Hear this word that the LORD hath spoken against you, O children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up from the land of Egypt, saying,
Hear this word ... O children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up from the land of Egypt - "against" (literally, upon) not merely the ten tribes, but "the whole family brought up from Egypt:" all the descendants of Jacob, including Judah and Benjamin. Compare Jeremiah 8:3, "this evil family;" and Micah 2:3, on "family" for the nation. However, as the prophecy following refers to the ten tribes, they must be chiefly, if not solely, meant; they were the majority of the nation; and so Amos concedes, what they so often boasted, that they were the elect people of God (Calvin); but this only heightens their sin.