The lion has roared—who will not fear? The Lord GOD has spoken—who will not prophesy?
Parallel translations
- WEB The lion has roared. Who will not fear? The Lord Yahweh has spoken. Who can but prophesy?
- KJV The lion hath roared, who will not fear? the Lord GOD hath spoken, who can but prophesy?
- NKJV A lion has roared! Who will not fear? The Lord God has spoken! Who can but prophesy?
- NASB A lion has roared! Who will not fear? The Lord God has spoken! Who can do anything but prophesy?
- NLT The lion has roared— so who isn’t frightened? The Sovereign Lord has spoken— so who can refuse to proclaim his message?
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 lion roars, all fear; when the Lord speaks, the prophet must prophesy. Amos is compelled by God's word and cannot stay silent.
Overview
The roaring lion (Yahweh) provokes fear; God's speech compels proclamation. Amos defends his ministry: he speaks not by choice but under divine constraint. A true prophet cannot withhold the word entrusted to him. This compulsion to declare God's message echoes in the apostles, who said they could not but speak of Christ (Acts 4:20).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Acts 4:20For we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.”
- Amos 3:4Does a lion roar in the forest when he has no prey? Does a young lion growl in his den if he has caught nothing?
- Jer 20:9If I say, “I will not mention Him or speak any more in His name,” His message becomes a fire burning in my heart, shut up in my bones, and I become weary of holding it in, and I cannot prevail.
- Amos 1:2He said: “The LORD roars from Zion and raises His voice from Jerusalem; the pastures of the shepherds mourn, and the summit of Carmel withers.”
- Amos 7:12–17And Amaziah said to Amos, “Go away, you seer! Flee to the land of Judah; earn your bread there and do your prophesying there.
- 1 Cor 9:16Yet when I preach the gospel, I have no reason to boast, because I am obligated to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!
- Rev 5:5Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep! Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed to open the scroll and its seven seals.”
- Amos 2:12“But you made the Nazirites drink wine and commanded the prophets not to prophesy.
- Jonah 1:1–3Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai, saying,
- Job 32:18–19For I am full of words, and my spirit within me compels me.
- Acts 5:20“Go, stand in the temple courts and tell the people the full message of this new life.”
- Jonah 3:1–3Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time:
- Acts 5:29But Peter and the other apostles replied, “We must obey God rather than men.
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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 3:8 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.