7
1 Thus
the Lord GOD
showed me: 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.
2 When
they finished eating
the grass of
the land, then
I said, “Lord GOD,
forgive, I beg
you! How could
Jacob stand? For
he is small.”
3 The
LORD relented
concerning this. “It
shall not be,” says
the LORD.
4 Thus
the Lord GOD
showed me: behold,
the Lord GOD
called for judgment
by fire; and
it dried up the
great deep, and
would have devoured
the land.
5 Then
I said, “Lord GOD,
stop, I beg
you! How could
Jacob stand? For
he is small.”
6 The
LORD relented
concerning this. “This
also shall not
be,” says the Lord
GOD.
7 Thus
he showed me:
behold, the Lord
stood beside a
wall made by
a plumb line, with
a plumb line in
his hand.
8 The
LORD 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.
9 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.”
10 Then Amaziah
the priest of
Bethel sent to
Jeroboam king of
Israel, saying, “Amos
has conspired
against you in
the middle of
the house of
Israel. The land
is not able
to bear all
his words.
11 For
Amos says, ‘Jeroboam
will die by
the sword, and
Israel shall
surely be led
away captive out
of his land.’ ”
12 Amaziah
also said to Amos,
“You seer, go,
flee away into
the land of Judah,
and there eat
bread, and
prophesy there,
13 but don’t
prophesy again any
more at Bethel;
for it is
the king’s
sanctuary, and it
is a royal
house!”
14 Then
Amos answered Amaziah, “I
was no prophet,
neither was I
a prophet’s son,
but I was
a herdsman, and
a farmer of
sycamore figs;
15 and
the LORD took
me from following
the flock, and
the LORD said to
me, ‘Go, prophesy
to my people
Israel.’
16 Now
therefore listen
to the LORD’s
word: ‘You say,
Don’t prophesy against
Israel, and don’t
preach against the
house of Isaac.’
17 Therefore
the LORD says: ‘Your
wife shall be a
prostitute in the
city, and your
sons and your
daughters shall
fall by the
sword, and
your land shall be
divided by line;
and you yourself
shall die in
a land that is
unclean, and
Israel shall
surely be led
away captive out
of his land.’ ”