Amos 7

1 This is what the Lord GOD showed me: He was preparing swarms of locusts just after the king’s harvest, as the late spring crop was coming up.

2 And when the locusts had eaten every green plant in the land, I said, “Lord GOD, please forgive! How will Jacob survive, since he is so small?”

3 So the LORD relented from this plan. “It will not happen,” He said.

4 This is what the Lord GOD showed me: The Lord GOD was calling for judgment by fire. It consumed the great deep and devoured the land.

5 Then I said, “Lord GOD, please stop! How will Jacob survive, since he is so small?”

6 So the LORD relented from this plan. “It will not happen either,” said the Lord GOD.

7 This is what He showed me: Behold, the Lord was standing by a wall true to plumb, with a plumb line in His hand.

8 “Amos, what do you see?” asked the LORD. “A plumb line,” I replied. “Behold,” said the Lord, “I am setting a plumb line among My people Israel; I will no longer spare them:

9 The high places of Isaac will be deserted, and the sanctuaries of Israel will be laid waste; and I will rise up against the house of Jeroboam with My sword.”

10 Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent word to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, “Amos has conspired against you in the midst of the house of Israel. The land cannot bear all his words,

11 for this is what Amos has said: ‘Jeroboam will die by the sword, and Israel will surely go into exile, away from their homeland.’”

12 And Amaziah said to Amos, “Go away, you seer! Flee to the land of Judah; earn your bread there and do your prophesying there.

13 But never prophesy at Bethel again, because it is the sanctuary of the king and the temple of the kingdom.”

14 “I was not a prophet,” Amos replied, “nor was I the son of a prophet; rather, I was a herdsman and a tender of sycamore-fig trees.

15 But the LORD took me from following the flock and said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to My people Israel.’

16 Now, therefore, hear the word of the LORD. You say: ‘Do not prophesy against Israel; do not preach against the house of Isaac.’

17 Therefore this is what the LORD says: ‘Your wife will become a prostitute in the city, and your sons and daughters will fall by the sword. Your land will be divided by a measuring line, and you yourself will die on pagan soil. And Israel will surely go into exile, away from their homeland.’”

1 ¶ Thus hath the Lord GOD shewed unto me; and, behold, he formed grasshoppers in the beginning of the shooting up of the latter growth; and, lo, [it was] the latter growth after the king's mowings.

2 And it came to pass, [that] when they had made an end of eating the grass of the land, then I said, O Lord GOD, forgive, I beseech thee: by whom shall Jacob arise? for he [is] small.

3 The LORD repented for this: It shall not be, saith the LORD.

4 Thus hath the Lord GOD shewed unto me: and, behold, the Lord GOD called to contend by fire, and it devoured the great deep, and did eat up a part.

5 Then said I, O Lord GOD, cease, I beseech thee: by whom shall Jacob arise? for he [is] small.

6 The LORD repented for this: This also shall not be, saith the Lord GOD.

7 Thus he shewed me: and, behold, the Lord stood upon a wall [made] by a plumbline, with a plumbline in his hand.

8 And the LORD said unto me, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A plumbline. Then said the Lord, Behold, I will set a plumbline in the midst of my people Israel: I will not again pass by them any more:

9 And the high places of Isaac shall be desolate, and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste; and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.

10 ¶ Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, Amos hath conspired against thee in the midst of the house of Israel: the land is not able to bear all his words.

11 For thus Amos saith, Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel shall surely be led away captive out of their own land.

12 Also Amaziah said unto Amos, O thou seer, go, flee thee away into the land of Judah, and there eat bread, and prophesy there:

13 But prophesy not again any more at Bethel: for it [is] the king's chapel, and it [is] the king's court.

14 Then answered Amos, and said to Amaziah, I [was] no prophet, neither [was] I a prophet's son; but I [was] an herdman, and a gatherer of sycomore fruit:

15 And the LORD took me as I followed the flock, and the LORD said unto me, Go, prophesy unto my people Israel.

16 Now therefore hear thou the word of the LORD: Thou sayest, Prophesy not against Israel, and drop not [thy word] against the house of Isaac.

17 Therefore thus saith the LORD; Thy wife shall be an harlot in the city, and thy sons and thy daughters shall fall by the sword, and thy land shall be divided by line; and thou shalt die in a polluted land: and Israel shall surely go into captivity forth of his land.

1 The LORD God showed me a vision, and, behold, there stood a man making locusts at the beginning, when the grass was gathered up: and, behold, the grass was gathered up, after that the king had shorn his sheep.

2 And it came to pass, when they were about to eat up the herbage of the land, that I said, O Lord GOD, have mercy on me. Who shall restore Jacob? for he is little.

3 And the LORD repented, and said, Well, let it not be done.

4 The LORD God shewed me a vision, and, behold, the LORD God called the fire to punish with it; which was to devour a great deep, and it devoured part of it already.

5 And I said, O Lord GOD, let him go. Who shall restore Jacob? for he is little.

6 And the LORD repented, and the LORD said, Neither shall it be done.

7 And he shewed me this vision, and, behold, the LORD stood upon a wall, measured with a line of lead; and he had the line of lead in his hand.

8 And the LORD said unto me, What seest thou, Amos? And I said, A cord of lead. And the LORD said unto me, Behold, I will draw a cord of lead through the midst of my people Israel, and will not fail them,

9 But the high places of Isaac shall be laid waste, and the churches of Israel shall be desolate: and I will make me a sword against the house of Jeroboam.

10 And Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent unto Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, Amos maketh a rebellion against thee in the house of Israel: the land cannot bear his words.

11 For thus saith Amos, Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel shall be carried away captive out of his land.

12 And Amaziah said unto Amos, Thou seer, depart, and flee into the land of Judah, and eat bread there, and prophesy there.

13 And prophesy no more in Bethel: for it is the king's pen, and the king's house.

14 And Amos answered and said unto Amaziah, I am no prophet, neither am I the son of any prophet; but I am a shepherd of cows, which eat mulberries.

15 But the LORD took me from the flock, and said unto me, Go, prophesy unto my people Israel.

16 Hear therefore the word of the LORD. Thou sayest, Prophesy not against Israel, neither drip water against the house of Isaac.

17 Therefore thus saith the LORD; Thy wife shall become a harlot in the city, and thy sons and thy daughters shall fall by the sword, and thy field shall be divided by the cord: but thou shalt die in an unclean land, and Israel shall be driven out of his land.