Amos 5 · Verse 24

Amos 5:24

But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream.
Amos 5:24, King James Version

Amos 5:24 in other translations

BSBBut let justice roll on like a river, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
WEBBut let justice roll on like rivers, and righteousness like a mighty stream.
ASVBut let justice roll down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream.
YLTAnd roll on as waters doth judgment, And righteousness as a perennial stream.
DARBYbut let judgment roll down as waters, and righteousness as an ever-flowing stream.
BBEBut let the right go rolling on like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
WebsterBut let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream.

What does Amos 5:24 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
24. judgment--justice. run down--literally, "roll," that is, flow abundantly (Is 48:18). Without the desire to fulfil righteousness in the offerer, the sacrifice is hateful to God (1Sa 15:22; Psa 66:18; Ho 6:6; Mi 6:8).

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 24 Let judgment run down - Let the execution of justice be everywhere like the showers that fall upon the land to render it fertile; and let righteousness in heart and life be like a mighty river, or the Jordan, that shall wind its course through the whole nation, and carry every abomination into the Dead Sea. Let justice and righteousness prevail everywhere, and sweep their contraries out of the land.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Amos 5:18-27

Woe unto those that desire the day of the Lord's judgments, that wish for times of war and confusion; as some who long for changes, hoping to rise upon the ruins of their country! but this should be so great a desolation, that nobody could gain by it. The day of the Lord will be a dark, dismal, gloomy day to all impenitent sinners. When God makes a day dark, all the world cannot make it light. Those who are not…

Read the full comment on Amos 5:18-27 →

Amos 5:24 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וְיִגַּ֥לve.yi.Galand it may roll onH1556
כַּמַּ֖יִםka.Ma.yimlike <the> waterH4325
מִשְׁפָּ֑טmish.PatjusticeH4941
וּצְדָקָ֖הu.tze.da.Kahand righteousnessH6666
כְּנַ֥חַלke.Na.challike a wadiH5158
אֵיתָֽן\׃'ei.Tanever-flowingH386

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Amos 5:24

  • Micah 6:8

    He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?

  • Jeremiah 22:3

    Thus saith the Lord; Execute ye judgment and righteousness, and deliver the spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor: and do no wrong, do no violence to the stranger, the fatherless, nor the widow, neither shed innocent blood in this place.

  • Proverbs 21:3

    To do justice and judgment is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.

  • Hosea 6:6

    For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.

  • Mark 12:32-34

    And the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth: for there is one God; and there is none other but he: And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices. And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, he said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God. And no man after that durst ask him any question.

  • Amos 5:14-15

    Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live: and so the Lord, the God of hosts, shall be with you, as ye have spoken. Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish judgment in the gate: it may be that the Lord God of hosts will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph.

  • Amos 5:7

    Ye who turn judgment to wormwood, and leave off righteousness in the earth,

  • Job 29:12-17

    Because I delivered the poor that cried, and the fatherless, and him that had none to help him. The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me: and I caused the widow’s heart to sing for joy. I put on righteousness, and it clothed me: my judgment was as a robe and a diadem. I was eyes to the blind, and feet was I to the lame. …

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
let.
7,14,15; Job 29:12-17; Pr 21:3; Ho 6:6; Mic 6:8; Mr 12:32-34
run. Heb. roll.

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Amos 5:23

    Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs; for I will not hear the melody of thy viols.

  • Amos 5:24

    But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream.

  • Amos 5:25

    Have ye offered unto me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel?

Read all of Amos 5

Amos 5:24 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Antes corra el juicio como las aguas, y la justicia como impetuoso arroyo.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Mais que le jugement roule comme des eaux, et la justice comme un fleuve qui ne tarit pas!
German
Elberfelder 1871		Aber das Recht wälze sich einher wie Wasser, und die Gerechtigkeit wie ein immerfließender Bach!
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Et revelabitur quasi aqua judicium, et justitia quasi torrens fortis.