New International Version
Amos 5:4
4This is what the Lord says to Israel: “Seek 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:
- 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;
- New Living Translation (NLT)Now this is what the Lord says to the family of Israel: “Come back to me and live!
Context of Amos 5:4
2“Fallen is Virgin Israel, never to rise again, deserted in her own land, with no one to lift her up.” 3This is what the Sovereign Lord says to Israel: “Your city that marches out a thousand strong will have only a hundred left; your town that marches out a hundred strong will have only ten left.” This is what the Lord says to Israel: “Seek me and live; 5do not seek Bethel, do not go to Gilgal, do not journey to Beersheba. For Gilgal will surely go into exile, and Bethel will be reduced to nothing.” 6Seek the Lord and live, or he will sweep through the tribes of Joseph like a fire; it will devour them, and Bethel will have no one to quench it.
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 5:6Seek the Lord and live, or he will sweep through the tribes of Joseph like a fire; it will devour them, and Bethel will have no one to quench it.
- Deuteronomy 30:1When all these blessings and curses I have set before you come on you and you take them to heart wherever the Lord your God disperses you among the nations,
- 1 Chronicles 28:9“And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches every heart and understands every desire and every thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will reject you forever.
- 2 Chronicles 15:2He went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Listen to me, Asa and all Judah and Benjamin. The Lord is with you when you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you.
- 2 Chronicles 20:3Alarmed, Jehoshaphat resolved to inquire of the Lord, and he proclaimed a fast for all Judah.
- 2 Chronicles 34:3In the eighth year of his reign, while he was still young, he began to seek the God of his father David. In his twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of high places, Asherah poles and idols.
- Psalms 14:2The Lord looks down from heaven on all mankind to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God.
- Psalms 27:8My heart says of you, “Seek his face!” Your face, Lord, I will seek.
- Isaiah 55:6Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near.
- Jeremiah 29:12Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.
- Lamentations 3:25The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him;
- Zephaniah 2:3Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land, you who do what he commands. Seek righteousness, seek humility; perhaps you will be sheltered on the day of the Lord’s anger.
- Matthew 7:8For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
- Psalms 22:26The poor will eat and be satisfied; those who seek the Lord will praise him— may your hearts live forever!
- Psalms 69:32The poor will see and be glad— you who seek God, may your hearts live!
- Psalms 105:3Glory in 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
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