New Living Translation
Amos 6:13
13And you brag about your conquest of Lo-debar. You boast, “Didn’t we take Karnaim by our own strength?”
Amos 6:13 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Ye which rejoice in a thing of nought, which say, Have we not taken to us horns by our own strength?
- New International Version (NIV)you who rejoice in the conquest of Lo Debar and say, “Did we not take Karnaim by our own strength?”
- English Standard Version (ESV)you who rejoice in Lo-debar, who say, "Have we not by our own strength captured Karnaim for ourselves?"
- New King James Version (NKJV)You who rejoice over Lo Debar, Who say, “Have we not taken Karnaim for ourselves By our own strength?”
Context of Amos 6:13
11When the Lord gives the command, homes both great and small will be smashed to pieces. 12Can horses gallop over boulders? Can oxen be used to plow them? But that’s how foolish you are when you turn justice into poison and the sweet fruit of righteousness into bitterness. And you brag about your conquest of Lo-debar. You boast, “Didn’t we take Karnaim by our own strength?” 14“O people of Israel, I am about to bring an enemy nation against you,” says the Lord God of Heaven’s Armies. “They will oppress you throughout your land— from Lebo-hamath in the north to the Arabah Valley in the south.”
Read all of Amos 6Amos 6:13 word by word
הַשְּׂמֵחִ֖ים לְלֹ֣א דָבָ֑ר הָאֹ֣מְרִ֔ים הֲל֣וֹא בְחָזְקֵ֔נוּ לָקַ֥חְנוּ לָ֖נוּ קַרְנָֽיִם׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Amos 6:13
- Exodus 32:18But Moses replied, “No, it’s not a shout of victory nor the wailing of defeat. I hear the sound of a celebration.”
- Judges 9:19“If you have acted honorably and in good faith toward Gideon and his descendants today, then may you find joy in Abimelech, and may he find joy in you.
- Judges 16:23The Philistine rulers held a great festival, offering sacrifices and praising their god, Dagon. They said, “Our god has given us victory over our enemy Samson!”
- 1 Samuel 4:5When all the Israelites saw the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord coming into the camp, their shout of joy was so loud it made the ground shake!
- Job 31:25Have I gloated about my wealth and all that I own?
- Ecclesiastes 11:9Young people, it’s wonderful to be young! Enjoy every minute of it. Do everything you want to do; take it all in. But remember that you must give an account to God for everything you do.
- Isaiah 8:6“My care for the people of Judah is like the gently flowing waters of Shiloah, but they have rejected it. They are rejoicing over what will happen to King Rezin and King Pekah.
- Jeremiah 9:23This is what the Lord says: “Don’t let the wise boast in their wisdom, or the powerful boast in their power, or the rich boast in their riches.
- Jeremiah 50:11“You rejoice and are glad, you who plundered my chosen people. You frisk about like a calf in a meadow and neigh like a stallion.
- Jonah 4:6And the Lord God arranged for a leafy plant to grow there, and soon it spread its broad leaves over Jonah’s head, shading him from the sun. This eased his discomfort, and Jonah was very grateful for the plant.
- Habakkuk 1:15Must we be strung up on their hooks and caught in their nets while they rejoice and celebrate?
- Zephaniah 3:11On that day you will no longer need to be ashamed, for you will no longer be rebels against me. I will remove all proud and arrogant people from among you. There will be no more haughtiness on my holy mountain.
- Luke 12:19And I’ll sit back and say to myself, “My friend, you have enough stored away for years to come. Now take it easy! Eat, drink, and be merry!”’
- John 16:20I tell you the truth, you will weep and mourn over what is going to happen to me, but the world will rejoice. You will grieve, but your grief will suddenly turn to wonderful joy.
- James 4:16Otherwise you are boasting about your own pretentious plans, and all such boasting is evil.
- Revelation 11:10All the people who belong to this world will gloat over them and give presents to each other to celebrate the death of the two prophets who had tormented them.
Commentaries on Amos 6:13
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 13Ye which rejoice in a thing of naught - In your idols: for an idol is nothing in the world. Have we not taken to us horns - We have arrived to power and dignity by our strength. Horns were the symbols of power and authority. So Horace: - Vina parant animos: tum pauper cornua sumet. "Wine repairs our strength, and furnishes the poor with horns." At such times they think themselves as great as the greatest.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 13Who rejoice - (Literally, “the rejoicers!” Amos, as is his wont, speaks of them with contempt and wonder at their folly, “the rejoicers!” much as we say, the cowards! the renegades!) “in a thing of nought,” literally, “a non-thing,” (“no-whit, nought”) not merely in a thing valueless, but in a “non-thing,” that has no existence at all, as nothing has any substantial existence out of God. This “non-thing” was their power, strength, empire, which they…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 8-14Verses 8-14 How dreadful, how miserable, is the case of those whose eternal ruin the Lord himself has sworn; for he can execute his purpose, and none can alter it! Those hearts are wretchedly hardened that will not be brought to mention God's name, and to worship him, when the hand of God is gone out against them, when sickness and death are in their families. Those that will not be tilled as fields, shall be abandoned as rocks. When our services of God…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 13Lo-debar and Karnaim were areas that Jeroboam II took back from the Arameans (see 2 Kings 14:25–28). Amos uses wordplay with their names (see Berean Stand Bible textual notes). Lo-debar sounds like a Hebrew phrase meaning “nothing” or “no word.” Karnaim sounds like a word meaning “horns,” which were a symbol of strength or power. By using these names, the prophet suggests that what Israel celebrates as strength and success is actually empty and powerless…Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1313. rejoice in a thing of naught--that is, in your vain and fleeting riches. Have we not taken to us horns--that is, acquired power, so as to conquer our neighbors (2Ki 14:25). Horns are the Hebrew symbol of power, being the instrument of strength in many animals (Psa 75:10).Read the comment
Topics related to Amos 6:13
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Amos 6
- 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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