Amos 5:5 (YLT)

Passage

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.

Nearby Context

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.

Amos 5:7 Ye who are turning to wormwood judgment, And righteousness to the earth have put down,

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "seek", "beth-el", "gilgal", "enter", "beer-sheba", "pass", and "through". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "seek" and "beth-el", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 4's "For thus said Jehovah to the house..." into verse 6's "Seek ye Jehovah and live Lest He...", so "seek" and "beth-el" 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 "seek" and "beth-el" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.