New Living Translation
Amos 5:4
4Now this is what the Lord says to the family of Israel: “Come back to 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:
- New International Version (NIV)This is what the Lord says to Israel: “Seek me and 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;
Context of Amos 5:4
2“The virgin Israel has fallen, never to rise again! She lies abandoned on the ground, with no one to help her up.” 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.” Now 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.” 6Come 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.
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 5:6Come 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.
- Deuteronomy 30:1“In the future, when you experience all these blessings and curses I have listed for you, and when you are living among the nations to which the Lord your God has exiled you, take to heart all these instructions.
- 1 Chronicles 28:9“And Solomon, my son, learn to know the God of your ancestors intimately. Worship and serve him with your whole heart and a willing mind. For the Lord sees every heart and knows every plan and thought. If you seek him, you will find him. But if you forsake him, he will reject you forever.
- 2 Chronicles 15:2and he went out to meet King Asa as he was returning from the battle. “Listen to me, Asa!” he shouted. “Listen, all you people of Judah and Benjamin! The Lord will stay with you as long as you stay with him! Whenever you seek him, you will find him. But if you abandon him, he will abandon you.
- 2 Chronicles 20:3Jehoshaphat was terrified by this news and begged the Lord for guidance. He also ordered everyone in Judah to begin fasting.
- 2 Chronicles 34:3During the eighth year of his reign, while he was still young, Josiah began to seek the God of his ancestor David. Then in the twelfth year he began to purify Judah and Jerusalem, destroying all the pagan shrines, the Asherah poles, and the carved idols and cast images.
- Psalms 14:2The Lord looks down from heaven on the entire human race; he looks to see if anyone is truly wise, if anyone seeks God.
- Psalms 27:8My heart has heard you say, “Come and talk with me.” And my heart responds, “Lord, I am coming.”
- Isaiah 55:6Seek the Lord while you can find him. Call on him now while he is near.
- Jeremiah 29:12In those days when you pray, I will listen.
- Lamentations 3:25The Lord is good to those who depend on him, to those who search for him.
- Zephaniah 2:3Seek the Lord, all who are humble, and follow his commands. Seek to do what is right and to live humbly. Perhaps even yet the Lord will protect you— protect you from his anger on that day of destruction.
- Matthew 7:8For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.
- Psalms 22:26The poor will eat and be satisfied. All who seek the Lord will praise him. Their hearts will rejoice with everlasting joy.
- Psalms 69:32The humble will see their God at work and be glad. Let all who seek God’s help be encouraged.
- Psalms 105:3Exult in his holy name; rejoice, you who worship the Lord.
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
New Living Translation — © 1996, 2004, 2015 Tyndale House Foundation
Commentaries