Bible Strands
Amos 3:13
Hear and testify against the house of Jacob, declares the Lord GOD, the God of Hosts.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Yahweh, identified as Lord God and God of Hosts, issues a formal judicial proclamation to the house of Jacob immediately following the description of a remnant surviving in Samaria.
The words — The imperative שִׁמְעוּ (shimʿû) commands "hear," while וְהֵעִידוּ (wəhēʿîdû) means "and testify/warn," forming the core legal summons of the oracle.
The thread — This courtroom testimony motif appears in Deuteronomy 8:19 and Deuteronomy 30:18, where God formally warns Israel against covenant abandonment, and in Joshua 22:22, where divine omniscience grounds covenant accountability.
Why it lands — The text demands immediate attention to a divine lawsuit before detailing the coming destruction of Bethel's altars, requiring the hearers to acknowledge their culpability before the announced judgment proceeds.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Hear ye, and testify in the house of Jacob, saith the Lord God, the God of hosts,
Cross-references
- Deuteronomy 8:19 If you ever forget the LORD your God and go after other gods to worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will surely perish.
- Deuteronomy 30:18 I declare to you today that you will surely perish; you shall not prolong your days in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess.
- Joshua 22:22 “The LORD, the Mighty One, is God! The LORD, the Mighty One, is God! He knows, and may Israel also know. If this was in rebellion or breach of faith against the LORD, do not spare us today.
- 2 Kings 17:13 Yet through all His prophets and seers, the LORD warned Israel and Judah, saying, “Turn from your wicked ways and keep My commandments and statutes, according to the entire Law that I commanded your fathers and delivered to you through My servants the prophets.”
- 2 Kings 17:15 They rejected His statutes and the covenant He had made with their fathers, as well as the decrees He had given them. They pursued worthless idols and became worthless themselves, going after the surrounding nations that the LORD had commanded them not to imitate.
- 2 Chronicles 24:19 Nevertheless, the LORD sent prophets to bring the people back to Him and to testify against them, but they would not listen.
- Isaiah 1:24 Therefore the Lord GOD of Hosts, the Mighty One of Israel, declares: “Ah, I will be relieved of My foes and avenge Myself on My enemies.
- Ezekiel 2:7 But speak My words to them, whether they listen or refuse to listen, for they are rebellious.
- Amos 5:27 Therefore I will send you into exile beyond Damascus,” says the LORD, whose name is the God of Hosts.
- Acts 2:40 With many other words he testified, and he urged them, “Be saved from this corrupt generation.”