Amos 9:2 (YLT)

Passage

If they dig through into sheol, From thence doth My hand take them, And if they go up the heavens, From thence I cause them to come down.

Nearby Context

Amos 9:1 I have seen the Lord standing by the altar, and He saith: `Smite the knob, and the thresholds shake, And cut them off by the head--all of them, And their posterity with a sword I do slay, Not flee to them doth the fleer, Nor escape to them doth a fugitive.

Amos 9:2 If they dig through into sheol, From thence doth My hand take them, And if they go up the heavens, From thence I cause them to come down.

Amos 9:3 And if they be hid in the top of Carmel, From thence I search out, and have taken them, And if they be hid from Mine eyes in the bottom of the sea, From thence I command the serpent, And it hath bitten them.

Amos 9:4 And if they go into captivity before their enemies, From thence I command the sword, And it hath slain them, And I have set Mine eye on them for evil, And not for good.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "through", "sheol", "thence", "doth", "hand", "take", and "heavens". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "through" and "sheol", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 1's "I have seen the Lord standing by..." into verse 3's "And if they be hid in the...", so "through" and "sheol" 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 "through" and "sheol" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.