7This is what the Lord God showed me: He was forming a swarm of locusts, after the king had taken his share of the first crop and the second crop had just begun growing. ²When the locusts ate all the crops in the country, I said, “Lord God, forgive us. How could Israel live through this? It is too small already!”

³So the Lord changed his mind about this. “It will not happen,” said the Lord.

The Vision of Fire

⁴This is what the Lord God showed me: The Lord God was calling for fire to come down like rain. It burned up the deep water and was going to burn up the land. ⁵Then I cried out, “Lord God, stop! How could Israel live through this? It is too small already.”

⁶So the Lord changed his mind about this too. “It will not happen,” said the Lord God.

The Vision of the Plumb Line

⁷This is what he showed me: The Lord stood by a straight wall, with a plumb line in his hand. ⁸The Lord said to me, “Amos, what do you see?”

I said, “A plumb line.”

Then the Lord said, “See, I will put a plumb line among my people Israel to show how crooked they are. I will not look the other way any longer.

⁹“The places where Isaac’s descendants worship will be destroyed,

Israel’s holy places will be turned into ruins,

and I will attack King Jeroboam’s family with the sword.”

Amaziah Speaks Against Amos

¹⁰Amaziah, a priest at Bethel, sent this message to Jeroboam king of Israel: “Amos is making evil plans against you with the people of Israel. He has been speaking so much that this land can’t hold all his words. ¹¹This is what Amos has said:

‘Jeroboam will die by the sword,

and the people of Israel will be taken as captives

out of their own country.’ ”

¹²Then Amaziah said to Amos, “Seer, go back right now to Judah. Do your prophesying and earn your living there, ¹³but don’t prophesy anymore here at Bethel. This is the king’s holy place, and it is the nation’s temple.”

¹⁴Then Amos answered Amaziah, “I do not make my living as a prophet, nor am I a member of a group of prophets. I make my living as a shepherd, and I take care of sycamore trees. ¹⁵But the Lord took me away from tending the flock and said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’ ¹⁶So listen to the Lord’s word. You tell me,

‘Don’t prophesy against Israel,

and stop prophesying against the descendants of Isaac.’

¹⁷“Because you have said this, the Lord says:

‘Your wife will become a prostitute in the city,

and your sons and daughters will be killed with swords.

Other people will measure your land and divide it among themselves,

and you will die in a foreign country.

The people of Israel will definitely be taken

from their own land as captives.’ ”

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