Amos 7

1 Thus hath the Lord GOD shown to me; and behold, he formed grasshoppers in the beginning of the shooting up of the latter growth; and lo, [it was] the latter growth after the king's mowings.

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, [that] when they had made an end of eating the grass of the land, then I said, O Lord GOD, forgive, I beseech thee: by whom shall Jacob arise? 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 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 hath the Lord GOD shown to me: and behold, the Lord GOD called to contend by fire, and it devoured the great deep, and did eat up 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 beseech thee: by whom shall Jacob arise? 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 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 he showed me: and behold, the LORD stood upon a wall [made] by a plumb-line, with a plumb-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 said to me, Amos, what seest thou? and I said, A plumb-line. Then said the LORD, Behold, I will set a plumb-line in the midst of my people Israel: I will not again pass by them any 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 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.

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 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.

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, Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel shall surely be led away captive out of their own 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 said to Amos, O thou seer, go flee thee away into the land of Judah, and there eat bread, and prophesy 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 prophesy not again any more at Beth-el: for it [is] the king's chapel, and it [is] the king's 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 prophet's son; but I [was] a herdman, and a gatherer 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 And the LORD took me as I followed the flock, and the LORD said to me, Go, prophesy to 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 the LORD: Thou sayest, Prophesy not against Israel, and drop not [thy word] against 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 the LORD; Thy wife shall be a 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 shalt die in a polluted land: and Israel shall surely go from his land into captivity.

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).’”