Amos 7-8
New King James Version
Vision of the Locusts
7 Thus the Lord God showed me: Behold, He formed locust swarms at the [a]beginning of the late crop; indeed it was the late crop after the king’s mowings. 2 And so it was, when they had finished eating the grass of the land, that I said:
“O Lord God, forgive, I pray!
(A)Oh,[b] that Jacob may stand,
For he is small!”
3 So (B)the Lord relented concerning this.
“It shall not be,” said the Lord.
Vision of the Fire
4 Thus the Lord God showed me: Behold, the Lord God called [c]for conflict by fire, and it consumed the great deep and devoured the [d]territory. 5 Then I said:
“O Lord God, cease, I pray!
(C)Oh, that Jacob may stand,
For he is small!”
6 So the Lord relented concerning this.
“This also shall not be,” said the Lord God.
Vision of the Plumb Line
7 Thus He showed me: Behold, the Lord stood on a wall made with a plumb line, with a plumb line in His hand. 8 And the Lord said to me, “Amos, what do you see?”
And I said, “A plumb line.”
Then the Lord said:
“Behold, (D)I am setting a plumb line
In the midst of My people Israel;
(E)I will not pass by them anymore.
9 (F)The [e]high places of Isaac shall be desolate,
And the [f]sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste.
(G)I will rise with the sword against the house of Jeroboam.”
Amaziah’s Complaint
10 Then Amaziah the (H)priest of (I)Bethel sent to (J)Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, “Amos has conspired against you in the midst of the house of Israel. The land is not able to [g]bear all his words. 11 For thus Amos has said:
‘Jeroboam shall die by the sword,
And Israel shall surely be led away (K)captive
From their own land.’ ”
12 Then Amaziah said to Amos:
“Go, you seer!
Flee to the land of Judah.
There eat bread,
And there prophesy.
13 But (L)never again prophesy at Bethel,
(M)For it is the king’s [h]sanctuary,
And it is the royal [i]residence.”
14 Then Amos answered, and said to Amaziah:
“I was no prophet,
Nor was I (N)a son of a prophet,
But I was a (O)sheepbreeder
And a tender of sycamore fruit.
15 Then the Lord took me [j]as I followed the flock,
And the Lord said to me,
‘Go, (P)prophesy to My people Israel.’
16 Now therefore, hear the word of the Lord:
You say, ‘Do not prophesy against Israel,
And (Q)do not [k]spout against the house of Isaac.’
17 “Therefore(R) thus says the Lord:
(S)‘Your wife shall be a harlot in the city;
Your sons and daughters shall fall by the sword;
Your land shall be divided by survey line;
You shall die in a (T)defiled land;
And Israel shall surely be led away captive
From his own land.’ ”
Vision of the Summer Fruit
8 Thus the Lord God showed me: Behold, a basket of summer fruit. 2 And He said, “Amos, what do you see?”
So I said, “A basket of summer fruit.”
Then the Lord said to me:
(U)“The end has come upon My people Israel;
(V)I will not pass by them anymore.
3 And (W)the songs of the temple
Shall be wailing in that day,”
Says the Lord God—
“Many dead bodies everywhere,
(X)They shall be thrown out in silence.”
4 Hear this, you who [l]swallow up the needy,
And make the poor of the land fail,
5 Saying:
“When will the New Moon be past,
That we may sell grain?
And (Y)the Sabbath,
That we may [m]trade wheat?
(Z)Making the ephah small and the shekel large,
Falsifying the scales by (AA)deceit,
6 That we may buy the poor for (AB)silver,
And the needy for a pair of sandals—
Even sell the bad wheat?”
7 The Lord has sworn by (AC)the pride of Jacob:
“Surely (AD)I will never forget any of their works.
8 (AE)Shall the land not tremble for this,
And everyone mourn who dwells in it?
All of it shall swell like [n]the River,
Heave and subside
(AF)Like the River of Egypt.
9 “And it shall come to pass in that day,” says the Lord God,
(AG)“That I will make the sun go down at noon,
And I will darken the earth in [o]broad daylight;
10 I will turn your feasts into (AH)mourning,
(AI)And all your songs into lamentation;
(AJ)I will bring sackcloth on every waist,
And baldness on every head;
I will make it like mourning for an only son,
And its end like a bitter day.
11 “Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord God,
“That I will send a famine on the land,
Not a famine of bread,
Nor a thirst for water,
But (AK)of hearing the words of the Lord.
12 They shall wander from sea to sea,
And from north to east;
They shall run to and fro, seeking the word of the Lord,
But shall (AL)not find it.
13 “In that day the fair virgins
And strong young men
Shall faint from thirst.
14 Those who (AM)swear by (AN)the [p]sin of Samaria,
Who say,
‘As your god lives, O Dan!’
And, ‘As the way of (AO)Beersheba lives!’
They shall fall and never rise again.”
Footnotes
- Amos 7:1 Lit. beginning of the sprouting of
- Amos 7:2 Or How shall Jacob stand
- Amos 7:4 to contend
- Amos 7:4 Lit. portion
- Amos 7:9 Places of pagan worship
- Amos 7:9 Or holy places
- Amos 7:10 Or endure
- Amos 7:13 Or holy place
- Amos 7:13 Lit. house
- Amos 7:15 Lit. from behind
- Amos 7:16 Lit. drip
- Amos 8:4 Or trample on, Amos 2:7
- Amos 8:5 Lit. open
- Amos 8:8 The Nile; some Heb. mss., LXX, Tg., Syr., Vg. River (cf. 9:5); MT the light
- Amos 8:9 Lit. a day of light
- Amos 8:14 Or Ashima, a Syrian goddess
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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