Amos 5:24

"But let justice roll down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream."

There are two things commanded here: (1) let justice be done, and (2) return to the commandments and ordinances of God. It was not merely the proper regard for the poor and needy that God wanted, as in (1); but it was also a return to true worship which was required by the admonition in (2). Most of the commentators have failed to recognize what is implied by the Biblical usage of the word righteousness. It has no reference at all to a proper regard for the poor and oppressed, that having been covered in the previous clause; but it means "have the proper regard for the commandments and ordinances" of God, as indicated in Luke 1:6, and in Psalms 119:172.