Amos 5:7 (ASV)

Passage

Ye who turn justice to wormwood, and cast down righteousness to the earth,

Nearby Context

Amos 5:5 but seek not Beth-el, nor enter into Gilgal, and pass not to Beer-sheba: for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, and Beth-el shall come to nought.

Amos 5:6 Seek Jehovah, and ye shall live; lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph, and it devour, and there be none to quench it in Beth-el.

Amos 5:7 Ye who turn justice to wormwood, and cast down righteousness to the earth,

Amos 5:8 [seek him] that maketh the Pleiades and Orion, and turneth the shadow of death into the morning, and maketh the day dark with night; that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth (Jehovah is his name);

Amos 5:9 that bringeth sudden destruction upon the strong, so that destruction cometh upon the fortress.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "turn", "justice", "wormwood", "cast", "down", "righteousness", and "earth". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "turn" and "justice", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 6's "Seek Jehovah and ye shall live lest..." into verse 8's "seek him that maketh the Pleiades and...", so "turn" and "justice" 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 "turn" and "justice" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.