Bible Strands
Amos 5:23
Take away from Me the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The Lord speaks through the prophet Amos to the northern kingdom of Israel immediately after rejecting their burnt and grain offerings in Amos 5:22. He addresses them during a period of active religious ritualism that lacks moral substance.
The words — The imperative הָסֵר (ha.Ser) commands "remove," paired with the noun הֲמוֹן (ha.Mon) meaning "noise" or "clamor." The verb אֶשְׁמַע ('esh.ma) declares "I will not listen," directly refusing the accompanying musical worship.
The thread — This rejection of ritual music reappears in Amos 6:5, where improvised harp music is condemned, and in Amos 8:10 and Amos 8:3, where festival songs and temple music are turned to wailing.
Why it lands — The text demands the cessation of ceremonial display when ethical obedience is absent. It requires readers to prioritize justice and righteousness over religious performance.
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
Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs; for I will not hear the melody of thy viols.
Cross-references
- Amos 6:5 You improvise songs on the harp like David and invent your own musical instruments.
- Amos 8:10 I will turn your feasts into mourning and all your songs into lamentation. I will cause everyone to wear sackcloth and every head to be shaved. I will make it like a time of mourning for an only son, and its outcome like a bitter day.
- Amos 8:3 “In that day,” declares the Lord GOD, “the songs of the temple will turn to wailing. Many will be the corpses, strewn in silence everywhere!”