Amos 5:24 (DBY)

Passage

but let judgment roll down as waters, and righteousness as an ever-flowing stream.

Nearby Context

Amos 5:22 For if ye offer up unto me burnt-offerings and your oblations, I will not accept [them]; neither will I regard the peace-offerings of your fatted beasts.

Amos 5:23 Take away from me the noise of thy songs, and I will not hear the melody of thy lutes;

Amos 5:24 but let judgment roll down as waters, and righteousness as an ever-flowing stream.

Amos 5:25 Did ye bring unto me sacrifices and oblations in the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel?

Amos 5:26 Yea, ye took up the tabernacle of your Moloch, and Chiun your images, the star of your god, which ye had made to yourselves;

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "judgment", "roll", "down", "waters", "righteousness", "ever-flowing", and "stream". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "judgment" and "roll", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 23's "Take away from me the noise of..." into verse 25's "Did ye bring unto me sacrifices and...", so "judgment" and "roll" 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 "judgment" and "roll" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.