AmosChapter 7

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¹This is what the Lord GOD showed me. He was getting swarms of locusts ready. It was just after the king's share of the harvest had been cut. The late spring crop was coming up. ²The locusts ate every green plant in the land. Then I said, "Lord GOD, please forgive! How can Jacob survive? He is so small!" ³So the LORD changed his mind about this. "It will not happen," he said. ⁴This is what the Lord GOD showed me. The Lord GOD was calling for judgment by fire. The fire dried up the great deep waters and burned up the land. ⁵Then I said, "Lord GOD, please stop! How can Jacob survive? He is so small!" ⁶So the LORD changed his mind about this. "This will not happen either," said the Lord GOD. ⁷This is what he showed me. The Lord was standing by a wall that was built perfectly straight. He held a plumb line in his hand.a ⁸The LORD asked me, "Amos, what do you see?" "A plumb line," I answered. Then the Lord said, "Look, I am setting a plumb line among my people Israel. I will not spare them any longer. ⁹The high places of Isaac will be left empty.
The holy places of Israel will be ruined.
I will rise up with my sword against the family of Jeroboam." ¹⁰Then Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, sent a message to Jeroboam king of Israel. He said, "Amos is plotting against you right in the middle of Israel. The land can't stand all the things he says. ¹¹For this is what Amos has said: 'Jeroboam will die by the sword. And Israel will surely be taken away as captives, far from their homeland.'" ¹²Then Amaziah said to Amos, "Go away, you seer! Run off to the land of Judah. Earn your living there, and do your prophesying there. ¹³But never prophesy at Bethel again, because this is the king's holy place and the temple of the kingdom." ¹⁴Amos answered, "I was not a prophet. My father was not a prophet either. I was a herdsman. I also took care of sycamore-fig trees. ¹⁵But the LORD took me away from following the flock. He said to me, 'Go and prophesy to my people Israel.' ¹⁶So now listen to the word of the LORD. You say, 'Do not prophesy against Israel. Do not preach against the family of Isaac.' ¹⁷So this is what the LORD says: 'Your wife will become a prostitute in the city. Your sons and daughters will be killed by the sword. Your land will be measured and divided up. You yourself will die in a land that does not worship God. And Israel will surely be taken away as captives, far from their homeland.'"