Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
Amos 6:14 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 14. 14But, behold, I will raise up against you a nation, O house of Israel, saith the LORD the God of hosts; and they shall afflict you from the entering in of Hemath unto the river of the wilderness.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
This verse announces an unnamed nation raised to oppress Israel from Hamath's entrance to the wilderness river.
Read It With
- Amos 6:12-14
Read Amos 6:14 with 6:12-14. This verse announces an unnamed nation raised to oppress Israel from Hamath's entrance to the wilderness river. The complete unit establishes this movement: Israel's distortion of justice is as senseless as impossible farming, and its boasts over disputed territorial gains cannot withstand the nation raised to oppress the land.
Why This Verse Appears Here
The chapter closes by pairing moral absurdity with military self-deception before visions test whether judgment can be averted. Within that movement, this verse announces an unnamed nation raised to oppress Israel from Hamath's entrance to the wilderness river.
Follow the Context
- Horses running and oxen plowing on rock form absurd questions.
- Judgment becomes gall and righteousness becomes hemlock.
- The people rejoice in Lo-debar and claim Karnaim by their strength.
- The LORD raises an unnamed nation to oppress Israel from north to south.
What This Verse Is Not Saying
The verse does not authorize invasion, occupation, collective punishment, or mapping Assyria onto a modern nation.
What Remains True
Claimed strength cannot secure a land whose justice has become poison.
How It Can Shape Life
- Reject divine-war claims and protect civilians under geopolitical pressure.
Teach It Back
Explain Amos 6:14's contribution to Amos 6:12-14: announces an unnamed nation raised to oppress Israel from Hamath's entrance to the wilderness river. Include what the surrounding verses add, the stated uncertainty, and what this verse does not authorize.
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Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Amos 6:12-14 — Poisoned Justice and Imagined Strength Meet an OppressorSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? probable
Where care is needed
Assyria is historically plausible, but the nation and exact southern boundary are unnamed or disputed.
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact reader-facing Scripture wording, paragraph markers, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage.
Exact location: Amos 6:12-14, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Amos
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording, morphology, clause relationships, wordplays, names, and the base text behind translation discussion.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Amos.xml, 6:12-14
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible: Amos with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006
Supports: Verse-level translation, syntax, textual, literary, historical, and uncertainty notes.
Exact location: NET Bible Amos PDF, printed pp. 1716-1717, translation and notes on 6:12-14
Open source ↗