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 hath the Lord GOD shown to me; and, behold, he formed grasshoppers in the beginning of the shooting up of the latter growth; and, lo, it was the latter growth after the king’s mowings.

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 came to pass, that when they had stopped eating the grass of the land, then I said, O Lord GOD, forgive, I beseech thee: by whom shall Jacob arise? for he is small.

3 The Lord relented. This will not happen,’ said the Lord.

The LORD repented for this: It shall not be, saith the LORD.

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 hath the Lord GOD shown to me: and, behold, the Lord GOD called to contend by fire, and it devoured the great deep, and ate up a part.

5 ‘Lord God, forgive, I beg you! How can Jacob survive, for he is so helpless?’

Then said I, O Lord GOD, cease, I beseech thee: by whom shall Jacob arise? for he is small.

6 The Lord relented. ‘This will not happen either,’ said the Lord.

The LORD repented for this: This also shall not be, saith the Lord GOD.

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 he showed me: and, behold, the Lord stood upon a wall made by a plumbline, with a plumbline in his hand.

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 the LORD said to me, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A plumbline. Then said the Lord, Behold, I will set a plumbline in the midst of my people Israel: I will not again pass by them any more:

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 the high places of Isaac shall be desolate, and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste; and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the 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.

Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, Amos hath conspired against thee 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 Amos saith, Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel shall surely be led away captive out of their own 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,

Also Amaziah said to Amos, O thou seer, go, flee thee away into the land of Judah, and there eat bread, and prophesy there:

13 but don’t prophesy any more at Bethel, for it is the king’s sanctuary, and it is the royal residence.’

But prophesy not again any more at Bethel: for it is the king’s sanctuary, and it is the king’s court.

14 ‘I am no prophet,’ Amos answered Amaziah, ‘nor trained as one. I am a shepherd and a keeper of sycamores fig trees.

Then answered Amos, and said to Amaziah, I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet’s son; but I was an herdman, and a gatherer of sycamore fruit:

15 But the Lord took me away from following the flock, and the Lord said to me, “Go, prophesy to my people Israel.”

And the LORD took me as I followed the flock, and the LORD said 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.

Now therefore hear thou the word of the LORD: Thou sayest, Prophesy not against Israel, and drop not thy word 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 saith the LORD; Thy wife shall be an harlot in the city, and thy sons and thy daughters shall fall by the sword, and thy land shall be divided by line; and thou shalt die in a polluted land: and Israel shall surely go from his land into captivity.