עמוס 7

1 כה הראני אדני יהוה והנה יוצר גבי בתחלת עלות הלקש והנה לקש--אחר גזי המלך

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 והיה אם כלה לאכול את עשב הארץ ואמר אדני יהוה סלח נא מי יקום יעקב כי קטן הוא

[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 נחם יהוה על זאת לא תהיה אמר יהוה

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

4 כה הראני אדני יהוה והנה קרא לרב באש אדני יהוה ותאכל את תהום רבה ואכלה את החלק

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 ואמר אדני יהוה חדל נא--מי יקום יעקב כי קטן הוא

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 נחם יהוה על זאת גם היא לא תהיה אמר אדני יהוה

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

7 כה הראני והנה אדני נצב על חומת אנך ובידו אנך

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 ויאמר יהוה אלי מה אתה ראה עמוס ואמר אנך ויאמר אדני הנני שם אנך בקרב עמי ישראל--לא אוסיף עוד עבור לו

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 ונשמו במות ישחק ומקדשי ישראל יחרבו וקמתי על בית ירבעם בחרב

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 וישלח אמציה כהן בית אל אל ירבעם מלך ישראל לאמר קשר עליך עמוס בקרב בית ישראל--לא תוכל הארץ להכיל את כל דבריו

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 כי כה אמר עמוס בחרב ימות ירבעם וישראל--גלה יגלה מעל אדמתו

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 ויאמר אמציה אל עמוס חזה לך ברח לך אל ארץ יהודה ואכל שם לחם ושם תנבא

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 ובית אל לא תוסיף עוד להנבא כי מקדש מלך הוא ובית ממלכה הוא

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

14 ויען עמוס ויאמר אל אמציה לא נביא אנכי ולא בן נביא אנכי כי בוקר אנכי ובולס שקמים

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 ויקחני יהוה מאחרי הצאן ויאמר אלי יהוה לך הנבא אל עמי ישראל

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 ועתה שמע דבר יהוה אתה אמר לא תנבא על ישראל ולא תטיף על בית ישחק

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

17 לכן כה אמר יהוה אשתך בעיר תזנה ובניך ובנתיך בחרב יפלו ואדמתך בחבל תחלק ואתה על אדמה טמאה תמות וישראל גלה יגלה מעל אדמתו

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).’”