< Amos 7 >

1 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.
These things the Lord God has revealed to me. And behold, the locust was formed at the beginning of the germination during the latter rains, and behold, the latter rains came after the thundering of the king.
2 [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!)”
And it happened, when they had finally eaten all the grass in the land, that I said, “Lord God, be gracious, I beg you. Who will raise up Jacob, for he is little?”
3 So Yahweh changed his mind and said, “That will not happen.”
The Lord has been merciful about this. “It will not be,” said the Lord.
4 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.
These things the Lord God has revealed to me. And behold, the Lord God called for judgment unto fire, and it devoured the manifold abyss, and it consumed simultaneously in every direction.
5 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]?”
And I said, “Lord God, cease, I beg you. Who will raise up Jacob, for he is little?”
6 So Yahweh changed his mind again, and said, “That also will not happen.”
The Lord has been merciful about this. “And even this will not be,” said the Lord God.
7 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.
These things the Lord revealed to me. And behold, the Lord was standing near a plastered wall, and in his hand was a mason’s trowel.
8 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.
And the Lord said to me, “What do you see, Amos?” And I said, “A mason’s trowel.” And the Lord said, “Behold, I will place the trowel in the midst of my people Israel. I will no longer plaster over them.
9 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.”
And the heights of the idol will be demolished, and the sanctuaries of Israel will be desolate. And I will rise up against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.”
10 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.
And Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying: “Amos has rebelled against you in the midst of the house of Israel. The land is not able to withstand all his sermons.
11 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).’”
For Amos says this: ‘Jeroboam will die by the sword, and Israel will be taken captive out of their own land.’”
12 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!
And Amaziah said to Amos, “You, seer, go out and flee into the land of Judah, and eat bread there, and prophesy there.
13 Do not prophesy any more here at Bethel, because this is where the national temple, the king’s temple, is!”
And in Bethel, do not prophesy any longer, because it is the king’s sanctuary, and it is the house of the kingdom.”
14 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.
And Amos responded, and he said to Amasias, “I am not a prophet, and I am not the son of a prophet, but I am a herdsman plucking from wild fig trees.
15 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!’
And the Lord took me, when I was following the flock, and the Lord said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’”
16 You said to me, ‘Do not prophecy saying terrible things will happen to [the people of] Israel; stop saying those things!’
And now, hear the word of the Lord: You say, “You will not prophesy about Israel, and you will not rain your words upon the house of the idol.”
17 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).’”
Because of that, the Lord says this: “Your wife will fornicate in the city, and your sons and your daughters will fall by the sword, and your soil will be measured with a string. And you will die on polluted land, and Israel will be taken into captivity out of their land.”

< Amos 7 >