Visions: Amos, Confidant of God
Chapter 7
The Vision of Locusts. 1 This is what the Lord God showed me: he was forming a swarm of locusts after the king’s share had been harvested and the second growth was beginning to sprout. 2 When the locusts had finished eating all the grass in the land, I said:
Lord God, forgive, I beg you.
Jacob is so small;
how can he survive?
3 Thereupon the Lord relented. “This shall not happen,” said the Lord God.
The Vision of Fire. 4 This is what the Lord God then showed me: the Lord God was summoning a fire of judgment to devour the great abyss and to consume the land. 5 I said:
Lord God, cease, I beg you.
Jacob is so small;
how can he survive?
6 Thereupon the Lord relented. “This also shall not happen,” said the Lord God.
The Vision of the Plumb Line. 7 Then the Lord showed me this: he was standing by a 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:
Behold, I am setting a plumb line
in the midst of my people Israel;
never again will I forgive their offenses.
9 The high places of Isaac shall be laid waste,
and the sanctuaries of Israel will be left desolate;
with sword in hand
I will rise against the house of Jeroboam.
10 Amos Expelled by the Priests of Bethel. Then Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, sent the following message to Jeroboam, the king of Israel: “Amos has conspired against you here in the heart of the house of Israel, and the country cannot tolerate his message. 11 For this is what Amos is saying:
“ ‘Jeroboam will die by the sword,
and the Israelites will be taken into captivity,
far away from their native land.’ ”
12 To Amos himself Amaziah said, “Go, O seer, and flee to the land of Judah. There you can prophesy and earn your living. 13 But never again prophesy at Bethel, for this is the king’s sanctuary and a royal shrine.”
14 Amos replied to Amaziah, “I am not a prophet, nor a prophet’s son. I was a shepherd and a dresser of sycamore-fig trees. 15 But the Lord took me away from tending the flock and said to me, ‘Go forth and prophesy to my people Israel.’ 16 So now, listen to the word of the Lord. You tell me that I am not to prophesy against Israel or to preach against the house of Isaac. 17 Therefore, thus says the Lord:
“ ‘Your wife will become a prostitute in the city,
and your sons and daughters will fall by the sword.
Your land will be parceled out by a measuring line;
you yourself will die in a pagan country,
and Israel will be deported in captivity
far from its native land.’ ”
Footnotes
- Amos 7:1
