Amos 9:1-4

Fifth Vision: The Lord beside the Altar

1 I saw the Lord standing beside the altar, and He said: Strike the capitals of the pillars so that the thresholds shake; knock them down on the heads of all the people. Then I will kill the rest of them with the sword. None of those who flee will get away; none of their fugitives will escape.
2 If they dig down to Sheol, from there My hand will take them; if they climb up to heaven, from there I will bring them down.
3 If they hide themselves on the top of Carmel, from there I will track them down and seize them; if they conceal themselves from My sight on the sea floor,[a] from there I will command the [sea] serpent to bite them.
4 And if they are driven by their enemies into captivity, from there I will command the sword to kill them.[b] I will fix My eyes on them for harm and not for good.[c]

Amos 9:1-4 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO AMOS 9

This chapter contains the fifth and last vision the prophet saw; which represents the certain desolation of the land, city, and temple, and the slaughter of all sorts of persons, high and low, none should escape it, Am 9:1; be they where they would, they should be found out, whether in hell or heaven, on the tops of the highest mountains, or in the bottom of the sea, or in a foreign land, since the eyes of the Lord were upon them for evil, Am 9:2-4; nor could they hope to escape, when they considered his greatness and his power, and what he could do, and had done; and how they had behaved towards him, even though they were the people he had brought out of Egypt, Am 9:5-7; but though the sinful kingdom should be destroyed, yet not utterly, a remnant should be saved, Am 9:8-10; and the chapter is concluded with gracious promises of raising up the tabernacle of David fallen down, and of the return of the people of Israel to their own land; and of their settlement and continuance in it, never more to depart from it, Am 9:11-15.

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