #, $, %, or &). If not, change them today.

This is especially important for anything financial. Set up two-factor authentication where it’s available.

These Monday—Friday DEEPs are written by Mike Slay. The Weekend DEEPs are written by Matt Richardson. To subscribe to all the DEEPs click here:

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The weekly study guides, which include the Monday–Friday devotionals plus related questions for discussion or meditation, are available for download here:

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. ESV stands for the English Standard Version. © Copyright 2001 by Crossway. Used by permission. All rights reserved. NIV stands for The Holy Bible, New International Version®. © Copyright 1973 by International Bible Society. Used by permission. All rights reserved. KJV stands for the King James Version.