Amos 7

¹This is what the Lord God let me see: and I saw that, when the growth of the late grass was starting, he made locusts; it was the late growth after the king's cutting was done.

²And it came about that after they had taken all the grass of the land, I said, O Lord God, have mercy: how will Jacob be able to keep his place? for he is small.

³The Lord, changing his purpose about this, said, It will not be.

⁴This is what the Lord let me see: and I saw that the Lord God sent for a great fire to be the instrument of his punishment; and, after burning up the great deep, it was about to put an end to the Lord's heritage.

⁵Then said I, O Lord God, let there be an end: how will Jacob be able to keep his place? for he is small.

⁶The Lord, changing his purpose about this, said, And this will not be.

⁷This is what he let me see: and I saw the Lord stationed by a wall made straight by a weighted line, and he had a weighted line in his hand.

⁸And the Lord said to me, Amos, what do you see? And I said, A weighted line. Then the Lord said, See, I will let down a weighted line among my people Israel; never again will my eyes be shut to their sin:

⁹And the high places of Isaac will be unpeopled, and the holy places of Israel will be made waste; and I will come up against the family of Jeroboam with the sword.

¹⁰Then Amaziah, the priest of Beth-el, sent to Jeroboam, king of Israel, saying, Amos has made designs against you among the people of Israel: the land is troubled by his words.

¹¹For Amos has said, Jeroboam will be put to the sword, and Israel will certainly be taken away as a prisoner out of his land.

¹²And Amaziah said to Amos, O seer, go in flight into the land of Judah, and there get your living by working as a prophet:

¹³But be a prophet no longer at Beth-el: for it is the holy place of the king, and the king's house.

¹⁴Then Amos in answer said to Amaziah, I am no prophet, or one of the sons of the prophets; I am a herdman and one who takes care of sycamore-trees:

¹⁵And the Lord took me from the flock, and the Lord said to me, Go, be a prophet to my people Israel.

¹⁶Now then, give ear to the word of the Lord: You say, Be no prophet to Israel, and say not a word against the people of Isaac.

¹⁷So this is what the Lord has said: Your wife will be a loose woman in the town, and your sons and your daughters will be put to the sword, and your land will be cut up into parts by a line; and you yourself will come to your end in an unclean land, and Israel will certainly be taken away a prisoner out of his land.

Amos 7

¹Thus the Lord God 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.

²It happened that, when they made an end of eating the grass of the land, then I said, "Lord God, forgive, I beg you! How could Jacob stand? For he is small."

³The Lord relented concerning this. "It shall not be," says the Lord.

⁴Thus the Lord God showed me and behold, the Lord God called for judgment by fire; and it dried up the great deep, and would have devoured the land.

⁵Then I said, "Lord God, stop, I beg you! How could Jacob stand? For he is small."

⁶The Lord relented concerning this. "This also shall not be," says the Lord God.

⁷Thus he showed me and behold, the Lord stood beside a wall made by a plumb line, with a plumb line in his hand.

⁸The 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 midst of my people Israel. I will not again pass by them any more.

⁹The 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."

¹⁰Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, "Amos has conspired against you in the midst of the house of Israel. The land is not able to bear all his words.

¹¹For Amos says, 'Jeroboam will die by the sword, and Israel shall surely be led away captive out of his land.'"

¹²Amaziah also said to Amos, "You seer, go, flee away into the land of Judah, and there eat bread, and prophesy there:

¹³but do not prophesy again any more at Bethel; for it is the king's sanctuary, and it is a royal house!"

¹⁴Then 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;

¹⁵and the Lord took me from following the flock, and the Lord said to me, 'Go, prophesy to my people Israel.'

¹⁶Now therefore listen to the word of the Lord: 'You say, Do not prophesy against Israel, and do not proclaim against the house of Isaac.'

¹⁷Therefore thus says the Lord: '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.'"