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. And the Lord asked me, “What do you see,(A) Amos?(B)

“A plumb line,(C)” I replied.

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

“The high places(E) of Isaac will be destroyed
    and the sanctuaries(F) of Israel will be ruined;
    with my sword I will rise against the house of Jeroboam.(G)

Amos and Amaziah

10 Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel(H) sent a message to Jeroboam(I) king of Israel: “Amos is raising a conspiracy(J) against you in the very heart of Israel. The land cannot bear all his words.(K) 11 For this is what Amos is saying:

“‘Jeroboam will die by the sword,
    and Israel will surely go into exile,(L)
    away from their native land.’”(M)

12 Then Amaziah said to Amos, “Get out, you seer!(N) Go back to the land of Judah. Earn your bread there and do your prophesying there.(O) 13 Don’t prophesy anymore at Bethel,(P) because this is the king’s sanctuary and the temple(Q) of the kingdom.(R)

14 Amos answered Amaziah, “I was neither a prophet(S) nor the son of a prophet, but I was a shepherd, and I also took care of sycamore-fig trees.(T) 15 But the Lord took me from tending the flock(U) and said to me, ‘Go,(V) prophesy(W) to my people Israel.’(X)

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Footnotes

  1. Amos 7:7 The meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain.
  2. Amos 7:7 The meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain; also in verse 8.

Thus he shewed me: and, behold, the Lord stood upon a wall made by a plumbline, with a plumbline in his hand.

And the Lord said unto me, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A plumbline. Then said the Lord, Behold, I will set a plumbline in the midst of my people Israel: I will not again pass by them any more:

And the high places of Isaac shall be desolate, and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste; and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.

10 Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, Amos hath conspired against thee in the midst of the house of Israel: the land is not able to bear all his words.

11 For thus Amos saith, Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel shall surely be led away captive out of their own land.

12 Also Amaziah said unto Amos, O thou seer, go, flee thee away into the land of Judah, and there eat bread, and prophesy there:

13 But prophesy not again any more at Bethel: for it is the king's chapel, and it is the king's court.

14 Then answered Amos, and said to Amaziah, I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet's son; but I was an herdman, and a gatherer of sycomore fruit:

15 And the Lord took me as I followed the flock, and the Lord said unto me, Go, prophesy unto my people Israel.

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The Wise and Foolish Builders(A)

46 “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’(B) and do not do what I say?(C) 47 As for everyone who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice,(D) I will show you what they are like. 48 They are like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. 49 But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete.”

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46 And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?

47 Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like:

48 He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock.

49 But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great.

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