Amos 9:10

"All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, who say, the evil shall not overtake nor meet us."

Here again is reaffirmed the constant thesis of Amos that the two secular kingdoms, which were evil, shall surely fail, and the kingdoms shall be wiped off the face of the earth. The "not utterly destroy" of the previous verse (Amos 9:8b) is not a denial of this, but an indication of a different fate for the "righteous remnant," in keeping with God's eternal purpose. There are two things in these verses that must be differentiated, the "kernel" and the "sinful kingdom," the great burden of the prophecy being directed against the latter.