7:1 This is what the Sovereign LORD showed me: He was preparing swarms of locusts after the king’s share had been harvested and just as the second crop was coming up.
7:2 When they had stripped the land clean, I cried out, “Sovereign LORD, forgive! How can Jacob survive? He is so small!”
7:3 So the LORD relented. “This will not happen,” the LORD said.
7:4 This is what the Sovereign LORD showed me: The Sovereign LORD was calling for judgment by fire; it dried up the great deep and devoured the land.
7:5 Then I cried out, “Sovereign LORD, I beg you, stop! How can Jacob survive? He is so small!”
7:6 So the LORD relented. “This will not happen either,” the Sovereign LORD said.
7:7 This is what he showed me: The Lord was standing by a wall that had been built true to plumb, with a plumb line in his hand.
7:8 And the LORD asked me, “What do you see, Amos?” “A plumb line,” I replied. Then the Lord said, “Look, I am setting a plumb line among my people Israel; I will spare them no longer.
7:9 “The high places of Isaac will be destroyed and the sanctuaries of Israel will be ruined; with my sword I will rise against the house of Jeroboam.”
7:10 Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent a message to Jeroboam king of Israel: “Amos is raising a conspiracy against you in the very heart of Israel. The land cannot bear all his words.
7:11 For this is what Amos is saying: “‘Jeroboam will die by the sword, and Israel will surely go into exile, away from their native land.’”
7:12 Then Amaziah said to Amos, “Get out, you seer! Go back to the land of Judah. Earn your bread there and do your prophesying there.
7:13 Don’t prophesy anymore at Bethel, because this is the king’s sanctuary and the temple of the kingdom.”
7:14 Amos answered Amaziah, “I was neither a prophet nor a prophet’s son, but I was a shepherd, and I also took care of sycamore-fig trees.
7:15 But the LORD took me from tending the flock and said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’
7:16 Now then, hear the word of the LORD. You say, “‘Do not prophesy against Israel, and stop preaching against the house of Isaac.’
7:17 “Therefore this is what the LORD says: “‘Your wife will become a prostitute in the city, and your sons and daughters will fall by the sword. Your land will be measured and divided up, and you yourself will die in a pagan country. And Israel will certainly go into exile, away from their native land.’”
7:1 Thus the Lord Jehovah showed me, and there He was, forming locusts in the beginning of the springing up of the spring crop; and it was the spring crop after the king’s mowings.
7:2 And when their eating of the herbage of the land was complete, I said, O Lord Jehovah, forgive, I beseech You! How will Jacob stand, for he is small?
7:3 Jehovah repented concerning this: It shall not be, says Jehovah.
7:4 Thus the Lord Jehovah showed me, and there the Lord Jehovah was, calling to contend with them with fire; and it devoured the great deep, and it devoured the land.
7:5 Then I said, O Lord Jehovah, Stop, I beseech You! How will Jacob stand, for he is small?
7:6 Jehovah repented concerning this: This also shall not be, says the Lord Jehovah.
7:7 Thus He showed me, and there the Lord was, standing upon a perfectly plumbed wall; and in His hand was a plumb line.
7:8 And Jehovah said to me, What do you see, Amos? And I said, A plumb line. And the Lord said, I am now setting a plumb line in the midst of My people Israel; I will not pass them by anymore.
7:9 And the high places of Isaac will be desolated, / And the sanctuaries of Israel will be made waste; / And I will rise up against the house of Jeroboam with a sword.
7:10 Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent word to Jeroboam the king of Israel, saying, Amos has conspired against you in the midst of the house of Israel; the land is not able to endure all his words.
7:11 For thus says Amos, By the sword Jeroboam will die, and Israel will surely go into captivity out from its land.
7:12 Then Amaziah said to Amos, Go, you seer; flee into the land of Judah, and eat bread there, and prophesy there;
7:13 But in Bethel you shall not ever prophesy again, for it is the king’s sanctuary and it is the royal residence.
7:14 Then Amos answered and said to Amaziah, I am no prophet, nor am I the son of a prophet; rather I am a herdsman and a dresser of sycamores.
7:15 And Jehovah took me from following the flock, and Jehovah said to me, Go, prophesy to My people Israel.
7:16 And now hear the word of Jehovah: You say, You shall not prophesy against Israel, nor shall you speak against the house of Isaac.
7:17 Therefore thus says Jehovah, Your wife will go about as a harlot in the city, / And your sons and your daughters will fall by the sword, / And your land will be divided by the line, / And you yourself will die in a land that is unclean; / And Israel will indeed go into captivity / Out from its land.