Amos 7
New Catholic Bible
Visions: Amos, Confidant of God
Chapter 7
The Vision of Locusts. 1 This is what the Lord God showed me: he was forming a swarm of locusts after the king’s share[a] had been harvested and the second growth was beginning to sprout. 2 When the locusts had finished eating all the grass in the land, I said:
Lord God, forgive, I beg you.
Jacob is so small;
how can he survive?
3 Thereupon the Lord relented. “This shall not happen,” said the Lord God.
The Vision of Fire. 4 This is what the Lord God then showed me: the Lord God was summoning a fire of judgment to devour the great abyss and to consume the land. 5 I said:
Lord God, cease, I beg you.
Jacob is so small;
how can he survive?
6 Thereupon the Lord relented. “This also shall not happen,” said the Lord God.
The Vision of the Plumb Line. 7 Then the Lord showed me this: he was standing by a wall, with a plumb line in his hand. 8 The Lord asked me, “What do you see, Amos?” I replied, “A plumb line.” Then the Lord said:
Behold, I am setting a plumb line
in the midst of my people Israel;
never again will I forgive their offenses.
9 The high places of Isaac shall be laid waste,
and the sanctuaries of Israel will be left desolate;
with sword in hand
I will rise against the house of Jeroboam.
10 Amos Expelled by the Priests of Bethel. Then Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, sent the following message to Jeroboam, the king of Israel: “Amos has conspired against you here in the heart of the house of Israel, and the country cannot tolerate his message. 11 For this is what Amos is saying:
“ ‘Jeroboam will die by the sword,
and the Israelites will be taken into captivity,
far away from their native land.’ ”
12 To Amos himself Amaziah said, “Go, O seer, and flee to the land of Judah. There you can prophesy and earn your living. 13 But never again prophesy at Bethel, for this is the king’s sanctuary and a royal shrine.”
14 Amos replied to Amaziah, “I am not a prophet, nor a prophet’s son. I was a shepherd and a dresser of sycamore-fig trees. 15 But the Lord took me away from tending the flock and said to me, ‘Go forth and prophesy to my people Israel.’ 16 So now, listen to the word of the Lord. You tell me that I am not to prophesy against Israel or to preach against the house of Isaac. 17 Therefore, thus says the Lord:
“ ‘Your wife will become a prostitute in the city,
and your sons and daughters will fall by the sword.
Your land will be parceled out by a measuring line;
you yourself will die in a pagan country,
and Israel will be deported in captivity
far from its native land.’ ”
Footnotes
- Amos 7:1 The king’s share: part of the first mowing was reserved for the king as a kind of tax.
阿摩司書 7
Chinese Contemporary Bible (Traditional)
各種災禍的異象
7 以下是主耶和華讓我看見的異象：看啊，祂造了一大群蝗蟲。那時，王室的作物已經收割，第二季作物剛開始發苗。 2 蝗蟲吃盡地上的青苗時，我說：「主耶和華啊，求你赦免！雅各那麼弱小，他怎麼受得了呢？」 3 於是，耶和華心生憐憫，說：「我不降這災了。」
4 以下是主耶和華讓我看見的異象：看啊，主耶和華降下審判的大火。大火燒乾了深海，正在吞噬土地。 5 那時，我說：「主耶和華啊，求你停止吧！雅各那麼弱小，他怎麼受得了呢？」 6 於是，耶和華心生憐憫，說：「我也不降這災了。」
7 以下是祂讓我看見的異象：看啊，主站在一道按照準繩建造的牆邊，手裡拿著準繩。 8 耶和華對我說：「阿摩司，你看見什麼？」我答道：「一條準繩。」主說：「我要在我的以色列子民中吊起準繩，量度他們，我不會再饒恕他們。 9 以撒子孫的邱壇必遭毀壞，以色列的廟宇必成廢墟，我要用刀攻擊耶羅波安王朝。」
阿摩司被逐
10 伯特利的祭司亞瑪謝派人告訴以色列王耶羅波安：「阿摩司在以色列家圖謀背叛你，我們國家無法容忍他的言論。 11 因為阿摩司這樣說，『耶羅波安將喪身刀下，以色列人必被擄去，遠離家鄉。』」
12 亞瑪謝對我說：「先見啊，走吧！逃回猶大去吧！你要在那裡掙吃的，在那裡說預言。 13 不可再在伯特利說預言，這裡是王的聖所，是國廟。」
14 我答道：「我本不是先知，也不是先知的門徒。我只是一個牧人，也替人看護桑樹。 15 但耶和華不再讓我看守羊群，祂對我說，『去！向我的以色列子民說預言。』 16 亞瑪謝啊，你說，『不要說攻擊以色列的預言，不要傳講攻擊以撒子孫的信息。』現在你要聽耶和華對你說的話。 17 耶和華說，『你的妻子必在這城裡淪為妓女，你的兒女必喪身刀下，你的田地必被人丈量、瓜分，你自己必死在異鄉[a]。以色列人必被擄去，遠離家鄉。』」
Footnotes
- 7·17 「異鄉」希伯來文是「不潔之地」，指不信上帝的國家。
Amos 7
King James Version
7 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.
2 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.
3 The Lord repented for this: It shall not be, saith the Lord.
4 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.
5 Then said I, O Lord God, cease, I beseech thee: by whom shall Jacob arise? for he is small.
6 The Lord repented for this: This also shall not be, saith the Lord God.
7 Thus he shewed me: and, behold, the Lord stood upon a wall made by a plumbline, with a plumbline in his hand.
8 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:
9 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.
Amos 7
Contemporary English Version
A Vision of Locusts
7 The Lord God showed me that he is going to send locusts[a] to attack your crops. It will happen after the king has already been given his share of the grain and before the rest of the grain has been harvested.[b] 2 In my vision the locusts ate every crop in the land, and I said to the Lord, “Please forgive your nation. It's so weak. How can it survive?”
3 Then the Lord felt sorry and answered, “I won't let it be destroyed.”
A Vision of Fire
4 The Lord showed me that he is going to send a ball of fire to burn up everything on earth, including the ocean.[c] 5 Then I said, “Won't you please stop? How can our weak nation survive?”
6 Again the Lord felt sorry and answered, “I won't let it be destroyed.”
A Vision of a Measuring Line
7 The Lord showed me a vision of himself standing beside a wall and holding a string with a weight tied to the end of it. The string and weight had been used to measure the straightness of the wall. 8 Then he asked, “Amos, what do you see?”
“A measuring line,” I answered.
The Lord said, “I'm using this measuring line to show that my people Israel don't measure up, and I won't forgive them any more. 9 Their sacred places will be destroyed, and I will send war against the nation of King Jeroboam.”[d]
Amos and Amaziah
10 Amaziah the priest at Bethel sent this message to King Jeroboam of Israel, “Amos is plotting against you in the very heart of Israel. Our nation cannot put up with his message for very long. 11 Here is what he is saying:
‘Jeroboam will be put to death,
and the people will be taken
to a foreign country.’ ”
12 Then Amaziah told me, “Amos, take your visions and get out! Go back to Judah and earn your living there as a prophet. 13 Don't do any more preaching at Bethel. The king worships here at our national temple.”
14 I answered:
I'm not a prophet! And I wasn't trained to be a prophet. I am a shepherd, and I take care of fig trees. 15 But the Lord told me to leave my herds and preach to the people of Israel. 16 And here you are, telling me not to preach! 17 Now, listen to what the Lord says about you:
Your wife will become
a prostitute in the city,
your sons and daughters
will be killed in war,
and your land will be divided
among others.
You will die in a country
of foreigners,
and the people of Israel
will be dragged
from their homeland.
Footnotes
- 7.1 locusts: See the note at 4.9.
- 7.1 harvested: This would have been an especially bad time for a locust attack. The non-grain crops such as vegetables and onions were just beginning to sprout, and the grain crops were almost ready to be harvested.
- 7.4 to burn up everything … ocean: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
- 7.9 Jeroboam: Jeroboam II, who ruled Israel 783–743 b.c.
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