Amos 7
Lexham English Bible
Warning Visions
7 This is what my Lord Yahweh showed me, and look, he is going to form locusts at the beginning of the sprouting of the second crop, and look, after the mowings of the king. 2 And then when they[a] finished eating the vegetation of the land, I said, “O Lord Yahweh, please forgive! How can Jacob stand, because he is small?” 3 Yahweh relented concerning this. “It will not be,” said Yahweh. 4 This is what my Lord Yahweh showed me, and look, my Lord Yahweh was going to call for a legal case with fire, and it devoured the great deep and it ate up the plots of ground. 5 Then I said, “O Lord Yahweh, please stop! How can Jacob stand, because he is small?” 6 Yahweh also relented concerning this. “This also will not be,” said my Lord Yahweh. 7 This is what he showed me: Behold, my Lord was standing beside a wall built with a plummet, and a plummet was in his hand. 8 And Yahweh said to me, “What do you see?” And I said, “A plummet.” And my Lord said, “Look, I am going to set a plummet in the midst of my people, Israel. I will not pass them by again. 9 The high places of Isaac shall become desolate and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste. And I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.”
Amaziah’s Opposition
10 Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam the king of Israel, saying, “Amos has conspired against you in the midst of the house of Israel. The land is not able to endure all of his words. 11 For this Amos has said, ‘Jeroboam will die by the sword and Israel will certainly go into exile away from his land.’” 12 And Amaziah said to Amos, “O seer, go, flee to the land of Judah and earn food there and prophesy there!” 13 But do not prophesy again at Bethel, because this is a sanctuary of a king and this is a temple of a kingdom.” 14 And Amos answered and said to Amaziah, “I am not a prophet and I am not a son of a prophet, but I am a herdsman and I am one taking care of sycamore trees. 15 And Yahweh took me from following behind the sheep and goats and Yahweh said to me, “Go, prophesy to my people Israel! 16 And so then, hear the word of Yahweh! You are saying, ‘You must not prophesy against Israel and you must not preach against the house of Isaac!’ 17 Therefore, thus says Yahweh, ‘Your wife will become a prostitute in the city and your sons and your daughters will fall by the sword and your land will be divided with a line, and you[b] will die in an unclean land and Israel will surely go into exile from this land.’”
Amos 7
Common English Bible
A vision of locusts
7 This is what the Lord God showed me: The Lord God was forming locusts at the time the late grass began to sprout. (It was the late grass after the king’s harvest.) 2 When they had finished eating the green plants of the land, I said,
“Lord God, please forgive!
How can Jacob survive?
He is so small!”
3 The Lord relented concerning this:
“It won’t take place,”
says the Lord.
A vision of fire
4 This is what the Lord God showed me: The Lord God was calling for judgment with fire, and it devoured the great deep and was eating up part of the land. 5 Then I said,
“Lord God, I beg you, stop!
How can Jacob survive?
He is so small!”
6 The Lord relented concerning this:
“This also won’t take place,”
says the Lord God.
A vision of a plumb line
7 This is what the Lord showed me: The Lord was standing by a wall, with a plumb line in his hand. 8 The Lord said to me, “Amos, what do you see?”
“A plumb line,” I said.
Then the Lord said,
“See, I am setting a plumb line
in the middle of my people Israel.
I will never again forgive them.
9 The shrines of Isaac will be made desolate,
and the holy places of Israel will be laid waste,
and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.”
Exchange between Amaziah, Jeroboam, and Amos
10 Then Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, reported to Israel’s King Jeroboam, “Amos has plotted against you within the house of Israel. The land isn’t able to cope with everything that he is saying. 11 Amos has said, ‘Jeroboam will die by the sword, and Israel will be forced out of its land.’”
12 Amaziah said to Amos, “You who see things, go, run away to the land of Judah, eat your bread there, and prophesy there; 13 but never again prophesy at Bethel, for it is the king’s holy place and his royal house.”
14 Amos answered Amaziah, “I am[a] not a prophet, nor am I a prophet’s son; but I am a shepherd, and a trimmer of sycamore trees. 15 But the Lord took me from shepherding the flock, and the Lord said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’
16 “Now then hear the Lord’s word.
You say, ‘Don’t prophesy against Israel,
and don’t preach
against the house of Isaac.’
17 “Therefore, the Lord proclaims:
‘Your wife will become a prostitute in the city,
and your sons and your daughters will fall by the sword,
and your land will be measured and divided up;
you yourself will die in an unclean land,
and Israel will surely be taken away from its land.’”
Footnotes
- Amos 7:14 Or was; the verb is implied.
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