Amos 7:7-15 (Revised Standard Version)
7
He showed me: behold, the Lord was standing beside a wall built with a plumb line, with a plumb line in his hand.
8
And the LORD said to me, "Amos, what do you see?" And I said, "A plumb line." Then the Lord said, "Behold, I am setting a plumb line in the midst of my people Israel; I will never again pass by them;
9
the high places of Isaac shall be made desolate, and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste, and I will rise against the house of Jerobo'am with the sword."
10
Then Amazi'ah the priest of Bethel sent to Jerobo'am king of Israel, saying, "Amos has conspired against you in the midst of the house of Israel; the land is not able to bear all his words.
11
For thus Amos has said, 'Jerobo'am shall die by the sword, and Israel must go into exile away from his land.'"
12
And Amazi'ah said to Amos, "O seer, go, flee away to the land of Judah, and eat bread there, and prophesy there;
13
but never again prophesy at Bethel, for it is the king's sanctuary, and it is a temple of the kingdom."
14
Then Amos answered Amazi'ah, "I am no prophet, nor a prophet's son; but I am a herdsman, and a dresser of sycamore trees,
15
and the LORD took me from following the flock, and the LORD said to me, 'Go, prophesy to my people Israel.'
Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1952 [2nd edition, 1971] by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. (Revised Standard Version)