Instead, I want to see a mighty flood of justice, an endless river of righteous living.
Parallel translations
- WEB But let justice roll on like rivers, and righteousness like a mighty stream.
- KJV But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream.
- BSB But let justice roll on like a river, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
- NKJV But let justice run down like water, And righteousness like a mighty stream.
- NASB “But let justice roll out like waters, And righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
In place of empty ritual, God wants justice and righteousness flowing continually like a powerful, ever-running river. This is the heart of what true devotion looks like.
Overview
This famous verse contrasts the trickle of hollow worship with the mighty, unceasing stream God desires: justice and righteousness as the constant character of his people. It is not a rejection of worship itself but a demand that worship overflow into just living. Christ embodies perfect righteousness and, by his Spirit, makes his people channels of the justice God seeks.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Mic 6:8He has shown you, O man, what is good. What does Yahweh require of you, but to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?
- Jer 22:3Yahweh says: “Execute justice and righteousness, and deliver him who is robbed out of the hand of the oppressor. Do no wrong. Do no violence, to the foreigner, the fatherless, nor the widow; neither shed innocent blood in this place.
- Prov 21:3To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to Yahweh than sacrifice.
- Hos 6:6For I desire mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.
- Mark 12:32–34The scribe said to him, “Truly, teacher, you have said well that he is one, and there is none other but he,
- Amos 5:14–15Seek good, and not evil, that you may live; and so Yahweh, the God of Armies, will be with you, as you say.
- Amos 5:7You who turn justice to wormwood, and cast down righteousness to the earth:
- Job 29:12–17Because I delivered the poor who cried, and the fatherless also, who had no one to help him,
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Commentaries & study tools
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Christ at the center
Amid judgment on injustice, Amos promises the raising up of David's fallen tent — read by James in Acts 15 as the ingathering of the nations into the kingdom of the risen Christ.
How Amos 5:24 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.