The lion has roared— so who isn’t frightened? The Sovereign Lord has spoken— so who can refuse to proclaim his message?
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?
- BSB The lion has roared—who will not fear? The Lord GOD has spoken—who will not 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?
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 can’t help telling the things which we saw and heard.”
- Amos 3:4Will a lion roar in the thicket, when he has no prey? Does a young lion cry out of his den, if he has caught nothing?
- Jer 20:9If I say, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name, then there is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I am weary with holding it in, and I can’t.
- Amos 1:2He said: “Yahweh will roar from Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the pastures of the shepherds will mourn, and the top of Carmel will wither.”
- Amos 7:12–17Amaziah also said to Amos, “You seer, go, flee away into the land of Judah, and there eat bread, and prophesy there:
- 1 Cor 9:16For if I preach the Good News, I have nothing to boast about; for necessity is laid on me; but woe is to me, if I don’t preach the Good News.
- Rev 5:5One of the elders said to me, “Don’t weep. Behold, the Lion who is of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome; he who opens the book and its seven seals.”
- Amos 2:12“But you gave the Nazirites wine to drink, and commanded the prophets, saying, ‘Don’t prophesy!’
- Jonah 1:1–3Now Yahweh’s word came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,
- Job 32:18–19For I am full of words. The spirit within me constrains me.
- Acts 5:20“Go stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life.”
- Jonah 3:1–3Yahweh’s word came to Jonah the second time, saying,
- Acts 5:29But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men.
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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
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