Amos 5:1 (LSB)

Passage

Hear this word which I take up for you as a funeral lament, O house of Israel:

Nearby Context

Amos 5:1 Hear this word which I take up for you as a funeral lament, O house of Israel:

Amos 5:2 She has fallen; she will not rise again— The virgin Israel. She lies abandoned on her land; There is none to raise her up.

Amos 5:3 For thus says Lord Yahweh, “The city which goes forth one thousand strong Will have one hundred left, And the one which goes forth one hundred strong Will have ten left to the house of Israel.”

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "hear", "word", "take", "funeral", "lament", "house", and "israel". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "hear" and "word", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The next verse adds "She has fallen she will not rise...", so "hear" and "word" should be read forward into that movement. In Amos context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "hear" and "word" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.