Amos 7

¹Thus the Lord GOD shewed me: and, behold, he formed locusts in the beginning of the shooting up of the latter growth; and, lo, it was the latter growth after the king’s mowings. ²And it came to pass that when they made an end of eating the grass of the land, then I said, O Lord GOD, forgive, I beseech thee: how shall Jacob stand? for he is small. ³The LORD repented concerning this: It shall not be, saith the LORD. ⁴Thus the Lord GOD shewed me: and, behold, the Lord GOD called to contend by fire; and it devoured the great deep, and would have eaten up the land. ⁵Then said I, O Lord GOD, cease, I beseech thee: how shall Jacob stand? for he is small. ⁶The LORD repented concerning this: This also shall not be, saith the Lord GOD. ⁷Thus he shewed me: and, behold, the Lord stood beside a wall made by a plumbline, with a plumbline in his hand. ⁸And the LORD said unto me, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A plumbline. Then said the Lord, Behold, I will set a plumbline in the midst of my people Israel; I will not again pass by them any more: ⁹and the high places of Isaac shall be desolate, and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste; and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword. ¹⁰Then Amaziah the priest of Beth-el sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, Amos hath conspired against thee in the midst of the house of Israel: the land is not able to bear all his words. ¹¹For thus Amos saith, Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel shall surely be led away captive out of his land. ¹²Also Amaziah said unto Amos, O thou seer, go, flee thee away into the land of Judah, and there eat bread, and prophesy there: ¹³but prophesy not again any more at Beth-el: for it is the king’s sanctuary, and it is a royal house. ¹⁴Then answered Amos, and said to Amaziah, I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet’s son; but I was an herdman, and a dresser of sycomore trees: ¹⁵and the LORD took me from following the flock, and the LORD said unto me, Go, prophesy unto my people Israel. ¹⁶Now therefore hear thou the word of the LORD: Thou sayest, Prophesy not against Israel, and drop not thy wordagainst the house of Isaac; ¹⁷therefore thus saith the LORD: Thy wife shall be an harlot in the city, and thy sons and thy daughters shall fall by the sword, and thy land shall be divided by line; and thou thyself shalt die in a land that is unclean, and Israel shall surely be led away captive out of his land.