Amos 7:7–15

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?” ^d

I replied, “A plumb line.”

Then the Lord said, “I am setting a plumb line among My people Israel; ^eI will no longer spare them: ^f

⁹Isaac’s high places ^gwill be deserted,

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

I will rise up against the house of Jeroboam

with a sword.”

Amaziah’s Opposition

¹⁰Amaziah the priest ⁱof Bethel sent word to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, “Amos has conspired against you ^jright 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.’ ” ^k

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

¹⁴So Amos answered Amaziah, “I was ^pnot a prophet or the son of a prophet; ^qrrather, I was ^sa herdsman, ^tand I took care of sycamore figs. ¹⁵But the Lord took me from following the flock ^uand said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to My people Israel.’ ” ^v