Bible Strands
Amos 5:24
But let justice roll on like a river, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Amos speaks to the house of Israel, bracketed by God's rejection of their songs (v. 23) and wilderness sacrifices (v. 25). The verse is the pivot: what God actually demands instead of ritual.
The words — yi.Gal (יִגָּל) is jussive, "may it roll on," a divine demand rather than a suggestion. Na.chal (נַחַל) is a wadi — a dry creek bed that becomes a torrent — not the "ever-flowing stream" the BSB renders, which sharpens the image from gentle constancy to sudden, overwhelming force.
The thread — Micah 6:8 distills the same demand into three verbs; Jeremiah 22:3 pairs justice and righteousness as the LORD's explicit command; Proverbs 21:3 ranks them above sacrifice.
Why it lands — It removes the option of treating justice as a supplement to worship; it is the worship. A reader who prays but does not act justly has, by this verse, already been told "I will not listen."
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream.
Cross-references
- Micah 6:8 He 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?
- 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. Do not shed innocent blood in this place.
- Proverbs 21:3 To do righteousness and justice is more desirable to the LORD than sacrifice.
- Hosea 6:6 For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.
- Mark 12:32 “Right, Teacher,” the scribe replied. “You have stated correctly that God is One and there is no other but Him,
- Amos 5:14 Seek good, not evil, so that you may live. And the LORD, the God of Hosts, will be with you, as you have claimed.
- Job 29:12 because I rescued the poor who cried out and the fatherless who had no helper.
- Amos 5:7 There are those who turn justice into wormwood and cast righteousness to the ground.