Amos — Chapter 3
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1Hear this word that the LORD has spoken against you, O children of Israel, against the whole family that I brought up out of the land of Egypt:
2“Only you have I known from all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.”
3Can two walk together without agreeing where to go?
4Does a lion roar in the forest when he has no prey? Does a young lion growl in his den if he has caught nothing?
5Does a bird land in a snare where no bait has been set? Does a trap spring from the ground when it has nothing to catch?
6If a ram’s horn sounds in a city, do the people not tremble? If calamity comes to a city, has not the LORD caused it?
7Surely the Lord GOD does nothing without revealing His plan to His servants the prophets.
8The lion has roared—who will not fear? The Lord GOD has spoken—who will not prophesy?
9Proclaim to the citadels of Ashdod and to the citadels of Egypt: “Assemble on the mountains of Samaria; see the great unrest in the city and the acts of oppression in her midst.”
10“For they know not how to do right,” declares the LORD. “They store up violence and destruction in their citadels.”
11Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: “An enemy will surround the land; he will pull down your strongholds and plunder your citadels.”
12This is what the LORD says: “As the shepherd snatches from the mouth of the lion two legs or a piece of an ear, so the Israelites dwelling in Samaria will be rescued having just the corner of a bed or the cushion of a couch.
13Hear and testify against the house of Jacob, declares the Lord GOD, the God of Hosts.
14On the day I punish Israel for their transgressions, I will visit destruction on the altars of Bethel; the horns of the altar will be cut off, and they will fall to the ground.
15I will tear down the winter house along with the summer house; the houses of ivory will also perish, and the great houses will come to an end,” declares the LORD.
1Hear this word that the LORD hath spoken against you, O children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up from the land of Egypt, saying,
2You only have I known of all the families of the earth: therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.
3Can two walk together, except they be agreed?
4Will a lion roar in the forest, when he hath no prey? will a young lion cry out of his den, if he have taken nothing?
5Can a bird fall in a snare upon the earth, where no gin is for him? shall one take up a snare from the earth, and have taken nothing at all?
6Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? shall there be evil in a city, and the LORD hath not done it?
7Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.
8The lion hath roared, who will not fear? the Lord GOD hath spoken, who can but prophesy?
9Publish in the palaces at Ashdod, and in the palaces in the land of Egypt, and say, Assemble yourselves upon the mountains of Samaria, and behold the great tumults in the midst thereof, and the oppressed in the midst thereof.
10For they know not to do right, saith the LORD, who store up violence and robbery in their palaces.
11Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; An adversary there shall be even round about the land; and he shall bring down thy strength from thee, and thy palaces shall be spoiled.
12Thus saith the LORD; As the shepherd taketh out of the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear; so shall the children of Israel be taken out that dwell in Samaria in the corner of a bed, and in Damascus in a couch.
13Hear ye, and testify in the house of Jacob, saith the Lord GOD, the God of hosts,
14That in the day that I shall visit the transgressions of Israel upon him I will also visit the altars of Bethel: and the horns of the altar shall be cut off, and fall to the ground.
15And I will smite the winter house with the summer house; and the houses of ivory shall perish, and the great houses shall have an end, saith the LORD.
1Hear this word that Jehovah hath spoken against you, O children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up out of the land of Egypt, saying,
2You only have I known of all the families of the earth: therefore I will visit upon you all your iniquities.
3Shall two walk together, except they have agreed?
4Will a lion roar in the forest, when he hath no prey? will a young lion cry out of his den, if he have taken nothing?
5Can a bird fall in a snare upon the earth, where no gin is [set] for him? shall a snare spring up from the ground, and have taken nothing at all?
6Shall the trumpet be blown in a city, and the people not be afraid? shall evil befall a city, and Jehovah hath not done it?
7Surely the Lord Jehovah will do nothing, except he reveal his secret unto his servants the prophets.
8The lion hath roared; who will not fear? The Lord Jehovah hath spoken; who can but prophesy?
9Publish ye in the palaces at Ashdod, and in the palaces in the land of Egypt, and say, Assemble yourselves upon the mountains of Samaria, and behold what great tumults are therein, and what oppressions in the midst thereof.
10For they know not to do right, saith Jehovah, who store up violence and robbery in their palaces.
11Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: An adversary [there shall be], even round about the land; and he shall bring down thy strength from thee, and thy palaces shall be plundered.
12Thus saith Jehovah: As the shepherd rescueth out of the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear, so shall the children of Israel be rescued that sit in Samaria in the corner of a couch, and on the silken cushions of a bed.
13Hear ye, and testify against the house of Jacob, saith the Lord Jehovah, the God of hosts.
14For in the day that I shall visit the transgressions of Israel upon him, I will also visit the altars of Beth-el; and the horns of the altar shall be cut off, and fall to the ground.
15And I will smite the winter-house with the summer-house; and the houses of ivory shall perish, and the great houses shall have an end, saith Jehovah.
1Listen, you Israelites, to this message that the Lord is proclaiming against you! This message is for the entire clan I brought up from the land of Egypt:
2“I have chosen you alone from all the clans of the earth. Therefore I will punish you for all your sins.”
3Do two walk together without having met?
4Does a lion roar in the woods if he has not cornered his prey? Does a young lion bellow from his den if he has not caught something?
5Does a bird swoop down into a trap on the ground if there is no bait? Does a trap spring up from the ground unless it has surely caught something?
6If an alarm sounds in a city, do people not fear? If disaster overtakes a city, is the Lord not responsible?
7Certainly the Sovereign Lord does nothing without first revealing his plan to his servants the prophets.
8A lion has roared! Who is not afraid? The Sovereign Lord has spoken. Who can refuse to prophesy?
9Make this announcement in the fortresses of Ashdod and in the fortresses in the land of Egypt. Say this: “Gather on the hills around Samaria! Observe the many acts of violence taking place within the city, the oppressive deeds occurring in it.”
10“They do not know how to do what is right,” the Lord says. “They store up the spoils of destructive violence in their fortresses.
11Therefore,” says the Sovereign Lord, “an enemy will encircle the land. He will take away your power; your fortresses will be looted.”
12This is what the Lord says: “Just as a shepherd salvages from the lion’s mouth a couple of leg bones or a piece of an ear, so the Israelites who live in Samaria will be salvaged. They will be left with just a corner of a bed, and a part of a couch.
13Listen and warn the family of Jacob!” The Sovereign Lord, the God who commands armies, is speaking!
14“Certainly when I punish Israel for their covenant transgressions, I will destroy Bethel’s altars. The horns of the altar will be cut off and fall to the ground.
15I will destroy both the winter and summer houses. The houses filled with ivory will be ruined; the great houses will be swept away.” The Lord is speaking!
1Hear this word that Yahweh has spoken against you, children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up out of the land of Egypt, saying:
2“I have only chosen you of all the families of the earth. Therefore I will punish you for all of your sins.”
3Do two walk together, unless they have agreed?
4Will a lion roar in the thicket, when he has no prey? Does a young lion cry out of his den, if he has caught nothing?
5Can a bird fall in a trap on the earth, where no snare is set for him? Does a snare spring up from the ground, when there is nothing to catch?
6Does the trumpet alarm sound in a city, without the people being afraid? Does evil happen to a city, and Yahweh hasn’t done it?
7Surely the Lord Yahweh will do nothing, unless he reveals his secret to his servants the prophets.
8The lion has roared. Who will not fear? The Lord Yahweh has spoken. Who can but prophesy?
9Proclaim in the palaces at Ashdod, and in the palaces in the land of Egypt, and say, “Assemble yourselves on the mountains of Samaria, and see what unrest is in her, and what oppression is among them.”
10“Indeed they don’t know to do right,” says Yahweh, “Who hoard plunder and loot in their palaces.”
11Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: “An adversary will overrun the land; and he will pull down your strongholds, and your fortresses will be plundered.”
12Yahweh says: “As the shepherd rescues out of the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear, so shall the children of Israel be rescued who sit in Samaria on the corner of a couch, and on the silken cushions of a bed.”
13“Listen, and testify against the house of Jacob,” says the Lord Yahweh, the God of Armies.
14“For in the day that I visit the transgressions of Israel on him, I will also visit the altars of Bethel; and the horns of the altar will be cut off, and fall to the ground.
15I will strike the winter house with the summer house; and the houses of ivory will perish, and the great houses will have an end,” says Yahweh.
Summary
God declares that Israel's unique relationship with Him brings greater accountability, not exemption, so He will punish all their sins (v. 2). A series of rhetorical questions establishes that effects have causes — two do not walk together unless agreed, a lion does not roar without prey — building to the point that when the LORD speaks, the prophet must speak also (vv. 3-8). Amos summons surrounding nations to witness the chaos and oppression within Samaria (vv. 9-10), and pronounces that an enemy will surround the land, plunder its fortresses, and topple its winter and summer houses, sparing only a small remnant, like a shepherd rescuing a couple of bones from a lion's mouth (vv. 11-15).
Authorship & Background
Map & Geography
- Egypt (v.1, v.9): Land to the southwest; place of Israel's bondage and exodus.
- Samaria (v.9, v.12): Central region between Judea and Galilee; mixed Jewish-Gentile population.
- Damascus (v.12): Ancient Syrian city; site of Paul's conversion.
- Bethel (v.14): City north of Jerusalem; site of Jacob's dream.
Places on this map
- EgyptEgyptA ribbon of irrigated land along the Nile, ending in the Delta where Israel settled in Goshen. Rain-fed Canaan depended on weather; Egypt depended on a river that flooded on schedule, which made it the place everyone went when the harvest failed. Wikipedia
- SamariaSebastia, West BankOmri bought a bare hill and built a capital on it, which gave the northern kingdom a fortress with no prior claim on it, the same calculation David made with Jerusalem. It commands the pass west toward the coastal plain. The name later spread to the whole region between Galilee and Judea. Wikipedia
- Galileenorthern IsraelThe northern hill country above the Jezreel Valley, wetter and greener than Judah and crossed by the trade road to Damascus. That traffic is why Judeans considered it mixed and provincial, and why Jesus grew up hearing more than one language. Wikipedia
- DamascusDamascus, SyriaAn oasis city where the Barada river runs out of the Anti-Lebanon into the desert, about 135 miles north-east of Jerusalem. It sat astride the caravan roads to Mesopotamia and Arabia, which made Aram rich and made it Israel's most persistent northern rival. Wikipedia
- BethelBeitin, West BankA ridge-road town about 11 miles north of Jerusalem, where Jacob dreamed of the stairway and named the place house of God. Jeroboam later put one of his two golden calves here precisely because pilgrims already came. Wikipedia
- JerusalemJerusalemA hill town about 2,500 feet up in the central spine of Judah, roughly 35 miles inland from the Mediterranean and 15 miles west of the Jordan. It sits on no trade route and has no river, which is why it mattered as a fortress and a sanctuary rather than as a market. Wikipedia
- Judeasouthern Israel and the West BankThe southern hill country around Jerusalem, high, stony and dry, with the wilderness on one side and the Philistine plain on the other. Poor farming and hard access are what let it stay independent longest. Wikipedia
- AramSyriaThe Syrian interior north-east of Israel, a set of city-states rather than one kingdom, with Damascus the strongest. Aramaic, its language, became the everyday speech of the whole region including Judea. Wikipedia
Towns sit on their excavated or traditional site. Regions, rivers and seas are ringed rather than dotted, because for those a single point is only an anchor. Coastlines from Natural Earth.
Commentary
- Enduring Word (David Guzik): enduringword.com Verse-by-verse commentary on this chapter, written for the everyday reader and freely available online.
- Jamieson-Fausset-Brown (1871): blueletterbible.org A critical and explanatory commentary on the whole Bible, more concise than Matthew Henry and closer to the Hebrew and Greek, with attention to historical and geographical detail. Public domain.
- Matthew Henry's Exposition (1710): blueletterbible.org A devotional verse-by-verse commentary in the Puritan tradition, still among the most widely read three centuries on. Public domain.
Videos
Articles
- GotQuestions.org: gotquestions.org On the whole book: an overview of the book of Amos -- who wrote it, when, why, and how it fits the rest of Scripture.
Links open on the publisher's own site. Nothing here is reproduced on this page.
Reflection
- Privilege Exposes, It Doesn't Protect (v.2) — God says that because Israel alone was chosen and known by Him, they alone would be held accountable for their sin. How might you be assuming that your faith background or spiritual advantages shield you rather than raise the bar for you?
- Agreement Must Come Before Fellowship (v.3) — Amos asks how two can walk together unless they agree, implying that closeness with God requires walking in the same direction as Him. Where has your direction quietly drifted from His, breaking the fellowship without you noticing?
- God Warns Before He Acts (v.7) — God reveals that He does nothing without first revealing His plan to His prophets, meaning judgment never falls without warning. What warning or conviction have you been sensing lately that you've been putting off responding to?
- Storing Up Violence in Palaces of Plenty (v.10) — Israel's wealthy no longer even know how to do right, filling their houses with violence and plunder instead of justice. Where might comfort and success be numbing your ability to recognize what's wrong?