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.

Yahweh our God showed me [in a vision] that he was going to send locusts [to destroy our crops]. It was going to happen right after the king’s share of the hay had been harvested/cut and before the rest of the hay was ready to be 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 in the vision I saw] those locusts come, and they ate everything that was green. Then I cried out, “Yahweh our Lord, please forgive us! We Israeli people are very helpless; (how will we be able to survive [RHQ]?/we will not be able to survive!)”

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

So Yahweh changed his mind and said, “That will not happen.”

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.

Then this is what Yahweh our Lord showed me [in another vision]: He was calling to a fire to [come and] punish [his people]. [In the vision I saw that] the fire dried up the ocean and also burned [everything on] the land.

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

Then I cried out again, “Yahweh our Lord, I plead with you, please stop this! We Israeli people are very helpless; how will we be able to survive [RHQ]?”

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

So Yahweh changed his mind again, and said, “That also will not happen.”

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

Then Yahweh showed me [another vision]. I saw him standing beside a wall. [It was very straight because] it had been built using a (plumb line/cord with a weight on one end to determine if walls are vertically straight). Yahweh had the 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.

Yahweh asked me, “Amos, what do you see?” I replied, “A plumb line.” Then Yahweh said, “Look, I am going to use a plumb line among my Israeli people, [to show that they are like a wall that is not straight]. I will not change my mind again about punishing them.

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.

The places on hills where [the descendants of] [MTY] Isaac worship [idols] will be destroyed. And the other important shrines in Israel will also be destroyed. And I will enable [your enemies] to attack your people with swords and they will get rid of [King] Jeroboam and all his descendants.”

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, the priest at Bethel, sent [a message] to Jeroboam, the King of Israel. In the message he said, “Amos is plotting against you among the Israeli people [MTY]. [I am worried that] the people of this country will not be able to refute his words.

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

This is what he is saying: ‘Jeroboam will soon be killed by [someone using] a sword, and the people of Israel will be (exiled/forced to leave their land and go to another country).’”

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.

Then Amaziah [came to me and] said, “You prophet, get out of here! Go back to the country of Judah! Earn money to [buy food to be able] to live there, and do your prophesying there!

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

Do not prophesy any more here at Bethel, because this is where the national temple, the king’s temple, is!”

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 replied to Amaziah, “I was [previously] not a prophet, and my father was not a prophet; I was a shepherd. I also took care of sycamore-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 Yahweh took me away from taking care of my sheep, and he said to me, ‘Go to Israel and prophesy to my people there!’

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

You said to me, ‘Do not prophecy saying terrible things will happen to [the people of] Israel; stop saying those things!’

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.

Therefore listen to what Yahweh says about you: ‘Your wife will become a prostitute in this city, and your sons and daughters will be killed by [your enemies’] swords. Others will measure your land and divide it up [among themselves]; and you yourself will die in a foreign country. And the people of Israel will certainly be forced to leave their country and go (into exile/to live in another country).’”