Good and Bad Figs

24 After King Nebuchadnezzar^[a] of Babylon exiled Jehoiachin^[b] son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, to Babylon along with the officials of Judah and all the craftsmen and artisans, the Lord gave me this vision. I saw two baskets of figs placed in front of the Lord’s Temple in Jerusalem.

² This was after King Jehoiachin,^[a] the queen mother, the court officials, the other officials of Judah, and all the craftsmen and artisans had been deported from Jerusalem.

¹⁰ In the spring of the year^[a] King Nebuchadnezzar took Jehoiachin to Babylon. Many treasures from the Temple of the Lord were also taken to Babylon at that time. And Nebuchadnezzar installed Jehoiachin’s uncle,^[b] Zedekiah, as the next king in Judah and Jerusalem.

¹² Then King Jehoiachin, along with the queen mother, his advisers, his commanders, and his officials, surrendered to the Babylonians.

In the eighth year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign, he took Jehoiachin prisoner. ¹³ As the Lord had said beforehand, Nebuchadnezzar carried away all the treasures from the Lord’s Temple and the royal palace. He stripped away^[a] all the gold objects that King Solomon of Israel had placed in the Temple. ¹⁴ King Nebuchadnezzar took all of Jerusalem captive, including all the commanders and the best of the soldiers, craftsmen, and artisans—10,000 in all. Only the poorest people were left in the land.

¹⁵ Nebuchadnezzar led King Jehoiachin away as a captive to Babylon, along with the queen mother, his wives and officials, and all Jerusalem’s elite. ¹⁶ He also exiled 7,000 of the best troops and 1,000 craftsmen and artisans, all of whom were strong and fit for war.

Cleansing for the High Priest

3 Then the angel showed me Jeshua^[a] the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord. The Accuser, Satan,^[b] was there at the angel’s right hand, making accusations against Jeshua.

²⁰ Then the Lord showed me four blacksmiths.

A Vision of Ripe Fruit

8 Then the Sovereign Lord showed me another vision. In it I saw a basket filled with ripe fruit. ² “What do you see, Amos?” he asked.

I replied, “A basket full of ripe fruit.”

Then the Lord said, “Like this fruit, Israel is ripe for punishment! I will not delay their punishment again.

A Vision of a Plumb Line

⁷ 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.

A Vision of Fire

⁴ 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.

A Vision of Locusts

7 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.