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Amos 7
Easy-to-Read Version
Amos 7
Easy-to-Read Version
The Vision of the Locusts
7 This is what the Lord God showed me: He was making locusts. This was at the time the second crop began to grow, after the king’s people had cut the first crop. 2 Before the locusts could eat all the grass in the country, I said, “Lord God, I beg you, forgive us! Jacob cannot survive! He is too small!”
3 Then the Lord changed his mind about this. The Lord said, “It will not happen.”
The Vision of the Fire
4 This is what the Lord God showed me: I saw the Lord God calling for judgment by fire. The fire destroyed the ocean and was beginning to eat up the land. 5 But I said, “Lord God, stop, I beg you! Jacob cannot survive! He is too small!”
6 Then the Lord changed his mind about this. The Lord God said, “It will not happen either.”
The Vision of the Plumb Line
7 This is what the Lord showed me: He stood by a wall with a plumb line[a] in his hand. (The wall had been marked with a plumb line.) 8 The Lord said to me, “Amos, what do you see?”
I said, “A plumb line.”
Then the Lord said to me, “See, I will put a plumb line among my people Israel. I will not let their ‘crooked ways’ pass inspection anymore. 9 Isaac’s high places will be destroyed. Israel’s holy places will be made into a pile of rocks. I will attack and kill Jeroboam’s[b] family with swords.”
Amaziah Tries to Stop Amos
10 Amaziah, a priest at Bethel,[c] sent this message to Jeroboam, the king of Israel: “Amos is making plans against you. He is trying to make the people of Israel fight against you. He has been speaking so much that this country cannot hold all his words. 11 Amos has said, ‘Jeroboam will die by the sword, and the people of Israel will be taken as prisoners out of their country.’”
12 Amaziah also said to Amos, “You seer, go down to Judah and eat there.[d] Do your prophesying there. 13 But don’t prophesy anymore here at Bethel. This is Jeroboam’s holy place. This is Israel’s temple.”
14 Then Amos answered Amaziah, “I am not a professional prophet, and I am not from a prophet’s family. I raise cattle and take care of sycamore trees. 15 I was a shepherd and the Lord took me from following the sheep. The Lord said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’ 16 So listen to the Lord’s message. You tell me, ‘Don’t prophesy against Israel. Don’t speak against Isaac’s family.’ 17 But the Lord says, ‘Your wife will become a prostitute in the city. Your sons and daughters will be killed with swords. Other people will take your land and divide it among themselves, and you will die in a foreign[e] country. The people of Israel will definitely be taken from this country as prisoners.’”
Footnotes
- Amos 7:7 plumb line A string with a weight on one end used to show how straight the walls of a building were. Sometimes the line was coated with paint or chalk to mark a straight line.
- Amos 7:9 Jeroboam The king of Israel. See verse 10.
- Amos 7:10 Bethel A town in Israel. This name means “God’s house.”
- Amos 7:12 eat there This shows that Amaziah thought that Amos was a professional prophet who prophesied to receive food or money.
- Amos 7:17 foreign Literally, “unclean.” See “ unclean” in the Word List.
Amos 7
Amplified Bible, Classic Edition
Amos 7
Amplified Bible, Classic Edition
7 Thus the Lord God showed me [Amos], and behold, He formed locusts in the beginning of the shooting up of the second crop, and behold, it was the second crop after the king’s mowings.
2 And when [the locusts] had finished eating the plants of the land, then I said, O Lord God, forgive, I pray You. How can Jacob stand? For he is so small!
3 The Lord relented and revoked this sentence: It shall not take place, said the Lord [and He was eased and comforted concerning it].
4 Thus the Lord God showed me, and behold, the Lord God called for punishment with fire, and it devoured the great deep and would have eaten up the land.
5 Then said I, O Lord God, cease, I pray You! How can Jacob stand? He is so little!
6 The Lord relented and revoked this sentence: This also shall not be, said the Lord [and He was eased and comforted concerning it].
7 Thus He showed me, and behold, the Lord stood upon a wall with a plumb line, with a plumb line in His hand.(A)
8 And the Lord said to me, Amos, what do you see? And I said, A plumb line. Then said the Lord, Behold, I am setting a plumb line as a standard in the midst of My people Israel. I will not pass by and spare them any more [the door of mercy is shut].
9 And the [idolatrous] high places of Isaac (Israel) shall be desolate and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste, and I will rise with the sword against the house of King Jeroboam [who set up the golden calf shrines].
10 Then Amaziah the priest of [the golden calf shrine at] Bethel sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, Amos has conspired against you in the midst of the house of Israel; the land is not able to bear all his words.(B)
11 For thus Amos has said, Jeroboam shall die by the sword and Israel shall surely be led away captive out of his land.
12 Also Amaziah said to Amos, O you seer, go! Flee back to the land of Judah [your own country], and eat your bread and live out your profession as a prophet there [as I perform my duties here].
13 But do not prophesy any more at Bethel, for it is the king’s sanctuary and a seat of his kingdom.(C)
14 Then Amos said to Amaziah, I was no prophet [by profession]! Neither was I a prophet’s son; [but I had my occupation] I was a herdsman and a dresser of sycamore trees and a gatherer of sycamore figs.
15 And the Lord took me as I followed the flock and the Lord said to me, Go, prophesy to My people Israel.
16 Now therefore listen to the word of the Lord: You say, Do not prophesy against Israel and drop no statements not complimentary to the house of Isaac.
17 Therefore thus says the Lord: Your wife shall be a harlot in the city and your sons and your daughters shall fall by the sword, and your land shall be divided up by line; you yourself shall die in an unclean and defiled land, and Israel shall surely go forth out of his land into exile.
Amos 7
New International Version
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. 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:
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