“That in the day that I shall visit the transgressions of Israel upon him I will also visit the altars of Beth–el: and the horns of the altar shall be cut off, and fall to the ground.”
That on the day I punish Israel for his transgressions, I will punish the altars of Bethel, and the horns of the altar shall be cut off and fall to the ground. The divine judgment is directed specifically at Bethel's altar — the royal sanctuary established by Jeroboam I with its golden calves (1 Kings 12). The altar horns were the most sacred part of the altar, the place of refuge (1 Kings 1:50) and the place where the blood of atonement was smeared. Their destruction signals the total end of false worship: no sanctuary, no atonement, no refuge. Amos places the destruction of corrupt religion at the center of God's judgment on Israel, anticipating the later reform of Josiah.
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