The lion has roared; who will not fear? The LORD God has spoken; who can but prophesy? The argument of verses 3-7 reaches its conclusion: just as the lion's roar compels fear, the word of the LORD compels the prophet to speak. Amos implicitly defends his own calling against those who would silence him (as Amaziah does in 7:10-17) — he did not choose prophecy, he was seized by it. The parallelism between the lion's roar and divine speech recapitulates the opening of the book (1:2) and frames all that follows as inescapable divine address. The question 'who can but prophesy?' is not rhetorical boasting but a statement of prophetic compulsion.

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