Amos 4:11 (ASV)

Passage

I have overthrown [cities] among you, as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and ye were as a brand plucked out of the burning: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith Jehovah.

Nearby Context

Amos 4:9 I have smitten you with blasting and mildew: the multitude of your gardens and your vineyards and your fig-trees and your olive-trees hath the palmer-worm devoured: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith Jehovah.

Amos 4:10 I have sent among you the pestilence after the manner of Egypt: your young men have I slain with the sword, and have carried away your horses; and I have made the stench of your camp to come up even into your nostrils: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith Jehovah.

Amos 4:11 I have overthrown [cities] among you, as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and ye were as a brand plucked out of the burning: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith Jehovah.

Amos 4:12 Therefore thus will I do unto thee, O Israel; [and] because I will do this unto thee, prepare to meet thy God, O Israel.

Amos 4:13 For, lo, he that formeth the mountains, and createth the wind, and declareth unto man what is his thought; that maketh the morning darkness, and treadeth upon the high places of the Earth-jehovah, the God of hosts, is his name.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "overthrown", "cities", "overthrew", "sodom", "gomorrah", "brand", "plucked", and "burning". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "overthrown" and "cities", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 10's "I have sent among you the pestilence..." into verse 12's "Therefore thus will I do unto thee...", so "overthrown" and "cities" 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 "overthrown" and "cities" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.