Amos 4:9 (GNV)

Passage

I haue smitten you with blasting, and mildewe: your great gardens and your vineyardes, and your figtrees, and your oliue trees did the palmer worme deuoure: yet haue ye not returned vnto me, saith the Lord.

Nearby Context

Amos 4:7 And also I haue withholden the raine from you, when there were yet three moneths to the haruest, and I caused it to raine vpon one citie, and haue not caused it to raine vpon another citie: one piece was rained vpon, and the piece whereupon it rained not, withered.

Amos 4:8 So two or three cities wandred vnto one citie to drinke water, but they were not satisfied: yet haue ye not returned vnto me, saith the Lord.

Amos 4:9 I haue smitten you with blasting, and mildewe: your great gardens and your vineyardes, and your figtrees, and your oliue trees did the palmer worme deuoure: yet haue ye not returned vnto me, saith the Lord.

Amos 4:10 Pestilence haue I sent among you, after the maner of Egypt: your yong men haue I slaine with the sworde, and haue taken away your horses: and I haue made the stinke of your tentes to come vp euen into your nostrels: yet haue yee not returned vnto me, saith the Lord.

Amos 4:11 I haue ouerthrowe you, as God ouerthrew Sodom and Gomorah: and ye were as a firebrand pluckt out of the burning: yet haue ye not returned vnto me, saith the Lord.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "haue", "smitten", "blasting", "mildewe", "great", "gardens", "vineyardes", and "figtrees". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "haue" and "smitten", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 8's "So two or three cities wandred vnto..." into verse 10's "Pestilence haue I sent among you after...", so "haue" and "smitten" 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 "haue" and "smitten" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.