7The Sovereign Lord showed me a vision. I saw him preparing to send a vast swarm of locusts over the land. This was after the king’s share had been harvested from the fields and as the main crop was coming up.H136H3069H7200H3335H1462H8462H5927H3954H3954H310H4428H14882In my vision the locusts ate every green plant in sight. Then I said, “O Sovereign Lord, please forgive us or we will not survive, for Israel is so small.”H3615H398H6212H776H559H136H3069H5545H3290H6965H69963So the Lord relented from this plan. “I will not do it,” he said.H3068H5162H559H3068
A Vision of Fire
4Then the Sovereign Lord showed me another vision. I saw him preparing to punish his people with a great fire. The fire had burned up the depths of the sea and was devouring the entire land.H136H3069H7200H136H3069H7121H7378H784H398H7227H8415H398H25065Then I said, “O Sovereign Lord, please stop or we will not survive, for Israel is so small.”H559H136H3069H2308H3290H6965H69966Then the Lord relented from this plan, too. “I will not do that either,” said the Sovereign Lord.H3068H5162H559H136H3069
A Vision of a Plumb Line
7Then he showed me another vision. I saw the Lord standing beside a wall that had been built using a plumb line. He was using a plumb line to see if it was still straight.H7200H136H5324H2346H594H594H30278And the Lord said to me, “Amos, what do you see?” I answered, “A plumb line.” And the Lord replied, “I will test my people with this plumb line. I will no longer ignore all their sins.H3068H559H5986H7200H559H594H559H136H7760H594H7130H5971H3478H3254H56749The pagan shrines of your ancestors will be ruined, and the temples of Israel will be destroyed; I will bring the dynasty of King Jeroboam to a sudden end.”H1116H3446H8074H4720H3478H2717H6965H1004H3379H2719
Amos and Amaziah
10Then Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, sent a message to Jeroboam, king of Israel: “Amos is hatching a plot against you right here on your very doorstep! What he is saying is intolerable.H558H3548H1008H7971H3379H4428H3478H559H5986H7194H7130H1004H3478H776H3201H3557H169711He is saying, ‘Jeroboam will soon be killed, and the people of Israel will be sent away into exile.’”H5986H559H3379H4191H2719H3478H1540H1540H12712Then Amaziah sent orders to Amos: “Get out of here, you prophet! Go on back to the land of Judah, and earn your living by prophesying there!H558H559H5986H2374H3212H1272H776H3063H398H3899H501213Don’t bother us with your prophecies here in Bethel. This is the king’s sanctuary and the national place of worship!”H5012H3254H1008H4428H4720H4467H100414But Amos replied, “I’m not a professional prophet, and I was never trained to be one. I’m just a shepherd, and I take care of sycamore-fig trees.H6030H5986H559H558H5030H5030H1121H951H1103H825615But the Lord called me away from my flock and told me, ‘Go and prophesy to my people in Israel.’H3068H3947H310H6629H3068H559H3212H5012H5971H347816Now then, listen to this message from the Lord. “You say, ‘Don’t prophesy against Israel. Stop preaching against my people.’H8085H1697H3068H559H5012H3478H5197H1004H344617But this is what the Lord says. ‘Your wife will become a prostitute in this city, and your sons and daughters will be killed. Your land will be divided up, and you yourself will die in a foreign land. And the people of Israel will certainly become captives in exile, far from their homeland.’”H559H3068H802H2181H5892H1121H1323H5307H2719H127H2505H2256H4191H5921H2931H127H3478H1540H1540H127
is so small.”H3615
