Vision of the Locusts

Thus the Lord God showed me: Behold, He formed locust swarms at the ¹beginning of the late crop; indeed it was the late crop after the king’s mowings. 2 And so it was, when they had finished eating the grass of the land, that I said:

“O Lord God, forgive, I pray!

^aOh,¹ that Jacob may stand,

For he is small!”

3

So ^athe Lord relented concerning this.

“It shall not be,” said the Lord.

Vision of the Fire

4 Thus the Lord God showed me: Behold, the Lord God called ¹for conflict by fire, and it consumed the great deep and devoured the ²territory. 5 Then I said:

“O Lord God, cease, I pray!

^aOh, that Jacob may stand,

For he is small!”

6

So the Lord relented concerning this.

“This also shall not be,” said the Lord God.

Vision of the Plumb Line

7 Thus He showed me: Behold, the Lord stood on a wall made with a plumb line, with a plumb line in His hand. 8 And the Lord said to me, “Amos, what do you see?”
And I said, “A plumb line.”
Then the Lord said:

“Behold, ^aI am setting a plumb line

In the midst of My people Israel;

^bI will not pass by them anymore.

9

^aThe ¹high places of Isaac shall be desolate,

And the ²sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste.

^bI will rise with the sword against the house of Jeroboam.”

Amaziah’s Complaint

10 Then Amaziah the ^apriest of ^bBethel sent to ^cJeroboam king of Israel, saying, “Amos has conspired against you in the midst of the house of Israel. The land is not able to ¹bear all his words. 11 For thus Amos has said:

‘Jeroboam shall die by the sword,

And Israel shall surely be led away ^acaptive

From their own land.’ ”

12 Then Amaziah said to Amos:

“Go, you seer!

Flee to the land of Judah.

There eat bread,

And there prophesy.

13

But ^anever again prophesy at Bethel,

^bFor it is the king’s ¹sanctuary,

And it is the royal ²residence.”

14 Then Amos answered, and said to Amaziah:

“I was no prophet,

Nor was I ^aa son of a prophet,

But I was a ^bsheepbreeder

And a tender of sycamore fruit.

15

Then the Lord took me ¹as I followed the flock,

And the Lord said to me,

‘Go, ^aprophesy to My people Israel.’

16

Now therefore, hear the word of the Lord:

You say, ‘Do not prophesy against Israel,

And ^ado not ¹spout against the house of Isaac.’

17 “Therefore^a thus says the Lord:

^b‘Your wife shall be a harlot in the city;

Your sons and daughters shall fall by the sword;

Your land shall be divided by survey line;

You shall die in a ^cdefiled land;

And Israel shall surely be led away captive

From his own land.’ ”