Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? shall there be evil in a city, and the LORD hath not done it?
Parallel translations
- WEB Does the trumpet alarm sound in a city, without the people being afraid? Does evil happen to a city, and Yahweh hasn’t done it?
- BSB If a ram’s horn sounds in a city, do the people not tremble? If calamity comes to a city, has not the LORD caused it?
- NKJV If a trumpet is blown in a city, will not the people be afraid? If there is calamity in a city, will not the Lord have done it?
- NASB If a trumpet is blown in a city, will the people not tremble? If a disaster occurs in a city, has the Lord not brought it about?
- NLT When the ram’s horn blows a warning, shouldn’t the people be alarmed? Does disaster come to a city unless the Lord has planned it?
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
When the alarm trumpet sounds, people rightly tremble; and no disaster strikes a city apart from God's sovereign will. God governs even the calamities that come upon nations.
Overview
The trumpet warned of approaching danger, prompting fear. Amos then states a profound truth: 'disaster' that befalls a city does not occur outside God's control. This affirms God's sovereignty over judgment and calamity, not that he authors moral evil but that nothing is beyond his rule. Such sovereignty is meant to drive people to repentance and, ultimately, to trust in the God who works all things for his purposes.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Isa 45:7I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.
- Isa 14:24–27The LORD of hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand:
- Zeph 1:16A day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers.
- 2 Cor 5:11Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences.
- Gen 50:20But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.
- Jer 10:7Who would not fear thee, O King of nations? for to thee doth it appertain: forasmuch as among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their kingdoms, there is none like unto thee.
- Jer 6:1O ye children of Benjamin, gather yourselves to flee out of the midst of Jerusalem, and blow the trumpet in Tekoa, and set up a sign of fire in Bethhaccerem: for evil appeareth out of the north, and great destruction.
- Acts 2:23Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain:
- Jer 4:5Declare ye in Judah, and publish in Jerusalem; and say, Blow ye the trumpet in the land: cry, gather together, and say, Assemble yourselves, and let us go into the defenced cities.
- Acts 4:28For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done.
- Jer 5:22Fear ye not me? saith the LORD: will ye not tremble at my presence, which have placed the sand for the bound of the sea by a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass it: and though the waves thereof toss themselves, yet can they not prevail; though they roar, yet can they not pass over it?
- Ezek 33:3If when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet, and warn the people;
- Hos 5:8Blow ye the cornet in Gibeah, and the trumpet in Ramah: cry aloud at Bethaven, after thee, O Benjamin.
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 3:6 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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