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1 This is what the Lord God showed*In vision. me. I saw that he was preparing a swarm of locusts just when the spring crops began to grow. (Spring crops begin to grow right after the time when the king's hay is cut.)†Assumed meaning; Hebrew is unclear. 2 And so when the locusts finished eating every green plant in the fields, I pleaded with the Lord God, “Please forgive your people! How can the descendants of Jacob survive? They are so weak.” 3 So the Lord changed his mind. “It won't happen,” said the Lord.
4 This is what the Lord God showed me. I saw that the Lord God was calling for a judgment of fire. The fire burned up the depths of the sea and destroyed the farmland. 5 I pleaded with the Lord God, “Please stop! How can the descendants of Jacob survive? They are so weak.” 6 So the Lord changed his mind. “This too won't happen,” said the Lord.
7 This is what he showed me. I saw the Lord was standing beside a wall that had been built with a plumb line.‡This term only occurs here, so the meaning is not certain. He was holding a plumb line in his hand. 8 And the Lord asked me, “Amos, what do you see?” I replied, “A plumb line.” And the Lord God said, “I am placing a plumb line in the midst of my people Israel.§As a standard to measure his people's faithfulness. I won't ignore their sins anymore. 9 The high places*Where pagan worship occurred. of the descendants of Isaac will be torn down, and the holy places of Israel will be destroyed. Sword in hand, I will rise up against the house of Jeroboam.”
10 Then Amaziah, priest of Bethel, sent a message to Jeroboam, king of Israel, saying, “Amos is plotting against you among the people of Israel. What he's saying is unbearable! 11 For he's saying Jeroboam will be killed by the sword, and the people will be taken away from their land into exile.”
12 Amaziah said to Amos, “Go away prophet! Run away to the land of Judah. Go and prophesy there to earn your bread.†Implying a selfish motive for Amos' prophesying—to earn a living. 13 But don't ever prophesy again at Bethel, for this is where the king worships, the national Temple.”
14 But Amos replied, “I'm not a trained prophet,‡Meaning that Amos had not attended the schools of the prophets. or the son of a prophet. I was just a shepherd, and also took care of fig trees. 15 The Lord took me from following my flock, and the Lord told me, ‘Go, and give my message to my people of Israel.’ ”
16 So now hear what the Lord is telling you: You say, “Don't prophesy against Israel, and don't preach against the descendants of Isaac.”
17 But this is what the Lord says: Your wife will become a prostitute in the city; your sons and daughters will be killed by the sword. Your land will be measured and divided up, and you yourself will die in a foreign land. The people of Israel will definitely be taken from the land and go into exile.

- Amos
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*7:1 In vision.

†7:1 Assumed meaning; Hebrew is unclear.

‡7:7 This term only occurs here, so the meaning is not certain.

§7:8 As a standard to measure his people's faithfulness.

*7:9 Where pagan worship occurred.

†7:12 Implying a selfish motive for Amos' prophesying—to earn a living.

‡7:14 Meaning that Amos had not attended the schools of the prophets.

© 2018 Dr. Jonathan Gallagher