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.

Thus did the Lord Eternal show unto me: and, behold, he was forming locusts in the beginning of the sprouting up of the latter groweth; and, lo, it was the latter growth after the king's mowings [was over].

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?”

And it came to pass, when they had made an end of eating up the herbs of the earth, that I said, O Lord Eternal, forgive, I beseech thee: how should Jacob be able to endure, since he is so small!

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

The Lord bethought himself of this: It shall not be, said the Lord.

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.

Thus did the Lord Eternal show unto me: and, behold, the Lord Eternal called forth the punishment by fire, and it devoured the great deep, and consumed the ploughed field.

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

Then said I, O Lord Eternal, forbear, I beseech thee: how should Jacob be able to endure, since he is so small!

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

The Lord bethought himself of this: Also this shall not be, said the Lord Eternal.

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.

Thus he showed unto me: and, behold, the Lord was standing upon a wall [made] by a plumbline, and in his hand was a plumbline.

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:

And the Lord said unto me, What dost thou see, 'Amos? 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 farther indulge them any more.

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.”

And the high places of Isaac shall be made desolate, and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid in ruins: and I will rise up against the house of Jerobo'am with the 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,

Then sent Amazyah, the priest of Beth-el, to Jerobo'am the 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 this is what Amos has said: ‘Jeroboam will die by the sword, and Israel will surely go into exile, away from their homeland.’”

For thus hath 'Amos said, By the sword shall Jerobo'am die, and Israel shall surely be led away into exile out of their own land.

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.

And Amazyah said unto 'Amos, Seer, go, flee thee away into the land of Judah, and eat there [thy] bread, and there prophesy;

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

But at Beth-el prophesy not farther any more; for it is the king's sanctuary, and it is a royal residence.

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.

Then answered 'Amos, and said to Amazyah, I am no prophet, nor am I a prophet's son; but I am a herdman, and a gatherer of wild figs;

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

But the Lord hath taken me away from behind the flocks, and the Lord said unto me, Go, prophesy unto 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.’

And now hear thou the word of the Lord, Thou sayest, Prophesy not against Israel, and preach not 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.’”

Therefore thus hath said the Lord, Thy wife will play the harlot in the city, and thy sons and thy daughters shall fall by the sword, and thy land shall be divided out by the line; and thou shalt die in an unclean land; and Israel shall surely be led forth into exile out of their land.