Amos 7

FIRST VISION: LOCUSTS

7The Lord God showed me this: He was forming a swarm of locusts^p at the time the spring crop first began to sprout—after the cutting of the king’s hay. ²When the locusts finished eating the vegetation of the land,^q I said, “Lord God, please forgive!^r How will Jacob survive since he is so small?”^s

³The Lord relented concerning this.^t “It will not happen,” he said.

SECOND VISION: FIRE

⁴The Lord God showed me this: The Lord God was calling for a judgment by fire.^u It consumed the great deep and devoured the land. ⁵Then I said, “Lord God, please stop!^v How will Jacob survive since he is so small?”

⁶The Lord relented concerning this.^w “This will not happen either,” said the Lord God.

THIRD VISION: A PLUMB LINE

⁷He showed me this: The Lord was standing there by a vertical wall with a plumb line in his hand. ⁸The Lord asked me, “What do you see, Amos?”^x

I replied, “A plumb line.”

Then the Lord said, “I am setting a plumb line among my people Israel;^y I will no longer spare them:^z

⁹Isaac’s high places^aa will be deserted,

and Israel’s sanctuaries will be in ruins;^ab

I will rise up against the house of Jeroboam

with a sword.”

AMAZIAH’S OPPOSITION

¹⁰Amaziah the priest^ac of Bethel sent word to King Jeroboam of Israel, saying, “Amos has conspired against you^ad right here in the house of Israel. The land cannot endure all his words, ¹¹for Amos has said this: ‘Jeroboam will die by the sword, and Israel will certainly go into exile from its homeland.’ ”^ae

¹²Then Amaziah said to Amos, “Go away, you seer!^af Flee to the land of Judah. Earn your living^A and give your prophecies there, ¹³but don’t ever prophesy^ag at Bethel again, for it is the king’s sanctuary^ah and a royal temple.”

¹⁴So Amos answered Amaziah, “I was^B not a prophet or the son of a prophet;^Cai rather, I was^B a herdsman,^aj and I took care of sycamore figs. ¹⁵But the Lord took me from following the flock^ak and said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’ ”^al

¹⁶Now hear the word of the Lord. You say:

Do not prophesy^am against Israel;

do not preach^an against the house of Isaac.

¹⁷Therefore, this is what the Lord says:

Your wife will be a prostitute in the city,^a

your sons and daughters will fall by the sword,^b

and your land will be divided up

with a measuring line.

You yourself will die on pagan^D soil,^c

and Israel will certainly go into exile^d

from its homeland.