Amos 4:12

NET Bible® (New English Translation)

“Therefore this is what I will do to you, Israel. Because I will do this to you, prepare to meet your God, Israel!

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

לָכֵ֕ן כֹּ֥ה אֶעֱשֶׂה־לְּךָ֖ יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל עֵ֚קֶב כִּֽי־זֹ֣את אֶֽעֱשֶׂה־לָּ֔ךְ הִכּ֥וֹן לִקְרַאת־אֱלֹהֶ֖יךָ יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃

Transliteration

Lākēn thus ʾeʿĕśeh-to you Yiśrāʾēl ʿēqeb that-this ʾeʿĕśeh-to you, hikkôn to liqraʾt-ʾĕlōhêkā Yiśrāʾēl

Grammar Details

• *Lākēn*: adverb - therefore
• *ʾeʿĕśeh*: imperfect, 1st person singular - I will do
• *Yiśrāʾēl*: proper noun - Israel
• *ʿēqeb*: conjunction/preposition - because/as a result
• *hikkôn*: imperative, masculine singular, niphal - be prepared/ready
• *liqraʾt*: preposition + infinitive construct - to meet
• *ʾĕlōhêkā*: noun, masculine plural with 2nd person masculine singular suffix - your God

Word Meanings

• *lākēn*: therefore/thus/for this reason
• *ʿēqeb*: because/as a result of/consequence
• *hikkôn*: prepare yourself/be ready/stand prepared
• *liqraʾt*: to meet/to encounter/to confront

Referenced Verses

• 1 Thess 5:2-4 : 2 For you know quite well that the day of the Lord will come in the same way as a thief in the night. 3 Now when they are saying,“There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction comes on them, like labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will surely not escape. 4 But you, brothers and sisters, are not in the darkness for the day to overtake you like a thief would.
• Jas 4:1-9 : 1 Passions and Pride Where do the conflicts and where do the quarrels among you come from? Is it not from this, from your passions that battle inside you? 2 You desire and you do not have; you murder and envy and you cannot obtain; you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask; 3 you ask and do not receive because you ask wrongly, so you can spend it on your passions. 4 Adulterers, do you not know that friendship with the world means hostility toward God? So whoever decides to be the world’s friend makes himself God’s enemy. 5 Or do you think the scripture means nothing when it says,“The spirit that God caused to live within us has an envious yearning”? 6 But he gives greater grace. Therefore it says,“God opposes the proud, but he gives grace to the humble.” 7 So submit to God. But resist the devil and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and make your hearts pure, you double-minded. 9 Grieve, mourn, and weep. Turn your laughter into mourning and your joy into despair. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will exalt you.
• Rev 3:3 : 3 Therefore, remember what you received and heard, and obey it, and repent. If you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will never know at what hour I will come against you.
• Isa 47:3 : 3 Let your naked body be exposed! Your shame will be on display! I will get revenge; I will not have pity on anyone,”
• Ezek 13:5 : 5 You have not gone up in the breaks in the wall, nor repaired a wall for the house of Israel that it would stand strong in the battle on the day of the LORD.
• Ezek 22:30 : 30 “I looked for a man from among them who would repair the wall and stand in the gap before me on behalf of the land, so that I would not destroy it, but I found no one.
• Hos 13:8 : 8 I will attack them like a bear robbed of her cubs– I will rip open their chests. I will devour them there like a lion– like a wild animal would tear them apart.
• Amos 4:2-3 : 2 The Sovereign LORD confirms this oath by his own holy character:“Certainly the time is approaching when you will be carried away in baskets, every last one of you in fishermen’s pots. 3 Each of you will go straight through the gaps in the walls; you will be thrown out toward Harmon.” The LORD is speaking!
• Amos 5:4-9 : 4 The LORD says this to the family of Israel:“Seek me so you can live! 5 Do not seek Bethel! Do not visit Gilgal! Do not journey down to Beer Sheba! For the people of Gilgal will certainly be carried into exile; and Bethel will become a place where disaster abounds.” 6 Seek the LORD so you can live! Otherwise he will break out like fire against Joseph’s family; the fire will consume and no one will be able to quench it and save Bethel. 7 The Israelites turn justice into bitterness; they throw what is fair and right to the ground. 8 (But there is one who made the constellations Pleiades and Orion; he can turn the darkness into morning and daylight into night. He summons the water of the seas and pours it out on the earth’s surface. The LORD is his name! 9 He flashes destruction down upon the strong so that destruction overwhelms the fortified places.) 10 The Israelites hate anyone who arbitrates at the city gate; they despise anyone who speaks honestly. 11 Therefore, because you make the poor pay taxes on their crops and exact a grain tax from them, you will not live in the houses you built with chiseled stone, nor will you drink the wine from the fine vineyards you planted. 12 Certainly I am aware of your many rebellious acts and your numerous sins. You torment the innocent, you take bribes, and you deny justice to the needy at the city gate. 13 For this reason whoever is smart keeps quiet in such a time, for it is an evil time. 14 Seek good and not evil so you can live! Then the LORD God of Heaven’s Armies, just might be with you, as you claim he is. 15 Hate what is wrong, love what is right! Promote justice at the city gate! Maybe the LORD God of Heaven’s Armies, will have mercy on those who are left from Joseph.
• Amos 9:1-4 : 1 I saw the Lord standing by the altar and he said,“Strike the tops of the support pillars, so the thresholds shake! Knock them down on the heads of all the people, and I will kill the survivors with the sword. No one will be able to run away; no one will be able to escape. 2 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. 3 Even if they were to hide on the top of Mount Carmel, I would hunt them down and take them from there. Even if they tried to hide from me at the bottom of the sea, from there I would command the Sea Serpent to bite them. 4 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.”
• Matt 5:25 : 25 Reach agreement quickly with your accuser while on the way to court, or he may hand you over to the judge, and the judge hand you over to the warden, and you will be thrown into prison.
• Matt 24:44-25:13 : 44 Therefore you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him. 45 The Faithful and Wise Slave“Who then is the faithful and wise slave, whom the master has put in charge of his household, to give the other slaves their food at the proper time? 46 Blessed is that slave whom the master finds at work when he comes. 47 I tell you the truth, the master will put him in charge of all his possessions. 48 But if that evil slave should say to himself,‘My master is staying away a long time,’ 49 and he begins to beat his fellow slaves and to eat and drink with drunkards, 50 then the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not foresee, 51 and will cut him in two, and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 1 The Parable of the Ten Virgins“At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2 Five of the virgins were foolish, and five were wise. 3 When the foolish ones took their lamps, they did not take extra olive oil with them. 4 But the wise ones took flasks of olive oil with their lamps. 5 When the bridegroom was delayed a long time, they all became drowsy and fell asleep. 6 But at midnight there was a shout,‘Look, the bridegroom is here! Come out to meet him.’ 7 Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. 8 The foolish ones said to the wise,‘Give us some of your oil, because our lamps are going out.’ 9 ‘No,’ they replied.‘There won’t be enough for you and for us. Go instead to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’ 10 But while they had gone to buy it, the bridegroom arrived, and those who were ready went inside with him to the wedding banquet. Then the door was shut. 11 Later, the other virgins came too, saying,‘Lord, lord! Let us in!’ 12 But he replied,‘I tell you the truth, I do not know you!’ 13 Therefore stay alert, because you do not know the day or the hour.
• Mark 13:32-37 : 32 Be Ready!“But as for that day or hour no one knows it– neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son– except the Father. 33 Watch out! Stay alert! For you do not know when the time will come. 34 It is like a man going on a journey. He left his house and put his slaves in charge, assigning to each his work, and commanded the doorkeeper to stay alert. 35 Stay alert, then, because you do not know when the owner of the house will return– whether during evening, at midnight, when the rooster crows, or at dawn– 36 or else he might find you asleep when he returns suddenly. 37 What I say to you I say to everyone: Stay alert!”
• Luke 14:31-32 : 31 Or what king, going out to confront another king in battle, will not sit down first and determine whether he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? 32 If he cannot succeed, he will send a representative while the other is still a long way off and ask for terms of peace.
• Luke 21:3-9 : 3 He said,“I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put in more than all of them. 4 For they all offered their gifts out of their wealth. But she, out of her poverty, put in everything she had to live on.” 5 The Signs of the End of the Age Now while some were speaking about the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and offerings, Jesus said, 6 “As for these things that you are gazing at, the days will come when not one stone will be left on another. All will be torn down!” 7 So they asked him,“Teacher, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that these things are about to take place?” 8 He said,“Watch out that you are not misled. For many will come in my name, saying,‘I am he,’ and,‘The time is near.’ Do not follow them! 9 And when you hear of wars and rebellions, do not be afraid. For these things must happen first, but the end will not come at once.” 10 Persecution of Disciples Then he said to them,“Nation will rise up in arms against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. 11 There will be great earthquakes, and famines and plagues in various places, and there will be terrifying sights and great signs from heaven. 12 But before all this, they will seize you and persecute you, handing you over to the synagogues and prisons. You will be brought before kings and governors because of my name. 13 This will be a time for you to serve as witnesses. 14 Therefore be resolved not to rehearse ahead of time how to make your defense. 15 For I will give you the words along with the wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict. 16 You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers, relatives, and friends, and they will have some of you put to death. 17 You will be hated by everyone because of my name. 18 Yet not a hair of your head will perish. 19 By your endurance you will gain your lives. 20 The Desolation of Jerusalem“But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near. 21 Then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains. Those who are inside the city must depart. Those who are out in the country must not enter it, 22 because these are days of vengeance, to fulfill all that is written. 23 Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing their babies in those days! For there will be great distress on the earth and wrath against this people. 24 They will fall by the edge of the sword and be led away as captives among all nations. Jerusalem will be trampled down by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. 25 The Arrival of the Son of Man“And there will be signs in the sun and moon and stars, and on the earth nations will be in distress, anxious over the roaring of the sea and the surging waves. 26 People will be fainting from fear and from the expectation of what is coming on the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 27 Then they will see the Son of Man arriving in a cloud with power and great glory. 28 But when these things begin to happen, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” 29 The Parable of the Fig Tree Then he told them a parable:“Look at the fig tree and all the other trees. 30 When they sprout leaves, you see for yourselves and know that summer is now near. 31 So also you, when you see these things happening, know that the kingdom of God is near. 32 I tell you the truth, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. 33 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. 34 Be Ready!“But be on your guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life, and that day close down upon you suddenly like a trap. 35 For it will overtake all who live on the face of the whole earth. 36 But stay alert at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that must happen, and to stand before the Son of Man.”
• Amos 2:14 : 14 Fast runners will find no place to hide; strong men will have no strength left; warriors will not be able to save their lives.