God’s Word Translation
Amos 6:13
13How horrible it will be for those who rejoice over Lo Debar and who say, “We were strong enough to capture Karnaim by ourselves.”
Amos 6:13 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Ye which rejoice in a thing of nought, which say, Have we not taken to us horns by our own strength?
- New International Version (NIV)you who rejoice in the conquest of Lo Debar and say, “Did we not take Karnaim by our own strength?”
- English Standard Version (ESV)you who rejoice in Lo-debar, who say, "Have we not by our own strength captured Karnaim for ourselves?"
- New King James Version (NKJV)You who rejoice over Lo Debar, Who say, “Have we not taken Karnaim for ourselves By our own strength?”
Context of Amos 6:13
11The Lord is going to give the command to level big houses and flatten little houses. 12Do horses run on rocks? Does a farmer plow the sea with oxen? Yet, you have turned justice into something deadly and what is righteous into poison. How horrible it will be for those who rejoice over Lo Debar and who say, “We were strong enough to capture Karnaim by ourselves.” 14I am going to lead a nation to attack you, nation of Israel, declares the Lord God of the Armies of the Nations. They will oppress you from the border of Hamath to the valley of Arabah.
Read all of Amos 6Amos 6:13 word by word
הַשְּׂמֵחִ֖ים לְלֹ֣א דָבָ֑ר הָאֹ֣מְרִ֔ים הֲל֣וֹא בְחָזְקֵ֔נוּ לָקַ֥חְנוּ לָ֖נוּ קַרְנָֽיִם׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Amos 6:13
- Exodus 32:18Moses replied, “It’s not the sound of winners shouting. It’s not the sound of losers crying. It’s the sound of a wild celebration that I hear.”
- Judges 9:19So if you are now acting with sincerity and integrity toward Jerubbaal and his family, then be happy with Abimelech and let Abimelech be happy with you.
- Judges 16:23Now, the Philistine rulers gathered together to offer a great sacrifice to their god Dagon and to celebrate. They said, “Our god handed Samson, our enemy, over to us.”
- 1 Samuel 4:5When the Lord’s ark came into the camp, all Israel shouted so loudly that the earth rang with echoes.
- Job 31:25If I enjoyed being very rich because my hand had found great ⌞wealth⌟….
- Ecclesiastes 11:9You young people should enjoy yourselves while you’re young. You should let your hearts make you happy when you’re young. Follow wherever your heart leads you and whatever your eyes see. But realize that God will make you give an account for all these things when he judges everyone.
- Isaiah 8:6“These people have rejected the gently flowing water of Shiloah and find joy in Rezin and Remaliah’s son.”
- Jeremiah 9:23This is what the Lord says: Don’t let wise people brag about their wisdom. Don’t let strong people brag about their strength. Don’t let rich people brag about their riches.
- Jeremiah 50:11“You are happy and excited. You have looted the people who belong to me. You dance around like calves on the grass and neigh like stallions.
- Jonah 4:6The Lord God made a plant grow up beside Jonah to give him shade and make him more comfortable. Jonah was very happy with the plant.
- Habakkuk 1:15The Babylonians pull them all up with fishhooks, drag them away in nets, and gather them in dragnets. So they rejoice and are happy.
- Zephaniah 3:11On that day you will no longer be ashamed of all your rebellious acts against me. Then I will remove your arrogance and never again will you act proud on my holy mountain.
- Luke 12:19Then I’ll say to myself, “You’ve stored up a lot of good things for years to come. Take life easy, eat, drink, and enjoy yourself.” ’
- John 16:20I can guarantee this truth: You will cry because you are sad, but the world will be happy. You will feel pain, but your pain will turn to happiness.
- James 4:16However, you brag because you’re arrogant. All such bragging is evil.
- Revelation 11:10Those living on earth will gloat over the witnesses’ death. They will celebrate and send gifts to each other because these two prophets had tormented those living on earth.
Commentaries on Amos 6:13
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 13Ye which rejoice in a thing of naught - In your idols: for an idol is nothing in the world. Have we not taken to us horns - We have arrived to power and dignity by our strength. Horns were the symbols of power and authority. So Horace: - Vina parant animos: tum pauper cornua sumet. "Wine repairs our strength, and furnishes the poor with horns." At such times they think themselves as great as the greatest.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 13Who rejoice - (Literally, “the rejoicers!” Amos, as is his wont, speaks of them with contempt and wonder at their folly, “the rejoicers!” much as we say, the cowards! the renegades!) “in a thing of nought,” literally, “a non-thing,” (“no-whit, nought”) not merely in a thing valueless, but in a “non-thing,” that has no existence at all, as nothing has any substantial existence out of God. This “non-thing” was their power, strength, empire, which they…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 8-14Verses 8-14 How dreadful, how miserable, is the case of those whose eternal ruin the Lord himself has sworn; for he can execute his purpose, and none can alter it! Those hearts are wretchedly hardened that will not be brought to mention God's name, and to worship him, when the hand of God is gone out against them, when sickness and death are in their families. Those that will not be tilled as fields, shall be abandoned as rocks. When our services of God…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 13Lo-debar and Karnaim were areas that Jeroboam II took back from the Arameans (see 2 Kings 14:25–28). Amos uses wordplay with their names (see Berean Stand Bible textual notes). Lo-debar sounds like a Hebrew phrase meaning “nothing” or “no word.” Karnaim sounds like a word meaning “horns,” which were a symbol of strength or power. By using these names, the prophet suggests that what Israel celebrates as strength and success is actually empty and powerless…Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1313. rejoice in a thing of naught--that is, in your vain and fleeting riches. Have we not taken to us horns--that is, acquired power, so as to conquer our neighbors (2Ki 14:25). Horns are the Hebrew symbol of power, being the instrument of strength in many animals (Psa 75:10).Read the comment
Topics related to Amos 6:13
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Amos 6
- 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
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