God’s Word Translation
Amos 5:4
4This is what the Lord says to the nation of Israel: Search for me and live!
Amos 5:4 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)For thus saith the Lord unto the house of Israel, Seek ye me, and ye shall live:
- New International Version (NIV)This is what the Lord says to Israel: “Seek me and live;
- English Standard Version (ESV)For thus says the Lord to the house of Israel: "Seek me and live;
- New King James Version (NKJV)For thus says the Lord to the house of Israel: “Seek Me and live;
Context of Amos 5:4
2The people of Israel have fallen, never to rise again. They lie abandoned in their own land. There is no one to help them. 3This is what the Almighty Lord says: The city that sends 1,000 troops off to war will have ⌞only⌟ 100 left. The one that sends 100 troops off to war will have ⌞only⌟ 10 left for the nation of Israel. This is what the Lord says to the nation of Israel: Search for me and live! 5But don’t search ⌞for me⌟ at Bethel. Don’t go to Gilgal. Don’t travel to Beersheba. Gilgal will certainly go into exile. Bethel will come to nothing. 6Search for the Lord and live! If you don’t, he will spread like a fire through the house of Joseph and burn it down. Bethel will have no one to put it out.
Read all of Amos 5Amos 5:4 word by word
כִּ֣י כֹ֥ה אָמַ֛ר יְהוָ֖ה לְבֵ֣ית יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל דִּרְשׁ֖וּנִי וִֽחְיֽוּ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Amos 5:4
- Amos 5:6Search for the Lord and live! If you don’t, he will spread like a fire through the house of Joseph and burn it down. Bethel will have no one to put it out.
- Deuteronomy 30:1All these blessings and curses I have spoken about will happen to you. Take them to heart when you are among all the nations where the Lord your God will scatter you.
- 1 Chronicles 28:9“And you, my son Solomon, learn to know your father’s God. Serve the Lord wholeheartedly and willingly because he searches every heart and understands every thought ⌞we have⌟. If you dedicate your life to serving him, he will accept you. But if you abandon him, he will reject you from then on.
- 2 Chronicles 15:2Azariah went to Asa and said to him, “Listen to me, Asa and all you men from Judah and Benjamin. The Lord is with you when you are with him. If you will dedicate your lives to serving him, he will accept you. But if you abandon him, he will abandon you.
- 2 Chronicles 20:3Frightened, Jehoshaphat decided to ask for the Lord’s help. He announced a fast throughout Judah.
- 2 Chronicles 34:3In the eighth year of his reign, while he was still a boy, he began to dedicate his life to serving the God of his ancestor David. In his twelfth year as king, he began to make Judah and Jerusalem clean by destroying the illegal places of worship, poles dedicated to the goddess Asherah, carved idols, and metal idols.
- Psalms 14:2The Lord looks down from heaven on Adam’s descendants to see if there is anyone who acts wisely, if there is anyone who seeks help from God.
- Psalms 27:8⌞When you said,⌟ “Seek my face,” my heart said to you, “O Lord, I will seek your face.”
- Isaiah 55:6Seek the Lord while he may be found. Call on him while he is near.
- Jeremiah 29:12Then you will call to me. You will come and pray to me, and I will hear you.
- Lamentations 3:25The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to anyone who seeks help from him.
- Zephaniah 2:3Search for the Lord, all you humble people in the land who carry out his justice. Search for what is right. Search for humility. Maybe you will find shelter on the day of the Lord’s anger.
- Matthew 7:8Everyone who asks will receive. The one who searches will find, and for the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
- Psalms 22:26Oppressed people will eat until they are full. Those who look to the Lord will praise him. May you live forever.
- Psalms 69:32Oppressed people will see ⌞this⌟ and rejoice. May the hearts of those who look to God for help be refreshed.
- Psalms 105:3Brag about his holy name. Let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.
Commentaries on Amos 5:4
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 4Seek ye me, and ye shall live - Cease your rebellion against me; return to me with all your heart; and though consigned to death, ye shall be rescued and live. Deplorable as your case is, it is not utterly desperate.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 4Seek ye Me and ye shall live - Literally, “seek Me; and live.” Wonderful conciseness of the word of God, which, in two words, comprises the whole of the creature‘s duty and his hopes, his time and his eternity. The prophet users the two imperatives, inoneing both, man‘s duty and his reward. He does not speak of them, as cause and effect, but as one. Where the one is, there is the other. To seek God is to live. For to seek God is to find Him, and God is…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 4Seek Me and live implies a condition: To live, Israel must seek the Lord (also in Amos 5:6). Otherwise, the funeral song (Amos 5:1–2) will become Israel’s death sentence.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 44. Seek ye me, and ye shall live--literally, "Seek ... Me, and live." The second imperative expresses the certainty of "life" (escape from judgment) resulting from obedience to the precept in the first imperative. If they perish, it is their own fault; God would forgive, if they would repent (Is 55:3, 6).Read the comment
Topics related to Amos 5:4
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Amos 5
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
God’s Word Translation — © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society
Commentaries