Amos 5

Amos · Chapter 5

Amos 5:19

1Hear ye this word which I take up against you, even a lamentation, O house of Israel.2The virgin of Israel is fallen; she shall no more rise: she is forsaken upon her land; there is none to raise her up.3For 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.4For thus saith the LORD unto the house of Israel, Seek ye me, and ye shall live:5But seek not Bethel, nor enter into Gilgal, and pass not to Beersheba: for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, and Bethel shall come to nought.6Seek 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 Bethel.7Ye who turn judgment to wormwood, and leave off righteousness in the earth,8Seek him that maketh the seven stars and Orion, and turneth the shadow of death into the morning, and maketh the day dark with night: that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth: The LORD is his name:9That strengtheneth the spoiled against the strong, so that the spoiled shall come against the fortress.10They hate him that rebuketh in the gate, and they abhor him that speaketh uprightly.11Forasmuch therefore as your treading is upon the poor, and ye take from him burdens of wheat: ye have built houses of hewn stone, but ye shall not dwell in them; ye have planted pleasant vineyards, but ye shall not drink wine of them.12For I know your manifold transgressions and your mighty sins: they afflict the just, they take a bribe, and they turn aside the poor in the gate from their right.13Therefore the prudent shall keep silence in that time; for it is an evil time.14Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live: and so the LORD, the God of hosts, shall be with you, as ye have spoken.15Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish judgment in the gate: it may be that the LORD God of hosts will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph.16Therefore the LORD, the God of hosts, the LORD, saith thus; Wailing shall be in all streets; and they shall say in all the highways, Alas! alas! and they shall call the husbandman to mourning, and such as are skilful of lamentation to wailing.17And in all vineyards shall be wailing: for I will pass through thee, saith the LORD.18Woe unto you that desire the day of the LORD! to what end is it for you? the day of the LORD is darkness, and not light.19As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into the house, and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him.20Shall not the day of the LORD be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it?21I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies.22Though ye offer me burnt offerings and your meat offerings, I will not accept them: neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beasts.23Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs; for I will not hear the melody of thy viols.24But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream.25Have ye offered unto me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel?26But ye have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch and Chiun your images, the star of your god, which ye made to yourselves.27Therefore will I cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus, saith the LORD, whose name is The God of hosts.

King James Version (1769)

Other translations

VerseKJVBSBASV
19As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into the house, and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him.It will be like a man who flees from a lion, only to encounter a bear, or who enters his house and rests his hand against the wall, only to be bitten by a snake.As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into the house and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him.

In context

Who is speaking and to whom, what is happening, when and where, and why it matters, each with its sources. Coming with the context cards.

Original Hebrew words

EnglishHebrewSay itStrong'sMeaning
just asכַּאֲשֶׁ֨רka-'a-SHERH0834D
as which

כַּאֲשֶׁר (ka.a.sher) conj 1) according as, as, when 1a) according to that which, according as, as 1b) with a causal force: in so far as, since 1c) with a temporal force: when

he fleesיָנ֥וּסya-NUSH5127
to flee

נוּד (nud) (P'al) to flee Aramaic of nus (נוּס "to flee" H5127)

someoneאִישׁ֙'ishH0376I
man

אִישׁ (ish) : man 1) man 1a) man, male (in contrast to woman, female) 1b) husband 1c) human being, person (in contrast to God) 1d) servant 1e) mankind 1f) champion 1g) great man 2) whosoever 3) each (adjective)

from beforeמִפְּנֵ֣יmi-pe-NEIH6440G
face: before

פָּנֶה (pa.neh) : before/to/front 1) face 1a) face, faces 1b) presence, person 1c) face (of seraphim or cherubim) 1d) face (of animals) 1e) face, surface (of ground) 1f) as adv of loc/temp 1f1) before and behind, toward, in front of, forward, formerly, from beforetime, before 1g) with prep 1g1) in front of, before, to the front of, in the presence of, in the face of, at the face or front of, from the presence of, from before, from before the face of

the lionהָאֲרִ֔יha-'a-RIH0738A
lion

אֲרִי (a.ri) 1) lion 1a) pictures or images of lions

and it meets himוּפְגָע֖וֹu-fe-ga-'OH6293
to fall on

פָּגַע (pa.ga) 1) to encounter, meet, reach, entreat, make intercession 1a) (Qal) 1a1) to meet, light upon, join 1a2) to meet (of kindness) 1a3) to encounter, fall upon (of hostility) 1a4) to encounter, entreat (of request) 1a5) to strike, touch (of boundary) 1b) (Hiphil) 1b1) to cause to light upon 1b2) to cause to entreat 1b3) to make entreaty, interpose 1b4) to make attack 1b5) to reach the mark

the bearהַדֹּ֑בha-DOH1677
bear

דֹּב (dov) bear Aramaic equivalent: dov (דֹּב "bear" H1678)

and he goesוּבָ֣אu-VA'H0935G
to come (in): come

בּוֹא (bo) : come/go_in 1) to go in, enter, come, go, come in 1a) (Qal) 1a1) to enter, come in 1a2) to come 1a2a) to come with 1a2b) to come upon, fall or light upon, attack (enemy) 1a2c) to come to pass 1a3) to attain to 1a4) to be enumerated 1a5) to go 1b) (Hiphil) 1b1) to lead in 1b2) to carry in 1b3) to bring in, cause to come in, gather, cause to come, bring near, bring against, bring upon 1b4) to bring to pass 1c) (Hophal) 1c1) to be brought, brought in 1c2) to be introduced, be put

the houseהַבַּ֔יִתha-BA-yitH1004B
to lodge

בִּית (but) (P'al) to pass the night, lodge Aramaic of ba.yit (בַּ֫יִת ": home" H1004B)

and he leansוְסָמַ֤ךְve-sa-MAKHH5564
to support

סָמַךְ (sa.makh) 1) to lean, lay, rest, support, put, uphold, lean upon 1a) (Qal) 1a1) to lean or lay upon, rest upon, lean against 1a2) to support, uphold, sustain 1b) (Niphal) to support or brace oneself 1c) (Piel) to sustain, refresh, revive

hand hisיָדוֹ֙ya-DOH3027G
hand

יָד (yad) : hand/arm[anatomy] 1) hand 1a) hand (of man) 1b) strength, power (fig.) 1c) side (of land), part, portion (metaph.) (fig.) 1d) (various special, technical senses) 1d1) sign, monument 1d2) part, fractional part, share 1d3) time, repetition 1d4) axle-trees, axle 1d5) stays, support (for laver) 1d6) tenons (in tabernacle) 1d7) a phallus, a hand (meaning unsure) 1d8) wrists

onעַל־'al-H5921A
upon

עַל (al) prep 1) upon, on the ground of, according to, on account of, on behalf of, concerning, beside, in addition to, together with, beyond, above, over, by, on to, towards, to, against 1a) upon, on the ground of, on the basis of, on account of, because of, therefore, on behalf of, for the sake of, for, with, in spite of, notwithstanding, concerning, in the matter of, as regards 1b) above, beyond, over (of excess) 1c) above, over (of elevation or pre-eminence) 1d) upon, to, over to, unto, in addition to, together with, with (of addition) 1e) over (of suspension or extension) …

the wallהַקִּ֔ירha-KIRH7023
wall

קִיר (qir) 1) wall, side 1a) wall (of house or chamber) 1b) the sides (of the altar)

and it bites himוּנְשָׁכ֖וֹu-ne-sha-KHOH5391A
to bite

נָשַׁךְ (na.shakh) 1) to bite 1a) (Qal) to bite 1b) (Piel) to bite

the snakeהַנָּחָֽשׁ׃ha-na-CHASHH5175
serpent

נָחָשׁ (na.chash) 1) serpent, snake 1a) serpent 1b) image (of serpent) 1c) fleeing serpent (mythological)

Words and meanings from STEPBible data (Tyndale House, Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). The capitalized syllable is the stressed one.