Amos 5:3 (WEB)

Passage

For thus says the Lord Yahweh: “The city that went out a thousand shall have a hundred left, and that which went out one hundred shall have ten left to the house of Israel.”

Nearby Context

Amos 5:1 Listen to this word which I take up for a lamentation over you, O house of Israel.

Amos 5:2 “The virgin of Israel has fallen; She shall rise no more. She is cast down on her land; there is no one to raise her up.”

Amos 5:3 For thus says the Lord Yahweh: “The city that went out a thousand shall have a hundred left, and that which went out one hundred shall have ten left to the house of Israel.”

Amos 5:4 For Yahweh says to the house of Israel: “Seek me, and you will live;

Amos 5:5 but don’t seek Bethel, nor enter into Gilgal, and don’t pass to Beersheba: for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, and Bethel shall come to nothing.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "thus", "says", "lord", "yahweh", "city", "went", "thousand", and "shall". 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 "The virgin of Israel has fallen She..." into verse 4's "For Yahweh says to the house of...", 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.