Locusts, Fire and a Plumb Line

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

So the Lord relented.(F)

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

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

So the Lord relented.(K)

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

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,(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)

“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

This is what the Sovereign Lord showed me:(AP) a basket of ripe fruit. “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)

“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)

Hear this, you who trample the needy
    and do away with the poor(AW) of the land,(AX)

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)
buying the poor(BD) with silver
    and the needy for a pair of sandals,
    selling even the sweepings with the wheat.(BE)

The Lord has sworn by himself, the Pride of Jacob:(BF) “I will never forget(BG) anything they have done.(BH)

“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)

“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

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)
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)
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)
Though they are driven into exile by their enemies,
    there I will command the sword(CM) to slay them.

“I will keep my eye on them
    for harm(CN) and not for good.(CO)(CP)

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)
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)

“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)

“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)
“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

  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.
  3. Amos 7:17 Hebrew an unclean
  4. Amos 8:3 Or “the temple singers will wail
  5. Amos 8:14 Hebrew the way
  6. Amos 9:6 The meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain.
  7. Amos 9:6 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
  8. Amos 9:7 That is, people from the upper Nile region
  9. Amos 9:7 That is, Crete
  10. Amos 9:12 Hebrew; Septuagint so that the remnant of people / and all the nations that bear my name may seek me
  11. Amos 9:14 Or will restore the fortunes of my people Israel

The Seventh Seal and the Golden Censer

When he opened the seventh seal,(A) there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.

And I saw the seven angels(B) who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them.(C)

Another angel,(D) who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all God’s people,(E) on the golden altar(F) in front of the throne. The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of God’s people, went up before God(G) from the angel’s hand. Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar,(H) and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder,(I) rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake.(J)

The Trumpets

Then the seven angels who had the seven trumpets(K) prepared to sound them.

The first angel(L) sounded his trumpet, and there came hail and fire(M) mixed with blood, and it was hurled down on the earth. A third(N) of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.(O)

The second angel sounded his trumpet, and something like a huge mountain,(P) all ablaze, was thrown into the sea. A third(Q) of the sea turned into blood,(R) a third(S) of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.

10 The third angel sounded his trumpet, and a great star, blazing like a torch, fell from the sky(T) on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water(U) 11 the name of the star is Wormwood.[a] A third(V) of the waters turned bitter, and many people died from the waters that had become bitter.(W)

12 The fourth angel sounded his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third(X) of them turned dark.(Y) A third of the day was without light, and also a third of the night.(Z)

13 As I watched, I heard an eagle that was flying in midair(AA) call out in a loud voice: “Woe! Woe! Woe(AB) to the inhabitants of the earth,(AC) because of the trumpet blasts about to be sounded by the other three angels!”

Footnotes

  1. Revelation 8:11 Wormwood is a bitter substance.

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