1This is what the Sovereign Lord showed me: he was preparing swarms of locusts after the king’s share had been harvested and just as the late crops were coming up.2When they had stripped the land clean, I cried out, ‘Sovereign Lord, forgive! How can Jacob survive? He is so small!’3So the Lord relented. ‘This will not happen,’ the Lord said.4This is what the Sovereign Lord showed me: the Sovereign Lord was calling for judgment by fire; it dried up the great deep and devoured the land.5Then I cried out, ‘Sovereign Lord, I beg you, stop! How can Jacob survive? He is so small!’6So the Lord relented. ‘This will not happen either,’ the Sovereign Lord said.7This is what he showed me: the Lord was standing by a wall that had been built true to plumb,[1] with a plumb-line[2] in his hand.8And the Lord asked me, ‘What do you see, Amos?’ ‘A plumb-line,’ I replied. Then the Lord said, ‘Look, I am setting a plumb-line among my people Israel; I will spare them no longer.9‘The high places of Isaac will be destroyed and the sanctuaries of Israel will be ruined; with my sword I will rise against the house of Jeroboam.’
Amos and Amaziah
10Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent a message to Jeroboam king of Israel: ‘Amos is raising a conspiracy against you in the very heart of Israel. The land cannot bear all his words.11For this is what Amos is saying: ‘ “Jeroboam will die by the sword, and Israel will surely go into exile, away from their native land.” ’12Then Amaziah said to Amos, ‘Get out, you seer! Go back to the land of Judah. Earn your bread there and do your prophesying there.13Don’t prophesy anymore at Bethel, because this is the king’s sanctuary and the temple of the kingdom.’14Amos answered Amaziah, ‘I was neither a prophet nor the son of a prophet, but I was a shepherd, and I also took care of sycamore-fig trees.15But the Lord took me from tending the flock and said to me, “Go, prophesy to my people Israel.”16Now then, hear the word of the Lord. You say, ‘ “Do not prophesy against Israel, and stop preaching against the descendants of Isaac.”17‘Therefore this is what the Lord says: ‘ “Your wife will become a prostitute in the city, and your sons and daughters will fall by the sword. Your land will be measured and divided up, and you yourself will die in a pagan[3] country. And Israel will surely go into exile, away from their native land.” ’
Amos 7
English Standard Version
Warning Visions
1This is what the Lord God showed me: behold, he was forming locusts when the latter growth was just beginning to sprout, and behold, it was the latter growth after the king’s mowings. (Ex 10:4; Joe 1:4; Am 8:1)2When they had finished eating the grass of the land, I said, “O Lord God, please forgive! How can Jacob stand? He is so small!” (Ps 130:3)3The Lord relented concerning this: “It shall not be,” said the Lord. (De 32:36; Joe 2:13)4This is what the Lord God showed me: behold, the Lord God was calling for a judgment by fire, and it devoured the great deep and was eating up the land. (Am 7:1; Re 8:7)5Then I said, “O Lord God, please cease! How can Jacob stand? He is so small!” (Am 7:2)6The Lord relented concerning this: “This also shall not be,” said the Lord God. (Am 7:3)7This is what he showed me: behold, the Lord was standing beside a wall built with a plumb line, with a plumb line in his hand. (2Ki 21:13; Am 7:1; Am 7:17)8And the Lord said to me, “Amos, what do you see?” And I said, “A plumb line.” Then the Lord said, “Behold, I am setting a plumb line in the midst of my people Israel; I will never again pass by them; (Am 7:7; Am 8:2)9the high places of Isaac shall be made desolate, and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste, and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.” (Ge 26:23; Ge 26:25; 2Ki 15:8)
Amos Accused
10Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, “Amos has conspired against you in the midst of the house of Israel. The land is not able to bear all his words. (1Ki 12:32; Jer 38:4; Am 1:1)11For thus Amos has said, “‘Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel must go into exile away from his land.’” (Am 6:7)12And Amaziah said to Amos, “O seer, go, flee away to the land of Judah, and eat bread there, and prophesy there, (1Sa 9:9; Am 1:1; Mic 3:5; Mic 3:11)13but never again prophesy at Bethel, for it is the king’s sanctuary, and it is a temple of the kingdom.” (1Ki 12:29; Am 2:12)14Then Amos answered and said to Amaziah, “I was[1] no prophet, nor a prophet’s son, but I was a herdsman and a dresser of sycamore figs. (Am 1:1; Zec 13:5)15But the Lord took me from following the flock, and the Lord said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’ (Ps 78:71)16Now therefore hear the word of the Lord. “You say, ‘Do not prophesy against Israel, and do not preach against the house of Isaac.’ (Eze 20:46; Eze 21:2; Am 3:1; Am 7:9; Am 7:12; Mic 2:6)17Therefore thus says the Lord: “‘Your wife shall be a prostitute in the city, and your sons and your daughters shall fall by the sword, and your land shall be divided up with a measuring line; you yourself shall die in an unclean land, and Israel shall surely go into exile away from its land.’” (Jer 28:16; Jer 29:21; Jer 29:31; Am 7:7; Am 7:11)