Because the balance organization of the Hebrew is complicated, Good News Translation has restructured it some. In Good News Translation, verse 11a is a separate sentence stating the wrong behavior. Then the results of such behavior (And so) are given. Since the result is you will not live in…, that has been emphasized rather than you will build houses. The point is that the people to whom Amos is speaking will not enjoy the fruits of their luxury because destruction is coming.
In some languages such a restructuring may not be helpful. After verse 11a the order of the Hebrew is the order of the events as they take place, and the relationship between the events can be expressed grammatically: “… building houses … you will not live in them, planting vineyards … you shall not drink their wine,” or “although you build houses … you will not live in them; although you plant vineyards, you will not drink wine made from their grapes.”
Therefore because you trample upon the poor/You have oppressed the poor. The meaning is expressed in a picture in Hebrew, more directly in Good News Translation. The translator may want to find picture language which will carry the meaning.
And take from him exactions of wheat/robbed them of their grain. The idea of forcing people is well expressed by the verb rob, but other languages will use different constructions such as “you have taken with force their grain for nothing.”
You have built houses of hewn stone/fine stone houses you build. There are still places where houses of hewn stone are a sign of great luxury. Where this is not so, the luxurious character of the houses will have to be shown in a different way, as in Good News Translation for example. In some languages there are different words for ordinary houses and great luxurious homes like “mansions.” The use of a term for such a luxurious home may carry the meaning of luxury where the fact of stone does not.
For wine and vineyards, see 4.9.
Quoted with permission from de Waard, Jan & Smalley, William A. A Handbook on Amos. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1979. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .