Bible Strands
Amos 3:8
The lion has roared—who will not fear? The Lord GOD has spoken—who will not prophesy?
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The prophet Amos addresses Israel immediately after stating that God discloses His plans to prophets (Amos 3:7) and just before ordering a public call to witness oppression (Amos 3:9).
The words — שָׁאָ֖ג (sha.'Ag) literally means "it has roared," and דִּבֶּ֔ר (di.Ber) means "he has spoken," creating the verse's parallel causal structure.
The thread — The lion metaphor recurs in Amos 3:4, where roaring indicates captured prey, while the prophetic compulsion motif runs through Jeremiah 20:9 and Acts 4:20.
Why it lands — The text demands that hearing the Lord's declaration triggers the same inevitable response as hearing a lion: recognition of divine authority and compelled proclamation.
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
The lion hath roared, who will not fear? the Lord God hath spoken, who can but prophesy?
Cross-references
- Jeremiah 20:9 If I say, “I will not mention Him or speak any more in His name,” His message becomes a fire burning in my heart, shut up in my bones, and I become weary of holding it in, and I cannot prevail.
- Amos 3:4 Does a lion roar in the forest when he has no prey? Does a young lion growl in his den if he has caught nothing?
- Acts 4:20 For we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.”
- Amos 1:2 He said: “The LORD roars from Zion and raises His voice from Jerusalem; the pastures of the shepherds mourn, and the summit of Carmel withers.”
- Amos 2:12 “But you made the Nazirites drink wine and commanded the prophets not to prophesy.
- Amos 7:12 And Amaziah said to Amos, “Go away, you seer! Flee to the land of Judah; earn your bread there and do your prophesying there.
- 1 Corinthians 9:16 Yet when I preach the gospel, I have no reason to boast, because I am obligated to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!
- Revelation 5:5 Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep! Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed to open the scroll and its seven seals.”
- Job 32:18 For I am full of words, and my spirit within me compels me.
- Jonah 1:1 Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai, saying,