Amos 5:24
in Amos 5But let justice roll on like a river, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
But let justice roll down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream.
KJV
But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream.
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This verse in Amos 5
Commentary
8 notes on this verse(Verse 24) And judgment will be revealed like water, and justice like a strong torrent. LXX: And it will roll like water, and justice like an impassable torrent. Just as water, when it flows downhill, uncovers what it previously covered and exposes it to the eyes of all, so will the judgment and justice of God, which once judged His own people, be revealed to all, and it will be carried like the strongest torrent. Whatever it seizes, it drags along with it, and it does not allow anything to stand in its way.
This site's exposition
I hate, I despise your feast days
on Amos 5:21-24
The Lord rejects the entire festival calendar in his own voice, I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies, the sacrificial smoke that was meant to rise as a pleasing odor now refused outright, burnt offerings, meat offerings and peace offerings all named and all turned away. Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs makes the same point of temple music once meant for praise. Verse 24 is the chapter's verified center, let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream, read by the bench as the standard every offering in verses 21 to 23 failed to meet, worship without justice named as noise the Lord will not hear.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
And judgment shall roll down as water, and righteousness as an impassable torrent. The righteous verdict against them will be like an impassable torrent, that is, dragging away what falls into it and sparing nothing. For when God drives someone into destruction and troubles, who is the one who will save? Who is the one who will help and deliver from judgment? Or what way will there be, by which if one passed through, he might be outside of the evils? None at all. "For who will turn back the high hand?" And, "If he shuts a man in, who can open it?" according to what is written.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
): Let judgment run down as waters, among you, and righteousness as a mighty stream, that is 1.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
But let judgments run down as waters,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
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.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
The sin of Israel in Amos' time is the very sin of their forefathers, mocking God with worship, while at the same time worshipping idols (compare Eze 20:39). It was clandestine in Moses' time, else he would have put it down; he was aware generally of their unfaithfulness, though not knowing the particulars (De 31:21, 27).
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
But - (And) let judgment run down (Literally, “roll” English margin) “like water.” The duties of either table include both; since there is no true love for man without the love of God, nor any real love or duty to God without the love of man. People will exchange their sins for other sins. They will not break them off unless they be converted to God. But the first outward step in conversion, is to break off sin. He bids them then “let judgment,” which had hitherto ever been perverted in its course, “roll on like” a mighty tide of “waters,” sweeping before it all hindrances, obstructed by no power, turned aside by no bribery, but pouring on in one perpetual flow, reaching all, refreshing all, and “righteousness like a mighty (or ceaseless) stream.” The word “ethan” may signify “strong or perennial.” Whence the seventh month, just before the early rain, was called “the month Ethanim 1Ki 8:2, that is, the month of the “perennial streams,” when they alone flowed. In the meaning “perennial,” it would stand tacitly contrasted with “streams which fail or lie.” True righteousness is not fitful, like an intermitting stream, vehement at one time, then disappearing, but continuous, unfailing.
The words behind it
6 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְיִגַּ֥ל | veyigal | and it may roll on | H1556 → | |
| כַּמַּ֖יִם | kamayim | like <the> water | H4325 → | 581 times |
| מִשְׁפָּ֑ט | mishpat | justice | H4941 → | 422 times |
| וּצְדָקָ֖ה | utzedakah | and righteousness | H6666 → | 157 times |
| כְּנַ֥חַל | kenachal | like a wadi | H5158 → | |
| אֵיתָֽן׃ | ʾeitan | ever-flowing | H386 → |
וְיִגַּ֥לand it may roll on
veyigalH1556 →
כַּמַּ֖יִםlike <the> water
kamayimH4325 →581 times
מִשְׁפָּ֑טjustice
mishpatH4941 →422 times
וּצְדָקָ֖הand righteousness
utzedakahH6666 →157 times
כְּנַ֥חַלlike a wadi
kenachalH5158 →
אֵיתָֽן׃ever-flowing
ʾeitanH386 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Micah 6:8He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you but to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?
it leads to
- Proverbs 21:3
To do righteousness and justice is more desirable to the LORD than sacrifice.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Deuteronomy 10:12–13
And now, O Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God by walking in all His ways, to love Him, to serve the LORD your…
- Hosea 6:6
For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Colossians 3:12
Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with hearts of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.
- Jeremiah 22:3
This is what the LORD says: Administer justice and righteousness. Rescue the victim of robbery from the hand of his oppressor. Do no wrong or violence to the foreigner, the fatherless, or the widow.…
- Proverbs 21:3
Through
Hosea 6:6For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.
it leads to
- 1 Samuel 15:22
But Samuel declared: “Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obedience to His voice? Behold, obedience is better than sacrifice, and attentiveness is better than the fat of…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Matthew 9:13
But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
- Matthew 12:7
If only you had known the meaning of ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent.
- 1 Samuel 15:22
Where this verse is studied
By subject
Justice34 verses
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Studies3
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About Amos
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Carl Friedrich Keil, The Twelve Minor Prophets; Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on Amos; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Amos; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.