All the sinners of My people shall die by the sword, Who say, ‘The calamity shall not overtake nor confront us.’
Parallel translations
- WEB All the sinners of my people will die by the sword, who say, ‘Evil won’t overtake nor meet us.’
- KJV All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, which say, The evil shall not overtake nor prevent us.
- BSB All the sinners among My people will die by the sword—all those who say, ‘Disaster will never draw near or confront us.’”
- NASB “All the sinners of My people will die by the sword, Those who say, ‘The catastrophe will not overtake or confront us.’
- NLT But all the sinners will die by the sword— all those who say, ‘Nothing bad will happen to us.’
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 presumptuous among God's people, who deny that judgment can ever reach them, will fall by the sword. It warns that false security in the face of God's word is itself a fatal sin.
Overview
This verse closes Amos's sifting metaphor (vv. 8-9): though the nation is shaken, the guilty 'sinners' who scoff at coming disaster cannot escape. Their words, 'Evil won't overtake nor meet us,' echo the complacency Amos condemned throughout the book. Yet the judgment is discriminating, not indiscriminate, preparing the way for the promise of preservation and restoration that immediately follows.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 19
- Amos 6:3Those who put far away the evil day, and cause the seat of violence to come near;
- Isa 33:14The sinners in Zion are afraid. Trembling has seized the godless ones. Who among us can live with the devouring fire? Who among us can live with everlasting burning?
- Matt 13:49–50So will it be in the end of the world. The angels will come and separate the wicked from among the righteous,
- Eccl 8:11Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.
- Amos 6:1Woe to those who are at ease in Zion, and to those who are secure on the mountain of Samaria, the notable men of the chief of the nations, to whom the house of Israel come!
- Isa 56:12“Come,” say they, “I will get wine, and we will fill ourselves with strong drink; and tomorrow will be as today, great beyond measure.”
- Matt 3:10–12“Even now the ax lies at the root of the trees. Therefore every tree that doesn’t produce good fruit is cut down, and cast into the fire.
- Zech 13:8–9It shall happen that in all the land,” says Yahweh, “two parts in it will be cut off and die; but the third will be left in it.
- Isa 5:19Who say, “Let him make speed, let him hasten his work, that we may see it; and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw near and come, that we may know it!”
- Zeph 3:11–13In that day you will not be disappointed for all your doings, in which you have transgressed against me; for then I will take away out from among you your proudly exulting ones, and you will no more be haughty in my holy mountain.
- Mal 3:15Now we call the proud happy; yes, those who work wickedness are built up; yes, they tempt God, and escape.’
- Jer 18:18Then they said, “Come, and let us devise devices against Jeremiah; for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come, and let us strike him with the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of his words.”
- Isa 28:14–15Therefore hear Yahweh’s word, you scoffers, that rule this people in Jerusalem:
- Ezek 34:16–17I will seek that which was lost, and will bring back that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick: but the fat and the strong I will destroy; I will feed them in justice.
- Mal 4:1“For, behold, the day comes, it burns as a furnace; and all the proud, and all who work wickedness, will be stubble; and the day that comes will burn them up,” says Yahweh of Armies, “that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.
- Mal 3:2–5“But who can endure the day of his coming? And who will stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire, and like launderer’s soap;
- Ps 10:11He says in his heart, “God has forgotten. He hides his face. He will never see it.”
- Matt 13:41–42The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will gather out of his Kingdom all things that cause stumbling, and those who do iniquity,
- Ezek 20:38I will purge out from among you the rebels, and those who disobey against me. I will bring them out of the land where they live, but they shall not enter into the land of Israel; and you shall know that I am Yahweh.”
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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 9:10 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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