Amos 1:8 (KJV)

Passage

And I will cut off the inhabitant from Ashdod, and him that holdeth the sceptre from Ashkelon, and I will turn mine hand against Ekron: and the remnant of the Philistines shall perish, saith the Lord GOD.

Nearby Context

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:

Amos 1:8 And I will cut off the inhabitant from Ashdod, and him that holdeth the sceptre from Ashkelon, and I will turn mine hand against Ekron: and the remnant of the Philistines shall perish, saith the Lord GOD.

Amos 1:9 Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Tyrus, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they delivered up the whole captivity to Edom, and remembered not the brotherly covenant:

Amos 1:10 But I will send a fire on the wall of Tyrus, which shall devour the palaces thereof.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "inhabitant", "ashdod", "holdeth", "sceptre", "ashkelon", "turn", "mine", and "hand". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "inhabitant" and "ashdod", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 7's "But I will send a fire on..." into verse 9's "Thus saith the LORD For three transgressions...", so "inhabitant" and "ashdod" 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 "inhabitant" and "ashdod" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.