Amos 3:10 (ASV)

Passage

For they know not to do right, saith Jehovah, who store up violence and robbery in their palaces.

Nearby Context

Amos 3:8 The lion hath roared; who will not fear? The Lord Jehovah hath spoken; who can but prophesy?

Amos 3:9 Publish ye in the palaces at Ashdod, and in the palaces in the land of Egypt, and say, Assemble yourselves upon the mountains of Samaria, and behold what great tumults are therein, and what oppressions in the midst thereof.

Amos 3:10 For they know not to do right, saith Jehovah, who store up violence and robbery in their palaces.

Amos 3:11 Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: An adversary [there shall be], even round about the land; and he shall bring down thy strength from thee, and thy palaces shall be plundered.

Amos 3:12 Thus saith Jehovah: As the shepherd rescueth out of the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear, so shall the children of Israel be rescued that sit in Samaria in the corner of a couch, and on the silken cushions of a bed.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "right", "saith", "jehovah", "store", "violence", "robbery", and "palaces". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "right" and "saith", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 9's "Publish ye in the palaces at Ashdod..." into verse 11's "Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah An...", so "right" and "saith" 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 "right" and "saith" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.