Warning Through Visions

7 Thus the Lord God showed me [a vision], and behold, He was forming a swarm of locusts when the spring crop began to sprout. And behold, the spring crop was after the king’s mowing. ² And when the locusts had finished eating the plants of the land, then I said,

⁴ Thus the Lord God showed me, and behold, the Lord God called for punishment with fire, and it devoured the great deep [underground sources of water] and began to consume the land. ⁵ Then I said,

⁷ Thus He showed me [a vision], and behold, the Lord was standing by a vertical wall with a plumb line in His hand [to determine if the wall was straight or if it needed to be destroyed].^{(A) 8} The Lord said to me, “Amos, what do you see?” And I said, “A plumb line.” Then the Lord said,

Amos Accused, Answers

¹⁰ Then Amaziah, the priest of Bethel [site of the golden calf shrine], sent word to ^[a]Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, “Amos has conspired against you in the midst of the house of Israel; the land is unable to endure all his words.^{(B) 11} For in this way Amos has said, ‘Jeroboam will die by the sword and Israel will certainly go from its land into exile.’” ¹² Then Amaziah said to Amos, “Go, you seer, run for your life [from Israel] to the land of Judah [your own country] and eat bread and live as a prophet there! ¹³ But do not prophesy any longer at Bethel, for it is the king’s sanctuary and a royal residence.”^(C)

¹⁴ Then Amos replied to Amaziah, “I am not a prophet [by profession], nor am I a prophet’s son; I am a herdsman and a grower of sycamore figs. ¹⁵ But the Lord took me as I followed the flock and the Lord said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to My people Israel.’ ¹⁶ Now therefore, listen to the word of the Lord: You say, ‘You shall not prophesy against Israel nor shall you speak against the house of Isaac.’ ¹⁷ Therefore, thus says the Lord, ‘Your wife shall become a prostitute in the city [when the ^[b]Assyrians capture Samaria] and your sons and your daughters shall fall by the sword, and your land shall be divided by a measuring line; you yourself shall die in an unclean and defiled [pagan] land, and Israel shall certainly go from its land into exile.’”

Basket of Fruit and Israel’s Captivity

8 Thus the Lord God showed me [a vision], and behold, there was a basket of [overripe] summer fruit. ² And He said, “Amos, what do you see?” And I said, “A basket of summer fruit.” Then the Lord said to me, “The end has come for My people Israel. I will spare them no longer [for the nation is ripe for judgment]. ³ In that day, the songs of the palace shall turn to wailing,” says the Lord God. “There will be many dead bodies; in [sacred] silence they will throw them everywhere.”

⁴ Hear this, you who trample down the needy, and do away with the poor of the land, ⁵ saying,

God’s Judgment Unavoidable

9 I saw [in a vision] the Lord standing at the altar, and He said,

The Restoration of Israel

Zechariah Reigns over Israel

²⁸ The rest of the acts of Jeroboam [II], all that he did, his might, how he fought, and how he recovered Damascus and Hamath for Israel, which had belonged to Judah, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? ²⁹ Jeroboam [II] slept with his fathers [in death], even with the kings of Israel. Zechariah his son became king in his place.

Zechariah over Israel

⁸ In the thirty-eighth year of Azariah king of Judah, Zechariah the son of Jeroboam [II] became king over Israel in Samaria for six months. ⁹ He did evil in the sight of the Lord, just as his fathers had done; he did not turn from the sins of Jeroboam [I] the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin. ¹⁰ But Shallum the son of Jabesh conspired against Zechariah and struck and killed him in the presence of the people and reigned in his place. ¹¹ Now the rest of the acts of Zechariah, behold, they are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel. ¹² This is [the fulfillment of] the word of the Lord which He spoke to Jehu, saying, “Your sons (descendants) shall sit on the throne of Israel to the fourth generation.” And so it came to pass.^(A)

¹³ Shallum the son of Jabesh became king in the thirty-ninth year of Uzziah (Azariah) king of Judah, and he reigned one month in Samaria. ¹⁴ For Menahem the son of Gadi went up from Tirzah and came to Samaria, and struck and killed Shallum the son of Jabesh in Samaria and became king in his place. ¹⁵ The rest of Shallum’s acts, and his conspiracy which he made, they are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel. ¹⁶ Then Menahem struck [the town of] Tiphsah and all who were in it and its borders from Tirzah; [he attacked it] because they did not surrender to him; so he struck it and ripped up all ^[a]the women there who were pregnant.

Menahem over Israel

¹⁷ In the thirty-ninth year of Azariah king of Judah, Menahem the son of Gadi became king over Israel, and reigned ten years in Samaria. ¹⁸ He did evil in the sight of the Lord; for all his days he did not turn from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin.

¹⁹ Pul, [Tiglath-pileser III] king of Assyria, came against the land [of Israel], and Menahem gave Pul a thousand talents of silver [as a bribe], so that he might help him to strengthen his control of the kingdom. ²⁰ Menahem exacted the money from Israel, from all the wealthy, influential men, fifty shekels of silver from each man to give to the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria turned back and did not stay there in the land. ²¹ Now the rest of Menahem’s acts, and everything that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? ²² And Menahem slept with his fathers [in death]; his son Pekahiah became king in his place.

Pekahiah over Israel

²³ In the fiftieth year of Azariah king of Judah, Pekahiah the son of Menahem became king over Israel, and reigned two years in Samaria. ²⁴ He did evil in the sight of the Lord; he did not turn from the [idolatrous] sins of Jeroboam [I] the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin. ²⁵ But Pekah the son of Remaliah, his officer, conspired against Pekahiah and struck him in Samaria, in the citadel of the king’s house, with Argob and Arieh; and with Pekah were fifty Gileadites. So he killed Pekahiah and became king in his place. ²⁶ Now the rest of the acts of Pekahiah, all that he did, they are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.

Pekah over Israel

²⁷ In the fifty-second year of Azariah king of Judah, Pekah the son of Remaliah became king over Israel, and reigned twenty years in Samaria. ²⁸ He did evil in the sight of the Lord; he did not turn from the [idolatrous] sins of Jeroboam [I] the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin.

²⁹ In the days of Pekah king of Israel, Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria came and took Ijon, Abel-beth-maacah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor, Gilead, and Galilee, all the land of [the tribe of] Naphtali, and he carried the people captive to Assyria.

⁶ Now the rest of Azariah’s acts, and everything that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? ⁷ Azariah slept with his fathers [in death], and they buried him with his fathers in the City of David. His son Jotham became king in his place.

²² Now the rest of the acts of Uzziah, from the first to the last, Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, has written.^{(A) 23} So Uzziah slept with his fathers [in death], and they buried him with his fathers in the burial field of the kings [outside the royal tombs], for they said, “He is a leper.” And his son Jotham became king in his place.

Isaiah’s Vision

6 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw [in a vision] the Lord sitting on a throne, high and exalted, with the train of His royal robe filling the [most holy part of the] temple.^{(A) 2} Above Him seraphim (heavenly beings) stood; each one had six wings: with two wings he covered his face, with two wings he covered his feet, and with two wings he flew. ³ And one called out to another, saying,

⁴ And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, and the temple was filling with smoke. ⁵ Then I said,

⁶ Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal in his hand, which he had taken from the altar with tongs. ⁷ He touched my mouth with it and said, “Listen carefully, this has touched your lips; your wickedness [your sin, your injustice, your wrongdoing] is taken away and your sin atoned for and forgiven.”

Isaiah’s Commission

⁸ Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I. Send me!” ⁹ And He said, “Go, and tell this people:

¹¹ Then I said, “Lord, how long?” And He answered,