Amos 5:4 (YLT)

Passage

For thus said Jehovah to the house of Israel: Seek ye Me, and live,

Nearby Context

Amos 5:2 `Fallen, not again to rise, hath the virgin of Israel, Left on her land--she hath no raiser up.'

Amos 5:3 For thus said the Lord Jehovah: The city that is going out a thousand, Doth leave an hundred, And that which is going out an hundred, Doth leave ten to the house of Israel.

Amos 5:4 For thus said Jehovah to the house of Israel: Seek ye Me, and live,

Amos 5:5 And seek not Beth-El, and Gilgal enter not, And Beer-Sheba pass not through, For Gilgal doth utterly remove, And Beth-El doth become vanity.

Amos 5:6 Seek ye Jehovah, and live, Lest He prosper as fire <FI>against<Fi> the house of Joseph, And it hath consumed, And there is no quencher for Beth-El.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "thus", "said", "jehovah", "house", "israel", "seek", and "live". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "thus" and "said", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 3's "For thus said the Lord Jehovah The..." into verse 5's "And seek not Beth-El and Gilgal enter...", so "thus" and "said" 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 "said" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.