2 Though they dig into hell, thence shall mine hand take them; though they climb up to heaven, thence will I bring them down:
2 Though they dig down to the depths below, from there my hand will take them. Though they climb up to the heavens above, from there I will bring them down.
2 "If they dig into Sheol, from there shall my hand take them; if they climb up to heaven, from there I will bring them down.
2 If they dig their way down into the underworld, I'll find them and bring them up. If they climb to the stars, I'll find them and bring them down.
2 "Though they dig into hell, From there my hand shall take them; Though they climb up to heaven, From there I will bring them down;
2 "Even if they dig down to the place of the dead, I will reach down and pull them up. Even if they climb up into the heavens, I will bring them down.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Amos 9:2
Commentary on Amos 9:1-10
(Read Amos 9:1-10)
The prophet, in vision, saw the Lord standing upon the idolatrous altar at Bethel. Wherever sinners flee from God's justice, it will overtake them. Those whom God brings to heaven by his grace, shall never be cast down; but those who seek to climb thither by vain confidence in themselves, will be cast down and filled with shame. That which makes escape impossible and ruin sure, is, that God will set his eyes upon them for evil, not for good. Wretched must those be on whom the Lord looks for evil, and not for good. The Lord would scatter the Jews, and visit them with calamities, as the corn is shaken in a sieve; but he would save some from among them. The astonishing preservation of the Jews as a distinct people, seems here foretold. If professors make themselves like the world, God will level them with the world. The sinners who thus flatter themselves, shall find that their profession will not protect them.