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Amos 7-9
English Standard Version
Amos 7-9
English Standard Version
Warning Visions
7 (A)This is what the Lord God showed me: behold, (B)he was forming locusts when the latter growth was just beginning to sprout, and behold, it was the latter growth after the king's mowings. 2 When they had finished eating the grass of the land, I said,
“O Lord God, please forgive!
(C)How can Jacob stand?
He is so small!”
3 (D)The Lord relented concerning this:
“It shall not be,” said the Lord.
4 (E)This is what the Lord God showed me: behold, the Lord God was calling (F)for a judgment by fire, and it devoured the great deep and was eating up the land. 5 Then I said,
“O Lord God, please cease!
(G)How can Jacob stand?
He is so small!”
6 (H)The Lord relented concerning this:
“This also shall not be,” said the Lord God.
7 (I)This is what he showed me: behold, the Lord was standing beside a wall built with (J)a plumb line, with a plumb line in his hand. 8 And the Lord said to me, (K)“Amos, what do you see?” And I said, “A plumb line.” Then the Lord said,
“Behold, I am setting (L)a plumb line
in the midst of my people Israel;
(M)I will never again pass by them;
9 (N)the high places of Isaac shall be made desolate,
and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste,
and I will rise against (O)the house of Jeroboam with the sword.”
Amos Accused
10 Then Amaziah (P)the priest of Bethel sent to (Q)Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, “Amos has (R)conspired against you in the midst of the house of Israel. The land is not able to bear all his words. 11 For thus Amos has said,
“‘Jeroboam shall die by the sword,
and (S)Israel must go into exile
away from his land.’”
12 And Amaziah said to Amos, (T)“O seer, go, flee away (U)to the land of Judah, and (V)eat bread there, and prophesy there, 13 but (W)never again prophesy at Bethel, for (X)it is the king's sanctuary, and it is a temple of the kingdom.”
14 Then Amos answered and said to Amaziah, (Y)“I was[a] no prophet, nor a prophet's son, but (Z)I was a herdsman and a dresser of sycamore figs. 15 (AA)But the Lord took me from following the flock, and the Lord said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’ 16 (AB)Now therefore hear the word of the Lord.
“You say, (AC)‘Do not prophesy against Israel,
and (AD)do not preach against the house of (AE)Isaac.’
17 (AF)Therefore thus says the Lord:
“‘Your wife shall be a prostitute in the city,
and your sons and your daughters shall fall by the sword,
and your land (AG)shall be divided up with a measuring line;
you yourself shall die in an unclean land,
and (AH)Israel shall surely go into exile away from its land.’”
The Coming Day of Bitter Mourning
8 (AI)This is what the Lord God showed me: behold, a basket of summer fruit. 2 And he said, (AJ)“Amos, what do you see?” And I said, (AK)“A basket of summer fruit.” Then the Lord said to me,
(AL)“The end[b] has come upon my people Israel;
I will never again pass by them.
3 (AM)The songs of the temple[c] (AN)shall become wailings[d] in that day,”
declares the Lord God.
(AO)“So many dead bodies!”
“They are thrown everywhere!”
(AP)“Silence!”
4 Hear this, (AQ)you who trample on the needy
and bring the poor of the land to an end,
5 saying, “When will (AR)the new moon be over,
that we may sell grain?
And (AS)the Sabbath,
that we may offer wheat for sale,
that we may make (AT)the ephah small and the shekel[e] great
and deal deceitfully with false balances,
6 that we may buy the poor for (AU)silver
and the needy for a pair of sandals
and sell the chaff of the wheat?”
7 The Lord has sworn by (AV)the pride of Jacob:
“Surely (AW)I will never forget any of their deeds.
8 (AX)Shall not the land tremble on this account,
and everyone mourn who dwells in it,
(AY)and all of it rise like the Nile,
and be tossed about (AZ)and sink again, like the Nile of Egypt?”
9 “And on that day,” declares the Lord God,
(BA)“I will make the sun go down at noon
and darken the earth in broad daylight.
10 (BB)I will turn your feasts into mourning
and all your songs into lamentation;
(BC)I will bring sackcloth on every waist
(BD)and baldness on every head;
(BE)I will make it like the mourning for an only son
and the end of it like a bitter day.
11 “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord God,
“when (BF)I will send a famine on the land—
not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water,
(BG)but of hearing the words of the Lord.
12 (BH)They shall wander from sea to sea,
and from north to east;
they shall run to and fro, to seek the word of the Lord,
(BI)but they shall not find it.
13 (BJ)“In that day the lovely virgins and the young men
shall (BK)faint for thirst.
14 Those who swear by (BL)the Guilt of Samaria,
and say, ‘As your god lives, O Dan,’
and, ‘As (BM)the Way of (BN)Beersheba lives,’
they shall fall, and never rise again.”
The Destruction of Israel
9 I saw the Lord standing beside[f] the altar, and he said:
(BO)“Strike the capitals until (BP)the thresholds (BQ)shake,
(BR)and shatter them on the heads of all the people;[g]
and those who are left of them I will kill with the sword;
(BS)not one of them shall flee away;
not one of them shall escape.
2 (BT)“If they dig into Sheol,
from there shall my hand take them;
(BU)if they climb up to heaven,
from there I will bring them down.
3 If they hide themselves on (BV)the top of Carmel,
from there I will search them out and take them;
(BW)and if they hide from my sight at the bottom of the sea,
there I will command the serpent, and it shall bite them.
4 (BX)And if they go into captivity before their enemies,
there I will command the sword, and it shall kill them;
(BY)and I will fix my eyes upon them
for evil and not for good.”
5 The Lord God of hosts,
he who touches the earth and (BZ)it melts,
and all who dwell in it mourn,
(CA)and all of it rises like the Nile,
(CB)and sinks again, like the Nile of Egypt;
6 (CC)who builds his upper chambers in the heavens
and founds his vault upon the earth;
(CD)who calls for the waters of the sea
and pours them out upon the surface of the earth—
(CE)the Lord is his name.
7 “Are you not like (CF)the Cushites to me,
O people of Israel?” declares the Lord.
(CG)“Did I not bring up Israel from the land of Egypt,
and (CH)the Philistines from (CI)Caphtor and the Syrians from (CJ)Kir?
8 Behold, (CK)the eyes of the Lord God are upon the sinful kingdom,
and I will destroy it from the surface of the ground,
(CL)except that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob,”
declares the Lord.
9 “For behold, I will command,
(CM)and shake the house of Israel among all the nations
as one shakes with a sieve,
but no pebble shall fall to the earth.
10 All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword,
who say, (CN)‘Disaster shall not overtake or meet us.’
The Restoration of Israel
11 “In that day (CO)I will raise up
the booth of David that is fallen
and repair its breaches,
and raise up its ruins
and rebuild it as in the days of old,
12 (CP)that they may possess the remnant of Edom
and (CQ)all the nations who are called by my name,”[h]
declares the Lord who does this.
13 “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord,
(CR)“when the plowman shall overtake the reaper
and the treader of grapes him who sows the seed;
(CS)the mountains shall drip sweet wine,
and all the hills shall flow with it.
14 (CT)I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel,
and (CU)they shall rebuild the ruined cities and inhabit them;
(CV)they shall plant vineyards and drink their wine,
and they shall make gardens and eat their fruit.
15 (CW)I will plant them on their land,
(CX)and they shall never again be uprooted
out of the land (CY)that I have given them,”
says the Lord your God.
Footnotes
- Amos 7:14 Or am; twice in this verse
- Amos 8:2 The Hebrew words for end and summer fruit sound alike
- Amos 8:3 Or palace
- Amos 8:3 Or The singing women of the palace shall wail
- Amos 8:5 An ephah was about 3/5 bushel or 22 liters; a shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams
- Amos 9:1 Or on
- Amos 9:1 Hebrew all of them
- Amos 9:12 Hebrew; Septuagint (compare Acts 15:17) that the remnant of mankind and all the nations who are called by my name may seek the Lord
Amos 7-9
New International Version
Amos 7-9
New International Version
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)
9 “The high places(Q) of Isaac will be destroyed
and the sanctuaries(R) of Israel will be ruined;
with my sword I will rise against the house of Jeroboam.(S)”
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:
“‘Jeroboam will die by the sword,
and Israel will surely go into exile,(X)
away from their native land.’”(Y)
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,
“‘Do not prophesy against(AL) Israel,
and stop preaching against the descendants of Isaac.’
17 “Therefore this is what the Lord says:
“‘Your wife will become a prostitute(AM) in the city,
and your sons and daughters will fall by the sword.
Your land will be measured and divided up,
and you yourself will die in a pagan[c] country.
And Israel will surely go into exile,(AN)
away from their native land.(AO)’”
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,
“When will the New Moon(AY) be over
that we may sell grain,
and the Sabbath be ended
that we may market(AZ) wheat?”(BA)—
skimping on the measure,
boosting the price
and cheating(BB) with dishonest scales,(BC)
6 buying the poor(BD) with silver
and the needy for a pair of sandals,
selling even the sweepings with the wheat.(BE)
7 The Lord has sworn by himself, the Pride of Jacob:(BF) “I will never forget(BG) anything they have done.(BH)
8 “Will not the land tremble(BI) for this,
and all who live in it mourn?
The whole land will rise like the Nile;
it will be stirred up and then sink
like the river of Egypt.(BJ)
9 “In that day,” declares the Sovereign Lord,
“I will make the sun go down at noon
and darken the earth in broad daylight.(BK)
10 I will turn your religious festivals(BL) into mourning
and all your singing into weeping.(BM)
I will make all of you wear sackcloth(BN)
and shave(BO) your heads.
I will make that time like mourning for an only son(BP)
and the end of it like a bitter day.(BQ)
11 “The days are coming,”(BR) declares the Sovereign Lord,
“when I will send a famine through the land—
not a famine of food or a thirst for water,
but a famine(BS) of hearing the words of the Lord.(BT)
12 People will stagger from sea to sea
and wander from north to east,
searching for the word of the Lord,
but they will not find it.(BU)
13 “In that day
“the lovely young women and strong young men(BV)
will faint because of thirst.(BW)
14 Those who swear by the sin of Samaria(BX)—
who say, ‘As surely as your god lives, Dan,’(BY)
or, ‘As surely as the god[e] of Beersheba(BZ) lives’—
they will fall,(CA) never to rise again.(CB)”
Israel to Be Destroyed
9 I saw the Lord standing by the altar, and he said:
“Strike the tops of the pillars
so that the thresholds shake.
Bring them down on the heads(CC) of all the people;
those who are left I will kill with the sword.
Not one will get away,
none will escape.(CD)
2 Though they dig down to the depths below,(CE)
from there my hand will take them.
Though they climb up to the heavens above,(CF)
from there I will bring them down.(CG)
3 Though they hide themselves on the top of Carmel,(CH)
there I will hunt them down and seize them.(CI)
Though they hide from my eyes at the bottom of the sea,(CJ)
there I will command the serpent(CK) to bite them.(CL)
4 Though they are driven into exile by their enemies,
there I will command the sword(CM) to slay them.
5 The Lord, the Lord Almighty—
he touches the earth and it melts,(CQ)
and all who live in it mourn;
the whole land rises like the Nile,
then sinks like the river of Egypt;(CR)
6 he builds his lofty palace[f](CS) in the heavens
and sets its foundation[g] on the earth;
he calls for the waters of the sea
and pours them out over the face of the land—
the Lord is his name.(CT)
7 “Are not you Israelites
the same to me as the Cushites[h]?”(CU)
declares the Lord.
“Did I not bring Israel up from Egypt,
the Philistines(CV) from Caphtor[i](CW)
and the Arameans from Kir?(CX)
8 “Surely the eyes of the Sovereign Lord
are on the sinful kingdom.
I will destroy(CY) it
from the face of the earth.
Yet I will not totally destroy
the descendants of Jacob,”
declares the Lord.(CZ)
9 “For I will give the command,
and I will shake the people of Israel
among all the nations
as grain(DA) is shaken in a sieve,(DB)
and not a pebble will reach the ground.(DC)
10 All the sinners among my people
will die by the sword,(DD)
all those who say,
‘Disaster will not overtake or meet us.’(DE)
Israel’s Restoration
11 “In that day
“I will restore David’s(DF) fallen shelter(DG)—
I will repair its broken walls
and restore its ruins(DH)—
and will rebuild it as it used to be,(DI)
12 so that they may possess the remnant of Edom(DJ)
and all the nations that bear my name,[j](DK)”
declares the Lord, who will do these things.(DL)
13 “The days are coming,”(DM) declares the Lord,
“when the reaper(DN) will be overtaken by the plowman(DO)
and the planter by the one treading(DP) grapes.
New wine(DQ) will drip from the mountains
and flow from all the hills,(DR)
14 and I will bring(DS) my people Israel back from exile.[k](DT)
“They will rebuild the ruined cities(DU) and live in them.
They will plant vineyards(DV) and drink their wine;
they will make gardens and eat their fruit.(DW)
15 I will plant(DX) Israel in their own land,(DY)
never again to be uprooted(DZ)
from the land I have given them,”(EA)
says the Lord your God.(EB)
Footnotes
- Amos 7:7 The meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain.
- Amos 7:7 The meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain; also in verse 8.
- Amos 7:17 Hebrew an unclean
- Amos 8:3 Or “the temple singers will wail
- Amos 8:14 Hebrew the way
- Amos 9:6 The meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain.
- Amos 9:6 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
- Amos 9:7 That is, people from the upper Nile region
- Amos 9:7 That is, Crete
- Amos 9:12 Hebrew; Septuagint so that the remnant of people / and all the nations that bear my name may seek me
- Amos 9:14 Or will restore the fortunes of my people Israel
English Standard Version (ESV) 
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
New International Version (NIV) 
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NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.