God’s Word Translation
Amos 6:5
5How horrible it will be for those who make up songs as they strum a harp. Like David, they write all kinds of songs for themselves.
Amos 6:5 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)That chant to the sound of the viol, and invent to themselves instruments of musick, like David;
- New International Version (NIV)You strum away on your harps like David and improvise on musical instruments.
- English Standard Version (ESV)who sing idle songs to the sound of the harp and like David invent for themselves instruments of music,
- New King James Version (NKJV)Who sing idly to the sound of stringed instruments, And invent for yourselves musical instruments like David;
Context of Amos 6:5
3How horrible it will be for those who think that a day of disaster is far away. They bring the reign of violence closer. 4How horrible it will be for those who sleep on ivory beds. They sprawl out on their couches and eat lambs from their flocks and calves from their stalls. How horrible it will be for those who make up songs as they strum a harp. Like David, they write all kinds of songs for themselves. 6How horrible it will be for those who drink wine by the jugful. They rub the finest oils all over themselves and are not sorry for the ruin ⌞of the descendants⌟ of Joseph. 7That is why they will now be the first to go into exile. The celebrating of those sprawled around the banquet table will stop.
Read all of Amos 6Amos 6:5 word by word
הַפֹּרְטִ֖ים עַל־פִּ֣י הַנָּ֑בֶל כְּדָוִ֕יד חָשְׁב֥וּ לָהֶ֖ם כְּלֵי־שִֽׁיר׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Amos 6:5
- Genesis 31:27Why did you leave secretly and trick me? You didn’t even tell me you were leaving. I would have sent you on your way rejoicing, with songs accompanied by tambourines and lyres.
- Job 21:11They send their little children out ⌞to play⌟ like a flock of lambs, and their children dance around.
- Ecclesiastes 2:8I also gathered silver and gold for myself. I gathered the treasures of kings and provinces. I provided myself with male and female singers and the pleasures men have with one concubine after another.
- Isaiah 5:12At their feasts there are lyres and harps, tambourines and flutes, and wine. Yet, they don’t pay attention to what the Lord is doing or see what his hands have done.
- 1 Peter 4:3You spent enough time in the past doing what unbelievers like to do. You were promiscuous, had sinful desires, got drunk, went to wild parties, and took part in the forbidden worship of false gods.
- Revelation 18:22The sound of harpists, musicians, flutists, and trumpeters will never be heard in it again. A skilled craftsman—regardless of the type of craft— will never be found in it again. The sound of a millstone will never be heard in it again.
- Amos 5:23Spare me the sound of your songs. I won’t listen to the music of your harps.
- Amos 8:3On that day the songs of the temple will become loud cries,” declares the Almighty Lord. “There will be dead bodies scattered everywhere. Hush!”
- 1 Chronicles 23:54,000 were appointed to be gatekeepers, and 4,000 were appointed to praise the Lord with the instruments David had made for praising God.
Commentaries on Amos 6:5
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 5And invent to themselves instruments of music, like David - See the note on 1 Chronicles 23:5; and see especially the note on 2 Chronicles 29:25; (note). I believe that David was not authorized by the Lord to introduce that multitude of musical instruments into the Divine worship of which we read, and I am satisfied that his conduct in this respect is most solemnly reprehended by this prophet; and I farther believe that the use of such instruments of…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 5That chant to the voice of the lyre - Accompanying “the voice of the lyre” with the human voice; giving vocal expression and utterance to what the instrumental music spoke without words. The word, which Amos alone uses in this one place, describes probably a hurried flow of unmeaning, unconsidered words, in which the rhythm of words and music was everything, the sense, nothing; much like most glees. The English margin “quaver” has also some foundation in…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 5-6These verses describe people celebrating with excessive drinking and loud behavior.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 55. chant--literally, "mark distinct sounds and tones." viol--the lyre, or lute. invent ... instruments ... like David--They fancy they equal David in musical skill (1Ch 23:5; Ne 12:36). They defend their luxurious passion for music by his example: forgetting that he pursued this study when at peace and free from danger, and that for the praise of God; but they pursue for their own self-gratification, and that when God is angry and ruin is imminent.Read the comment
Topics related to Amos 6:5
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
God’s Word Translation — © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society
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