Bible Strands
Amos 9:5
The Lord GOD of Hosts, He who touches the earth and it melts, and all its dwellers mourn—all the land rises like the Nile, then sinks like the river of Egypt—
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — God speaks through the prophet to a nation facing exile, declaring His absolute authority at the moment of impending judgment.
The words — The participle הַנּוֹגֵעַ (ha.no.Gea) translates literally as "who touches," describing God's immediate contact with the earth. The verb וַתָּמֹג (va.ta.Mog) means "it melted," indicating total dissolution upon His touch.
The thread — The motif of divine contact causing the earth to quake and mourn recurs in Amos 8:8, Psalms 46:6, and Isaiah 64:1. These passages consistently link God's direct action with cosmic upheaval and national mourning.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that God’s judgment operates through direct, unmediated power over creation. Readers must acknowledge that moral rebellion triggers cosmic consequences under His sovereign control.
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 the Lord God of hosts is he that toucheth the land, and it shall melt, and all that dwell therein shall mourn: and it shall rise up wholly like a flood; and shall be drowned, as by the flood of Egypt.
Cross-references
- Amos 8:8 Will not the land quake for this, and all its dwellers mourn? All of it will swell like the Nile; it will surge and then subside like the Nile in Egypt.
- Psalms 46:6 Nations rage, kingdoms crumble; the earth melts when He lifts His voice.
- Isaiah 64:1 If only You would rend the heavens and come down, so that mountains would quake at Your presence,
- Micah 1:3 For behold, the LORD comes forth from His dwelling place; He will come down and tread on the high places of the earth.
- Revelation 20:11 Then I saw a great white throne and the One seated on it. Earth and heaven fled from His presence, and no place was found for them.
- Psalms 32:6 Therefore let all the godly pray to You while You may be found. Surely when great waters rise, they will not come near.
- Psalms 93:3 The floodwaters have risen, O LORD; the rivers have raised their voice; the seas lift up their pounding waves.
- Psalms 144:5 Part Your heavens, O LORD, and come down; touch the mountains, that they may smoke.
- Jeremiah 12:4 How long will the land mourn and the grass of every field be withered? Because of the evil of its residents, the animals and birds have been swept away, for the people have said, “He cannot see what our end will be.”
- Hosea 4:3 Therefore the land mourns, and all who dwell in it will waste away with the beasts of the field and the birds of the air; even the fish of the sea disappear.