Amos 9:8 (ASV)

Passage

Behold, the eyes of the Lord Jehovah are upon the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from off the face of the earth; save that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, saith Jehovah.

Nearby Context

Amos 9:6 [it is] he that buildeth his chambers in the heavens, and hath founded his vault upon the earth; he that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth; Jehovah is his name.

Amos 9:7 Are ye not as the children of the Ethiopians unto me, O children of Israel? saith Jehovah. Have not I brought up Israel out of the land of Egypt, and the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Syrians from Kir?

Amos 9:8 Behold, the eyes of the Lord Jehovah are upon the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from off the face of the earth; save that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, saith Jehovah.

Amos 9:9 For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all the nations, like as [grain] is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least kernel fall upon the earth.

Amos 9:10 All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, who say, The evil shall not overtake nor meet us.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "behold", "eyes", "lord", "jehovah", "upon", "sinful", "kingdom", and "destroy". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "behold" and "eyes", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 7's "Are ye not as the children of..." into verse 9's "For lo I will command and I...", so "behold" and "eyes" 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 "behold" and "eyes" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.