Amos 5:3 (LSB)

Passage

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.”

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.”

Amos 5:4 For thus says Yahweh to the house of Israel, “Seek Me that you may live.

Amos 5:5 But do not seek Bethel, And do not come to Gilgal, Nor cross over to Beersheba; For Gilgal will certainly go into exile, And Bethel will become evil.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "thus", "says", "lord", "yahweh", "city", "goes", "forth", and "thousand". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "thus" and "says", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 2's "She has fallen she will not rise..." into verse 4's "For thus says Yahweh to the house...", so "thus" and "says" 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 "says" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.