And also I have withholden the rain from you, when there were yet three months to the harvest: and I caused it to rain upon one city, and caused it not to rain upon another city: one piece was rained upon, and the piece whereupon it rained not withered.
Amos 4:5 And offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving with leaven, and proclaim and publish the free offerings: for this liketh you, O ye children of Israel, saith the Lord GOD.
Amos 4:6 And I also have given you cleanness of teeth in all your cities, and want of bread in all your places: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD.
Amos 4:7 And also I have withholden the rain from you, when there were yet three months to the harvest: and I caused it to rain upon one city, and caused it not to rain upon another city: one piece was rained upon, and the piece whereupon it rained not withered.
Amos 4:8 So two or three cities wandered unto one city, to drink water; but they were not satisfied: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD.
Amos 4:9 I have smitten you with blasting and mildew: when your gardens and your vineyards and your fig trees and your olive trees increased, the palmerworm devoured them: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD.
The verse centers on "withholden", "rain", "three", "months", "harvest", "caused", and "upon". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "withholden" and "rain", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.
The nearby context moves from verse 6's "And I also have given you cleanness..." into verse 8's "So two or three cities wandered unto...", so "withholden" and "rain" 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 "withholden" and "rain" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.