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Thus the Lord Yahweh showed me: and behold, he formed locusts in the beginning of the shooting up of the latter growth; and behold, it was the latter growth after the king’s harvest. When they finished eating the grass of the land, then I said, “Lord Yahweh, forgive, I beg you! How could Jacob stand? For he is small.”

Yahweh relented concerning this. “It shall not be,” says Yahweh.

Thus the Lord Yahweh showed me and behold, the Lord Yahweh called for judgment by fire; and it dried up the great deep, and would have devoured the land. Then I said, “Lord Yahweh, stop, I beg you! How could Jacob stand? For he is small.”

Yahweh relented concerning this. “This also shall not be,” says the Lord Yahweh.

Thus he showed me and behold, the Lord stood beside a wall made by a plumb line, with a plumb line in his hand. Yahweh said to me, “Amos, what do you see?”

I said, “A plumb line.”

Then the Lord said, “Behold, I will set a plumb line in the middle of my people Israel. I will not again pass by them any more. The high places of Isaac will be desolate, the sanctuaries of Israel will be laid waste; and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.”

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The Vision of Locusts

This is what the Lord God showed me: Look! He was forming locust swarms as the latter plantings were just beginning to sprout. Indeed, the king had just taken his first fruit tax.[a] And so it came about that when the swarm[b] had finished eating the grass of the land, I was saying,

“Lord God, forgive—please!
    How will Jacob stand, since he is small?”

So the Lord relented from this. “This will not happen,” said the Lord.

The Vision of Fire

This is what the Lord God showed me: Look! The Lord God was calling for judgment by fire, and it was drying up the great depths of the ocean[c] and consuming the land. So I kept on saying,

“Lord God, forgive—please!
    How will Jacob stand, since he is so small?”

So the Lord relented from this. “This will not happen, either,” said the Lord God.

The Vision of the Plumb Line

This is what he showed me: Look! The Lord was standing upon a wall that stood straight and true, with a plumb line in his hand.[d] And the Lord was asking me, “What do you see, Amos?”

I replied, “A plumb line.”

So the Lord said,

“Look, I have set a plumb line
    in the midst of my people Israel.
        I will no longer spare them.
Isaac’s high places will be destroyed,
    and the sanctuaries of Israel will be ruined.
        I will rise in opposition to the house of Jeroboam with my[e] sword.”

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Footnotes

  1. Amos 7:1 So MT; LXX reads the locusts have one king, Gog.
  2. Amos 7:2 The Heb. lacks the swarm
  3. Amos 7:4 The Heb. lacks of the ocean
  4. Amos 7:7 Lit. wall by a plumb line
  5. Amos 7:9 The Heb. lacks my