Hear and testify against the house of Jacob, declares the Lord GOD, the God of Hosts.
Parallel translations
- WEB “Listen, and testify against the house of Jacob,” says the Lord Yahweh, the God of Armies.
- KJV Hear ye, and testify in the house of Jacob, saith the Lord GOD, the God of hosts,
- NKJV Hear and testify against the house of Jacob,” Says the Lord God, the God of hosts,
- NASB “Hear and testify against the house of Jacob,” Declares the Lord God, the God of armies.
- NLT “Now listen to this, and announce it throughout all Israel,” says the Lord, the Lord God of Heaven’s Armies.
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
God, the Lord of Armies, calls for testimony against the house of Jacob. A formal indictment against Israel is being declared.
Overview
The summons to 'listen and testify' frames the coming words as legal witness against Israel's sin. The title 'God of Armies' (LORD of hosts) underscores his sovereign power to execute the verdict. This introduces the specific judgment on Israel's false worship that follows. God himself stands as both witness and judge over his people.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Acts 20:21testifying to Jews and Greeks alike about repentance to God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.
- Deut 8:19If you ever forget the LORD your God and go after other gods to worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will surely perish.
- Acts 2:40With many other words he testified, and he urged them, “Be saved from this corrupt generation.”
- 2 Kgs 17:13Yet through all His prophets and seers, the LORD warned Israel and Judah, saying, “Turn from your wicked ways and keep My commandments and statutes, according to the entire Law that I commanded your fathers and delivered to you through My servants the prophets.”
- Ezek 2:7But speak My words to them, whether they listen or refuse to listen, for they are rebellious.
- Eph 4:17So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking.
- 2 Chr 24:19Nevertheless, the LORD sent prophets to bring the people back to Him and to testify against them; but they would not listen.
- Acts 18:5–6And when Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself fully to the word, testifying to the Jews that Jesus is the Christ.
- Amos 5:27Therefore I will send you into exile beyond Damascus,” says the LORD, whose name is the God of Hosts.
- Josh 22:22“The LORD, the Mighty One, is God! The LORD, the Mighty One, is God! He knows, and may Israel also know. If this was in rebellion or breach of faith against the LORD, do not spare us today.
- Isa 1:24Therefore the Lord GOD of Hosts, the Mighty One of Israel, declares: “Ah, I will be relieved of My foes and avenge Myself on My enemies.
- 1 Th 4:6and no one should ever violate or exploit his brother in this regard, because the Lord will avenge all such acts, as we have already told you and solemnly warned you.
- 2 Kgs 17:15They rejected His statutes and the covenant He had made with their fathers, as well as the decrees He had given them. They pursued worthless idols and themselves became worthless, going after the surrounding nations that the LORD had commanded them not to imitate.
- Deut 30:18–19I declare to you today that you will surely perish; you shall not prolong your days in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess.
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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 3:13 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
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