Amos3

New American Standard

TranslationKJV WEB ASV ESV NIV NASB NKJV NLT

¹Hear this word which the Lord has spoken against you, sons of Israel, against the entire family which He brought up from the land of Egypt:

²“You only have I known among all the families of the earth; Therefore I will punish you for all your wrongdoing.”

³Do two people walk together unless they have agreed to meet?

⁴Does a lion roar in the forest when he has no prey? Does a young lion growl from his den unless he has captured something?

⁵Does a bird fall into a trap on the ground when there is no device in it? Does a trap spring up from the earth when it captures nothing at all?

⁶If a trumpet is blown in a city, will the people not tremble? If a disaster occurs in a city, has the Lord not brought it about?

⁷Certainly the Lord God does nothing Unless He reveals His secret plan To His servants the prophets.

⁸A lion has roared! Who will not fear? The Lord God has spoken! Who can do anything but prophesy?

⁹Proclaim on the citadels in Ashdod and on the citadels in the land of Egypt and say, “Assemble yourselves on the mountains of Samaria and see the great panic within her and the oppressions in her midst.

¹⁰But they do not know how to do what is right,” declares the Lord, “these who store up violence and devastation in their citadels.”

¹¹Therefore, this is what the Lord God says: “An enemy, one surrounding the land, Will take down your fortifications from you, And your citadels will be looted.”

¹²This is what the Lord says: “Just as the shepherd snatches from the lion’s mouth a couple of legs or a piece of an ear, So will the sons of Israel living in Samaria be snatched away— With the corner of a bed and the cover of a couch!

¹³Hear and testify against the house of Jacob,” Declares the Lord God, the God of armies.

¹⁴“For on the day that I punish Israel’s offenses, I will also punish the altars of Bethel; The horns of the altar will be cut off, And will fall to the ground.

¹⁵I will also strike the winter house together with the summer house; The houses of ivory will also perish, And the great houses will come to an end,” Declares the Lord.

Study Guide

Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Amos 3.

Full AI study →

Chapter Summary

In this chapter: Judgments against Israel. (1–8). The like to other nations. (9–15).

vv1-8

The distinguishing favours of God to us, if they do not restrain from sin, shall not exempt from punishment. They could not expect communion with God, unless they first sought peace with him. Where there is not friendship, there can be no fellowship. God and man cannot walk together, except they are agreed. Unless we seek his glory, we cannot walk with him. Let us not presume on outward privileges, without special, sanctifying grace. The threatenings of the word and providence of God against the sin of man are certain, and certainly show that the judgments of God are at hand. Nor will God remove the affliction he has sent, till it has done its work. The evil of sin is from ourselves, it is our own doing; but the evil of trouble is from God, and is his doing, whoever are the instruments. This should engage us patiently to bear public troubles, and to study to answer God's meaning in them. The whole of the passage shows that natural evil, or troubles, and not moral evil, or sin, is here meant. The warning given to a careless world will increase its condemnation another day. Oh the amazing stupidity of an unbelieving world, that will not be wrought upon by the terrors of the Lord, and that despise his mercies!

vv9-15

That power which is an instrument of unrighteousness, will justly be brought down and broken. What is got and kept wrongfully, will not be kept long. Some are at ease, but there will come a day of visitation, and in that day, all they are proud of, and put confidence in, shall fail them. God will inquire into the sins of which they have been guilty in their houses, the robbery they have stored up, and the luxury in which they lived. The pomp and pleasantness of men's houses, do not fortify against God's judgments, but make sufferings the more grievous and vexatious. Yet a remnant, according to the election of grace, will be secured by our great and good Shepherd, as from the jaws of destruction, in the worst times.

Key Words

HearH8085Hebrew

שָׁמַע: to hear intelligently (often with implication of attention, obedience, etc.; causatively, to tell, etc.)

wordH1697Hebrew

דָּבָר: a word; by implication, a matter (as spoken of) or thing; adverbially, a cause

spokenH1696Hebrew

דָבַר: perhaps properly, to arrange; but used figuratively (of words), to speak; rarely (in a destructive sense) to subdue

peopleH1121Hebrew

בֵּן: a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etc., (like father or brother), etc.)

IsraelH3478Hebrew

יִשְׂרָאֵל: Jisrael, a symbolical name of Jacob; also (typically) of his posterity

familyH4940Hebrew

מִשְׁפָּחָה: a family, i.e. circle of relatives; figuratively, a class (of persons), a species (of animals) or sort (of things); by extension a tribe or people

brought upH5927Hebrew

עָלָה: to ascend, intransitively (be high) or actively (mount); used in a great variety of senses, primary and secondary, literal and figurative

landH776Hebrew

אֶרֶץ: the earth (at large, or partitively a land)

EgyptH4714Hebrew

מִצְרַיִם: Mitsrajim, i.e. Upper and Lower Egypt

onlyH7535Hebrew

רַק: properly, leanness, i.e. (figuratively) limitation; only adverbial, merely, or conjunctional, although