Amos 4:4 (LSB)

Passage

“Enter Bethel and transgress; In Gilgal multiply transgression! Bring your sacrifices every morning, Your tithes every three days.

Nearby Context

Amos 4:2 Lord Yahweh has sworn by His holiness that, “Behold, the days are coming upon you, And they will take you away with meat hooks, And the last of you with fish hooks.

Amos 4:3 And you will go out through breaches in the walls, Each one straight before her, And you will be cast to Harmon,” declares Yahweh.

Amos 4:4 “Enter Bethel and transgress; In Gilgal multiply transgression! Bring your sacrifices every morning, Your tithes every three days.

Amos 4:5 And offer a thank offering also from that which is leavened, And call for freewill offerings; cause them to be heard about. For so you love to do, you sons of Israel,” Declares Lord Yahweh.

Amos 4:6 “But I gave you also cleanness of teeth in all your cities And lack of bread in all your places, Yet you have not returned to Me,” declares Yahweh.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "enter", "bethel", "transgress", "gilgal", "multiply", "transgression", "bring", and "sacrifices". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "enter" and "bethel", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 3's "And you will go out through breaches..." into verse 5's "And offer a thank offering also from...", so "enter" and "bethel" 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 "enter" and "bethel" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.