Verse Lens · Concise explanation
Amos 5:23 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 23. 23Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs; for I will not hear the melody of thy viols.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
This verse commands removal of songs and refuses the melody of instruments as unwanted noise.
Read It With
- Amos 5:21-24
Read Amos 5:23 with 5:21-24. This verse commands removal of songs and refuses the melody of instruments as unwanted noise. The complete unit establishes this movement: God rejects Israel's lavish worship because it is severed from justice; the positive demand is not one dramatic act but judgment and righteousness flowing with the persistence of a perennial stream.
Why This Verse Appears Here
The unit is the cult-and-justice climax: worship cannot drown out exploited people's claims, while justice must become durable public reality. Within that movement, this verse commands removal of songs and refuses the melody of instruments as unwanted noise.
What Remains True
Beautiful worship cannot drown out injustice.
How It Can Shape Life
- Evaluate music and production in relation to wages, safeguarding, and truth.
Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Amos 5:21-24 — Rejected Worship and the Demand for Rolling JusticeSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? strong
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 5:21-24, 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, 5:21-24
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 5:21-24
Open source ↗