New International Version
Amos 8:4
4Hear this, you who trample the needy and do away with the poor of the land,
Amos 8:4 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Hear this, O ye that swallow up the needy, even to make the poor of the land to fail,
- English Standard Version (ESV)Hear this, you who trample on the needy and bring the poor of the land to an end,
- New King James Version (NKJV)Hear this, you who swallow up the needy, And make the poor of the land fail,
- New Living Translation (NLT)Listen to this, you who rob the poor and trample down the needy!
Context of Amos 8:4
2“What do you see, Amos?” he asked. “A basket of ripe fruit,” I answered. Then the Lord said to me, “The time is ripe for my people Israel; I will spare them no longer. 3“In that day,” declares the Sovereign Lord, “the songs in the temple will turn to wailing. Many, many bodies—flung everywhere! Silence!” Hear this, you who trample the needy and do away with the poor of the land, 5saying, “When will the New Moon be over that we may sell grain, and the Sabbath be ended that we may market wheat?”— skimping on the measure, boosting the price and cheating with dishonest scales, 6buying the poor with silver and the needy for a pair of sandals, selling even the sweepings with the wheat.
Read all of Amos 8Amos 8:4 word by word
שִׁמְעוּ־זֹ֕את הַשֹּׁאֲפִ֖ים אֶבְי֑וֹן וְלַשְׁבִּ֖ית עֲנִיֵּי אָֽרֶץ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Amos 8:4
- Amos 7:16Now then, hear the word of the Lord. You say, “ ‘Do not prophesy against Israel, and stop preaching against the descendants of Isaac.’
- 1 Kings 22:19Micaiah continued, “Therefore hear the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on his throne with all the multitudes of heaven standing around him on his right and on his left.
- Isaiah 1:10Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom; listen to the instruction of our God, you people of Gomorrah!
- Isaiah 28:14Therefore hear the word of the Lord, you scoffers who rule this people in Jerusalem.
- Jeremiah 5:21Hear this, you foolish and senseless people, who have eyes but do not see, who have ears but do not hear:
- Jeremiah 28:15Then the prophet Jeremiah said to Hananiah the prophet, “Listen, Hananiah! The Lord has not sent you, yet you have persuaded this nation to trust in lies.
- Amos 2:6This is what the Lord says: “For three sins of Israel, even for four, I will not relent. They sell the innocent for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals.
- Amos 5:11You levy a straw tax on the poor and impose a tax on their grain. Therefore, though you have built stone mansions, you will not live in them; though you have planted lush vineyards, you will not drink their wine.
- Psalms 12:5“Because the poor are plundered and the needy groan, I will now arise,” says the Lord. “I will protect them from those who malign them.”
- Psalms 14:4Do all these evildoers know nothing? They devour my people as though eating bread; they never call on the Lord.
- Psalms 56:1Be merciful to me, my God, for my enemies are in hot pursuit; all day long they press their attack.
- Psalms 140:12I know that the Lord secures justice for the poor and upholds the cause of the needy.
- Proverbs 30:14those whose teeth are swords and whose jaws are set with knives to devour the poor from the earth and the needy from among mankind.
- Isaiah 32:6For fools speak folly, their hearts are bent on evil: They practice ungodliness and spread error concerning the Lord; the hungry they leave empty and from the thirsty they withhold water.
- James 5:6You have condemned and murdered the innocent one, who was not opposing you.
Commentaries on Amos 8:4
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 4Hear this, O ye that swallow up the needy - Ye that bruise the poor; exact from them, and tread them under foot.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 4Here ye this, ye that swallow - Or, better in the same sense, “that pant for the needy;” as Job says, “the hireling panteth for the evening” Job 7:2. They “panted for the poor,” as the wild beast for its prey; and “that to make the poor” or (better, as the Hebrew text,) “the meek”, those not poor only, but who, through poverty and affliction, are “poor in spirit” also, “to fail.” The land being divided among all the inhabitants, they, in order “to lay…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 4-10Verses 4-10 The rich and powerful of the land were the most guilty of oppression, as well as the foremost in idolatry. They were weary of the restraints of the sabbaths and the new moons, and wished them over, because no common work might be done therein. This is the character of many who are called Christians. The sabbath day and sabbath work are a burden to carnal hearts. It will either be profaned or be accounted a dull day. But can we spend our time…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 4-14This section provides more details on the accusations and decisions mentioned earlier (read with Amos 2:6–6:14).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 44. Hear--The nobles needed to be urged thus, as hating to hear reproof. swallow up the needy--or, "gape after," that is, pant for their goods; so the word is used, Job 7:2, Margin. to make the poor ... to fail--"that they (themselves) may be placed alone in the midst of the earth" (Is 5:8).Read the comment
Topics related to Amos 8:4
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Amos 8
- 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
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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