< Amos 7 >

1 This is what the Lord God showed me: he was forming a swarm of locusts, when the late spring grass began to come up after the king’s share had been harvested.
Thus Lord YHWH has showed me, and behold, He is forming locusts at the beginning of the ascending of the latter growth, and behold, the latter growth [is] after the mowings of the king [[or King Gog]];
2 And when they had finished devouring all the land’s vegetation, I said: ‘Lord God, forgive, I beg you! How can Jacob survive, for he is so helpless?’
and it has come to pass, when it has finished to consume the herb of the land, that I say, “Lord YHWH, please forgive, How does Jacob arise—for he [is] small?”
3 The Lord relented. This will not happen,’ said the Lord.
YHWH has relented of this, “It will not be,” said YHWH.
4 This is what he showed me: the Lord God was giving command to execute judgment by fire. It burned up the great deep, and had begun to devour the fields, and I said:
Thus has Lord YHWH showed me, and behold, Lord YHWH is calling to contend by the fire, and it consumes the great deep, indeed, it has consumed the portion, and I say,
5 ‘Lord God, forgive, I beg you! How can Jacob survive, for he is so helpless?’
“Lord YHWH, please cease, How does Jacob arise—for he [is] small?”
6 The Lord relented. ‘This will not happen either,’ said the Lord.
YHWH has relented of this, “It also will not be,” said Lord YHWH.
7 This is what the Lord God showed me: the Lord was standing beside a wall built with a plumb line, with a plumb line in his hand.
Thus has He showed me, and behold, the Lord is standing by a wall [made according to] a plumb-line, and in His hand a plumb-line;
8 And the Lord said to me, ‘What do you see, Amos?’ And I answered, ‘A plumb line,’ Then the Lord said, ‘Watch: I am setting a plumb line in the midst of my people Israel, I will no longer overlook their crookedness.
and YHWH says to me, “What are you seeing, Amos?” And I say, “A plumb-line”; and the Lord says: “Behold, I am setting a plumb-line in the midst of My people Israel, I no longer pass over to it.
9 And the high places of Isaac will be desolate, the sanctuaries of Israel will be laid waste, and I will rise up against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.’
And high places of Isaac have been desolated, And sanctuaries of Israel are dried up, And I have risen against the house of Jeroboam with a sword.”
10 Then Amaziah, chief priest of Bethel sent this message to King Jeroboam of Israel: ‘Amos has conspired against you right in the heart of Israel. The country cannot survive all his words.
And Amaziah priest of Beth-El sends 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,
11 Amos has said, “Jeroboam will die by the sword, and Israel will be led away captive out of their land.”’
for thus said Amos: Jeroboam dies by sword, And Israel certainly removes from off its land.”
12 And Amaziah said to Amos, ‘Leave, you who see visions, go to the land of Judah. Earn your bread there and prophesy there,
And Amaziah says to Amos, “Seer, go, flee to the land of Judah for yourself, and eat bread there, and there you prophesy;
13 but don’t prophesy any more at Bethel, for it is the king’s sanctuary, and it is the royal residence.’
and no longer prophesy [at] Beth-El anymore, for it [is] the king’s sanctuary, and it [is] the royal house.”
14 ‘I am no prophet,’ Amos answered Amaziah, ‘nor trained as one. I am a shepherd and a keeper of sycamores fig trees.
And Amos answers and says to Amaziah, “I [am] no prophet, nor [am] I a prophet’s son, but I [am] a herdsman, and a cultivator of sycamores,
15 But the Lord took me away from following the flock, and the Lord said to me, “Go, prophesy to my people Israel.”
and YHWH takes me from after the flock, and YHWH says to me, Go, prophesy to My people Israel.
16 Now therefore listen to the Lord’s message: “You say not to prophesy against Israel, nor to preach against the house of Isaac.
And now, hear a word of YHWH: You are saying, Do not prophesy against Israel, nor drop [anything] against the house of Isaac,
17 But the Lord says: Your wife will become a prostitute in the city, your sons and your daughters will fall by the sword, your land will be divided up, you will die on unclean soil, and Israel will be led away captive out of their land.”’
therefore, thus said YHWH: Your wife goes whoring in the city, And your sons and your daughters fall by sword, And your land is apportioned by line, And you die on an unclean land, And Israel certainly removes from off its land.”

< Amos 7 >