New International Version
Amos 5:6
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.
Amos 5:6 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Seek the Lord, and ye shall live; lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph, and devour it, and there be none to quench it in Beth–el.
- English Standard Version (ESV)Seek the Lord and live, lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph, and it devour, with none to quench it for Bethel,
- New King James Version (NKJV)Seek the Lord and live, Lest He break out like fire in the house of Joseph, And devour it, With no one to quench it in Bethel—
- New Living Translation (NLT)Come back to the Lord and live! Otherwise, he will roar through Israel like a fire, devouring you completely. Your gods in Bethel won’t be able to quench the flames.
Context of Amos 5:6
4This 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.” Seek 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. 7There are those who turn justice into bitterness and cast righteousness to the ground. 8He who made the Pleiades and Orion, who turns midnight into dawn and darkens day into night, who calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out over the face of the land— the Lord is his name.
Read all of Amos 5Amos 5:6 word by word
דִּרְשׁ֥וּ אֶת־יְהוָ֖ה וִֽחְי֑וּ פֶּן־יִצְלַ֤ח כָּאֵשׁ֙ בֵּ֣ית יוֹסֵ֔ף וְאָכְלָ֥ה וְאֵין־מְכַבֶּ֖ה לְבֵֽית־אֵֽל׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Seekדָּרַשׁdârash · to seekH1875
- the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
- and ye shall liveחָיָהchâyâh · to liveH2421
- lest he break outצָלַחtsâlach tsâlêach · to rushH6743
- like fireאֵשׁ'êsh · fireH784
- in the houseבַּ֫יִתbayith · house: householdH1004
- of Josephיוֹסֵףyôsêph · JosephH3130
- and devourאָכַל'âkal · to eatH398
- none to quenchכָּבָהkâbâh · to quenchH3518
- in Beth–elבֵּֽיתְ־אֵלbêyth-'êl · BethelH1008
Cross-references for Amos 5:6
- Amos 5:4This is what the Lord says to Israel: “Seek me and live;
- Ezekiel 33:11Say to them, ‘As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die, people of Israel?’
- Exodus 22:6“If a fire breaks out and spreads into thornbushes so that it burns shocks of grain or standing grain or the whole field, the one who started the fire must make restitution.
- Amos 6:6You drink wine by the bowlful and use the finest lotions, but you do not grieve over the ruin of Joseph.
- Genesis 48:8When Israel saw the sons of Joseph, he asked, “Who are these?”
- Joshua 18:5You are to divide the land into seven parts. Judah is to remain in its territory on the south and the tribes of Joseph in their territory on the north.
- Judges 1:22Now the tribes of Joseph attacked Bethel, and the Lord was with them.
- 2 Samuel 19:20For I your servant know that I have sinned, but today I have come here as the first from the tribes of Joseph to come down and meet my lord the king.”
- 1 Kings 11:28Now Jeroboam was a man of standing, and when Solomon saw how well the young man did his work, he put him in charge of the whole labor force of the tribes of Joseph.
- Ezekiel 37:19say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am going to take the stick of Joseph—which is in Ephraim’s hand—and of the Israelite tribes associated with him, and join it to Judah’s stick. I will make them into a single stick of wood, and they will become one in my hand.’
- Zechariah 10:6“I will strengthen Judah and save the tribes of Joseph. I will restore them because I have compassion on them. They will be as though I had not rejected them, for I am the Lord their God and I will answer them.
- Isaiah 1:31The mighty man will become tinder and his work a spark; both will burn together, with no one to quench the fire.”
- Jeremiah 4:4Circumcise yourselves to the Lord, circumcise your hearts, you people of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, or my wrath will flare up and burn like fire because of the evil you have done— burn with no one to quench it.
- Jeremiah 7:20“ ‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: My anger and my wrath will be poured out on this place—on man and beast, on the trees of the field and on the crops of your land—and it will burn and not be quenched.
- Ezekiel 20:47Say to the southern forest: ‘Hear the word of the Lord. This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am about to set fire to you, and it will consume all your trees, both green and dry. The blazing flame will not be quenched, and every face from south to north will be scorched by it.
- Mark 9:43If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out.
Commentaries on Amos 5:6
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 6Seek the Lord, and ye shall live - Repeated from Amos 5:4. In the house of Joseph - The Israelites of the ten tribes, of whom Ephraim and Manasseh, sons of Joseph, were the chief.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 6Seek ye the Lord and ye shall live - Literally, “seek the Lord and live;” being united to Him, the Fountain of life. He reimpresses on them the one simple need of the creature, “seek God,” the one true God as He revealed Himself, not as worldly people, or the politicians of Jeroboam‘s court, or the calf-priests, fabled of Him. “Seek Him.” For in Him is all; without Him, nothing. Lest He break out like fire in Bethel - Formerly the Spirit of God came…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 6The northern kingdom of Israel, also known as the house of Joseph, was mainly controlled by the tribes of Joseph’s sons, Ephraim and Manasseh (see study note on Amos 5:15; see Hosea 5:3, 5).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 66. break out like fire--bursting through everything in His way. God is "a consuming fire" (De 4:24; Is 10:17; La 2:3). the house of Joseph--the kingdom of Israel, of which the tribe of Ephraim, Joseph's son, was the chief tribe (compare Eze 37:16). none to quench it in Beth-el--that is, none in Beth-el to quench it; none of the Beth-el idols on which Israel so depended, able to remove the divine judgments.Read the comment
Topics related to Amos 5:6
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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