en_tn/amo/04/04.md

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Connecting Statement:

God continues to speak to the people of Israel.

General Information:

God gives several commands in verse 4, but he does so to show that he is angry

Go to Bethel and sin, to Gilgal and multiply sin

People would go to Bethel and Gilgal to make sacrifices to God, but they kept sinning anyway. God makes these commands to show that he is angry with them for doing these things. These commands can be expressed as statements. AT: "You go to Bethel to worship, but you sin. You go to Gilgal to worship, but you sin even more" (See: rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-irony)

bring your sacrifices ... every three days. Offer a thanksgiving sacrifice ... proclaim freewill offerings; announce them

God makes these commands in order to show the people that he is angry that even though they do these things, they continue to sin against him in other ways. These commands can be expressed as statements. AT: "You bring your sacrifices ... every three days. You offer a thanksgiving sacrifice ... you proclaim freewill offerings. And you announce them" (See: rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-irony)

every three days

Possible meanings are 1) on the third day or 3) every third day. Some versions have "every three years," because the Israelites were supposed to bring their tithes to God once every three years.

announce them

"boast about them"

for this pleases you, you people of Israel

Yahweh rebukes them for being proud about their offerings and sacrifices. They think that God should be pleased with them, but he is not. AT: "for this pleases you, you people of Israel. But it does not please me" (See: rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-explicit)

this is the declaration of the Lord Yahweh

Yahweh speaks of himself by name to express the certainty of what he is declaring. See how you translated the similar phrase "this is Yahweh's declaration" in Amos 2:11. AT: "this is what the Lord Yahweh declares" or "this is what I, the Lord Yahweh, have declared" (See: rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-123person)