First Vision: Locusts

The Lord God showed me this: He was forming a swarm of locusts(A) at the time the spring crop first began to sprout—after the cutting of the king’s hay. When the locusts finished eating the vegetation of the land,(B) I said, “Lord God, please forgive!(C) How will Jacob survive since he is so small?” (D)

The Lord relented concerning this.(E) “It will not happen,” he said.

Second Vision: Fire

The Lord God showed me this: The Lord God was calling for a judgment by fire.(F) It consumed the great deep and devoured the land. Then I said, “Lord God, please stop!(G) How will Jacob survive since he is so small?”

The Lord relented concerning this.(H) “This will not happen either,” said the Lord God.

Third Vision: A Plumb Line

He showed me this: The Lord was standing there by a vertical wall with a plumb line in his hand. The Lord asked me, “What do you see, Amos?” (I)

I replied, “A plumb line.”

Then the Lord said, “I am setting a plumb line among my people Israel;(J) I will no longer spare them:(K)

Isaac’s high places(L) will be deserted,
and Israel’s sanctuaries will be in ruins;(M)
I will rise up against the house of Jeroboam
with a sword.”

Amaziah’s Opposition

10 Amaziah the priest(N) of Bethel sent word to King Jeroboam of Israel, saying, “Amos has conspired against you(O) right here in the house of Israel. The land cannot endure all his words, 11 for Amos has said this: ‘Jeroboam will die by the sword, and Israel will certainly go into exile from its homeland.’”(P)

12 Then Amaziah said to Amos, “Go away, you seer!(Q) Flee to the land of Judah. Earn your living[a] and give your prophecies there, 13 but don’t ever prophesy(R) at Bethel again, for it is the king’s sanctuary(S) and a royal temple.”

14 So Amos answered Amaziah, “I was[b] not a prophet or the son of a prophet;[c](T) rather, I was[d] a herdsman,(U) and I took care of sycamore figs. 15 But the Lord took me from following the flock(V) and said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’”(W)

16 Now hear the word of the Lord. You say:

Do not prophesy(X) against Israel;
do not preach(Y) against the house of Isaac.

17 Therefore, this is what the Lord says:

Your wife will be a prostitute in the city,(Z)
your sons and daughters will fall by the sword,(AA)
and your land will be divided up
with a measuring line.
You yourself will die on pagan[e] soil,(AB)
and Israel will certainly go into exile(AC)
from its homeland.

Footnotes

  1. 7:12 Lit Eat bread
  2. 7:14 Or am
  3. 7:14 = a prophet’s disciple or a member of a prophetic guild
  4. 7:14 Or am
  5. 7:17 Lit unclean

ASI me ha mostrado el Señor Jehová: y he aquí, él criaba langostas al principio que comenzaba á crecer el heno tardío; y he aquí, era el heno tardío después de las siegas del rey.

Y acaeció que como acabó de comer la hierba de la tierra, yo dije: Señor Jehová, perdona ahora; ¿quién levantará á Jacob? porque es pequeño.

Arrepintióse Jehová de esto: No será, dijo Jehová.

El Señor Jehová me mostró así: y he aquí, llamaba para juzgar por fuego el Señor Jehová; y consumió un gran abismo, y consumió una parte de la tierra.

Y dije: Señor Jehová, cesa ahora; ¿quién levantará á Jacob? porque es pequeño.

Arrepintióse Jehová de esto: No será esto tampoco, dijo el Señor Jehová.

Enseñóme así: he aquí, el Señor estaba sobre un muro hecho á plomo, y en su mano una plomada de albañil.

Jehová entonces me dijo: ¿Qué ves, Amós? Y dije: Una plomada de albañil. Y el Señor dijo: He aquí, Yo pongo plomada de albañil en medio de mi pueblo Israel: No le pasaré más:

Y los altares de Isaac serán destruidos, y los santuarios de Israel serán asolados; y levantaréme con espada sobre la casa de Jeroboam.

10 Entonces Amasías sacerdote de Beth-el envió á decir á Jeroboam, rey de Israel: Amós se ha conjurado contra ti en medio de la casa de Israel: la tierra no puede sufrir todas sus palabras.

11 Porque así ha dicho Amós: Jeroboam morirá á cuchillo, é Israel pasará de su tierra en cautiverio.

12 Y Amasías dijo á Amós: Vidente, vete, y huye á tierra de Judá, y come allá tu pan, y profetiza allí:

13 Y no profetices más en Beth-el, porque es santuario del rey, y cabecera del reino.

14 Entonces respondió Amós, y dijo á Amasías: No soy profeta, ni soy hijo de profeta, sino que soy boyero, y cogedor de cabrahigos:

15 Y Jehová me tomó de tras el ganado, y díjome Jehová: Ve, y profetiza á mi pueblo Israel.

16 Ahora pues, oye palabra de Jehová. Tú dices: No profetices contra Israel, ni hables contra la casa de Isaac:

17 Por tanto, así ha dicho Jehová: Tu mujer fornicará en la ciudad, y tus hijos y tus hijas caerán á cuchillo, y tu tierra será partida por suertes; y tú morirás en tierra inmunda, é Israel será traspasado de su tierra.

Thus hath the Lord God shewed unto me; and, behold, he formed grasshoppers 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 had made an end of eating the grass of the land, then I said, O Lord God, forgive, I beseech thee: by whom shall Jacob arise? for he is small.

The Lord repented for this: It shall not be, saith the Lord.

Thus hath the Lord God shewed unto me: and, behold, the Lord God called to contend by fire, and it devoured the great deep, and did eat up a part.

Then said I, O Lord God, cease, I beseech thee: by whom shall Jacob arise? for he is small.

The Lord repented for this: This also shall not be, saith the Lord God.

Thus he shewed me: and, behold, the Lord stood upon a wall made by a plumbline, with a plumbline in his hand.

And the Lord said unto me, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A plumbline. Then said the Lord, Behold, I will set a plumbline 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 Bethel 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 their own land.

12 Also Amaziah said unto Amos, O thou seer, go, flee thee away into the land of Judah, and there eat bread, and prophesy there:

13 But prophesy not again any more at Bethel: for it is the king's chapel, and it is the king's court.

14 Then answered Amos, and said to Amaziah, I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet's son; but I was an herdman, and a gatherer of sycomore fruit:

15 And the Lord took me as I followed the flock, and the Lord said unto me, Go, prophesy unto my people Israel.

16 Now therefore hear thou the word of the Lord: Thou sayest, Prophesy not against Israel, and drop not thy word against the house of Isaac.

17 Therefore thus saith the Lord; Thy wife shall be an 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 shalt die in a polluted land: and Israel shall surely go into captivity forth of his land.

A Vision of Locusts

The Sovereign Lord showed me a vision. I saw him preparing to send a vast swarm of locusts over the land. This was after the king’s share had been harvested from the fields and as the main crop was coming up. In my vision the locusts ate every green plant in sight. Then I said, “O Sovereign Lord, please forgive us or we will not survive, for Israel[a] is so small.”

So the Lord relented from this plan. “I will not do it,” he said.

A Vision of Fire

Then the Sovereign Lord showed me another vision. I saw him preparing to punish his people with a great fire. The fire had burned up the depths of the sea and was devouring the entire land. Then I said, “O Sovereign Lord, please stop or we will not survive, for Israel is so small.”

Then the Lord relented from this plan, too. “I will not do that either,” said the Sovereign Lord.

A Vision of a Plumb Line

Then he showed me another vision. I saw the Lord standing beside a wall that had been built using a plumb line. He was using a plumb line to see if it was still straight. And the Lord said to me, “Amos, what do you see?”

I answered, “A plumb line.”

And the Lord replied, “I will test my people with this plumb line. I will no longer ignore all their sins. The pagan shrines of your ancestors[b] will be ruined, and the temples of Israel will be destroyed; I will bring the dynasty of King Jeroboam to a sudden end.”

Amos and Amaziah

10 Then Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, sent a message to Jeroboam, king of Israel: “Amos is hatching a plot against you right here on your very doorstep! What he is saying is intolerable. 11 He is saying, ‘Jeroboam will soon be killed, and the people of Israel will be sent away into exile.’”

12 Then Amaziah sent orders to Amos: “Get out of here, you prophet! Go on back to the land of Judah, and earn your living by prophesying there! 13 Don’t bother us with your prophecies here in Bethel. This is the king’s sanctuary and the national place of worship!”

14 But Amos replied, “I’m not a professional prophet, and I was never trained to be one.[c] I’m just a shepherd, and I take care of sycamore-fig trees. 15 But the Lord called me away from my flock and told me, ‘Go and prophesy to my people in Israel.’ 16 Now then, listen to this message from the Lord:

“You say,
‘Don’t prophesy against Israel.
    Stop preaching against my people.[d]
17 But this is what the Lord says:
‘Your wife will become a prostitute in this city,
    and your sons and daughters will be killed.
Your land will be divided up,
    and you yourself will die in a foreign land.
And the people of Israel will certainly become captives in exile,
    far from their homeland.’”

Footnotes

  1. 7:2 Hebrew Jacob; also in 7:5. See note on 3:13.
  2. 7:9 Hebrew of Isaac.
  3. 7:14 Or I’m not a prophet nor the son of a prophet.
  4. 7:16 Hebrew against the house of Isaac.