Add parallel Print Page Options

Plague of Locusts

This is what the Lord God showed me: He was forming a plague of locusts when the latter growth was beginning to sprout up, the latter growth after the king’s reaping. When they had finished devouring the foliage of the land, I said, “O Lord God, please forgive. How can Jacob survive? For he is small.”

The Lord relented concerning this:

“It shall not be,” said the Lord.

Fire

This is what the Lord God showed me: The Lord God was calling for a judgment by fire. It was consuming the great deep and was devouring the fields. I said, “O Lord God, please stop. How can Jacob survive? For he is small.”

The Lord relented concerning this:

“This also shall not be,” said the Lord God.

Plumb Line

This is what He showed me: The Lord was standing by a wall made using a plumb line, with a plumb line in His hand. The Lord said to me, “Amos, what do you see?”

And I said, “A plumb line.”

Then the Lord said, “See, I am putting a plumb line in the midst of My people Israel. I will forgive them no more.

The high places of Isaac will be destroyed,
    the sanctuaries of Israel will be laid waste,
    and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.”

The Priest Tries to Banish Amos

10 Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent a message to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, “Amos has conspired against you at the very center of the house of Israel. The country cannot endure all his words. 11 For this is what Amos said:

‘Jeroboam will die by the sword,
    and Israel will surely be exiled
    away from its land.’ ”

12 So Amaziah said to Amos, “O seer, go, flee back to the land of Judah. Earn your sustenance there, and prophesy there. 13 But do not prophesy any more at Bethel, for it is the king’s sanctuary and a royal temple.”

14 But Amos answered Amaziah: “I am no prophet, and I am no prophet’s disciple. Rather, I am a herdsman and a dresser of sycamore trees. 15 But the Lord took me away from the flock, and the Lord said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to My people Israel.’ 16 Now therefore hear the word of the Lord: You say,

‘Do not prophesy against Israel,
    and do not preach against the house of Isaac.’

17 “Therefore thus says the Lord:

‘Your wife will be a prostitute in the city,
    your sons and daughters will fall by the sword,
and your land will be divided by measuring line;
    you yourself will die in an unclean land;
and Israel will surely go into exile
    away from its land.’ ”

Thus the Lord Jehovah showed me: and, behold, he formed locusts in the beginning of the shooting up of the latter growth; and, lo, it was the latter growth after the king’s mowings. And it came to pass that, when they made an end of eating the grass of the land, then I said, O Lord Jehovah, forgive, I beseech thee: how shall Jacob stand? for he is small. Jehovah repented concerning this: It shall not be, saith Jehovah.

Thus the Lord Jehovah showed me: and, behold, the Lord Jehovah called to contend by fire; and it devoured the great deep, and would have eaten up the [a]land. Then said I, O Lord Jehovah, cease, I beseech thee: how shall Jacob stand? for he is small. Jehovah repented concerning this: This also shall not be, saith the Lord Jehovah.

Thus he showed me: and, behold, the Lord stood [b]beside a wall made by a plumb-line, with a plumb-line in his hand. And Jehovah said unto me, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A plumb-line. Then said the Lord, Behold, I will set a plumb-line 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 Beth-el 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 his land. 12 Also Amaziah said unto Amos, O thou seer, go, flee thou away into the land of Judah, and there eat bread, and prophesy there: 13 but prophesy not again any more at Beth-el; for it is the king’s sanctuary, and it is a royal house.

14 Then answered Amos, and said to Amaziah, I [c]was no prophet, neither [d]was I [e]a prophet’s son; but I [f]was a herdsman, and a dresser of sycomore-trees: 15 and Jehovah took me from following the flock, and Jehovah said unto me, Go, prophesy unto my people Israel. 16 Now therefore hear thou the word of Jehovah: Thou sayest, Prophesy not against Israel, and drop not thy word against the house of Isaac; 17 therefore thus saith Jehovah: Thy wife shall be a harlot in the city, and thy sons and thy daughters shall fall by the sword, and thy land shall be divided by line; and thou thyself shalt die in a land that is unclean, and Israel shall surely be led away captive out of his land.

Footnotes

  1. Amos 7:4 Hebrew portion.
  2. Amos 7:7 Or, upon
  3. Amos 7:14 Or, am
  4. Amos 7:14 Or, am
  5. Amos 7:14 Or, one of the sons of the prophets. See 1 Kin. 20:35.
  6. Amos 7:14 Or, am