Amos 9:4
◄  Amos 9:4  ►
New International Version (©2011)
Though they are driven into exile by their enemies, there I will command the sword to slay them. "I will keep my eye on them for harm and not for good."

New Living Translation (©2007)
Even if their enemies drive them into exile, I will command the sword to kill them there. I am determined to bring disaster upon them and not to help them."

English Standard Version (©2001)
And if they go into captivity before their enemies, there I will command the sword, and it shall kill them; and I will fix my eyes upon them for evil and not for good.”

New American Standard Bible (©1995)
"And though they go into captivity before their enemies, From there I will command the sword that it slay them, And I will set My eyes against them for evil and not for good."

King James Bible (Cambridge Ed.)
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.

Holman Christian Standard Bible (©2009)
And if they are driven by their enemies into captivity, from there I will command the sword to kill them. I will fix My eyes on them for harm and not for good.

International Standard Version (©2012)
Even if they go into exile among their enemies, from there I will order the sword to kill them. I will fix my gaze on them to inflict disaster, and not to do good.

NET Bible (©2006)
Even when their enemies drive them into captivity, from there I will command the sword to kill them. I will not let them out of my sight; they will experience disaster, not prosperity."

GOD'S WORD® Translation (©1995)
Even if they go into exile ahead of their enemies, I will command a sword to kill them. I will keep my eyes on them so that I can bring disaster on them and not help them.

King James 2000 Bible (©2003)
And though they go into captivity before their enemies, there will I command the sword, and it shall slay them: and I will set my eyes upon them for harm, and not for good.

American King James Version
And though they go into captivity before their enemies, there will I command the sword, and it shall slay them: and I will set my eyes on them for evil, and not for good.

American Standard 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.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And if they go into captivity before their enemies, there will I command the sword, and it shall kill them. And I will set my eyes upon them for evil, and not for good.

Darby Bible Translation
and though they go into captivity before their enemies, there will I command the sword, and it shall slay them: and I will set mine eyes upon them for evil, and not for good.

English Revised 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.

Webster's Bible Translation
And though they go into captivity before their enemies, thence will I command the sword, and it shall slay them: and I will set my eyes upon them for evil, and not for good.

World English Bible
Though they go into captivity before their enemies, there I will command the sword, and it will kill them. I will set my eyes on them for evil, and not for good.

Young's Literal Translation
And if they go into captivity before their enemies, From thence I command the sword, And it hath slain them, And I have set Mine eye on them for evil, And not for good.

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 4. - Captivity itself, in which state men generally, at any rate, are secure of their lives, shall not save them from the sword (Leviticus 26:33; Deuteronomy 28:65, etc. comp. Tobit 1:17, 18 Tobit 2:3, where we see that the murder of captives was not unusual). The prophet looks forward to the Assyrian deportation. For evil. The people are indeed subject to God's special attention, but only in order to punish them (Psalm 34:15, 16; Jeremiah 44:11).

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And though they go into captivity before their enemies,.... Alluding to the manner in which captives are led, being put before their enemies, and so carried in triumph; see Lamentations 1:5; though some think this refers to their going voluntarily into a foreign country, in order to escape danger, as Johanan the son of Kareah with the Jews went into Egypt, Jeremiah 43:5; in whom Kimchi instances:

thence will I command the sword, and it shall slay them; or them that kill with the sword, as the Targum; so that though they thought by going into another country, or into an enemy's country of their own accord, to escape the sword of the enemy, or to curry favour with them, yet should not escape:

and I will set mine eyes upon them for evil, and not for good: this is the true reason, why, let them be where they will, they cannot be safe, because the eyes of the omniscient God, which are everywhere, in heaven, earth, hell, and the sea, are set upon them, for their ruin and destruction; and there is no fleeing from his presence, or getting out of his sight, or escaping his hand. The Targum is,

"my Word shall be against them.''

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

4. though they go into captivity—hoping to save their lives by voluntarily surrendering to the foe.

Amos 9:4 Parallel Commentaries

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The Destruction of Israel
…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: 4And though they go into captivity before their enemies, there will I command the sword, and it shall slay them: and I will set my eyes on them for evil, and not for good. 5And the Lord GOD of hosts is he that touches 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. …

Leviticus 17:10 "'I will set my face against any Israelite or any foreigner residing among them who eats blood, and I will cut them off from the people.
Leviticus 26:33 I will scatter you among the nations and will draw out my sword and pursue you. Your land will be laid waste, and your cities will lie in ruins.
Psalm 34:16 but the face of the LORD is against those who do evil, to blot out their name from the earth.
Jeremiah 12:12 Over all the barren heights in the desert destroyers will swarm, for the sword of the LORD will devour from one end of the land to the other; no one will be safe.
Jeremiah 21:10 I have determined to do this city harm and not good, declares the LORD. It will be given into the hands of the king of Babylon, and he will destroy it with fire.'
Jeremiah 39:16 "Go and tell Ebed-Melek the Cushite, 'This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: I am about to fulfill my words against this city--words concerning disaster, not prosperity. At that time they will be fulfilled before your eyes.
Jeremiah 44:11 "Therefore this is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: I am determined to bring disaster on you and to destroy all Judah.
Amos 9:8 "Surely the eyes of the Sovereign LORD are on the sinful kingdom. I will destroy it from the face of the earth. Yet I will not totally destroy the descendants of Jacob," declares the LORD.
Zechariah 8:10 Before that time there were no wages for people or hire for animals. No one could go about their business safely because of their enemies, since I had turned everyone against their neighbor.