Amos 7

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. ²When they had stripped the land clean,^(C) I cried out, “Sovereign Lord, forgive! How can Jacob survive?^(D) He is so small!^(E)”

³So the Lord relented.^(F)

“This will not happen,” the Lord said.^(G)

⁴This 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. ⁵Then I cried out, “Sovereign Lord, I beg you, stop! How can Jacob survive? He is so small!^(J)”

⁶So the Lord relented.^(K)

“This will not happen either,” the Sovereign Lord said.^(L)

⁷This 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. ⁸And 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

¹⁰Then 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) ¹¹For 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)

¹²Then 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) ¹³Don’t prophesy anymore at Bethel,^(AB) because this is the king’s sanctuary and the temple^(AC) of the kingdom.^(AD)”

¹⁴Amos 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) ¹⁵But the Lord took me from tending the flock^(AG) and said to me, ‘Go,^(AH) prophesy^(AI) to my people Israel.’^(AJ) ¹⁶Now 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)’”

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

Psalm 105

New International Version

Psalm 105^(A)

¹Give praise to the Lord,^(B) proclaim his name;^(C)
    make known among the nations what he has done.
²Sing to him,^(D) sing praise to him;^(E)
    tell of all his wonderful acts.^(F)
³Glory in his holy name;^(G)
    let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.
⁴Look to the Lord and his strength;
    seek his face^(H) always.

⁵Remember the wonders^(I) he has done,
    his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced,^(J)
⁶you his servants, the descendants of Abraham,^(K)
    his chosen^(L) ones, the children of Jacob.
⁷He is the Lord our God;
    his judgments are in all the earth.

⁸He remembers his covenant^(M) forever,
    the promise he made, for a thousand generations,
⁹the covenant he made with Abraham,^(N)
    the oath he swore to Isaac.
¹⁰He confirmed it^(O) to Jacob as a decree,
    to Israel as an everlasting covenant:^(P)
¹¹“To you I will give the land of Canaan^(Q)
    as the portion you will inherit.”^(R)

¹²When they were but few in number,^(S)
    few indeed, and strangers in it,^(T)
¹³they wandered from nation to nation,^(U)
    from one kingdom to another.
¹⁴He allowed no one to oppress^(V) them;
    for their sake he rebuked kings:^(W)
¹⁵“Do not touch^(X) my anointed ones;
    do my prophets^(Y) no harm.”

¹⁶He called down famine^(Z) on the land
    and destroyed all their supplies of food;
¹⁷and he sent a man before them—
    Joseph, sold as a slave.^(AA)
¹⁸They bruised his feet with shackles,^(AB)
    his neck was put in irons,
¹⁹till what he foretold^(AC) came to pass,
    till the word^(AD) of the Lord proved him true.
²⁰The king sent and released him,
    the ruler of peoples set him free.^(AE)
²¹He made him master of his household,
    ruler over all he possessed,
²²to instruct his princes^(AF) as he pleased
    and teach his elders wisdom.^(AG)

²³Then Israel entered Egypt;^(AH)
    Jacob resided^(AI) as a foreigner in the land of Ham.^(AJ)
²⁴The Lord made his people very fruitful;
    he made them too numerous^(AK) for their foes,
²⁵whose hearts he turned^(AL) to hate his people,
    to conspire^(AM) against his servants.
²⁶He sent Moses^(AN) his servant,
    and Aaron,^(AO) whom he had chosen.^(AP)
²⁷They performed^(AQ) his signs^(AR) among them,
    his wonders^(AS) in the land of Ham.
²⁸He sent darkness^(AT) and made the land dark—
    for had they not rebelled against^(AU) his words?
²⁹He turned their waters into blood,^(AV)
    causing their fish to die.^(AW)
³⁰Their land teemed with frogs,^(AX)
    which went up into the bedrooms of their rulers.
³¹He spoke,^(AY) and there came swarms of flies,^(AZ)
    and gnats^(BA) throughout their country.
³²He turned their rain into hail,^(BB)
    with lightning throughout their land;
³³he struck down their vines^(BC) and fig trees^(BD)
    and shattered the trees of their country.
³⁴He spoke,^(BE) and the locusts came,^(BF)
    grasshoppers^(BG) without number;^(BH)
³⁵they ate up every green thing in their land,
    ate up the produce of their soil.
³⁶Then he struck down all the firstborn^(BI) in their land,
    the firstfruits of all their manhood.
³⁷He brought out Israel, laden with silver and gold,^(BJ)
    and from among their tribes no one faltered.
³⁸Egypt was glad when they left,
    because dread of Israel^(BK) had fallen on them.

³⁹He spread out a cloud^(BL) as a covering,
    and a fire to give light at night.^(BM)
⁴⁰They asked,^(BN) and he brought them quail;^(BO)
    he fed them well with the bread of heaven.^(BP)
⁴¹He opened the rock,^(BQ) and water gushed out;
    it flowed like a river in the desert.

⁴²For he remembered his holy promise^(BR)
    given to his servant Abraham.
⁴³He brought out his people with rejoicing,^(BS)
    his chosen ones with shouts of joy;
⁴⁴he gave them the lands of the nations,^(BT)
    and they fell heir to what others had toiled^(BU) for—
⁴⁵that they might keep his precepts
    and observe his laws.^(BV)