But the LORD took me from following the flock and said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to My people Israel.’
Parallel translations
- WEB and Yahweh took me from following the flock, and Yahweh said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’
- KJV And the LORD took me as I followed the flock, and the LORD said unto me, Go, prophesy unto my people Israel.
- NKJV Then the Lord took me as I followed the flock, And the Lord said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to My people Israel.’
- NASB But the Lord took me from following the flock, and the Lord said to me, ‘Go prophesy to My people Israel.’
- NLT But the Lord called me away from my flock and told me, ‘Go and prophesy to my people in Israel.’
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
Amos explains that Yahweh took him from his flock and commanded him to prophesy to Israel. His ministry rests entirely on God's sovereign call.
Overview
It was God's direct commission, not human appointment, that made Amos a prophet, so he cannot simply stop at a priest's order. The call came while he was at ordinary work, showing God's initiative in raising up his messengers. This pattern of divine calling reaches its fullness in Christ, who sends his servants to proclaim his word to the nations.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- 2 Sam 7:8Now then, you are to tell My servant David that this is what the LORD of Hosts says: I took you from the pasture, from following the flock, to be the ruler over My people Israel.
- Ezek 2:3–4“Son of man,” He said to me, “I am sending you to the Israelites, to a rebellious nation that has rebelled against Me. To this very day they and their fathers have rebelled against Me.
- Matt 9:9As Jesus went on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax booth. “Follow Me,” He told him, and Matthew got up and followed Him.
- Ps 78:70–72He chose David His servant and took him from the sheepfolds;
- Matt 4:18–19As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen.
- Jer 1:7But the LORD told me: “Do not say, ‘I am only a child.’ For to everyone I send you, you must go, and all that I command you, you must speak.
- Acts 1:8But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
- Acts 5:20“Go, stand in the temple courts and tell the people the full message of this new life.”
- Luke 24:46–48And He told them, “This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day,
- Acts 4:20For we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.”
- Acts 5:29–32But Peter and the other apostles replied, “We must obey God rather than men.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
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 7:15 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
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.