1
The Lord God showed me this: He was forming a swarm of locusts at the time the spring crop first began to sprout-after the cutting of the king's hay.
2
When the locusts finished eating the vegetation of the land, I said, "Lord God , please forgive! How will Jacob survive since he is so small?"
3
The Lord relented concerning this. "It will not happen," He said.
4
The Lord God showed me this: The Lord God was calling for a judgment by fire. It consumed the great deep and devoured the land.
5
Then I said, "Lord God , please stop! How will Jacob survive since he is so small?"
6
The Lord relented concerning this. "This will not happen either," said the Lord God .
7
He showed me this: The Lord was standing there by a vertical wall with a plumb line in His hand.
8
The Lord asked me, "What do you see, Amos?" I replied, "A plumb line." Then the Lord said, "I am setting a plumb line among My people Israel; I will no longer spare them:
9
Isaac's high places will be deserted, and Israel's sanctuaries will be in ruins; I will rise up against the house of Jeroboam with a sword."
10
Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent [word] to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, "Amos has conspired against you [right here] in the house of Israel. The land cannot endure all his words,
11
for Amos has said this: 'Jeroboam will die by the sword, and Israel will certainly go into exile from its homeland.' "
12
Then Amaziah said to Amos, "Go away, you seer! Flee to the land of Judah. Earn your living and give [your] prophecies there,
13
but don't ever prophesy at Bethel again, for it is the king's sanctuary and a royal temple."
14
So Amos answered Amaziah, "I was not a prophet or the son of a prophet; rather, I was a herdsman, and I took care of sycamore figs.
15
But the Lord took me from following the flock and said to me, 'Go, prophesy to My people Israel.' "
16
Now hear the word of the Lord. You say: Do not prophesy against Israel; do not preach against the house of Isaac.
17
Therefore, this is what the Lord says: Your wife will be a prostitute in the city, your sons and daughters will fall by the sword, and your land will be divided up with a measuring line. You yourself will die on pagan soil, and Israel will certainly go into exile from its homeland.
Holman Christian Standard Bible ® Copyright © 2003, 2002, 2000, 1999 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.