Amos 9:5-10

5 The Lord GOD of hosts, he who touches the earth and 1it melts, and all who dwell in it mourn, 2and all of it rises like the Nile, 3and sinks again, like the Nile of Egypt;
6 4who builds his upper chambers in the heavens and founds his vault upon the earth; 5who calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out upon the surface of the earth-- 6the LORD is his name.
7 "Are you not like 7the Cushites to me, O people of Israel?" declares the LORD. 8"Did I not bring up Israel from the land of Egypt, and 9the Philistines from 10Caphtor and the Syrians from 11Kir?
8 Behold, 12the eyes of the Lord GOD are upon the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from the surface of the ground, 13except that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob," declares the LORD.
9 "For behold, I will command, 14and shake the house of Israel among all the nations as one shakes with a sieve, but no pebble shall fall to the earth.
10 All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, who say, 15'Disaster shall not overtake or meet us.'

Amos 9:5-10 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO AMOS 9

This chapter contains the fifth and last vision the prophet saw; which represents the certain desolation of the land, city, and temple, and the slaughter of all sorts of persons, high and low, none should escape it, Am 9:1; be they where they would, they should be found out, whether in hell or heaven, on the tops of the highest mountains, or in the bottom of the sea, or in a foreign land, since the eyes of the Lord were upon them for evil, Am 9:2-4; nor could they hope to escape, when they considered his greatness and his power, and what he could do, and had done; and how they had behaved towards him, even though they were the people he had brought out of Egypt, Am 9:5-7; but though the sinful kingdom should be destroyed, yet not utterly, a remnant should be saved, Am 9:8-10; and the chapter is concluded with gracious promises of raising up the tabernacle of David fallen down, and of the return of the people of Israel to their own land; and of their settlement and continuance in it, never more to depart from it, Am 9:11-15.

Cross References 15

The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.