Amos 5:24 (KJV)

Passage

But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream.

Nearby Context

Amos 5:22 Though ye offer me burnt offerings and your meat offerings, I will not accept them: neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beasts.

Amos 5:23 Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs; for I will not hear the melody of thy viols.

Amos 5:24 But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream.

Amos 5:25 Have ye offered unto me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel?

Amos 5:26 But ye have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch and Chiun your images, the star of your god, which ye made to yourselves.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "judgment", "down", "waters", "righteousness", "mighty", and "stream". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "judgment" and "down", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 23's "Take thou away from me the noise..." into verse 25's "Have ye offered unto me sacrifices and...", so "judgment" and "down" 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 "judgment" and "down" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.