Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
Amos 5:15 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 15. 15Hate 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.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
This verse commands hatred of evil, love of good, gate justice, and preserves hope with 'it may be' for Joseph's remnant.
Read It With
- Amos 5:14-15
Read Amos 5:15 with 5:14-15. This verse commands hatred of evil, love of good, gate justice, and preserves hope with 'it may be' for Joseph's remnant. The complete unit establishes this movement: Seeking the LORD takes social form: seek and love good, hate evil, and establish justice at the gate; even then hope for Joseph's remnant is expressed as 'it may be,' not a controllable guarantee.
Why This Verse Appears Here
The appeal answers each gate failure with concrete moral direction while preserving divine freedom and uncertainty about the remnant. Within that movement, this verse commands hatred of evil, love of good, gate justice, and preserves hope with 'it may be' for Joseph's remnant.
Follow the Context
- Seek good rather than evil so that life follows.
- Divine presence is corrected from assumption to accountable hope.
- Hate evil, love good, and establish justice at the gate.
- Perhaps the LORD will be gracious to Joseph's remnant.
Phrase-by-Phrase Explanation
“it may be that the LORD God of hosts will be gracious”
In plain language: The hope of grace is deliberately expressed without a mechanical guarantee.
commands hatred of evil, love of good, gate justice, and preserves hope with 'it may be' for Joseph's remnant. Institutional justice belongs with humble hope, not leverage over grace.
Why it matters: The wording carries interpretive or ethical risk that requires the complete unit and stated limits.
How certain? probableWhat This Verse Is Not Saying
Hating evil does not authorize hatred or violence against people, and the remnant is not a modern party or secret elite.
What Remains True
Institutional justice belongs with humble hope, not leverage over grace.
How It Can Shape Life
- Reform unjust gates because it is good while acknowledging outcomes are not controlled.
Teach It Back
Explain Amos 5:15's contribution to Amos 5:14-15: commands hatred of evil, love of good, gate justice, and preserves hope with 'it may be' for Joseph's remnant. Include what the surrounding verses add, the stated uncertainty, and what this verse does not authorize.
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Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Amos 5:14-15 — Seek Good and Establish Justice in the GateSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? probable
Where care is needed
The force of 'perhaps' and the identity and horizon of Joseph's remnant remain discussed.
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact reader-facing Scripture wording, paragraph markers, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage.
Exact location: Amos 5:14-15, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Amos
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording, morphology, clause relationships, wordplays, names, and the base text behind translation discussion.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Amos.xml, 5:14-15
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible: Amos with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006
Supports: Verse-level translation, syntax, textual, literary, historical, and uncertainty notes.
Exact location: NET Bible Amos PDF, printed pp. 1713-1716, translation and notes on 5:14-15
Open source ↗