Amos 8:12
New International Version
People will stagger from sea to sea and wander from north to east, searching for the word of the LORD, but they will not find it.

New Living Translation
People will stagger from sea to sea and wander from border to border searching for the word of the LORD, but they will not find it.

English Standard Version
They shall wander from sea to sea, and from north to east; they shall run to and fro, to seek the word of the LORD, but they shall not find it.

Berean Standard Bible
People will stagger from sea to sea and roam from north to east, seeking the word of the LORD, but they will not find it.

King James Bible
And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and shall not find it.

New King James Version
They shall wander from sea to sea, And from north to east; They shall run to and fro, seeking the word of the LORD, But shall not find it.

New American Standard Bible
“People will stagger from sea to sea And from the north even to the east; They will roam about to seek the word of the LORD, But they will not find it.

NASB 1995
“People will stagger from sea to sea And from the north even to the east; They will go to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, But they will not find it.

NASB 1977
“And people will stagger from sea to sea, And from the north even to the east; They will go to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, But they will not find it.

Legacy Standard Bible
People will wander from sea to sea And from the north even to the east; They will go to and fro to seek the word of Yahweh, But they will not find it.

Amplified Bible
“People shall stagger from sea to sea [to the very ends of the earth] And from the north even to the east; They will roam here and there to seek the word of the LORD [longing for it as essential for life], But they will not find it.

Christian Standard Bible
People will stagger from sea to sea and roam from north to east seeking the word of the LORD, but they will not find it.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
People will stagger from sea to sea and roam from north to east, seeking the word of the LORD, but they will not find it.

American Standard Version
And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east; they shall run to and fro to seek the word of Jehovah, and shall not find it.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And they will be assembled from Sea and unto Sea, and from the North and unto to the East, and they will run to inquire the word of LORD JEHOVAH and they shall not be able

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And the waters shall be troubled from sea to sea, and from the north to the east shall men run hither and thither, seeking the word of the Lord, and they shall not find it.

Contemporary English Version
You will search everywhere--from north to south, from east to west. You will go all over the earth, seeking a message from me, the LORD. But you won't find one.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And they shall move from sea to sea, and from the north to the east: they shall go about seeking the word of the Lord, and shall not find it.

English Revised Version
And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east; they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and shall not find it.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
People will wander from sea to sea and roam from the north to the east, searching for the word of the LORD. But they won't find it.

Good News Translation
People will wander from the Dead Sea to the Mediterranean and then on around from the north to the east. They will look everywhere for a message from the LORD, but they will not find it.

International Standard Version
People will stagger from sea to sea, from north to east. They will run back and forth, searching for a message from the LORD, but they won't find it.

JPS Tanakh 1917
And they shall wander from sea to sea, And from the north even to the east; They shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, And shall not find it.

Literal Standard Version
And they have wandered from sea to sea, | And from north even to east, | They go to and fro to seek the word of YHWH, | And they do not find [it].

Majority Standard Bible
People will stagger from sea to sea and roam from north to east, seeking the word of the LORD, but they will not find it.

New American Bible
They shall stagger from sea to sea and wander from north to east In search of the word of the LORD, but they shall not find it.

NET Bible
People will stagger from sea to sea, and from the north around to the east. They will wander about looking for a revelation from the LORD, but they will not find any.

New Revised Standard Version
They shall wander from sea to sea, and from north to east; they shall run to and fro, seeking the word of the LORD, but they shall not find it.

New Heart English Bible
They will wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east; they will run back and forth to seek the word of the LORD, and will not find it.

Webster's Bible Translation
And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and shall not find it.

World English Bible
They will wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east; they will run back and forth to seek Yahweh’s word, and will not find it.

Young's Literal Translation
And they have wandered from sea unto sea, And from north even unto east, They go to and fro to seek the word of Jehovah, And they do not find.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The Basket of Ripe Fruit
11Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord GOD, when I will send a famine on the land—not a famine of bread or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the LORD. 12People will stagger from sea to sea and roam from north to east, seeking the word of the LORD, but they will not find it. 13In that day the lovely young women—the young men as well—will faint from thirst.…

Cross References
1 Samuel 3:1
And the boy Samuel ministered to the LORD before Eli. Now in those days the word of the LORD was rare and visions were scarce.

Proverbs 29:18
Where there is no vision, the people cast off restraint; but blessed is he who keeps the Law.

Ezekiel 20:3
"Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel and tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: Have you come to inquire of Me? As surely as I live, I will not be consulted by you, declares the Lord GOD.

Ezekiel 20:31
When you offer your gifts, sacrificing your sons in the fire, you continue to defile yourselves with all your idols to this day. So should I be consulted by you, O house of Israel? As surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, I will not be consulted by you!


Treasury of Scripture

And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and shall not find it.

shall run.

Proverbs 14:6
A scorner seeketh wisdom, and findeth it not: but knowledge is easy unto him that understandeth.

Daniel 12:4
But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.

Matthew 11:25-27
At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes…

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East Find Forth Fro North Run Running Sea Search Searching Seek Stagger Wander Wandered Wandering Word
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East Find Forth Fro North Run Running Sea Search Searching Seek Stagger Wander Wandered Wandering Word
Amos 8
1. By a basket of summer fruit is shown the approach of Israel's end.
4. Oppression is reproved.
11. A famine of the word of God threatened.














(12) They shall wander from sea to sea . . .--Stagger and reel from east to west to find one seer who knows the mind of the Lord: they shall not find one. The reference to the east here has an instructive parallel in Isaiah 2:6, where the house of Jacob is enounced as being "full of the east." Probably Delitzsch is right in interpreting the east there to mean Arabia as inclusive of the whole tract from the Sinaitic peninsula to the banks of the Euphrates. The north would mean Ph?nicia and Aram. From these districts the distracted superstitious Hebrew sought vain help in idolatrous forms of divination.

Verse 12. - They shall wander; literally, they shall reel. The verse implies the eagerness of their unsatisfied desire, which seeks everywhere for the revelation which for their sin is denied them. From sea to sea. This expression is taken, by Keil and others, to mean here "all the world over," as Psalm 72:8; Micah 7:12; Zechariah 9:10; but it is probably used by the prophet in a more restricted sense, as it would not be natural for him to refer in the first place to the seeking of the words of God beyond the limits of the Holy Land. Therefore "from sea to sea" means from the Sea of Galilee or the Dead Sea to the Mediterranean; and from the north even to the east - from the north round again to the east, the south not being mentioned, because there alone was the true worship of God to be found, and they refused to seek it there (Pusey). Of course, according to the wide scope taken by prophecy, which is not exhausted by one fulfilment, we may see here the fate of the Jews to the present time hopelessly seeking Messiah and the Word of God, never finding that which they once recklessly rejected. By some error the LXX. render, Σαλευθήσονται ὕδατα ἀπὸ τῆς θαλάσσης κ.τ.λ., unless they mean, "They shall be tossed as waters," etc.

Parallel Commentaries ...


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

from sea
מִיָּ֣ם (mî·yām)
Preposition-m | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 3220: A sea, the Mediterranean Sea, large river, an artifical basin

to
עַד־ (‘aḏ-)
Preposition
Strong's 5704: As far as, even to, up to, until, while

sea
יָ֔ם (yām)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 3220: A sea, the Mediterranean Sea, large river, an artifical basin

and roam
יְשֽׁוֹטְט֛וּ (yə·šō·wṭ·ṭū)
Verb - Piel - Imperfect - third person masculine plural
Strong's 7751: To push forth, to lash, to row, to travel

from north
וּמִצָּפ֖וֹן (ū·miṣ·ṣā·p̄ō·wn)
Conjunctive waw, Preposition-m | Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 6828: Hidden, dark, the north as a, quarter

to
וְעַד־ (wə·‘aḏ-)
Conjunctive waw | Preposition
Strong's 5704: As far as, even to, up to, until, while

east,
מִזְרָ֑ח (miz·rāḥ)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 4217: Place of sunrise, the east

seeking
לְבַקֵּ֥שׁ (lə·ḇaq·qêš)
Preposition-l | Verb - Piel - Infinitive construct
Strong's 1245: To search out, to strive after

the word
דְּבַר־ (də·ḇar-)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 1697: A word, a matter, thing, a cause

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

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

find it.
יִמְצָֽאוּ׃ (yim·ṣā·’ū)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine plural
Strong's 4672: To come forth to, appear, exist, to attain, find, acquire, to occur, meet, be present


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OT Prophets: Amos 8:12 They will wander from sea to sea (Amo. Am)
Amos 8:11
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