I will tear down the winter house along with the summer house; the houses of ivory will also perish, and the great houses will come to an end,” declares the LORD.
Parallel translations
- WEB I will strike the winter house with the summer house; and the houses of ivory will perish, and the great houses will have an end,” says Yahweh.
- KJV And I will smite the winter house with the summer house; and the houses of ivory shall perish, and the great houses shall have an end, saith the LORD.
- NKJV I will destroy the winter house along with the summer house; The houses of ivory shall perish, And the great houses shall have an end,” Says the Lord.
- NASB “I will also strike the winter house together with the summer house; The houses of ivory will also perish, And the great houses will come to an end,” Declares the Lord.
- NLT And I will destroy the beautiful homes of the wealthy— their winter mansions and their summer houses, too— all their palaces filled with ivory,” says the Lord.
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 will destroy the luxurious winter and summer houses and the homes adorned with ivory. The opulence built on injustice will perish.
Overview
The wealthy of Samaria enjoyed seasonal residences and ivory-inlaid mansions, evidence of great prosperity and excess. All of it is marked for destruction. Material splendor gained at the expense of the poor offers no lasting security. This warns that earthly riches cannot stand against God's judgment, redirecting hope to treasure that endures in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Jer 36:22Since it was the ninth month, the king was sitting in his winter quarters with a fire burning before him.
- 1 Kgs 22:39As for the rest of the acts of Ahab, along with all his accomplishments and the ivory palace and all the cities he built, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?
- Amos 6:11For the LORD gives a command: “The great house will be smashed to pieces, and the small house to rubble.”
- Judg 3:20Then Ehud approached him while he was sitting alone in the coolness of his upper room. “I have a word from God for you,” Ehud said, and the king rose from his seat.
- Isa 5:9I heard the LORD of Hosts declare: “Surely many houses will become desolate, great mansions left unoccupied.
- Ps 45:8All your garments are fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia; from palaces of ivory the harps make you glad.
- Amos 3:11Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: “An enemy will surround the land; he will pull down your strongholds and plunder your citadels.”
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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 3:15 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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