Amos 7

1 Thus hath the Lord God shewed vnto mee, and beholde, he formed grashoppers in the beginning of ye shooting vp of the latter grouth: and loe, it was in the latter grouth after the Kings mowing.

This is what the Lord God showed me: he was forming a swarm of locusts, when the late spring grass began to come up after the king’s share had been harvested.

2 And when they had made an ende of eating the grasse of the land, then I saide, O Lord God, spare, I beseeche thee: who shall raise vp Iaakob? for he is small.

And when they had finished devouring all the land’s vegetation, I said: ‘Lord God, forgive, I beg you! How can Jacob survive, for he is so helpless?’

3 So the Lord repented for this. It shall not be, saith the Lord.

The Lord relented. This will not happen,’ said the Lord.

4 Thus also hath the Lord God shewed vnto me, and behold, the Lord God called to iudgement by fire, and it deuoured the great deepe, and did eate vp a part.

This is what he showed me: the Lord God was giving command to execute judgment by fire. It burned up the great deep, and had begun to devour the fields, and I said:

5 Then said I, O Lord God, cease, I beseeche thee: who shall raise vp Iaakob? for he is small.

‘Lord God, forgive, I beg you! How can Jacob survive, for he is so helpless?’

6 So the Lord repented for this. This also shall not be, saith the Lord God.

The Lord relented. ‘This will not happen either,’ said the Lord.

7 Thus againe he shewed me, and behold, the Lord stoode vpon a wall made by line with a line in his hand.

This is what the Lord God showed me: the Lord was standing beside a wall built with a plumb line, with a plumb line in his hand.

8 And the Lord saide vnto me, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A line. Then said the Lord, Beholde, I wil set a line in the middes of my people Israel, and wil passe by them no more.

And the Lord said to me, ‘What do you see, Amos?’ And I answered, ‘A plumb line,’ Then the Lord said, ‘Watch: I am setting a plumb line in the midst of my people Israel, I will no longer overlook their crookedness.

9 And the hye places of Izhak shalbe desolate, and the temples of Israel shalbe destroyed: and I wil rise against the house of Ieroboam with the sworde.

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

10 Then Amaziah the Priest of Beth-el sent to Ieroboam King of Israel, saying, Amos hath conspired against thee in the middes of the house of Israel: the lande is not able to beare all his wordes.

Then Amaziah, chief priest of Bethel sent this message to King Jeroboam of Israel: ‘Amos has conspired against you right in the heart of Israel. The country cannot survive all his words.

11 For thus Amos saith, Ieroboam shall die by the sworde, and Israel shalbe led away captiue out of their owne land.

Amos has said, “Jeroboam will die by the sword, and Israel will be led away captive out of their land.”’

12 Also Amaziah sayde vnto Amos, O thou the Seer, goe, flee thou away into the land of Iudah, and there eate thy bread and prophecie there.

And Amaziah said to Amos, ‘Leave, you who see visions, go to the land of Judah. Earn your bread there and prophesy there,

13 But prophecie no more at Beth-el: for it is the Kings chappel, and it is the Kings court.

but don’t prophesy any more at Bethel, for it is the king’s sanctuary, and it is the royal residence.’

14 Then answered Amos, and said to Amaziah, I was no Prophet, neither was I a prophets sonne, but I was an herdman, and a gatherer of wilde figs.

‘I am no prophet,’ Amos answered Amaziah, ‘nor trained as one. I am a shepherd and a keeper of sycamores fig trees.

15 And the Lord tooke me as I followed the flocke, and the Lord said vnto me, Go, prophecie vnto my people Israel.

But the Lord took me away from following the flock, and the Lord said to me, “Go, prophesy to my people Israel.”

16 Now therefore heare thou the word of the Lord. Thou sayest, Prophecie not against Israel, and speake nothing against the house of Izhak.

Now therefore listen to the Lord’s message: “You say not to prophesy against Israel, nor to preach against the house of Isaac.

17 Therefore thus sayth the Lord, Thy wife shall be an harlot in the citie, and thy sonnes and thy daughters shall fall by the sword, and thy land shall be deuided by line: and thou shalt die in a polluted land, and Israel shall surely go into captiuitie forth of his land.

But the Lord says: Your wife will become a prostitute in the city, your sons and your daughters will fall by the sword, your land will be divided up, you will die on unclean soil, and Israel will be led away captive out of their land.”’