Amos 7:1-9

Locusts, Fire and a Plumb Line

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 late crops were coming up.
2 When they had stripped the land clean, I cried out, “Sovereign LORD, forgive! How can Jacob survive? He is so small!”
3 So the LORD relented. “This will not happen,” the LORD said.
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.
5 Then I cried out, “Sovereign LORD, I beg you, stop! How can Jacob survive? He is so small!”
6 So the LORD relented. “This will not happen either,” the Sovereign LORD said.
7 This is what he showed me: The Lord was standing by a wall that had been built true to plumb,[a] with a plumb line[b] in his hand.
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.
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.”

Cross References 19

  • 1. ver 7; Amos 8:1
  • 2. Psalms 78:46; S Jeremiah 51:14; S Joel 1:4
  • 3. S Exodus 10:15
  • 4. S Isaiah 37:4
  • 5. S Ezekiel 11:13; S Amos 4:9
  • 6. S Exodus 32:14; Deuteronomy 32:36; S Jeremiah 18:8; Jeremiah 26:19; John 3:10
  • 7. S Hosea 11:8
  • 8. S Isaiah 66:16; S Joel 1:19
  • 9. Deuteronomy 32:22
  • 10. S ver 1-2; Joel 2:17
  • 11. S Exodus 32:14; S Jeremiah 18:8; John 3:10
  • 12. Jeremiah 42:10; S Ezekiel 9:8
  • 13. Jeremiah 1:11,13
  • 14. Isaiah 28:17; Lamentations 2:8; Amos 8:2
  • 15. S 2 Kings 21:13
  • 16. S Jeremiah 15:6; Ezekiel 7:2-9
  • 17. S Leviticus 26:30
  • 18. S Leviticus 26:31
  • 19. S 1 Kings 13:34; 2 Kings 15:9; Isaiah 63:18; S Hosea 10:8

Footnotes 2

  • [a]. The meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain.
  • [b]. The meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain; also in verse 8.
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