Amos 7

1 This is what the Lord Yahweh showed me. Look, he formed a locust swarm when the spring crop began to come up, and, look, it was the late crop after the king's harvest.

This 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.

2 When they finished eating the vegetation of the land, then I said, “Lord Yahweh, please forgive; how will Jacob survive? For he is so small.”

And 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.

3 Yahweh relented concerning this. “It will not happen,” he said.

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

4 This is what the Lord Yahweh showed me: Look, the Lord Yahweh called on fire to judge. It dried the vast, deep water under the earth and would have devoured the land, also.

This 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.

5 But I said, “Lord Yahweh, please stop; how will Jacob survive? For he is so small.”

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

6 Yahweh relented concerning this, “This also will not happen,” said the Lord Yahweh.

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

7 This is what he showed me: Look, the Lord stood beside a wall, with a plumb line in his hand.

This 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.

8 Yahweh said to me, “Amos, what do you see?” I said, “A plumb line.” Then the Lord said, “Look, I will put a plumb line among my people Israel. I will spare them no longer.

And 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:

9 The high places of Isaac will be destroyed, the sanctuaries of Israel will be ruined, and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.”

And 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.

10 Then Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, sent a message to Jeroboam, king of Israel: “Amos has conspired against you in the middle of the house of Israel. The land cannot bear all his words.

Then 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.

11 For this is what Amos said, 'Jeroboam will die by the sword, and Israel will surely go into exile away from his land.'”

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

12 Amaziah said to Amos, “Seer, go, run back to the land of Judah, and there eat bread and prophesy.

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

13 But do not prophesy anymore here at Bethel, for it is the king's sanctuary and a royal house.”

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

14 Then Amos said to Amaziah, “I am not a prophet nor a prophet's son. I am a herdsman, and I take care of sycamore fig trees.

Then 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:

15 But Yahweh took me from tending the flock and said to me, 'Go, prophesy to my people Israel.'

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

16 Now hear the word of Yahweh. You say, 'Do not prophesy against Israel, and do not speak against the house of Isaac.'

Now 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.

17 Therefore this is what Yahweh says, 'Your wife will be a prostitute in the city; your sons and your daughters will fall by the sword; your land will be measured and divided up; you will die in an unclean land, and Israel will surely go into exile from his land.'”

So 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.