Amos 5:4
in Amos 5For this is what the LORD says to the house of Israel: “Seek Me and live!
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For thus saith Jehovah unto the house of Israel, Seek ye me, and ye shall live;
KJV
For thus saith the Lord unto the house of Israel, Seek ye me, and ye shall live:
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This verse in Amos 5
Commentary
7 notes on this verseA commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Seek ye me, and ye shall live--literally, "Seek . . . Me, and live." The second imperative expresses the certainty of "life" (escape from judgment) resulting from obedience to the precept in the first imperative. If they perish, it is their own fault;
This site's exposition
Seek Me and live
on Amos 5:4-6
One door stands open, "Seek Me and live," set beside its opposite: "Do not seek Bethel or go to Gilgal." In Hebrew "Gilgal will surely go into exile" plays on the town's own name. The God who could be sought will otherwise "sweep like fire through the house of Joseph."
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Vers. 4, 5.) Because thus says the Lord to the house of Israel: seek me, and you will live, and do not seek Bethel, and do not enter Galgala, and do not pass through Bersabee, because Galgala will be taken captive, and Bethel will be useless. LXX: Because thus says the Lord to the house of Israel: seek me, and you will live, and do not seek Bethel, and do not enter Galgala, and do not pass over the well of the oath, because Galgala will be taken captive, and Bethel will be as if it does not exist.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Israel was a prince with God; let his descendants seek the Lord, as he did, and they shall be so too. Now, in order to their doing this, they must abandon their idolatries. God is not sought truly if he be not sought exclusively, for he will endure no rivals: " Seek you the Lord, and seek not Bethel (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens+odd-straight-quotes
For thus saith the Lord unto the house of Israel,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
Seek ye me, and ye shall live - Cease your rebellion against me; return to me with all your heart; and though consigned to death, ye shall be rescued and live. Deplorable as your case is, it is not utterly desperate.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Seek ye Me and ye shall live - Literally, “seek Me; and live.” Wonderful conciseness of the word of God, which, in two words, comprises the whole of the creature’s duty and his hopes, his time and his eternity. The prophet users the two imperatives, inoneing both, man’s duty and his reward. He does not speak of them, as cause and effect, but as one. Where the one is, there is the other. To seek God is to live. For to seek God is to find Him, and God is Life and the Source of life. Forgiveness, grace, life, enter the soul at once. But the seeking is diligent seeking. : “It is not to seek God anyhow, but as it is right and meet that He should be sought, longed for, prayed for, who is so great, a Good, constantly, fervently, yea, to our power, the more constantly and fervently, as an Infinite Good is more to be longed for, more loved than all created good.” The object of the search is God Himself. “Seek Me,” that is, seek God for Himself, not for anything out of Him, not for His gifts, not for anything to be loved with Him. This is not to seek Him purely. All is found in Him, but by seeking Him first, and then loving Him in all, and all in Him. “And ye shall live,” first by the life of the body, escaping the enemy; then by the life of grace now, and the life of glory hereafter, as in that of the Psalmist, “your heart shall live who seek God” Psa 69:32.
The words behind it
8 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּ֣י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| כֹ֥ה | khoh | thus | H3541 → | 577 times |
| אָמַ֛ר | ʾamar | he says | H559 → | 5305 times |
| יְהוָ֖ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| לְבֵ֣ית | leveit | to [the] house of | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| דִּרְשׁ֖וּנִי | dirshuni | seek me | H1875 → | 164 times |
| וִֽחְיֽוּ׃ | vichyu | and live | H2421 → | 282 times |
כִּ֣יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
כֹ֥הthus
khohH3541 →577 times
אָמַ֛רhe says
ʾamarH559 →5305 times
יְהוָ֖הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
לְבֵ֣יתto [the] house of
leveitH1004 →2046 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֑לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
דִּרְשׁ֖וּנִיseek me
dirshuniH1875 →164 times
וִֽחְיֽוּ׃and live
vichyuH2421 →282 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
2 Chronicles 15:2So he went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Listen to me, Asa and all Judah and Benjamin. The LORD is with you when you are with Him. If you seek Him,…
it leads to
- James 4:8
Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
- 2 Chronicles 24:20
Then the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah son of Jehoiada the priest, who stood up before the people and said to them, “This is what God says: ‘Why do you transgress the commandments…
- 2 Chronicles 15:4
But in their distress they turned to the LORD, the God of Israel, and sought Him, and He was found by them.
- 1 Chronicles 28:9
As for you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father and serve Him wholeheartedly and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches every heart and understands the intent of every thought.…
- Jeremiah 29:12–14
Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.
- James 4:8
Through
Zephaniah 2:3Seek the LORD, all you humble of the earth who carry out His justice. Seek righteousness; seek humility. Perhaps you will be sheltered on the day of the LORD’s anger.
it leads to
- Amos 5:14–15
Seek good, not evil, so that you may live. And the LORD, the God of Hosts, will be with you, as you have claimed.
- Isaiah 26:20–21
Go, my people, enter your rooms and shut your doors behind you. Hide yourselves a little while until the wrath has passed.
- Amos 5:14–15
Through
Isaiah 55:3Incline your ear and come to Me; listen, so that your soul may live. I will make with you an everlasting covenant—My loving devotion promised to David.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 32:40
I will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will never turn away from doing good to them, and I will put My fear in their hearts, so that they will never turn away…
- Jeremiah 32:40
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Amos
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Edward Bouverie Pusey, The Minor Prophets: A Commentary; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Amos; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.