Amos 7–8

CHAPTER 7

Yahweh Will Rise Up Against Israel

¹Thus Lord Yahweh showed me, and behold, He was forming a ^alocust-swarm ¹when the spring crop began to come up. And behold, the spring crop was after the king’s ²mowing.

²And it happened ¹when it had ^acompleted eating the vegetation of the land, that I said,

“^bLord Yahweh, please pardon!

²How can Jacob rise up,

For he is ^csmall?”

³Yahweh ^1arelented concerning this.

“It shall not be,” said Yahweh.

⁴Thus Lord Yahweh showed me, and behold, Lord Yahweh was calling to contend with them by ^afire, and it consumed the great deep and began to consume the ¹farm land.

⁵Then I said,

“^aLord Yahweh, please stop!

^1bHow can Jacob rise up, for he is small?”

⁶Yahweh ^1arelented concerning this.

“This too shall not be,” said Lord Yahweh.

⁷Thus He showed me, and behold, the Lord was standing ¹by a wall made with a ²plumb line, and in His hand was a ³plumb line.

⁸And Yahweh said to me, “^aWhat do you see, Amos?” And I said, “A plumb line.” Then the Lord said,

“Behold, I am about to put a ^bplumb line

In the midst of My people Israel.

I will ^cpass over them no longer.

⁹“The ^ahigh places of Isaac will be desolated

And the ^bsanctuaries of Israel laid waste.

Then I will ^crise up against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.”

Amos Accused

¹⁰Then Amaziah, the ^apriest of Bethel, sent word to ^bJeroboam king of Israel, saying, “Amos has ^cconspired against you in the midst of the house of Israel; the land is unable to endure all his words.

¹¹“For thus Amos says, ‘Jeroboam will die by the sword, and Israel will certainly go from its land into exile.’”

¹²Then Amaziah said to Amos, “^aGo, you seer, flee away to the land of Judah, and there eat bread, and there do your prophesying!

¹³“But ^ano longer prophesy at Bethel, for it is a ^bsanctuary of the king and a royal house.”

¹⁴Then Amos answered and said to Amaziah, “I am not a prophet, nor am I the ^ason of a prophet; for I am a herdsman and a ¹grower of sycamore figs.

¹⁵“But Yahweh took me from ¹following the flock, and Yahweh said to me, ‘Go ^aprophesy to My people Israel.’

¹⁶“So now, hear the word of Yahweh: you are saying, ‘You ^ashall not prophesy against Israel, ^bnor shall you drip out words against the house of Isaac.’

¹⁷“Therefore, thus says Yahweh, ‘Your ^awife will play the harlot in the city, your ^bsons and your daughters will fall by the sword, your land will be divided up by a measuring line, and you yourself will die ¹upon ^cunclean land. Moreover, Israel will certainly go from its land into exile.’”

CHAPTER 8

A Famine for Hearing the Words of Yahweh

¹Thus Lord Yahweh showed me, and behold, there was a basket of summer fruit.

²And he said, “What do you see, Amos?” And ^aI said, “A basket of summer fruit.” Then Yahweh said to me, “The ^bend has come for My people Israel. I will ^cpass over them no longer.

³“And they will ^awail with the ^bsongs of the palace in that day,” declares Lord Yahweh. “Many will be the ^ccorpses; in every place ¹they will cast them forth ²in silence.”

⁴Hear this, you who ^1atrample the needy, even to cause the humble of the land to cease,

⁵saying,

“When will the ^anew moon pass over,

So that we may sell grain,

And the ^bsabbath, that we may open the wheat market,

To make the ¹bushel smaller and the ²shekel bigger,

And to ^ccheat with a deceptive balance,

⁶So as to ^abuy the poor for ¹money

And the needy for a pair of sandals,

And that we may sell the refuse of the wheat?”

⁷Yahweh has ^asworn by the ^blofty pride of Jacob,

“Indeed, I will ^cnever forget any of their works.

⁸“Because of this will not the land ^atremble

And everyone who inhabits it ^bmourn?

Indeed, all of it will ^crise up like the Nile,

And it will be tossed about

And subside like the Nile of Egypt.

⁹“And it will be in that day,” declares Lord Yahweh,

“That I will make the ^asun go down at noon

And ^bmake the earth dark in ¹broad daylight.

¹⁰“Then I will ^aoverturn your feasts into mourning

And all your songs into ¹lamentation;

And I will bring up ^bsackcloth on everyone’s loins

And baldness on every head.

And I will make it ^clike a time of mourning for an only son,

And the end of it will be like a bitter day.

¹¹“Behold, days are coming,” declares Lord Yahweh,

“When I will send a famine on the land,

Not a famine for bread or a thirst for water,

But rather ^afor hearing the words of Yahweh.

¹²“People will wander from sea to sea

And from the north even to the east;

They will go to and fro to ^aseek the word of Yahweh,

But they will not find it.

¹³“In that day the beautiful ^avirgins

And the choice men will ^bfaint from thirst.

¹⁴“As for those who swear by the ^1aguilt of Samaria,

Who say, ‘As your god lives, O ^bDan,’

And, ‘As the way of ^cBeersheba lives,’

They will fall and ^dnot rise again.”