Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
Amos 9:6 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 6. 6It is he that buildeth his stories in the heaven, and hath founded his troop in the earth; he that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth: The LORD is his name.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
This verse describes heavenly upper chambers and an earth-founded structure, sea waters summoned over earth, and the name LORD.
Read It With
- Amos 9:5-6
Read Amos 9:6 with 9:5-6. This verse describes heavenly upper chambers and an earth-founded structure, sea waters summoned over earth, and the name LORD. The complete unit establishes this movement: The judge in the altar vision is the cosmic sovereign whose touch moves land, whose structure spans heaven and earth, and whose call directs sea waters.
Why This Verse Appears Here
The hymn grounds comprehensive judgment in creation authority before the argument reopens questions of election, nations, and preservation. Within that movement, this verse describes heavenly upper chambers and an earth-founded structure, sea waters summoned over earth, and the name LORD.
Follow the Context
- The Lord GOD of hosts touches land so it melts and mourns.
- The land rises and sinks like Egypt's river.
- Heavenly chambers and an earth-founded structure are built.
- Sea waters are summoned over earth, and the name LORD closes the hymn.
Phrase-by-Phrase Explanation
“buildeth his stories in the heaven”
In plain language: Older English 'stories' refers to upper chambers or levels, not narratives.
describes heavenly upper chambers and an earth-founded structure, sea waters summoned over earth, and the name LORD. Creation is ordered by the LORD beyond human ownership or full comprehension.
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
The KJV's stories and troop do not provide a modern scientific diagram or authorize dominion without limits.
What Remains True
Creation is ordered by the LORD beyond human ownership or full comprehension.
How It Can Shape Life
- Approach cosmology and environmental power with humility.
Teach It Back
Explain Amos 9:6's contribution to Amos 9:5-6: describes heavenly upper chambers and an earth-founded structure, sea waters summoned over earth, and the name LORD. 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 9:5-6 — The LORD of Hosts Rules Land, Heavens, and SeaSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? probable
Where care is needed
The rare architectural terms are materially uncertain.
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 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 ↗