Amos 9:2
◄  Amos 9:2  ►
New International Version (©2011)
Though they dig down to the depths below, from there my hand will take them. Though they climb up to the heavens above, from there I will bring them down.

New Living Translation (©2007)
"Even if they dig down to the place of the dead, I will reach down and pull them up. Even if they climb up into the heavens, I will bring them down.

English Standard Version (©2001)
“If they dig into Sheol, from there shall my hand take them; if they climb up to heaven, from there I will bring them down.

New American Standard Bible (©1995)
"Though they dig into Sheol, From there will My hand take them; And though they ascend to heaven, From there will I bring them down.

King James Bible (Cambridge Ed.)
Though they dig into hell, thence shall mine hand take them; though they climb up to heaven, thence will I bring them down:

Holman Christian Standard Bible (©2009)
If they dig down to Sheol, from there My hand will take them; if they climb up to heaven, from there I will bring them down.

International Standard Version (©2012)
"Even if they burrow into Sheol, from there my hand will find them. Even if they ascend to the heavens, from there I will bring them down.

NET Bible (©2006)
Even if they could dig down into the netherworld, my hand would pull them up from there. Even if they could climb up to heaven, I would drag them down from there.

GOD'S WORD® Translation (©1995)
Even if they dig their way into Sheol, my hand will take them from there. Even if they go up to heaven, I will bring them down from there.

King James 2000 Bible (©2003)
Though they dig into sheol, there shall my hand take them; though they climb up to heaven, there will I bring them down:

American King James Version
Though they dig into hell, there shall my hand take them; though they climb up to heaven, there will I bring them down:

American Standard Version
Though they dig into Sheol, thence shall my hand take them; and though they climb up to heaven, thence will I bring them down.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Though they go down even to hell, thence shall my hand bring them out: and though they climb up to heaven, thence will I bring them down.

Darby Bible Translation
Though they dig into Sheol, thence shall my hand take them; and though they climb up to the heavens, thence will I bring them down;

English Revised Version
Though they dig into hell, thence shall mine hand take them; and though they climb up to heaven, thence will I bring them down.

Webster's Bible Translation
Though they dig into the place of the dead, thence shall my hand take them; though they climb up to heaven, thence will I bring them down:

World English Bible
Though they dig into Sheol, there my hand will take them; and though they climb up to heaven, there I will bring them down.

Young's Literal Translation
If they dig through into sheol, From thence doth My hand take them, And if they go up the heavens, From thence I cause them to come down.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

9:1-10 The prophet, in vision, saw the Lord standing upon the idolatrous altar at Bethel. Wherever sinners flee from God's justice, it will overtake them. Those whom God brings to heaven by his grace, shall never be cast down; but those who seek to climb thither by vain confidence in themselves, will be cast down and filled with shame. That which makes escape impossible and ruin sure, is, that God will set his eyes upon them for evil, not for good. Wretched must those be on whom the Lord looks for evil, and not for good. The Lord would scatter the Jews, and visit them with calamities, as the corn is shaken in a sieve; but he would save some from among them. The astonishing preservation of the Jews as a distinct people, seems here foretold. If professors make themselves like the world, God will level them with the world. The sinners who thus flatter themselves, shall find that their profession will not protect them.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 2. - The thought of ver. 1 is further expanded, the notion of flight being, as Jerome says, dissected. For dig, the LXX. reads, "be hidden;" but the expression implies a breaking through (Ezekiel 8:8). Hell (Sheol) is supposed to be in the inmost part of the earth (comp. Psalm 139:7, 8; Obadiah 1:4). Take them. To receive punishment.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Though they dig into hell, thence shall mine hand take them,.... That is, they that endeavour to make their escape from their enemies, though they seek for places of the greatest secrecy and privacy; not hell, the place of the damned; nor the grave, the repository of the dead; neither of which they chose to he in, but rather sought to escape them; but the deepest and darkest caverns, the utmost recesses of the earth, the very centre of it; which, could they get into, would not secure them from the power and providence of God, and from their enemies in pursuit of them, by his permission:

though they climb up to heaven, thence will I bring them down; the summit of the highest mountains, and get as near to heaven, and at as great a distance from men, as can be, and yet all in vain. The Targum is,

"if they think to be hid as it were in hell, from thence their enemies shall take them by my word; and if they ascend the high mountains, to the top of heaven, thence will I bring them;''

see Psalm 139:8.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

2. Though they dig into hell—though they hide ever so deeply in the earth (Ps 139:8).

though they climb up to heaven—though they ascend the greatest heights (Job 20:6, 7; Jer 51:53; Ob 4).

Amos 9:2 Parallel Commentaries

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Bible Hub: Online Parallel Bible


The Destruction of Israel
1I saw the LORD standing on the altar: and he said, Smite the lintel of the door, that the posts may shake: and cut them in the head, all of them; and I will slay the last of them with the sword: he that flees of them shall not flee away, and he that escapes of them shall not be delivered. 2Though they dig into hell, there shall my hand take them; though they climb up to heaven, there will I bring them down: 3And though they hide themselves in the top of Carmel, I will search and take them out there; and though they be hid from my sight in the bottom of the sea, there will I command the serpent, and he shall bite them: …

Job 34:22 There is no deep shadow, no utter darkness, where evildoers can hide.
Psalm 139:8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
Jeremiah 49:16 The terror you inspire and the pride of your heart have deceived you, you who live in the clefts of the rocks, who occupy the heights of the hill. Though you build your nest as high as the eagle's, from there I will bring you down," declares the LORD.
Jeremiah 51:53 Even if Babylon ascends to the heavens and fortifies her lofty stronghold, I will send destroyers against her," declares the LORD.
Ezekiel 26:20 then I will bring you down with those who go down to the pit, to the people of long ago. I will make you dwell in the earth below, as in ancient ruins, with those who go down to the pit, and you will not return or take your place in the land of the living.
Ezekiel 31:14 Therefore no other trees by the waters are ever to tower proudly on high, lifting their tops above the thick foliage. No other trees so well-watered are ever to reach such a height; they are all destined for death, for the earth below, among mortals who go down to the realm of the dead.
Obadiah 1:4 Though you soar like the eagle and make your nest among the stars, from there I will bring you down," declares the LORD.