Locusts, Fire and a Plumb Line

7 This is what the Sovereign Lord showed me:^(A) He was preparing swarms of locusts^(B) after the king’s share had been harvested and just as the late crops were coming up. ² When they had stripped the land clean,^(C) I cried out, “Sovereign Lord, forgive! How can Jacob survive?^(D) He is so small!^(E)”

³ So the Lord relented.^(F)

“This will not happen,” the Lord said.^(G)

⁴ This is what the Sovereign Lord showed me: The Sovereign Lord was calling for judgment by fire;^(H) it dried up the great deep and devoured^(I) the land. ⁵ Then I cried out, “Sovereign Lord, I beg you, stop! How can Jacob survive? He is so small!^(J)”

⁶ So the Lord relented.^(K)

“This will not happen either,” the Sovereign Lord said.^(L)

⁷ This is what he showed me: The Lord was standing by a wall that had been built true to plumb,^[a] with a plumb line^[b] in his hand. ⁸ And the Lord asked me, “What do you see,^(M) Amos?^(N)”

“A plumb line,^(O)” I replied.

Then the Lord said, “Look, I am setting a plumb line among my people Israel; I will spare them no longer.^(P)

Amos and Amaziah

¹⁰ Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel^(T) sent a message to Jeroboam^(U) king of Israel: “Amos is raising a conspiracy^(V) against you in the very heart of Israel. The land cannot bear all his words.^{(W) 11} For this is what Amos is saying:

¹² Then Amaziah said to Amos, “Get out, you seer!^(Z) Go back to the land of Judah. Earn your bread there and do your prophesying there.^{(AA) 13} Don’t prophesy anymore at Bethel,^(AB) because this is the king’s sanctuary and the temple^(AC) of the kingdom.^(AD)”

¹⁴ Amos answered Amaziah, “I was neither a prophet^(AE) nor the son of a prophet, but I was a shepherd, and I also took care of sycamore-fig trees.^{(AF) 15} But the Lord took me from tending the flock^(AG) and said to me, ‘Go,^(AH) prophesy^(AI) to my people Israel.’^{(AJ) 16} Now then, hear^(AK) the word of the Lord. You say,

¹⁷ “Therefore this is what the Lord says:

A Basket of Ripe Fruit

8 This is what the Sovereign Lord showed me:^(AP) a basket of ripe fruit. ² “What do you see,^(AQ) Amos?^(AR)” he asked.

“A basket^(AS) of ripe fruit,” I answered.

Then the Lord said to me, “The time is ripe for my people Israel; I will spare them no longer.^(AT)

³ “In that day,” declares the Sovereign Lord, “the songs in the temple will turn to wailing.^[d](AU) Many, many bodies—flung everywhere! Silence!^(AV)”

⁵ saying,

⁷ The Lord has sworn by himself, the Pride of Jacob:^(BF) “I will never forget^(BG) anything they have done.^(BH)

⁹ “In that day,” declares the Sovereign Lord,

¹³ “In that day

Israel to Be Destroyed

9 I saw the Lord standing by the altar, and he said:

Israel’s Restoration

¹¹ “In that day

¹³ “The days are coming,”^(DM) declares the Lord,

²⁸ As for the other events of Jeroboam’s reign, all he did, and his military achievements, including how he recovered for Israel both Damascus^(A) and Hamath,^(B) which had belonged to Judah, are they not written in the book of the annals^(C) of the kings of Israel? ²⁹ Jeroboam rested with his ancestors, the kings of Israel. And Zechariah his son succeeded him as king.

Zechariah King of Israel

⁸ In the thirty-eighth year of Azariah king of Judah, Zechariah son of Jeroboam became king of Israel in Samaria, and he reigned six months. ⁹ He did evil^(A) in the eyes of the Lord, as his predecessors had done. He did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit.

¹⁰ Shallum son of Jabesh conspired against Zechariah. He attacked him in front of the people,^[a] assassinated^(B) him and succeeded him as king. ¹¹ The other events of Zechariah’s reign are written in the book of the annals^(C) of the kings of Israel. ¹² So the word of the Lord spoken to Jehu was fulfilled:^(D) “Your descendants will sit on the throne of Israel to the fourth generation.”^[b]

Shallum King of Israel

¹³ Shallum son of Jabesh became king in the thirty-ninth year of Uzziah king of Judah, and he reigned in Samaria^(E) one month. ¹⁴ Then Menahem son of Gadi went from Tirzah^(F) up to Samaria. He attacked Shallum son of Jabesh in Samaria, assassinated^(G) him and succeeded him as king.

¹⁵ The other events of Shallum’s reign, and the conspiracy he led, are written in the book of the annals^(H) of the kings of Israel.

¹⁶ At that time Menahem, starting out from Tirzah, attacked Tiphsah^(I) and everyone in the city and its vicinity, because they refused to open^(J) their gates. He sacked Tiphsah and ripped open all the pregnant women.

Menahem King of Israel

¹⁷ In the thirty-ninth year of Azariah king of Judah, Menahem son of Gadi became king of Israel, and he reigned in Samaria ten years. ¹⁸ He did evil^(K) in the eyes of the Lord. During his entire reign he did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit.

¹⁹ Then Pul^[c](L) king of Assyria invaded the land, and Menahem gave him a thousand talents^[d] of silver to gain his support and strengthen his own hold on the kingdom. ²⁰ Menahem exacted this money from Israel. Every wealthy person had to contribute fifty shekels^[e] of silver to be given to the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria withdrew^(M) and stayed in the land no longer.

²¹ As for the other events of Menahem’s reign, and all he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel? ²² Menahem rested with his ancestors. And Pekahiah his son succeeded him as king.

Pekahiah King of Israel

²³ In the fiftieth year of Azariah king of Judah, Pekahiah son of Menahem became king of Israel in Samaria, and he reigned two years. ²⁴ Pekahiah did evil^(N) in the eyes of the Lord. He did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit. ²⁵ One of his chief officers, Pekah^(O) son of Remaliah, conspired against him. Taking fifty men of Gilead with him, he assassinated^(P) Pekahiah, along with Argob and Arieh, in the citadel of the royal palace at Samaria. So Pekah killed Pekahiah and succeeded him as king.

²⁶ The other events of Pekahiah’s reign, and all he did, are written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel.

Pekah King of Israel

²⁷ In the fifty-second year of Azariah king of Judah, Pekah^(Q) son of Remaliah^(R) became king of Israel in Samaria, and he reigned twenty years. ²⁸ He did evil in the eyes of the Lord. He did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit.

²⁹ In the time of Pekah king of Israel, Tiglath-Pileser^(S) king of Assyria came and took Ijon,^(T) Abel Beth Maakah, Janoah, Kedesh and Hazor. He took Gilead and Galilee, including all the land of Naphtali,^(U) and deported^(V) the people to Assyria.

⁶ As for the other events of Azariah’s reign, and all he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? ⁷ Azariah rested^(A) with his ancestors and was buried near them in the City of David. And Jotham^(B) his son succeeded him as king.

²² The other events of Uzziah’s reign, from beginning to end, are recorded by the prophet Isaiah^(A) son of Amoz. ²³ Uzziah^(B) rested with his ancestors and was buried near them in a cemetery that belonged to the kings, for people said, “He had leprosy.” And Jotham his son succeeded him as king.^(C)

Isaiah’s Commission

6 In the year that King Uzziah^(A) died,^(B) I saw the Lord,^(C) high and exalted,^(D) seated on a throne;^(E) and the train of his robe^(F) filled the temple. ² Above him were seraphim,^(G) each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet,^(H) and with two they were flying. ³ And they were calling to one another:

⁴ At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.^(M)

⁵ “Woe^(N) to me!” I cried. “I am ruined!^(O) For I am a man of unclean lips,^(P) and I live among a people of unclean lips,^(Q) and my eyes have seen^(R) the King,^(S) the Lord Almighty.”^(T)

⁶ Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal^(U) in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. ⁷ With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips;^(V) your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.^(W)”

⁸ Then I heard the voice^(X) of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send?^(Y) And who will go for us?^(Z)”

And I said, “Here am I.^(AA) Send me!”

⁹ He said, “Go^(AB) and tell this people:

¹¹ Then I said, “For how long, Lord?”^(AH)

And he answered: