Jump to a verse
Amos 9:5-6, King James Version
Italic words were supplied in the English translation for clarity.
Amos 9:5-6
The LORD of Hosts Rules Land, Heavens, and Sea
The Lord GOD of hosts who toucheth the land
The judge of the altar vision is identified by a hymn. The Lord GOD of hosts touches the land and it melts; all that dwell therein mourn. It rises and sinks like the flood of Egypt. Nile imagery makes earth movement vivid. Proposed earthquake or flood referents remain uncertain.
The hymn does not provide a scientific cross-section of heaven, earth, oceans, earthquakes, or climate. Divine control of waters does not prove that a modern flood or tsunami targeted its victims as punishment.
Stories in the heaven, a troop in the earth
He buildeth his stories in the heaven and hath founded his troop in the earth. "Stories" likely means upper chambers or ascents, not narratives. "Troop" renders a rare term variously understood as vault, structure, or gathered mass. He calleth for the waters of the sea and poureth them out upon the earth: The LORD is his name.
Creator hymns in 4:13 and 5:8-9 share this sovereignty. It supports both judgment and, soon, restoration. Cosmic power does not authorize rulers or believers to claim unlimited power over land and sea.
How this should shape us
Use scientific evidence and disaster care humbly rather than claiming privileged access to providential causes. Confess the Creator without turning poetry into a diagram or a storm into a named divine target. Human systems operate within a creation they neither own nor fully control.
Teach it back
Explain Amos 9:5-6 in your own words. Include its place in Amos's judgment-restoration movement, one material uncertainty, and one use the context rules out.
Your explanation stays in this browser. It is not sent or saved.
Go deeper
The explanation above is meant to stand on its own. Open these notes only if you want language, history, disagreements, or source locations.
Where careful interpreters disagreeThe strongest options and their difficulties
Where do careful interpreters disagree?
Best judgment: The rare building terms, Nile image, hymn's compositional history, and possible event referents are disputed; cosmic sovereignty is explicit.
How certain? probableResearch trail and exact locationsThe source record behind this section
Supports: Exact reader-facing Scripture wording, paragraph markers, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage.
Amos 9:5-6, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording, morphology, clause relationships, wordplays, names, and the base text behind translation discussion.
Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Amos.xml, 9:5-6
Supports: Verse-level translation, syntax, textual, literary, historical, and uncertainty notes.
NET Bible Amos PDF, printed pp. 1721-1722, translation and notes on 9:5-6
Supports: Whole-book movement, eighth-century horizon, literary boundaries, composition, and verse-level alternatives.
Dines, 'Amos,' Oxford Bible Commentary, printed pp. 588-589, discussion of 9:5-6
Sources for This Section
These records identify the source, the claim it supports, and the exact location used. A source remains evidence to evaluate; it does not replace the biblical text.
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 9:5-6, 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, 9:5-6
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. 1721-1722, translation and notes on 9:5-6
Open source ↗modern critical commentary
Amos
Jennifer M. Dines
Oxford University Press, in The Oxford Bible Commentary, 2001
Supports: Whole-book movement, eighth-century horizon, literary boundaries, composition, and verse-level alternatives.
Exact location: Dines, 'Amos,' Oxford Bible Commentary, printed pp. 588-589, discussion of 9:5-6
Open source ↗