Amos 9:5 (DRB)

Passage

And the Lord the God of hosts is he who toucheth the earth, and it shall melt: and all that dwell therein shall mourn: and it shall rise up as a river, and shall run down as the river of Egypt.

Nearby Context

Amos 9:3 And though they be hid in the top of Carmel, I will search and take them away from thence: and though they hide themselves from my eyes in the depth of the sea, there will I command the serpent and he shall bite them.

Amos 9:4 And if they go into captivity before their enemies, there will I command the sword, and it shall kill them. And I will set my eyes upon them for evil, and not for good.

Amos 9:5 And the Lord the God of hosts is he who toucheth the earth, and it shall melt: and all that dwell therein shall mourn: and it shall rise up as a river, and shall run down as the river of Egypt.

Amos 9:6 He that buildeth his ascension in heaven, and hath founded his bundle upon the earth: who calleth the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth, the Lord is his name.

Amos 9:7 Are not you as the children of the Ethiopians unto me, O children of Israel, saith the Lord? did not I bring up Israel, out of the land of Egypt: and the Philistines out of Cappadocia, and the Syrians out of Cyrene?

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "lord", "hosts", "toucheth", "earth", "shall", "melt", "dwell", and "therein". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "lord" and "hosts", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 4's "And if they go into captivity before..." into verse 6's "He that buildeth his ascension in heaven...", so "lord" and "hosts" 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 "lord" and "hosts" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.