“Behold, the days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when the plowman will overtake the reaper and the treader of grapes, the sower of seed. The mountains will drip with sweet wine, with which all the hills will flow.
Parallel translations
- WEB “Behold, the days come,” says Yahweh, “that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the one treading grapes him who sows seed; and sweet wine will drip from the mountains, and flow from the hills.
- KJV Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed; and the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt.
- NKJV “Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “When the plowman shall overtake the reaper, And the treader of grapes him who sows seed; The mountains shall drip with sweet wine, And all the hills shall flow with it.
- NASB ¶“Behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord, “When the plowman will overtake the reaper, And the one who treads grapes will overtake him who sows the seed; When the mountains will drip grape juice, And all the hills will come apart.
- NLT “The time will come,” says the Lord, “when the grain and grapes will grow faster than they can be harvested. Then the terraced vineyards on the hills of Israel will drip with sweet wine!
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
God pictures a coming age of such abundance that harvest overtakes planting and the hills run with new wine. It depicts the overflowing fruitfulness of God's restored people.
Overview
Using vivid agricultural imagery, the verse reverses the curses of famine and drought Amos earlier announced (4:7-9): the crops are so plentiful that the seasons of plowing, reaping, and treading overlap. The dripping mountains and flowing sweet wine portray an almost Edenic, superabundant blessing. This anticipates the lavish provision of the messianic age, when the kingdom of Christ brings life and joy in fullness.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Joel 3:18And in that day the mountains will drip with sweet wine, and the hills will flow with milk. All the streams of Judah will run with water, and a spring will flow from the house of the LORD to water the Valley of Acacias.
- John 4:35Do you not say, ‘There are still four months until the harvest’? I tell you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are ripe for harvest.
- Isa 55:13Instead of the thornbush, a cypress will grow, and instead of the brier, a myrtle will spring up; they will make a name for the LORD, an everlasting sign, never to be destroyed.”
- Lev 26:5Your threshing will continue until the grape harvest, and the grape harvest will continue until sowing time; you will have your fill of food to eat and will dwell securely in your land.
- Isa 35:1–2The wilderness and the land will be glad; the desert will rejoice and blossom like a rose.
- Hos 2:21–23“On that day I will respond—” declares the LORD—“I will respond to the heavens, and they will respond to the earth.
- Ezek 36:35Then they will say, ‘This land that was desolate has become like the garden of Eden. The cities that were once ruined, desolate, and destroyed are now fortified and inhabited.’
- Joel 3:20But Judah will be inhabited forever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation.
- Judg 5:5The mountains quaked before the LORD, the One of Sinai, before the LORD, the God of Israel.
- Ps 97:5The mountains melt like wax at the presence of the LORD, before the Lord of all the earth.
- Amos 9:5The Lord GOD of Hosts, He who touches the earth and it melts, and all its dwellers mourn—all the land rises like the Nile, then sinks like the river of Egypt—
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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 9:13 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.