Amos 5:14 (DRB)

Passage

Seek ye good, and not evil, that you may live: and the Lord the God of hosts will be with you, as you have said.

Nearby Context

Amos 5:12 Because I know your manifold crimes, and your grievous sins: enemies of the just, taking bribes, and oppressing the poor in the gate.

Amos 5:13 Therefore the prudent shall keep silence at that time, for it is an evil time.

Amos 5:14 Seek ye good, and not evil, that you may live: and the Lord the God of hosts will be with you, as you have said.

Amos 5:15 Hate evil, and love good, and establish judgment in the gate: it may be the Lord the God of hosts may have mercy on the remnant of Joseph.

Amos 5:16 Therefore thus saith the Lord the God of hosts the sovereign Lord: In every street there shall be wailing: and in all places that are without, they shall say: Alas, alas! and they shall call the husbandman to mourning, and such as are skilful in lamentation to lament.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "seek", "good", "evil", "live", "lord", "hosts", and "said". 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 at..." 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.