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Amos 5:3-13

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3 For the Lord God says: The city that marches out a thousand [strong] will have [only] a hundred left, and the one that marches out a hundred [strong] will have [only] ten left in the house of Israel.

Seek God and Live

4 For the Lord says to the house of Israel: Seek Me and live!
5 Do not seek Bethel or go to Gilgal or journey to Beer-sheba, for Gilgal will certainly go into exile, and Bethel will come to nothing.
6 Seek Yahweh and live, or He will spread like fire[a] [throughout] the house of Joseph; it will consume [everything,] with no one at Bethel to extinguish it.[b]
7 Those who turn justice into wormwood[c] throw righteousness to the ground.
8 The One who made the Pleiades and Orion,[d] who turns darkness[e] into dawn[f] and darkens day into night,[g] who summons the waters of the sea and pours them out over the face of the earth[h]- Yahweh is His name.
9 He brings destruction[i] on the strong,[j] and it falls on the stronghold.
10 They hate the one who convicts [the guilty] at the city gate and despise the one who speaks with integrity.
11 Therefore, because you trample on the poor and exact a grain tax from him, you will never live in the houses of cut stone you have built; you will never drink the wine from the lush vineyards you have planted.[k]
12 For I know your crimes are many and your sins innumerable. They oppress the righteous, take a bribe, and deprive the poor of justice at the gates.
13 Therefore, the wise person will keep silent at such a time, for the days are evil.
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Amos 5:3-13 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO AMOS 5

In this chapter the prophet exhorts Israel to hear his lamentation over them for their impending ruin, Am 5:1-3; nevertheless to seek the Lord, and all that is good; to forsake their idols, and repent of their sins, in hopes of finding mercy, and living comfortably; or otherwise they must expect the wrath of God for their iniquities, especially their oppression of the poor, Am 5:4-15; otherwise it would be a time of weeping and wailing, of darkness and distress, however they might harden or flatter themselves, or make a jest of it, Am 5:16-20; for all their sacrifices and ceremonial worship would signify nothing, so long as they continued their idolatry with them Am 5:21-26; and therefore should surely go into captivity, Am 5:27.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible
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Footnotes 11

  • [a] Dt 4:24; 32:22; Heb 12:29
  • [b] Isa 33:14; 66:24; Jr 4:4
  • [c] Am 6:12
  • [d] Jb 9:9; 38:31
  • [e] Or turns the shadow of death
  • [f] Am 4:13; Gn 1:2-3; Jb 38:12
  • [g] Am 8:9
  • [h] Jb 36:27-30
  • [i] Hb obscure
  • [j] Or stronghold
  • [k] Dt 28:30; Mc 6:15; Zph 1:13
Holman Christian Standard Bible ® Copyright © 2003, 2002, 2000, 1999 by Holman Bible Publishers.  Used by permission.  All rights reserved.

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