8 The Lord God has taken an oath by himself, says the Lord, the God of armies: the pride of Jacob is disgusting to me, and I have hate for his great houses: so I will give up the town with everything in it.
The Lord of armies has taken an oath by himself, saying, Truly, I will make you full with men as with locusts, and their voices will be loud against you.
The Lord God has taken an oath by his holy name, that the days are coming when they will take you away with hooks, and the rest of you with fish-hooks.
For this reason, says the Lord, an attacker will come, shutting in the land on every side; and your strength will come down and your great houses will be made waste.
But if you do not give ear to these words, I give you my oath by myself, says the Lord, that this house will become a waste.
Then the wrath of the Lord was burning against his people, and he was angry with his heritage.
And in one month I put an end to the three keepers of the flock; for my soul was tired of them, and their souls were disgusted with me.
For when God made his oath to Abraham, because there was no greater oath, he made it by himself, Saying, Be certain that I will give you my blessing, and make your numbers very great. And so, when he had been waiting calmly for a long time, God's word to him was put into effect. For men at all times make their oaths by what is greater; and any argument is ended by the decision of the oath. So that when it was God's desire to make it specially clear to those who by his word were to have the heritage, that his purpose was fixed, he made it more certain with an oath;
Saying, I have taken an oath by my name, says the Lord, because you have done this and have not kept back from me your dearly loved only son,
So I will make Samaria into a field and the plantings of a vine-garden: I will send its stones falling down into the valley, uncovering its bases. And all her pictured images will be hammered into bits, and all the payments for her loose ways will be burned with fire, and all the images of her gods I will make waste: for with the price of a loose woman she got them together, and as the price of a loose woman will they be given back. For this I will be full of sorrow and give cries of grief; I will go uncovered and unclothed: I will give cries of grief like the jackals and will be in sorrow like the ostriches. For her wounds may not be made well: for it has come even to Judah, stretching up to the doorway of my people, even to Jerusalem.
Say to the people of Israel, The Lord has said, See, I will make my holy place unclean, the pride of your strength, the pleasure of your eyes, and the desire of your soul; and your sons and daughters, who did not come with you here, will be put to the sword.
The Lord has become like one fighting against her, sending destruction on Israel; he has sent destruction on all her great houses, making waste his strong places: increasing the grief and the sorrow of the daughter of Judah.
When this came to God's ears he was very angry, and gave up Israel completely;
And the Lord saw with disgust the evil-doing of his sons and daughters.
And I will send destruction on your high places, overturning your perfume altars, and will put your dead bodies on your broken images, and my soul will be turned from you in disgust.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Amos 6
Commentary on Amos 6 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 6
In this chapter we have,
Amo 6:1-7
The first words of the chapter are the contents of these verses; but they sound very strangely, and contrary to the sentiments of a vain world: Woe to those that are at ease! We are ready to say, Happy are those that are at ease, that neither feel any trouble nor fear any, that lie soft and warm, and lay nothing to heart; and wise we think are those that do so, that bathe themselves in the delights of sense and care not how the world goes. Those are looked upon as doing well for themselves that do well for their bodies and make much of them; but against them this woe is denounced, and we are here told what their ease is, and what the woe is.
Amo 6:8-14
In the former part of the chapter we had these secure Israelites loading themselves with pleasures, as if they could never be made merry enough; here we have God loading them with punishments, as if they could never be made miserable enough. And observe,