The Sovereign Lord has sworn by his own name, and this is what he, the Lord God of Heaven’s Armies, says: “I despise the arrogance of Israel, and I hate their fortresses. I will give this city and everything in it to their enemies.”
Parallel translations
- WEB “The Lord Yahweh has sworn by himself,” says Yahweh, the God of Armies: “I abhor the pride of Jacob, and detest his fortresses. Therefore I will deliver up the city with all that is in it.
- KJV The Lord GOD hath sworn by himself, saith the LORD the God of hosts, I abhor the excellency of Jacob, and hate his palaces: therefore will I deliver up the city with all that is therein.
- BSB The Lord GOD has sworn by Himself—the LORD, the God of Hosts, has declared: “I abhor Jacob’s pride and detest his citadels, so I will deliver up the city and everything in it.”
- NKJV The Lord God has sworn by Himself, The Lord God of hosts says: “I abhor the pride of Jacob, And hate his palaces; Therefore I will deliver up the city And all that is in it.”
- NASB ¶The Lord God has sworn by Himself, the Lord God of armies has declared: “I loathe the arrogance of Jacob, And detest his citadels; Therefore I will give up the city and all it contains.”
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
The Lord swears by himself that he abhors Jacob's pride and fortresses and will hand the city over to its enemies. Israel's arrogant self-reliance provokes God's solemn judgment.
Overview
God's oath by himself, the highest possible guarantee, shows the certainty of judgment against Israel's pride. Their trust in fortified strongholds is an affront to the God who alone gives security. Pride stands at the root of their sin, and only the humility found in Christ, who humbled himself even to death, leads to true safety before God.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 18
- Jer 51:14Yahweh of Armies has sworn by himself, saying, ‘Surely I will fill you with men, as with the canker worm; and they will lift up a shout against you.’
- Amos 4:2The Lord Yahweh has sworn by his holiness that behold, “The days shall come on you that they will take you away with hooks, and the last of you with fish hooks.
- Jer 22:5But if you will not hear these words, I swear by myself,” says Yahweh, “that this house shall become a desolation.”’”
- Amos 8:7Yahweh has sworn by the pride of Jacob, “Surely I will never forget any of their works.
- Ps 47:4He chooses our inheritance for us, the glory of Jacob whom he loved. Selah.
- Amos 3:11Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: “An adversary will overrun the land; and he will pull down your strongholds, and your fortresses will be plundered.”
- Ps 106:40Therefore Yahweh burned with anger against his people. He abhorred his inheritance.
- Lam 2:5The Lord has become as an enemy, he has swallowed up Israel; He has swallowed up all her palaces, he has destroyed his strongholds; He has multiplied in the daughter of Judah mourning and lamentation.
- Mic 1:6–9Therefore I will make Samaria like a rubble heap of the field, like places for planting vineyards; and I will pour down its stones into the valley, and I will uncover its foundations.
- Gen 22:16and said, “I have sworn by myself, says Yahweh, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son,
- Heb 6:13–17For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he could swear by no one greater, he swore by himself,
- Ps 78:59When God heard this, he was angry, and greatly abhorred Israel;
- Lev 26:30I will destroy your high places, and cut down your incense altars, and cast your dead bodies upon the bodies of your idols; and my soul will abhor you.
- Deut 32:19Yahweh saw and abhorred, because of the provocation of his sons and his daughters.
- Ezek 24:21Speak to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I will profane my sanctuary, the pride of your power, the desire of your eyes, and that which your soul pities; and your sons and your daughters whom you have left behind shall fall by the sword.
- Zech 11:8I cut off the three shepherds in one month; for my soul was weary of them, and their soul also loathed me.
- Lev 26:11I will set my tent among you, and my soul won’t abhor you.
- Ps 50:12If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world is mine, and all that is in it.
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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 6:8 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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