Amos 5:9 (ASV)

Passage

that bringeth sudden destruction upon the strong, so that destruction cometh upon the fortress.

Nearby Context

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.

Amos 5:10 They hate him that reproveth in the gate, and they abhor him that speaketh uprightly.

Amos 5:11 Forasmuch therefore as ye trample upon the poor, and take exactions from him of wheat: ye have built houses of hewn stone, but ye shall not dwell in them; ye have planted pleasant vineyards, but ye shall not drink the wine thereof.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "bringeth", "sudden", "destruction", "upon", "strong", and "cometh". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "bringeth" and "sudden", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 8's "seek him that maketh the Pleiades and..." into verse 10's "They hate him that reproveth in the...", so "bringeth" and "sudden" 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 "bringeth" and "sudden" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.