Amos 7:1–9:15
1 Thus the Lord 1God showed me, and behold, He was forming a alocust-swarm 2when the spring crop began to sprout. And behold, the spring crop was after the king’s 3mowing.
2 And it came about, 1when it had afinished eating the vegetation of the land, that I said,
“bLord God, please pardon!
2How can Jacob stand,
For he is csmall?”
3 The Lord 1achanged His mind about this.
“It shall not be,” said the Lord.
4 Thus the Lord God showed me, and behold, the Lord God was calling to contend with them by afire, and it consumed the great deep and began to consume the 1farm land.
“aLord God, please stop!
bHow can Jacob stand, for he is small?”
6 The Lord 1achanged His mind about this.
“This too shall not be,” said the Lord God.
7 Thus He showed me, and behold, the Lord was standing 1by a 2vertical wall with a plumb line in His hand.
8 The Lord 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 1cspare 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.”
10 Then 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.’ ”
12 Then 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 1residence.”
14 Then Amos replied 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 the Lord took me from 1following the flock and the Lord said to me, ‘Go aprophesy to My people Israel.’
16 “Now hear the word of the Lord: you are saying, ‘You ashall not prophesy against Israel bnor shall you 1speak against the house of Isaac.’
17 “Therefore, thus says the Lord, ‘Your awife will become a harlot in the city, your bsons and your daughters will fall by the sword, your land will be parceled up by a measuring line and you yourself will die 1upon cunclean soil. Moreover, Israel will certainly go from its land into exile.’ ”
Basket of Fruit and Israel’s Captivity
1 Thus the Lord 1God showed me, and behold, there was a basket of summer fruit.
2 He said, “What do you see, Amos?” And aI said, “A basket of summer fruit.” Then the Lord said to me, “The bend has come for My people Israel. I will 1cspare them no longer.
3 “1The asongs of the palace will turn to bwailing in that day,” declares the Lord God. “Many will be the ccorpses; in every place 2they will cast them forth 3in silence.”
4 Hear this, you who 1atrample the needy, to do away with the humble of the land,
“When will the anew moon 1be over,
So that we may sell grain,
And the bsabbath, that we may open the wheat market,
To make the 2bushel smaller and the shekel bigger,
And to ccheat with 3dishonest scales,
6 So as to abuy the helpless for 1money
And the needy for a pair of sandals,
And that we may sell the refuse of the wheat?”
7 The Lord has asworn by the bpride of Jacob,
“Indeed, I will cnever forget any of their deeds.
8 “Because of this will not the land aquake
And everyone who dwells in 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 “It will come about in that day,” declares the Lord God,
“That I will make the asun go down at noon
And bmake the earth dark in 1broad daylight.
10 “Then I will aturn your festivals into mourning
And all your songs into 1lamentation;
And I will bring 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 the Lord God,
“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 the Lord.
12 “People will stagger from sea to sea
And from the north even to the east;
They will go to and fro to aseek the word of the Lord,
But they will not find it.
13 “In that day the beautiful avirgins
And the young 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.”
1 I saw the Lord standing beside the aaltar, and He said,
“Smite the capitals so that the bthresholds will shake,
And cbreak them on the heads of them all!
Then I will dslay the rest of them with the sword;
They will enot have a fugitive who will flee,
Or a refugee who will escape.
2 “Though they dig into aSheol,
From there will My hand take them;
And though they bascend to heaven,
From there will I bring them down.
3 “Though they hide on the summit of Carmel,
I will asearch them out and take them from there;
And though they bconceal themselves from My sight on the floor of the sea,
From there I will command the cserpent and it will bite them.
4 “And though they go into acaptivity before their enemies,
From there I will command the sword that it slay them,
And I will bset My eyes against them for evil and not for good.”
5 The Lord 1God of hosts,
The One who atouches the land so that it melts,
And ball those who dwell in it mourn,
And all of it rises up like the Nile
And subsides like the Nile of Egypt;
6 The One who builds His 1aupper chambers in the heavens
And has founded His vaulted dome over the earth,
He who bcalls for the waters of the sea
And cpours them out on the face of the earth,
dThe Lord is His name.
7 “Are you not as the sons of aEthiopia to Me,
O sons of Israel?” declares the Lord.
“Have I not brought up Israel from the land of Egypt,
And the bPhilistines from Caphtor and the cArameans from dKir?
8 “Behold, the aeyes of the Lord God are on the sinful kingdom,
And I will bdestroy it from the face of the earth;
Nevertheless, I will cnot totally destroy the house of Jacob,”
Declares the Lord.
9 “For behold, I am commanding,
And I will ashake the house of Israel among all nations
As grain is shaken in a sieve,
But not a 1kernel will fall to the ground.
10 “All the asinners of My people will die by the sword,
Those who say, ‘bThe calamity will not overtake or confront us.’
11 “In that day I will araise up the fallen 1bbooth of David,
And wall up its cbreaches;
I will also raise up its ruins
And rebuild it as in the ddays of old;
12 aThat they may possess the remnant of bEdom
And all the 1nations who are ccalled by My name,”
Declares the Lord who does this.
13 “Behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord,
“When the aplowman will overtake the reaper
And the treader of grapes him who sows seed;
When the bmountains will drip sweet cwine
And all the hills will be dissolved.
14 “Also I will arestore the 1captivity of My people Israel,
And they will brebuild the ruined cities and live in them;
They will also cplant vineyards and drink their wine,
And make gardens and eat their fruit.
15 “I will also plant them on their land,
And athey will not again be rooted out from their land
Which I have given them,”
Says the Lord your God.