Who drink wine in bowls, And anoint themselves with the best oils; But they are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph.
The sin which Amos condemned here is therefore a religious violation, and not merely excessive drinking, further pointing up the truth that this whole passage deals primarily with perversion of God's worship, the particular thing here, being desecration of holy vessels.  The ancient people of God viewed this latter thing with extraordinary abhorrence.  It will be recalled that for a similar offence of drinking from the sacred vessels robbed from the temple in Jerusalem, Belshazzar was punished by a summary judgment from God; and the kingdom was torn away from him in the same night  (Daniel 5:1-25).