This is a bit less than a verse-by-verse commentary, but It will provide the general idea.
The Lord is telling Israel to stop sinning and not to seek the idolatrous and evil ways of Bethel, Gilgal, or Beersheb, but to seek him that they may live .
Amos 5:4 For thus saith the LORD unto the house of Israel, Seek ye me, and ye shall live:
Amos 5:7 Ye who turn judgment to wormwood, and leave off righteousness in the earth,
Amos 5:10 They hate him that rebuketh in the gate, and they abhor him that speaketh uprightly.
That is, they hate the prophet/preacher who is warning them to turn from their ways.
Amos 5:12-13 For I know your manifold transgressions and your mighty sins: they afflict the just, they take a bribe, and they turn aside the poor in the gate from their right. 13Therefore the prudent shall keep silence in that time; for it is an evil time.
The land is full of corruption (kind of like now) so those not in the click or member of the club keep their mouths shut and hope no one comes after them.
Amos 5:14-15 Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live: and so the LORD, the God of hosts, shall be with you, as ye have spoken. 15Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish judgment in the gate: it may be that the LORD God of hosts will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph.
Once more, the Lord instructs them to pursue what is good. The gate symbolizes the courts of law, where matters were judged by the priests and elders—essentially the entrances to the city.
Amos 5:18 Woe unto you that desire the day of the LORD! to what end is it for you? the day of the LORD is darkness, and not light.
The day of the Lord is always a reference to the tribulation and second coming of Christ Jesus. So it appears the passage is concerning Israel’s final judgment, the time of Jacob’s trouble.
Jeremiah 30:7 Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.
Matthew 24:21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
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