American King James Version - AKJV - 1999
Amos 4
1
Hear this word, you cows of Bashan, that are in the mountain of Samaria, which oppress the poor, which crush the needy, which say to their masters, Bring, and let us drink.
Reference
2
The Lord GOD has sworn by his holiness, that, see, the days shall come on you, that he will take you away with hooks, and your posterity with fishhooks.
Reference
3
And you shall go out at the breaches, every cow at that which is before her; and you shall cast them into the palace, said the LORD.
Reference
📍 Harmon
4
Come to Bethel, and transgress; at Gilgal multiply transgression; and bring your sacrifices every morning, and your tithes after three years:
Reference
5
And offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving with leaven, and proclaim and publish the free offerings: for this likes you, O you children of Israel, said the Lord GOD.
Reference
6
And I also have given you cleanness of teeth in all your cities, and want of bread in all your places: yet have you not returned to me, said the LORD.
Reference
7
And also I have withheld the rain from you, when there were yet three months to the harvest: and I caused it to rain on one city, and caused it not to rain on another city: one piece was rained on, and the piece whereupon it rained not withered.
Reference
8
So two or three cities wandered to one city, to drink water; but they were not satisfied: yet have you not returned to me, said the LORD.
Reference
9
I have smitten you with blasting and mildew: when your gardens and your vineyards and your fig trees and your olive trees increased, the palmerworm devoured them: yet have you not returned to me, said the LORD.
Reference
10
I have sent among you the pestilence after the manner of Egypt: your young men have I slain with the sword, and have taken away your horses; and I have made the stink of your camps to come up to your nostrils: yet have you not returned to me, said the LORD.
Reference
Creation
2 Kings 13:7
Parallel theme
Joel 2:20
References Egypt
Deuteronomy 28:60
References Lord
Jeremiah 48:15
Amos 4:6
Amos 8:3
2 Kings 13:3
Word
Leviticus 26:25
Jeremiah 18:21
Jeremiah 11:22
11
I have overthrown some of you, as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and you were as a firebrand plucked out of the burning: yet have you not returned to me, said the LORD.
Reference
Parallel theme
Jeremiah 23:14
Jude 1:7
Jude 1:23
Revelation 9:20
1 Corinthians 3:15
References God
Isaiah 13:19
2 Peter 2:6
References Lord
Zechariah 3:2
Amos 4:6
Jeremiah 49:18
12
Therefore thus will I do to you, O Israel: and because I will do this to you, prepare to meet your God, O Israel.
Reference
Parallel theme
Isaiah 47:3
Matthew 5:25
Ezekiel 22:30
Hosea 13:8
Revelation 3:3
References Israel
Ezekiel 13:5
13
For, see, he that forms the mountains, and creates the wind, and declares to man what is his thought, that makes the morning darkness, and treads on the high places of the earth, The LORD, The God of hosts, is his name.
Reference
Darkness
Amos 5:8
Jeremiah 13:16
Parallel theme
Psalm 65:6
References God
Daniel 2:28
References Lord
Micah 1:3
Amos 9:6
Isaiah 47:4
Deuteronomy 33:29
Summary of Amos 4
Amos 4 presents a severe indictment of Israel's wealthy society and religious hypocrisy, showing that God repeatedly allowed hardship, drought, crop failure, disease, warfare, and destruction to warn the nation about its sinful condition, yet Israel continually refused to recognize these events as opportunities to return to Him.
The chapter begins by addressing the wealthy women of Samaria, whom Amos compares to the well-fed cattle of Bashan because they live in comfort while demanding more from their husbands and contributing to the oppression of the poor.
Their prosperity has become morally corrupt because they enjoy abundance while vulnerable people suffer around them.
God therefore announces that their comfortable existence will end and that they will be carried away into captivity through breaches in Samaria's defenses.
Amos then turns his attention to religious hypocrisy.
With biting sarcasm, he tells the people to continue visiting Bethel and Gilgal, bringing sacrifices, tithes, and voluntary offerings, because their religious activity has become something they proudly perform even though their daily lives remain characterized by injustice and disobedience.
The problem is not that sacrifice or worship is inherently wrong but that the people have separated religious ceremonies from the righteous life God requires.
God then lists a series of disasters that He had already allowed to confront Israel with the consequences of its rebellion.
He sent famine, withheld rain, allowed drought to affect different cities, destroyed crops with heat and disease, sent locusts, brought pestilence, allowed military losses, and even permitted devastating destruction to fall upon cities.
After each warning, however, the same tragic statement appears in substance: the people still did not return to God.
This repetition is one of the most important features of the chapter because it shows that Israel's problem is not simply ignorance.
The people have received warning after warning, yet they continually refuse to change.
Their hearts have become resistant to correction even when suffering makes the consequences of their behavior impossible to ignore.
The final warning is therefore much more serious.
Because Israel has repeatedly refused to return, Amos announces that the nation must prepare to meet its God.
The statement does not describe a comforting meeting but a confrontation with the Creator and Judge whom Israel has consistently rejected.
The chapter ends by reminding Israel exactly who this God is.
He forms mountains, creates the wind, knows what is inside human beings, controls the darkness and light, and rules over the heights of the earth.
The people who have treated God lightly are therefore confronted with the reality that they are dealing with the sovereign Creator of everything, not merely another religious authority who can be ignored.
The central message is that Amos 4 shows the tragic consequences of repeatedly rejecting God's warnings, because Israel experienced famine, drought, agricultural destruction, disease, warfare, and other disasters without allowing these experiences to lead to genuine repentance or a return to God.
The chapter ultimately warns that religious ceremonies cannot substitute for obedience and that repeated refusal to respond to God's correction eventually leads to unavoidable judgment, making the command to prepare to meet God a powerful reminder that the Creator who patiently warns His people is also the Judge who will ultimately hold them accountable.
The chapter begins by addressing the wealthy women of Samaria, whom Amos compares to the well-fed cattle of Bashan because they live in comfort while demanding more from their husbands and contributing to the oppression of the poor.
Their prosperity has become morally corrupt because they enjoy abundance while vulnerable people suffer around them.
God therefore announces that their comfortable existence will end and that they will be carried away into captivity through breaches in Samaria's defenses.
Amos then turns his attention to religious hypocrisy.
With biting sarcasm, he tells the people to continue visiting Bethel and Gilgal, bringing sacrifices, tithes, and voluntary offerings, because their religious activity has become something they proudly perform even though their daily lives remain characterized by injustice and disobedience.
The problem is not that sacrifice or worship is inherently wrong but that the people have separated religious ceremonies from the righteous life God requires.
God then lists a series of disasters that He had already allowed to confront Israel with the consequences of its rebellion.
He sent famine, withheld rain, allowed drought to affect different cities, destroyed crops with heat and disease, sent locusts, brought pestilence, allowed military losses, and even permitted devastating destruction to fall upon cities.
After each warning, however, the same tragic statement appears in substance: the people still did not return to God.
This repetition is one of the most important features of the chapter because it shows that Israel's problem is not simply ignorance.
The people have received warning after warning, yet they continually refuse to change.
Their hearts have become resistant to correction even when suffering makes the consequences of their behavior impossible to ignore.
The final warning is therefore much more serious.
Because Israel has repeatedly refused to return, Amos announces that the nation must prepare to meet its God.
The statement does not describe a comforting meeting but a confrontation with the Creator and Judge whom Israel has consistently rejected.
The chapter ends by reminding Israel exactly who this God is.
He forms mountains, creates the wind, knows what is inside human beings, controls the darkness and light, and rules over the heights of the earth.
The people who have treated God lightly are therefore confronted with the reality that they are dealing with the sovereign Creator of everything, not merely another religious authority who can be ignored.
The central message is that Amos 4 shows the tragic consequences of repeatedly rejecting God's warnings, because Israel experienced famine, drought, agricultural destruction, disease, warfare, and other disasters without allowing these experiences to lead to genuine repentance or a return to God.
The chapter ultimately warns that religious ceremonies cannot substitute for obedience and that repeated refusal to respond to God's correction eventually leads to unavoidable judgment, making the command to prepare to meet God a powerful reminder that the Creator who patiently warns His people is also the Judge who will ultimately hold them accountable.