Go to Bethel and Sin More: Worship Turned Inside Out

“Come to Bethel, and transgress” is prophetic sarcasm, not permission to sin. Amos mimics the language of pilgrimage and enthusiastic sacrifice to expose worship that has become self-congratulation. The people bring offerings and publicize freewill gifts because “this liketh you,” yet the surrounding chapters show injustice and refusal to return to God. The target is not sacrifice as such—the Torah commands sacrifice—but ritual that becomes a substitute for obedience. Amos will make the point even more forcefully in 5:21–24.