“Refuge will be lost from the swift, And the strong will not strengthen his power, Nor the warrior save his life.
Parallel translations
- WEB Flight will perish from the swift; and the strong won’t strengthen his force; neither shall the mighty deliver himself;
- KJV Therefore the flight shall perish from the swift, and the strong shall not strengthen his force, neither shall the mighty deliver himself:
- BSB Escape will fail the swift, the strong will not prevail by his strength, and the mighty will not save his life.
- NKJV Therefore flight shall perish from the swift, The strong shall not strengthen his power, Nor shall the mighty deliver himself;
- NLT Your fastest runners will not get away. The strongest among you will become weak. Even mighty warriors will be unable to save themselves.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
In the coming judgment, even the swift, strong, and mighty will be unable to save themselves. Human strength offers no escape from God.
Overview
Amos lists the warrior's usual means of survival, speed, strength, and might, and declares each one useless. When God acts in judgment, no human capability can deliver. This levels all human pride and self-reliance. Only God can save, a truth that finds its answer in salvation by grace through Christ alone.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Jer 9:23Yahweh says, “Don’t let the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might. Don’t let the rich man glory in his riches.
- Eccl 9:11I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favor to men of skill; but time and chance happen to them all.
- Amos 9:1–3I saw the Lord standing beside the altar, and he said, “Strike the tops of the pillars, that the thresholds may shake; and break them in pieces on the head of all of them; and I will kill the last of them with the sword: there shall not one of them flee away, and there shall not one of them escape.
- Ps 33:16There is no king saved by the multitude of an army. A mighty man is not delivered by great strength.
- Job 11:20But the eyes of the wicked shall fail. They shall have no way to flee. Their hope shall be the giving up of the spirit.”
- Isa 30:16–17but you said, “No, for we will flee on horses”; therefore you will flee; and, “We will ride on the swift”; therefore those who pursue you will be swift.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Amid judgment on injustice, Amos promises the raising up of David's fallen tent — read by James in Acts 15 as the ingathering of the nations into the kingdom of the risen Christ.
How Amos 2:14 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.