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 the Lord GOD shewed me: and, behold, he formed locusts 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 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 that when they made an end of eating the grass of the land, then I said, O Lord GOD, forgive, I beseech thee: how shall Jacob stand? for he is small.

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

The LORD repented concerning this: It shall not be, saith 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 the Lord GOD shewed me: and, behold, the Lord GOD called to contend by fire; and it devoured the great deep, and would have eaten up the land.

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

Then said I, O Lord GOD, cease, I beseech thee: how shall Jacob stand? for he is small.

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

The LORD repented concerning this: This also shall not be, saith 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.

Thus he shewed me: and, behold, the Lord stood beside a wall made by a plumbline, with a plumbline 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:

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 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 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 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 Amaziah the priest of Beth-el 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 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 Amos saith, Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel shall surely be led away captive out of his 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.

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

but prophesy not again any more at Beth-el: for it is the king’s sanctuary, and it is a royal house.

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 Amaziah, I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet’s son; but I was an herdman, and a dresser of sycomore trees:

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

and the LORD took me from following the flock, 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.’

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 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 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 thyself shalt die in a land that is unclean, and Israel shall surely be led away captive out of his land.