First Vision: Locusts

7 The Lord God showed me this: He was forming a swarm of locusts v at the time the spring crop first began to sprout—after the cutting of the king’s hay. 2 When the locusts finished eating the vegetation of the land, w I said, “Lord God, please forgive! x How will Jacob survive since he is so small?” y

3 The Lord relented concerning this. z “It will not happen,” He said.

Second Vision: Fire

4 The Lord God showed me this: The Lord God was calling for a judgment by fire. a It consumed the great deep and devoured the land. 5 Then I said, “Lord God, please stop! b How will Jacob survive since he is so small?”

6 The Lord relented concerning this. c “This will not happen either,” said the Lord God.

Third Vision: A Plumb Line

7 He showed me this: The Lord was standing there by a vertical wall with a plumb line in His hand. 8 The 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; e I will no longer spare them: f

9 Isaac’s * high places g will 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

10 Amaziah the priest i of Bethel sent word to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, “Amos has conspired against you j right here in the house of Israel. The land cannot endure all his words, 11 for Amos has said this: ‘Jeroboam will die by the sword, and Israel will certainly go into exile from its homeland.’ ” k

12 Then Amaziah said to Amos, “Go away, you seer! l Flee to the land of Judah. Earn your living m and give your prophecies there, 13 but don’t ever prophesy n at Bethel again, for it is the king’s sanctuary o and a royal temple.”

14 So Amos answered Amaziah, “I was p not a prophet or the son of a prophet; q r rather, I was s a herdsman, t and I took care of sycamore figs. 15 But the Lord took me from following the flock u and said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to My people Israel.’ ” v

16 Now hear the word of the Lord. You say:

Do not prophesy w against Israel;

do not preach x against the house of Isaac.

17 Therefore, this is what the Lord says:

Your wife will be a prostitute in the city, y

your sons and daughters will fall by the sword, z

and your land will be divided up

with a measuring line.

You yourself will die on pagan a soil, b

and Israel will certainly go into exile c

from its homeland.