Amos 7

1 Here, My Lord, Yahweh gave me to see, and lo! he was preparing the locust, in the beginning of the shooting up of the after-grass, —and lo! after-grass, cometh after the mowings for the king.

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 it came to pass, when they had made an end of eating the herbage of the land, that I said—Oh, My Lord, Yahweh, forgive, I beseech thee: By whom shall Jacob, arise? for, small, he is.

[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 Grieved was Yahweh, over this, —It shall not be, said Yahweh?

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

4 Here, My Lord, Yahweh gave me to see, and lo! My Lord Yahweh proclaiming that, the controversy should be settled by fire, —which, having devoured the mighty roaring deep, should devour the inheritance.

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, My Lord, Yahweh, forbear, I beseech thee, By whom shall Jacob, arise? for, small, he is.

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 Grieved was Yahweh, over this, —Even this, shall not be, said My Lord, Yahweh.

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

7 Here, he gave me to see, and lo! My Lord, stationed upon a pinnacle, —and, in his hand a plummet.

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 Yahweh said unto me, What canst thou see, Amos? And I said, A plummet, —Then said My Lord, Behold me! fixing a plummet in the midst of my people Israel, I will not again any more forgive him.

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 So shall the high places of Isaac, be made desolate, and, the holy places of Israel, be laid waste, —and I will rise up, against the house of Jeroboam, with the sword.

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 sent Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, unto Jeroboam king of Israel, saying: A conspiracy hath Amos, raised against thee, in the midst of the house of Israel, The land, is not able to endure, all his words;

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, saith Amos, By the sword, shall Jeroboam, die, —and, Israel, shall, surely be exiled, from off his own soil.

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 Then said Amaziah unto Amos, O seer, go flee thee away unto the land of Judah—and eat, there, bread, and, there, mayest thou prophesy;

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, at Bethel, not again, any more, mayest thou prophesy, —for, the holy place of the king, it is, and, the house of the kingdom, it is.

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 unto Amaziah, No prophet, was I, —nor the son of a prophet, was I, —but, a herdman, was I, and a preparer of sycamore fruit;

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 But Yahweh, took me away, from following the flock, —and Yahweh, said unto me, Go prophesy against 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, hear thou the word of Yahweh, —Thou art saying, Thou must not prophesy concerning Israel, nor let thy word drop down upon the house of Isaac.

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

17 Therefore—Thus, saith Yahweh, Thy wife, in the city, will commit unchastity, and, thy sons and thy daughters, by the sword, shall fall, and, thine own soil, by line, shall he apportioned, —and, thou, on a polluted soil, shalt die, and, Israel, shall, surely go into exile, away from his own soil.

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).’”