Amos 9:9 (YLT)

Passage

For lo, I am commanding, And I have shaken among all the nations the house of Israel, As <FI>one<Fi> doth shake with a sieve, And there falleth not a grain <FI>to<Fi> the earth.

Nearby Context

Amos 9:7 As sons of Cushim are ye not to Me? O sons of Israel--an affirmation of Jehovah. Israel did I not bring up out of the land of Egypt? And the Philistines from Caphtor, and Aram from Kir?

Amos 9:8 Lo, the eyes of the Lord Jehovah <FI>are<Fi> on the sinful kingdom, And I have destroyed it from off the face of the ground, Only, I destroy not utterly the house of Jacob, An affirmation of Jehovah.

Amos 9:9 For lo, I am commanding, And I have shaken among all the nations the house of Israel, As <FI>one<Fi> doth shake with a sieve, And there falleth not a grain <FI>to<Fi> the earth.

Amos 9:10 By sword die do all sinners of My people, Who are saying, `Not overtake, or go before, For our sakes, doth evil.'

Amos 9:11 In that day I raise the tabernacle of David, that is fallen, And I have repaired their breaches, And its ruins I do raise up, And I have built it up as in days of old.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "commanding", "shaken", "nations", "house", "israel", "doth", and "sieve". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "commanding" and "shaken", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 8's "Lo the eyes of the Lord Jehovah..." into verse 10's "By sword die do all sinners of...", so "commanding" and "shaken" 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 "commanding" and "shaken" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.