Passage

Amos 3.7

Book: Amos · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

5. Can a bird fall in a snare upon the earth, where no gin is set for him? shall a snare spring up from the ground, and have taken nothing at all? 6. Shall the trumpet be blown in a city, and the people not be afraid? shall evil befall a city, and Jehovah hath not done it?

7. Surely the Lord Jehovah will do nothing, except he reveal his secret unto his servants the prophets.

The lion hath roared; who will not fear? The Lord Jehovah hath spoken; who can but prophesy? 9. Publish ye in the palaces at Ashdod, and in the palaces in the land of Egypt, and say, Assemble yourselves upon the mountains of Samaria, and behold what great tumults are therein, and what oppressions in the midst thereof. (Amos 3:5-9, ASV)

WEB

5. Can a bird fall in a trap on the earth, where no snare is set for him? Does a snare spring up from the ground, when there is nothing to catch? 6. Does the trumpet alarm sound in a city, without the people being afraid? Does evil happen to a city, and Yahweh hasn’t done it?

7. Surely the Lord Yahweh will do nothing, unless he reveals his secret to his servants the prophets.

The lion has roared. Who will not fear? The Lord Yahweh has spoken. Who can but prophesy? 9. Proclaim in the palaces at Ashdod, and in the palaces in the land of Egypt, and say, “Assemble yourselves on the mountains of Samaria, and see what unrest is in her, and what oppression is among them.” (Amos 3:5-9, WEB)

KJV

5. Can a bird fall in a snare upon the earth, where no gin is for him? shall one take up a snare from the earth, and have taken nothing at all? 6. Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? shall there be evil in a city, and the LORD hath not done it? ^{be afraid: or, run together? the LORD: or, shall not the L.doe somewhat?}

7. Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.

The lion hath roared, who will not fear? the Lord GOD hath spoken, who can but prophesy? 9. Publish in the palaces at Ashdod, and in the palaces in the land of Egypt, and say, Assemble yourselves upon the mountains of Samaria, and behold the great tumults in the midst thereof, and the oppressed in the midst thereof. ^{oppressed: or, oppressions} (Amos 3:5-9, KJV)

YLT

5. Doth a bird fall into a snare of the earth, And there is no gin for it? Doth a snare go up from the ground, And prey it captureth not? 6. Is a trumpet blown in a city, And do people not tremble? Is there affliction in a city, And Jehovah hath not done [it]?

7. For the Lord Jehovah doth nothing, Except He hath revealed His counsel unto His servants the prophets.

A lion hath roared, who doth not fear? The Lord Jehovah hath spoken, who doth not prophesy? 9. Sound ye unto palaces in Ashdod, And to palaces in the land of Egypt, and say: Be ye gathered on mountains of Samaria, And see many troubles within her, And oppressed ones in her midst. (Amos 3:5-9, YLT)

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Setting

Speaker: Amos of Tekoa, a herdsman (noqed, sheep breeder) and tender of sycamore figs from Judah, speaking the word of the LORD.
Audience: The northern kingdom of Israel, addressed at the height of its prosperity under Jeroboam II.
Location: Delivered in the northern kingdom, principally at Bethel, the royal sanctuary and state temple (Amos 7:13).
Time period: c. 760-750 BC, in the reigns of Uzziah of Judah and Jeroboam II of Israel, "two years before the earthquake" (Amos 1:1). Amos is generally reckoned the earliest of the writing prophets.

Theological reading

"Surely the Lord GOD does nothing unless He reveals His secret counsel to His servants the prophets."

The key term is sod. It denotes a confidential council and, by extension, what is decided there. Jeremiah 23:18 and 23:22 use it as the test of a true prophet: the false prophets are those who never stood in the LORD's council, and who therefore speak visions of their own heart. Psalm 25:14 extends the intimacy more widely, "the secret of the LORD is for those who fear Him."

What the verse claims. Not that God explains Himself exhaustively, and not that prophets know everything God intends, but that God's decisive acts in history are announced in advance through appointed messengers. In the chain of cause-and-effect questions running through the chapter, this is the theological payoff: judgment does not arrive unannounced.

Two uses to avoid. The verse is sometimes read as a guarantee that every event has a prior prophetic notice, which the chain's own scope (the coming judgment on Israel) does not support. It is also sometimes used to require a contemporary prophetic office; the verse addresses how God dealt with Israel through the prophets and does not by itself settle that question. Cessationist and continuationist readings both have to argue the point from elsewhere.

The verse's real force is pastoral and apologetic at once: the God of Amos does not act in the dark, which is why the book is a warning rather than a report.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

H0136 - adonai, adonai, Strong's H0136
H5650 - ebed, ebed, Strong's H5650
H1697 - dabar, dabar, Strong's H1697
H6213 - asah, asah, Strong's H6213

Quoted in

Lexicon:

H1697 - dabar, via Amos 3.7-8

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.