Amos 5:14 (DBY)

Passage

Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live; and so Jehovah, the God of hosts, shall be with you, as ye say.

Nearby Context

Amos 5:12 For I know how manifold are your transgressions and your sins mighty: they afflict the just, they take a bribe, and they turn aside [the right of] the needy in the gate.

Amos 5:13 Therefore the prudent shall keep silence in this time; for it is an evil time.

Amos 5:14 Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live; and so Jehovah, the God of hosts, shall be with you, as ye say.

Amos 5:15 Hate evil, and love good, and establish judgment in the gate: it may be that Jehovah, the God of hosts, will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph.

Amos 5:16 Therefore thus saith Jehovah, the God of hosts, the Lord: Wailing shall be in all broadways; and they shall say in all the streets, Alas! alas! And they shall call the husbandman to mourning, and such as are skilful of lamentation to wailing.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "seek", "good", "evil", "live", "jehovah", "hosts", and "shall". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "seek" and "good", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 13's "Therefore the prudent shall keep silence in..." into verse 15's "Hate evil and love good and establish...", so "seek" and "good" 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 "seek" and "good" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.