New Living Translation

New King James Version

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.

1

Vision of the Locusts

Thus the Lord God showed me: Behold, He formed locust swarms at the [a]beginning of the late crop; indeed it was the late crop after the king’s mowings.

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.”

2

And so it was, when they had finished eating the grass of the land, that I said:
“O Lord God, forgive, I pray!
Oh,[b] that Jacob may stand,
For he is small!”

3

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

3

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

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.

4

Vision of the Fire

Thus the Lord God showed me: Behold, the Lord God called [c]for conflict by fire, and it consumed the great deep and devoured the [d]territory.

5

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

5

Then I said:
“O Lord God, cease, I pray!
Oh, that Jacob may stand,
For he is small!”

6

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

6

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

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.

7

Vision of the Plumb Line

Thus He showed me: Behold, the Lord stood on a wall made with a plumb line, with a plumb line in His hand.

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.

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 not pass by them anymore.

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.”

9

The [e]high places of Isaac shall be desolate,
And the [f]sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste.
I will rise with the sword against the house of Jeroboam.”

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.

10

Amaziah’s Complaint

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 [g]bear all his words.

11

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

11

For thus Amos has said:
‘Jeroboam shall die by the sword,
And Israel shall surely be led away captive
From their own land.’ ”

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!

12

Then Amaziah said to Amos:
“Go, you seer!
Flee to the land of Judah.
There eat bread,
And there prophesy.

13

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

13

But never again prophesy at Bethel,
For it is the king’s [h]sanctuary,
And it is the royal [i]residence.”

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.

14

Then Amos answered, and said to Amaziah:
“I was no prophet,
Nor was I a son of a prophet,
But I was a sheepbreeder
And a tender of sycamore fruit.

15

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

15

Then the Lord took me [j]as I followed the flock,
And the Lord said to me,
‘Go, prophesy to My people Israel.’

16

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

16

Now therefore, hear the word of the Lord:
You say, ‘Do not prophesy against Israel,
And do not [k]spout against the house of Isaac.’

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.’”

17

“Therefore thus says the Lord:
‘Your wife shall be a harlot in the city;
Your sons and daughters shall fall by the sword;
Your land shall be divided by survey line;
You shall die in a defiled land;
And Israel shall surely be led away captive
From his own land.’ ”

Parallel

New Living Translation

New King James Version

Amos 7

Amos 7