7The Lord and King gave me a vision. He was bringing large numbers of locusts on the land. The king’s share of the first crop had already been harvested. Now the second crop was coming up. ²The locusts stripped the land clean. Then I cried out, “Lord and King, forgive Israel! How can Jacob’s people continue? They are such a weak nation!”

³So the Lord had pity on them.

“I will let them continue for now,” he said.

⁴The Lord and King gave me a second vision. He was using fire to punish his people. It dried up the deep waters. It burned the land up. ⁵Then I cried out, “Lord and King, please stop! How can Jacob’s people continue? They are such a weak nation!”

⁶So the Lord had pity on them.

“I will let them continue for now,” the Lord and King said.

⁷Then the Lord gave me a third vision. He was standing by a wall. It had been built very straight, all the way up and down. He was holding a plumb line. ⁸The Lord asked me, “What do you see, Amos?”

“A plumb line,” I replied.

Then the Lord said, “Look at what I am doing. I am hanging a plumb line next to my people Israel. It will show how crooked they are. I will no longer spare them.

⁹“The high places where Isaac’s people worship other gods will be destroyed.

The other places of worship in Israel will also be torn down.

I will use my sword

to attack Jeroboam’s royal family.”

Amaziah Tells Amos to Stop Prophesying

¹⁰Amaziah was priest of Bethel. He sent a message to Jeroboam, the king of Israel. He said, “Amos is making evil plans against you right here in Israel. The people in the land can’t stand to listen to what he’s saying. ¹¹Amos is telling them,

“ ‘Jeroboam will be killed with a sword.

The people of Israel will be taken away as prisoners.

They will be carried off from their own land.’ ”

¹²Then Amaziah said to Amos, “Get out of Israel, you prophet! Go back to the land of Judah. Earn your living there. Do your prophesying there. ¹³Don’t prophesy here at Bethel anymore. This is where the king worships. The main temple in the kingdom is located here.”

¹⁴Amos answered Amaziah, “I was not a prophet. I wasn’t even a prophet’s son. I was a shepherd. I also took care of sycamore-fig trees. ¹⁵But the Lord took me away from taking care of the flock. He said to me, ‘Go. Prophesy to my people Israel.’ ¹⁶Now then, listen to the Lord’s message. You say,

“ ‘Don’t prophesy against Israel.

Stop preaching against the people of Isaac.’

¹⁷“But the Lord says,

“ ‘Your wife will become a prostitute

in the city of Bethel.

Your sons and daughters will be killed with swords.

Your land will be measured and divided up.

And you yourself will die in another country.

The people of Israel will be taken away as prisoners.

They will be carried off from their own land.’ ”

The Lord Gives Amos Another Vision

8The Lord and King gave me a vision. He showed me a basket of ripe fruit. ²“What do you see, Amos?” he asked.

“A basket of ripe fruit,” I replied.

Then the Lord said to me, “The time is ripe for my people Israel. I will no longer spare them.

³“The time is coming when the songs in the temple will turn to crying,” announces the Lord and King. “Many, many bodies will be thrown everywhere! So be quiet!”

⁴Listen to me, you who walk all over needy people.

You crush those who are poor in the land.

⁵You say,

“When will the New Moon Feast be over?

Then we can sell our grain.

When will the Sabbath day come to an end?

Then people can buy our wheat.”

But you don’t measure out the right amount.

You raise your prices.

You cheat others by using dishonest scales.

⁶You buy poor people to make slaves out of them.

You buy those who are in need for a mere pair of sandals.

You even sell the worthless parts of your wheat.

⁷People of Jacob, you are proud that the Lord is your God. But he has taken an oath in his own name. He says, “I will never forget anything Israel has done.

⁸“The land will tremble because of what will happen.

Everyone who lives in it will sob.

So the whole land will rise like the Nile River.

It will be stirred up.

Then it will settle back down again

like that river in Egypt.”

⁹The Lord and King announces,

“At that time I will make the sun go down at noon.

The earth will become dark in the middle of the day.

¹⁰I will turn your holy feasts into times for sobbing.

I will turn all of your songs into crying.

You will have to wear black clothes.

You will shave your heads.

I will make you sob as if your only son had died.

The end of that time will be like a bitter day.”

¹¹The Lord and King announces,

“The days are coming

when I will send hunger through the land.

But people will not be hungry for food.

They will not be thirsty for water.

Instead, they will be hungry

to hear a message from me.

¹²People will wander from the Dead Sea to the Mediterranean.

They will travel from north to east.

They will look for a message from me.

But they will not find it.

¹³“At that time

“the lovely young women and strong young men

will faint because they are so thirsty.

¹⁴Some people take oaths in the name

of Samaria’s shameful god.

Others say, ‘People of Dan, you can be sure

that your god is alive.’

Still others say, ‘You can be sure

that Beersheba’s god is alive.’

But all of those people will fall dead.

They will never get up again.”

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