Amos 7:1-8:3

English Standard Version

Warning Visions

7 ^(A)This is what the Lord God showed me: behold, ^(B)he was forming locusts when the latter growth was just beginning to sprout, and behold, it was the latter growth after the king's mowings. ²When they had finished eating the grass of the land, I said,

“O Lord God, please forgive!
    ^(C)How can Jacob stand?
    He is so small!”
³^(D)The Lord relented concerning this:
    “It shall not be,” said the Lord.

⁴^(E)This is what the Lord God showed me: behold, the Lord God was calling ^(F)for a judgment by fire, and it devoured the great deep and was eating up the land. ⁵Then I said,

“O Lord God, please cease!
    ^(G)How can Jacob stand?
    He is so small!”
⁶^(H)The Lord relented concerning this:
    “This also shall not be,” said the Lord God.

⁷^(I)This is what he showed me: behold, the Lord was standing beside a wall built with ^(J)a plumb line, with a plumb line in his hand. ⁸And the Lord said to me, ^(K)“Amos, what do you see?” And I said, “A plumb line.” Then the Lord said,

“Behold, I am setting ^(L)a plumb line
    in the midst of my people Israel;
    ^(M)I will never again pass by them;
⁹^(N)the high places of Isaac shall be made desolate,
    and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste,
    and I will rise against ^(O)the house of Jeroboam with the sword.”

Amos Accused

¹⁰Then Amaziah ^(P)the priest of Bethel sent to ^(Q)Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, “Amos has ^(R)conspired against you in the midst of the house of Israel. The land is not able to bear all his words. ¹¹For thus Amos has said,

“‘Jeroboam shall die by the sword,
and ^(S)Israel must go into exile
away from his land.’”

¹²And Amaziah said to Amos, ^(T)“O seer, go, flee away ^(U)to the land of Judah, and ^(V)eat bread there, and prophesy there, ¹³but ^(W)never again prophesy at Bethel, for ^(X)it is the king's sanctuary, and it is a temple of the kingdom.”

¹⁴Then Amos answered and said to Amaziah, ^(Y)“I was^[a] no prophet, nor a prophet's son, but ^(Z)I was a herdsman and a dresser of sycamore figs. ¹⁵^(AA)But the Lord took me from following the flock, and the Lord said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’ ¹⁶^(AB)Now therefore hear the word of the Lord.

“You say, ^(AC)‘Do not prophesy against Israel,
and ^(AD)do not preach against the house of ^(AE)Isaac.’

¹⁷^(AF)Therefore thus says the Lord:

“‘Your wife shall be a prostitute in the city,
    and your sons and your daughters shall fall by the sword,
    and your land ^(AG)shall be divided up with a measuring line;
you yourself shall die in an unclean land,
    and ^(AH)Israel shall surely go into exile away from its land.’”

The Coming Day of Bitter Mourning

8 ^(AI)This is what the Lord God showed me: behold, a basket of summer fruit. ²And he said, ^(AJ)“Amos, what do you see?” And I said, ^(AK)“A basket of summer fruit.” Then the Lord said to me,

^(AL)“The end^[b] has come upon my people Israel;
I will never again pass by them.
³^(AM)The songs of the temple^[c] ^(AN)shall become wailings^[d] in that day,”
declares the Lord God.
^(AO)“So many dead bodies!”
“They are thrown everywhere!”
^(AP)“Silence!”