Amos 5:4 (DRB)

Passage

For thus saith the Lord to the house of Israel: Seek ye me, and you shall live.

Nearby Context

Amos 5:2 The virgin of Israel is cast down upon her land, there is none to raise her up.

Amos 5:3 For thus saith the Lord God: The city, out of which came forth a thousand, there shall be left in it a hundred: and out of which there came a hundred, there shall be left in it ten, in the house of Israel.

Amos 5:4 For thus saith the Lord to the house of Israel: Seek ye me, and you shall live.

Amos 5:5 But seek not Bethel, and go not into Galgal, neither shall you pass over to Bersabee: for Galgal shall go into captivity, and Bethel shall be unprofitable.

Amos 5:6 Seek ye the Lord, and live: lest the house of Joseph be burnt with fire, and it shall devour, and there shall be none to quench Bethel.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "thus", "saith", "lord", "house", "israel", "seek", "shall", and "live". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "thus" and "saith", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 3's "For thus saith the Lord God The..." into verse 5's "But seek not Bethel and go not...", so "thus" and "saith" 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 "thus" and "saith" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.