Amos 1:5 (KJV)

Passage

I will break also the bar of Damascus, and cut off the inhabitant from the plain of Aven, and him that holdeth the sceptre from the house of Eden: and the people of Syria shall go into captivity unto Kir, saith the LORD.

Nearby Context

Amos 1:3 Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Damascus, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have threshed Gilead with threshing instruments of iron:

Amos 1:4 But I will send a fire into the house of Hazael, which shall devour the palaces of Benhadad.

Amos 1:5 I will break also the bar of Damascus, and cut off the inhabitant from the plain of Aven, and him that holdeth the sceptre from the house of Eden: and the people of Syria shall go into captivity unto Kir, saith the LORD.

Amos 1:6 Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Gaza, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they carried away captive the whole captivity, to deliver them up to Edom:

Amos 1:7 But I will send a fire on the wall of Gaza, which shall devour the palaces thereof:

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "break", "damascus", "inhabitant", "plain", "aven", "holdeth", "sceptre", and "house". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "break" and "damascus", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 4's "But I will send a fire into..." into verse 6's "Thus saith the LORD For three transgressions...", so "break" and "damascus" belong inside that flow. In Amos context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "break" and "damascus" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.