Amos 8:11-14

11 “Behold, the days are coming, ” declares the Lord God, “when ¹I will send a famine on the land—not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, ²but of hearing the words of the Lord.

12 ³They shall wander from sea to sea, and from north to east; they shall run to and fro, to seek the word of the Lord, ⁴but they shall not find it.

13 ⁵“In that day the lovely virgins and the young men shall ⁶faint for thirst.

14 Those who swear by ⁷the Guilt of Samaria, and say, ‘As your god lives, O Dan, ’and, ‘As ⁸the Way of ⁹Beersheba lives, ’they shall fall, and never rise again. ”

Amos 8:11-14 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO AMOS 8

In this chapter a fourth vision is delivered, the vision of a "basket of summer fruit"; signifying the destruction of the ten tribes, for which they were ripe, and which would quickly come upon them, Am 8:1-3; the rich are reproved for their oppression of the poor, their covetousness and earthly mindedness, Am 8:4-6; for which they are threatened with entire ruin, sudden calamities, and very mournful times, instead of light, joy, and gladness, Am 8:7-10; and particularly with a famine of hearing the word of God, Am 8:11,12; the consequence of which would be, a fainting of the young men and virgins for thirst, and the utter and irrecoverable ruin of all idolaters, Am 8:13,14.

Cross References

• 1. 8:11 [Isa. 8:20, 21]
• 2. 8:11 [Ps. 74:9; Prov. 29:18; Mic. 3:7]
• 3. 8:12 [See ver. 11 above]
• 4. 8:12 [ch. 4:8]
• 5. 8:13 Isa. 51:20
• 6. 8:13 [Jonah 4:8]
• 7. 8:14 Deut. 9:21; 1 Kgs. 12:29, 30; Hos. 10:8
• 8. 8:14 [Acts 9:2]
• 9. 8:14 ch. 5:5