Bible Strands
Amos 9:4
Though they are driven by their enemies into captivity, there I will command the sword to slay them. I will fix My eyes upon them for harm and not for good.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The prophet Amos records God’s declaration to the house of Israel following visions of inescapable judgment. God addresses a people facing exile, emphasizing that no location can shield them from His pursuit.
The words — The Hebrew verb אֲצַוֶּה ('a.tza.Veh) translates literally to "I will command," establishing God’s sovereign decree over the sword. The preposition לִ/פְנֵ֣י (li/f.Nei) means "before" or "in the presence of," locating the execution of judgment within the enemy's captivity.
The thread — The motif of inescapable divine pursuit and judgment appears in Leviticus 26:33, where God promises to draw a sword after a scattered people, and Jeremiah 21:10, where God sets His face against a city to bring disaster and not good. The specific phrasing of fixing eyes for harm and not for good appears exclusively in Amos 9:4.
Why it lands — The text states that God actively pursues the exiled and commands their destruction, leaving no place of refuge. It demands recognition that divine judgment operates independently of human geography or circumstance.
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
And though they go into captivity before their enemies, thence will I command the sword, and it shall slay them: and I will set mine eyes upon them for evil, and not for good.
Cross-references
- Leviticus 26:33 But I will scatter you among the nations and will draw out a sword after you as your land becomes desolate and your cities are laid waste.
- Jeremiah 21:10 For I have set My face against this city to bring disaster and not good, declares the LORD. It will be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon, who will destroy it with fire.’
- Jeremiah 44:11 Therefore this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: I will set My face to bring disaster and to cut off all Judah.
- Leviticus 17:10 If anyone from the house of Israel or a foreigner living among them eats any blood, I will set My face against that person and cut him off from among his people.
- Deuteronomy 28:63 Just as it pleased the LORD to make you prosper and multiply, so also it will please Him to annihilate you and destroy you. And you will be uprooted from the land you are entering to possess.
- Jeremiah 39:16 “Go and tell Ebed-melech the Cushite that this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘I am about to fulfill My words against this city for harm and not for good, and on that day they will be fulfilled before your eyes.
- Ezekiel 5:12 A third of your people will die by plague or be consumed by famine within you, a third will fall by the sword outside your walls, and a third I will scatter to every wind and unleash a sword behind them.
- Leviticus 26:36 As for those of you who survive, I will send a faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies, so that even the sound of a windblown leaf will put them to flight. And they will flee as one flees the sword, and fall when no one pursues them.
- 2 Chronicles 16:9 For the eyes of the LORD roam to and fro over all the earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose hearts are fully devoted to Him. You have acted foolishly in this matter. From now on, therefore, you will be at war.”
- Psalms 34:15 The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, and His ears are inclined to their cry.