< 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.
Thus hath the Lord GOD shewed unto 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 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 to pass, [that] when they had made an end of 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 Yahweh relented concerning this. “It will not happen,” he said.
The LORD repented for this: It shall not be, saith the LORD.
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.
Thus hath the Lord GOD shewed unto me: and, behold, the Lord GOD called to contend by fire, and it devoured the great deep, and did eat up a part.
5 But I said, “Lord Yahweh, please stop; how will Jacob survive? For he is so small.”
Then said I, O Lord GOD, cease, I beseech thee: by whom shall Jacob arise? for he [is] small.
6 Yahweh relented concerning this, “This also will not happen,” said the Lord Yahweh.
The LORD repented for this: This also shall not be, saith the Lord GOD.
7 This is what he showed me: Look, the Lord stood beside a wall, with a plumb line in his hand.
Thus he shewed me: and, behold, the Lord stood upon a wall [made] by a plumbline, with a plumbline 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 unto 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 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 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, 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 hath conspired against thee in the midst of the house of Israel: the land is not able to bear all 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 thus Amos saith, Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel shall surely be led away captive out of their own land.
12 Amaziah said to Amos, “Seer, go, run back to the land of Judah, and there eat bread and prophesy.
Also Amaziah said unto Amos, O thou seer, go, flee thee away into the land of Judah, and there eat bread, and prophesy there:
13 But do not prophesy anymore here at Bethel, for it is the king's sanctuary and a royal house.”
But prophesy not again any more at Beth-el: for it [is] the king’s chapel, and it [is] the king’s court.
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 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 sycomore fruit:
15 But Yahweh took me from tending the flock and said to me, 'Go, prophesy to my people Israel.'
And the LORD took me as I followed the flock, and the LORD said unto me, Go, prophesy unto 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 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 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.'”
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 into captivity forth of his land.

< Amos 7 >