Amos 7:17

17 “Therefore this is what the LORD says: “ ‘Your wife will become a prostitute in the city, and your sons and daughters will fall by the sword. Your land will be measured and divided up, and you yourself will die in a pagan^[a] country. And Israel will surely go into exile, away from their native land.’ ”

Amos 7:17 in Other Translations

17 Therefore thus saith the LORD; Thy wife shall be an harlot in the city, and thy sons and thy daughters shall fall by the sword, and thy land shall be divided by line; and thou shalt die in a polluted land: and Israel shall surely go into captivity forth of his land.

17 Therefore thus says the LORD: "'Your wife shall be a prostitute in the city, and your sons and your daughters shall fall by the sword, and your land shall be divided up with a measuring line; you yourself shall die in an unclean land, and Israel shall surely go into exile away from its land.'"

17 But this is what the LORD says: ‘Your wife will become a prostitute in this city, and your sons and daughters will be killed. Your land will be divided up, and you yourself will die in a foreign land. And the people of Israel will certainly become captives in exile, far from their homeland.’”

17 But here's what God is telling you: Your wife will become a whore in town. Your children will get killed. Your land will be auctioned off. You will die homeless and friendless. And Israel will be hauled off to exile, far from home."

17 therefore thus saith Jehovah: Thy wife shall be a harlot in the city, and thy sons and thy daughters shall fall by the sword, and thy land shall be divided by line; and thou thyself shalt die in a land that is unclean, and Israel shall surely be led away captive out of his land.

17 "However, this is what the LORD says: Your wife will become a prostitute in the city, and your sons and daughters will be killed with swords. Your land will be surveyed and divided up, and you will die in an unclean land. Israel cannot avoid being taken from its land into exile."

17 Therefore, this is what the Lord says: Your wife will be a prostitute in the city, your sons and daughters will fall by the sword, and your land will be divided up with a measuring line. You yourself will die on pagan soil, and Israel will certainly go into exile from its homeland.

17 "But the LORD says, " 'Your wife will become a prostitute in the city of Bethel. Your sons and daughters will be killed with swords. Your land will be measured and divided up. And you yourself will die in another country. The people of Israel will be taken away as prisoners. They will be carried off from their own land.' "

Amos 7:17 Meaning and Commentary

Amos 7:17

Therefore thus saith the Lord
For withstanding the prophet of the Lord, and forbidding him to speak in his name against the idolatry of Israel, as well as for his own idolatry: thy wife shall be an harlot in the city:
either of Bethel or Samaria; either through force, being ravished by the soldiers upon taking and plundering the city; so Theodoret and others: or rather of choice; either, through poverty, to get bread, or through a vicious inclination, and that in a public manner: the meaning is, that she should be a common strumpet; which must be a great affliction to him, and a just punishment for his idolatry, or spiritual adultery; this must be before the siege and taking of Samaria, since by that time the priest's wife would be too old to be used as a harlot: and thy sons and thy daughters shall fall by the sword;
either of Shallum, who smote Zachariah the son of Jeroboam with the sword, before the people, and very probably many of his friends with him, among whom this family was; or of Menahem, who slew Shallum, and destroyed many places that opened not to him, with their inhabitants, and ripped up the women with child; or in the after invasions by Pul, Tiglathpileser, and Shalmaneser, ( 2 Kings 15:10 2 Kings 15:14 2 Kings 15:16 2 Kings 15:19 2 Kings 15:29 ) ( 2 Kings 17:5 2 Kings 17:6 ) ; and thy land shall be divided by line;
either the whole land of Israel be lived in, or the land that was in the possession of this priest, and was his own property; this should be measured with a line, and be parted among foreigners, that should invade the land, and subdue it; a just punishment of the sins he had been guilty of, in getting large possessions in an ill manner: and thou shall die in a polluted land;
not in his own land, reckoned holy, but in a Heathen land, which was accounted defiled, because the inhabitants of it were uncircumcised and idolaters, and he was no better; perhaps the land of Assyria, whither he might with others be carried captive; or some other land he was forced to flee into: and Israel shall surely go into captivity forth of his land;
as he had before prophesied, and here confirms it; and which was fulfilled in the times of Hoshea king of Israel, by Shalmaneser king of Assyria, ( 2 Kings 17:6 ) .

Amos 7:17 In-Context

15 But the LORD took me from tending the flock and said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’

16 Now then, hear the word of the LORD. You say, “ ‘Do not prophesy against Israel, and stop preaching against the descendants of Isaac.’

17 “Therefore this is what the LORD says: “ ‘Your wife will become a prostitute in the city, and your sons and daughters will fall by the sword. Your land will be measured and divided up, and you yourself will die in a pagan country. And Israel will surely go into exile, away from their native land.’ ”

Cross References

• 1. S Hosea 4:13
• 2. S Amos 5:27
• 3. S 2 Kings 17:6; S Ezekiel 4:13; S Hosea 9:3; Amos 2:12-13

Footnotes

• [a]. Hebrew "an unclean"