Study Desk

The Lord God showed me this: He was forming a swarm of locusts^(a) at the time the spring crop first began to sprout—after the cutting of the king's hay.

When the locusts finished eating the vegetation of the land,^(b) I said, "Lord God , please forgive!^(c) How will Jacob survive since he is so small?"^(d)

The Lord relented concerning this.^(e) "It will not happen," He said.

The Lord God showed me this: The Lord God was calling for a judgment by fire.^(f) It consumed the great deep and devoured the land.

Then I said, "Lord God , please stop!^(g) How will Jacob survive since he is so small?"

The Lord relented concerning this.^(h) "This will not happen either," said the Lord God .

He showed me this: The Lord was standing there by a vertical wall with a plumb line in His hand.

The Lord asked me, "What do you see, Amos?"⁽ⁱ⁾ I replied, "A plumb line." Then the Lord said, "I am setting a plumb line among My people Israel;^(j) I will no longer spare them:^(k)

Isaac's high places^(l) will be deserted, and Israel's sanctuaries will be in ruins;^(m) I will rise up against the house of Jeroboam with a sword."

Amaziah the priest⁽ⁿ⁾ of Bethel sent word to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, "Amos has conspired against you^(o) right here in the house of Israel. The land cannot endure all his words,

for Amos has said this: ‘Jeroboam will die by the sword, and Israel will certainly go into exile from its homeland.'"^(p)

Then Amaziah said to Amos, "Go away, you seer!^(q) Flee to the land of Judah. Earn your living^[a] and give your prophecies there,

but don't ever prophesy^(r) at Bethel again, for it is the king's sanctuary^(s) and a royal temple."

So Amos answered Amaziah, "I was^[b] not a prophet or the son of a prophet;^[c](t) rather, I was^[d] a herdsman,^(u) and I took care of sycamore figs.

But the Lord took me from following the flock^(v) and said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to My people Israel.'"^(w)

Now hear the word of the Lord . You say: Do not prophesy^(x) against Israel; do not preach^(y) against the house of Isaac.

Therefore, this is what the Lord says: Your wife will be a prostitute in the city,^(z) your sons and daughters will fall by the sword,^(aa) and your land will be divided up with a measuring line. You yourself will die on pagan^[e] soil,^(ab) and Israel will certainly go into exile^(ac) from its homeland.