English Standard Version

New Living Translation

Warning Visions

This is what the Lord God showed me: behold, 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.

1

A Vision of Locusts

The 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.

2

When they had finished eating the grass of the land, I said,
“O Lord God, please forgive!
How can Jacob stand?
He is so small!”

2

In 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 Israela is so small.”

3

The Lord relented concerning this:
“It shall not be,” said the Lord.

3

So the LORD relented from this plan. “I will not do it,” he said.

4

This is what the Lord God showed me: behold, the Lord God was calling for a judgment by fire, and it devoured the great deep and was eating up the land.

4

A Vision of Fire

Then 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.

5

Then I said,
“O Lord God, please cease!
How can Jacob stand?
He is so small!”

5

Then I said, “O Sovereign LORD, please stop or we will not survive, for Israel is so small.”

6

The Lord relented concerning this:
“This also shall not be,” said the Lord God.

6

Then the LORD relented from this plan, too. “I will not do that either,” said the Sovereign LORD.

7

This is what he showed me: behold, the Lord was standing beside a wall built with a plumb line, with a plumb line in his hand.

7

A Vision of a Plumb Line

Then 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.

8

And the Lord said to me, “Amos, what do you see?” And I said, “A plumb line.” Then the Lord said,
“Behold, I am setting a plumb line
in the midst of my people Israel;
I will never again pass by them;

8

And 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.

9

the high places of Isaac shall be made desolate,
and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste,
and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.”

9

The pagan shrines of your ancestorsb will be ruined, and the temples of Israel will be destroyed; I will bring the dynasty of King Jeroboam to a sudden end.”

10

Amos Accused

Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, “Amos has conspired against you in the midst of the house of Israel. The land is not able to bear all his words.

10

Amos and Amaziah

Then 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.

11

For thus Amos has said,
“‘Jeroboam shall die by the sword,
and Israel must go into exile
away from his land.’”

11

He is saying, ‘Jeroboam will soon be killed, and the people of Israel will be sent away into exile.’”

12

And Amaziah said to Amos, “O seer, go, flee away to the land of Judah, and eat bread there, and prophesy there,

12

Then 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!

13

but never again prophesy at Bethel, for it is the king’s sanctuary, and it is a temple of the kingdom.”

13

Don’t bother us with your prophecies here in Bethel. This is the king’s sanctuary and the national place of worship!”

14

Then Amos answered and said to Amaziah, “I wasa no prophet, nor a prophet’s son, but I was a herdsman and a dresser of sycamore figs.

14

But Amos replied, “I’m not a professional prophet, and I was never trained to be one.c I’m just a shepherd, and I take care of sycamore-fig trees.

15

But the Lord took me from following the flock, and the Lord said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’

15

But the LORD called me away from my flock and told me, ‘Go and prophesy to my people in Israel.’

16

Now therefore hear the word of the Lord.
“You say, ‘Do not prophesy against Israel,
and do not preach against the house of Isaac.’

16

Now then, listen to this message from the LORD:
“You say,
‘Don’t prophesy against Israel.
Stop preaching against my people.d’

17

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 shall be divided up with a measuring line;
you yourself shall die in an unclean land,
and Israel shall surely go into exile away from its land.’”

17

But 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.’”

Parallel

English Standard Version

New Living Translation

Amos 7

Amos 7