New Living Translation
Amos 5:3
3The Sovereign Lord says: “When a city sends a thousand men to battle, only a hundred will return. When a town sends a hundred, only ten will come back alive.”
Amos 5:3 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)For thus saith the Lord God; The city that went out by a thousand shall leave an hundred, and that which went forth by an hundred shall leave ten, to the house of Israel.
- New International Version (NIV)This 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.”
- English Standard Version (ESV)For thus says the Lord God: "The city that went out a thousand shall have a hundred left, and that which went out a hundred shall have ten left to the house of Israel."
- New King James Version (NKJV)For thus says the Lord God: “The city that goes out by a thousand Shall have a hundred left, And that which goes out by a hundred Shall have ten left to the house of Israel.”
Context of Amos 5:3
1Listen, you people of Israel! Listen to this funeral song I am singing: 2“The virgin Israel has fallen, never to rise again! She lies abandoned on the ground, with no one to help her up.” The Sovereign Lord says: “When a city sends a thousand men to battle, only a hundred will return. When a town sends a hundred, only ten will come back alive.” 4Now this is what the Lord says to the family of Israel: “Come back to me and live! 5Don’t worship at the pagan altars at Bethel; don’t go to the shrines at Gilgal or Beersheba. For the people of Gilgal will be dragged off into exile, and the people of Bethel will be reduced to nothing.”
Read all of Amos 5Amos 5:3 word by word
כִּ֣י כֹ֤ה אָמַר֙ אֲדֹנָ֣י יְהוִ֔ה הָעִ֛יר הַיֹּצֵ֥את אֶ֖לֶף תַּשְׁאִ֣יר מֵאָ֑ה וְהַיּוֹצֵ֥את מֵאָ֛ה תַּשְׁאִ֥יר עֲשָׂרָ֖ה לְבֵ֥ית יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃ סRead the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- For thus saithאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
- the Lordאֲדֹנָי'ădônây · LordH136
- Godיְהֹוִהyehôvih · YHWH/GodH3069
- The cityעִיר‛îyr ‛âr ‛âyar · cityH5892
- that went outיָצָאyâtsâ' · to come out: comeH3318
- a thousandאֶ֫לֶף'eleph · thousandH505
- shall leaveשָׁאַרshâ'ar · to remainH7604
- an hundredמֵאָהmê'âh mê'yâh · hundredH3967
- tenעֶשֶׂר‛eώer ‛ăώârâh · tenH6235
- to the houseבַּ֫יִתbayith · house: householdH1004
- of Israelיִשְׂרָאֵלyiώrâ'êl · IsraelH3478
Cross-references for Amos 5:3
- Deuteronomy 4:27For the Lord will scatter you among the nations, where only a few of you will survive.
- Deuteronomy 28:62Though you become as numerous as the stars in the sky, few of you will be left because you would not listen to the Lord your God.
- Isaiah 1:9If the Lord of Heaven’s Armies had not spared a few of us, we would have been wiped out like Sodom, destroyed like Gomorrah.
- Isaiah 10:22But though the people of Israel are as numerous as the sand of the seashore, only a remnant of them will return. The Lord has rightly decided to destroy his people.
- Ezekiel 12:16But I will spare a few of them from death by war, famine, or disease, so they can confess all their detestable sins to their captors. Then they will know that I am the Lord.”
- Romans 9:27And concerning Israel, Isaiah the prophet cried out, “Though the people of Israel are as numerous as the sand of the seashore, only a remnant will be saved.
Commentaries on Amos 5:3
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 3The city that went out by a thousand - The city that could easily have furnished, on any emergency, a thousand fighting men, can now produce scarcely one hundred - one in ten of the former number; and now of the hundred scarcely ten remain: so reduced was Israel when Shalmaneser besieged and took Samaria, and carried the residue into captivity.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 3The city that went out by a thousand - (that is, probably that sent out a thousand fighting men, as the word “went out” is often used for, “went out” to fight,) “shall have” literally, “shall retain, an hundred.” She was to be decimated. Only, the tenth alone was to be reserved alive; the nine-tenths were to be destroyed. And this, alike in larger places and in the small. The city “that went forth an hundred shall retain ten.” Smaller places escape for…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 3This verse is a reversal of the promises made in Leviticus 26:8.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 33. went out by a thousand--that is, "the city from which there used to go out a thousand" equipped for war. "City" is put for "the inhabitants of the city," as in Am 4:8. shall leave ... hundred--shall have only a hundred left, the rest being destroyed by sword and pestilence (De 28:62).Read the comment
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
New Living Translation — © 1996, 2004, 2015 Tyndale House Foundation
Commentaries