Amos 2:7
That pant after the dust of the earth on the head of the poor, and turn aside the way of the meek: and a man and his father will go in unto the same maid, to profane my holy name: That pant after the dust of the earth on the head of the poor, and turn aside the way of the meek: and a man and his father will go in unto the same maid, to profane my holy name:
Amos's charge against Israel is for depravity and injustice, exposing a society where the poor and needy were exploited, justice was corrupted, and light and knowledge received were not lived up to. Rulers and people together oppressed the poor and perverted justice, so that for a small bribe a magistrate would hand a righteous poor man over to imprisonment, slavery, or death. The meek were turned aside from justice because they were too weak or gentle to resist.
Panting after the dust of the earth on the head of the poor is a sarcastic picture of insatiable, covetous hunger for land and possession, grasping even at the poor person's smallest property and at the very dust upon his head. In another rendering the same words picture the poor being trampled down into the dust. That greed belongs to financial powers, and to individuals, nations, corporations, and syndicates seeking to acquire more territory, oppressing the poor and the meek, obstructing their just way, and exploiting laborers.
The same indictment condemns sensual indulgence and disregard for God's law, when a man and his father go in to the same maid or woman. It condemns also keeping garments taken from the poor as pledges, which the law required to be returned, and using them for idol worship, feasts, sleep, and abominations at the altars, to profane God's holy name. Yet the Lord's name remains holy even when men profane it by such acts, for human profanation does not make the holy name cease to be holy. Panting after earthly things in this way is worldly longing, standing in contrast to seeking assurance of God's love and hope for eternal life.