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◄ Amos 4:8►

New International Version
People staggered from town to town for water but did not get enough to drink, yet you have not returned to me,” declares the LORD.

New Living Translation
People staggered from town to town looking for water, but there was never enough. But still you would not return to me,” says the LORD.

English Standard Version
so two or three cities would wander to another city to drink water, and would not be satisfied; yet you did not return to me,” declares the LORD.

Berean Standard Bible
People staggered from city to city for water to drink, but they were not satisfied; yet you did not return to Me,” declares the LORD.

King James Bible
So twoor three cities wandered unto one city, to drink water; but they were not satisfied: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD.

New King James Version
So twoor three cities wandered to another city to drink water, But they were not satisfied; Yet you have not returned to Me,” Says the LORD.

New American Standard Bible
“Sothe people of twoor three cities would stagger to another city to drink water, But would not be satisfied; Yet you have not returned to Me,” declares the LORD.

NASB 1995
“So two or three cities would stagger to another city to drink water, But would not be satisfied; Yet you have not returned to Me,” declares the LORD.

NASB 1977
“So two or three cities would stagger to another city to drink water, But would not be satisfied; Yet you have not returned to Me,” declares the LORD.

Legacy Standard Bible
So two or three cities would wander around to another city to drink water, But would not be satisfied; Yet you have not returned to Me,” declares Yahweh.

Amplified Bible
“So [the people of] two or three cities would stagger into one city to drink water, But would not be satisfied; Yet you have not returned to Me [in repentance],” says the LORD.

Christian Standard Bible
Two or three cities staggered to another city to drink water but were not satisfied, yet you did not return to me. This is the LORD’s declaration.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Two or three cities staggered to another city to drink water but were not satisfied, yet you did not return to Me. This is the LORD’s declaration.

American Standard Version
So two or three cities wandered unto one city to drink water, and were not satisfied: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith Jehovah.

Contemporary English Version
People from two or three towns would go to a town that still had water, but it wasn't enough. Even then you rejected me. I, the LORD, have spoken!

English Revised Version
So two or three cities wandered unto one city to drink water, and were not satisfied: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
So people from two or three cities staggered as they walked to another city in order to get a drink of water. But they couldn't get enough. And you still didn't return to me, declares the LORD.

Good News Translation
Weak with thirst, the people of several cities went to a city where they hoped to find water, but there was not enough to drink. Still you did not come back to me.

International Standard Version
So the people of two or three cities staggered away to another city in order to obtain drinking water, but you have not returned to me," declares the LORD.

NET Bible
People from two or three cities staggered into one city to get water, but remained thirsty. Still you did not come back to me." The LORD is speaking!

New Heart English Bible
So two or three cities staggered to one city to drink water, and were not satisfied: yet you haven't returned to me," says the LORD.

Webster's Bible Translation
So two or three cities wandered to one city, to drink water; but they were not satisfied: yet have ye not returned to me, saith the LORD.

Majority Text Translations

Majority Standard Bible
People staggered from city to city for water to drink, but they were not satisfied; yet you did not return to Me,” declares the LORD.

World English Bible
So two or three cities staggered to one city to drink water, and were not satisfied; yet you haven’t returned to me,” says Yahweh.

Literal Translations

Literal Standard Version
And two or three cities have wandered, "" To the same city to drink water, "" And they are not satisfied, "" And you have not turned back to Me,” "" A declaration of YHWH.

Young's Literal Translation
And wandered have two or three cities, Unto the same city to drink water, And they are not satisfied, And ye have not turned back unto Me, An affirmation of Jehovah.

Smith's Literal Translation
And two, three cities wandered about to one city to drink water, and they will not be satisfied: and they turned not back even to me, says Jehovah.

Catholic Translations

Douay-Rheims Bible
And two and three cities went to one city to drink water, and were not filled: yet you returned not to me, saith the Lord.

Catholic Public Domain Version
And two and three cities went to one city, in order to drink water, and they were not satisfied. And you did not return to me, says the Lord.

New American Bible
Two or three cities staggered to another to drink water but were not satisfied; Yet you did not return to me— oracle of the LORD.

New Revised Standard Version
so two or three towns wandered to one town to drink water, and were not satisfied; yet you did not return to me, says the LORD.

Translations from Aramaic

Lamsa Bible
So the inhabitants of two or three cities gathered into one city to drink water; but they were not satisfied; yet you returned not to me, says the LORD.

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
And two or three cities shall be gathered to one city to drink water, and they shall not be satisfied, and you did not return to me, says LORD JEHOVAH

OT Translations

JPS Tanakh 1917
So two or three cities wandered unto one city To drink water, and were not satisfied; Yet have ye not returned unto Me, Saith the LORD.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
Andthe inhabitants of two or three cities shall be gathered to one city to drink water, and they shall not be satisfied: yet ye have not returned to me, saith the Lord.

Additional Translations ...

Audio Bible

Context

Punishment Brings No Repentance
…7“I also withheld the rain from you when the harvest was three months away. I sent rain on one city but withheld it from another. One field received rain; another without rain withered.8People staggered from city to city for water to drink,but they were not satisfied;yet you did not return to Me,”declares the LORD.9“I struck you with blight and mildew in your growing gardens and vineyards; the locust devoured your fig and olive trees, yet you did not return to Me,” declares the LORD.…

Berean Standard Bible ·Download

Cross References

Jeremiah 14:3-4
The nobles send their servants for water; they go to the cisterns, but find no water; their jars return empty. They are ashamed and humiliated; they cover their heads. / The ground is cracked because no rain has fallen on the land. The farmers are ashamed; they cover their heads.

Isaiah 41:17
The poor and needy seek water, but there is none; their tongues are parched with thirst. I, the LORD, will answer them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.

Jeremiah 14:22
Can the worthless idols of the nations bring rain? Do the skies alone send showers? Is this not by You, O LORD our God? So we put our hope in You, for You have done all these things.

Deuteronomy 28:23-24
The sky over your head will be bronze, and the earth beneath you iron. / The LORD will turn the rain of your land into dust and powder; it will descend on you from the sky until you are destroyed.

1 Kings 17:1
Now Elijah the Tishbite, who was among the settlers of Gilead, said to Ahab, “As surely as the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, before whom I stand, there will be neither dew nor rain in these years except at my word!”

2 Chronicles 7:13
If I close the sky so there is no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send a plague among My people,

Haggai 1:10-11
Therefore, on account of you the heavens have withheld their dew and the earth has withheld its crops. / I have summoned a drought on the fields and on the mountains, on the grain, new wine, and oil, and on whatever the ground yields, on man and beast, and on all the labor of your hands.”

Joel 1:20
Even the beasts of the field pant for You, for the streams of water have dried up, and fire has consumed the open pastures.

Zechariah 14:17
And should any of the families of the earth not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of Hosts, then the rain will not fall on them.

Psalm 107:33-34
He turns rivers into deserts, springs of water into thirsty ground, / and fruitful land into fields of salt, because of the wickedness of its dwellers.

Matthew 5:6
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

John 4:13-14
Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again. / But whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a fount of water springing up to eternal life.”

Revelation 7:16
‘Never again will they hunger, and never will they thirst; nor will the sun beat down upon them, nor any scorching heat.’

Luke 15:14-16
After he had spent all he had, a severe famine swept through that country, and he began to be in need. / So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed the pigs. / He longed to fill his belly with the pods the pigs were eating, but no one would give him a thing.

James 5:17-18
Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. / Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth yielded its crops.

Treasury of Scripture

So two or three cities wandered to one city, to drink water; but they were not satisfied: yet have you not returned to me, said the LORD.

two.

1 Kings 18:5
And Ahab said unto Obadiah, Go into the land, unto all fountains of water, and unto all brooks: peradventure we may find grass to save the horses and mules alive, that we lose not all the beasts.

Isaiah 41:17,18
When the poor and needy seek water, andthere is none,and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the LORD will hear them,I the God of Israel will not forsake them…

Jeremiah 14:3
And their nobles have sent their little ones to the waters: they came to the pits,and found no water; they returned with their vessels empty; they were ashamed and confounded, and covered their heads.

but.

Ezekiel 4:16
Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, behold, I will break the staff of bread in Jerusalem: and they shall eat bread by weight, and with care; and they shall drink water by measure, and with astonishment:

Micah 6:14
Thou shalt eat, but not be satisfied; and thy casting downshall be in the midst of thee; and thou shalt take hold, but shalt not deliver; andthat which thou deliverest will I give up to the sword.

Haggai 1:6
Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wagesto put it into a bag with holes.

yet.

Amos 4:6,9-11
And I also have given you cleanness of teeth in all your cities, and want of bread in all your places: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD…

Jeremiah 23:14
I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem an horrible thing: they commit adultery, and walk in lies: they strengthen also the hands of evildoers, that none doth return from his wickedness: they are all of them unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah.

Hosea 7:10
And the pride of Israel testifieth to his face: and they do not return to the LORD their God, nor seek him for all this.

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Amos 4

1.He reproves Israel for oppression,
4.for idolatry,
6.and for their incorrigibleness.

Study Bible

Book ◦ Chapter

People staggered from city to city for water to drink
This phrase highlights the dire situation faced by the Israelites due to a severe drought. In the ancient Near East, water was a precious resource, and its scarcity often led to desperation. The imagery of people staggering suggests exhaustion and desperation, emphasizing the severity of the drought. This situation is reminiscent of other biblical accounts where God used natural phenomena to draw His people back to Him, such as the famine in the time of Elijah (1 Kings 17). The physical thirst symbolizes a deeper spiritual thirst, pointing to the need for spiritual renewal and dependence on God.

but they were not satisfied
Despite their efforts to find water, the people remained unsatisfied, indicating that their physical needs were not met. This dissatisfaction can be seen as a metaphor for spiritual emptiness. In the Bible, true satisfaction is often linked to a relationship with God, as seen inPsalm 107:9, which states that God satisfies the thirsty soul. The inability to find satisfaction despite their efforts underscores the futility of seeking fulfillment apart from God.

yet you did not return to Me,” declares the LORD
This phrase reveals the purpose behind the drought: to prompt the Israelites to return to God. The use of "return" suggests repentance and a turning back to God, which is a recurring theme in the prophetic books. Despite the hardships, the people failed to recognize the divine call to repentance. This reflects a pattern seen throughout the Old Testament, where God uses various means to draw His people back to Him, yet they often remain unresponsive. The declaration by the LORD emphasizes His authority and the seriousness of the call to repentance. This call to return is echoed in the New Testament, where Jesus invites all who are weary to come to Him for rest (Matthew 11:28), highlighting the continuity of God's desire for a restored relationship with His people.

Persons / Places / Events

1.Amos
A prophet from Tekoa, a small town in Judah, who was called by God to deliver messages of judgment to the Northern Kingdom of Israel.

2.Israel
The Northern Kingdom, which had turned away from God, engaging in idolatry and social injustice.

3.Cities
Represents the various locations within Israel where people sought water, symbolizing their desperate search for sustenance and relief.

4.The LORD
Yahweh, the covenant God of Israel, who is calling His people to repentance through the prophet Amos.

5.Drought
A specific event of judgment used by God to awaken Israel to their spiritual condition and need for repentance.

Teaching Points

Spiritual Thirst and Satisfaction
Just as physical thirst drives people to seek water, spiritual thirst should drive us to seek God. True satisfaction is found only in a relationship with Him.

The Call to Repentance
God's judgments are not merely punitive but are intended to lead His people back to Him. We must recognize His discipline as a call to return to Him.

The Futility of Idolatry
Israel's search for satisfaction apart from God illustrates the futility of idolatry. We must examine our lives for modern-day idols that leave us spiritually unsatisfied.

God's Persistent Pursuit
Despite Israel's repeated failures, God continues to call them back. His love and patience are evident, encouraging us to respond to His call without delay.

Community and Intercession
The communal aspect of Israel's judgment reminds us of our responsibility to intercede for our communities and nations, seeking God's mercy and revival.

Lists and Questions

Top 10 Lessons from Amos 4

What does 'Famine of Hearing the Words of the Lord' mean?

Amos 4:7–8 – How could drought selectively strike one city while sparing another, and is there any scientific basis for this claim?

Amos 4:11 - How accurate is the parallel between Israel's downfall and God's earlier destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah?

Why did Jeshurun grow fat and forsake God?

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 8. - This want of rain produced great dearth of water to drink, and persons had to go long distances to procure supplies.Wandered; literallytrembled, staggered, as spent and exhausted by thirst. The word is used inPsalm 59:15;Psalm 109:10. The supply thus used was soon exhausted, and brought no permanent relief.

Parallel Commentaries ...

Hebrew

People staggered
וְנָע֡וּ(wə·nā·‘ū)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Conjunctive perfect - third person common plural
Strong's 5128:To quiver, wave, waver, tremble, totter

from city
עָרִ֜ים(‘ā·rîm)
Noun - feminine plural
Strong's 5892:Excitement

to
אֶל־(’el-)
Preposition
Strong's 413:Near, with, among, to

city
עִ֥יר(‘îr)
Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 5892:Excitement

for water
מַ֖יִם(ma·yim)
Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 4325:Water, juice, urine, semen

to drink,
לִשְׁתּ֥וֹת(liš·tō·wṯ)
Preposition-l | Verb - Qal - Infinitive construct
Strong's 8354:To imbibe

but they were not
וְלֹ֣א(wə·lō)
Conjunctive waw | Adverb - Negative particle
Strong's 3808:Not, no

satisfied;
יִשְׂבָּ֑עוּ(yiś·bā·‘ū)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine plural
Strong's 7646:To be sated, satisfied or surfeited

yet you have not
וְלֹֽא־(wə·lō-)
Conjunctive waw | Adverb - Negative particle
Strong's 3808:Not, no

returned
שַׁבְתֶּ֥ם(šaḇ·tem)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - second person masculine plural
Strong's 7725:To turn back, in, to retreat, again

to Me,”
עָדַ֖י(‘ā·ḏay)
Preposition | first person common singular
Strong's 5704:As far as, even to, up to, until, while

declares
נְאֻם־(nə·’um-)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 5002:An oracle

the LORD.
יְהוָֽה׃(Yah·weh)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3068:LORD -- the proper name of the God of Israel

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OT Prophets: Amos 4:8 So two or three cities staggered (Amo. Am)