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Warning Through Visions

¹ Thus the Lord GOD showed me a vision, and behold, He was forming a ^(C1)swarm of locusts when the spring crop began to sprout. And behold, the spring crop was after the king's mowing.² And when the locusts had ^(C1)finished eating the plants of the land, then I said,

"O ^(C2)Lord GOD, please forgive!
How can Jacob stand,
For he is so ^(C3)small that he cannot endure this?"

³ The LORD ^(C1)revoked this sentence.
"It shall not take place," said the LORD.

⁴ Thus the Lord GOD showed me, and behold, the Lord GOD called for punishment with ^(C1)fire, and it devoured the great deep underground sources of water and began to consume the land.⁵ Then I said,

"O ^(C1)Lord GOD, please stop!
^(C2)How can Jacob stand,
For he is so small that he cannot endure this?"

⁶ The LORD ^(C1)revoked this sentence.
"This also shall not be," said the Lord GOD.

⁷ Thus He showed me a vision, and behold, the Lord was standing by a vertical wall with a plumb line in His hand to determine if the wall was straight or if it needed to be destroyed. ^(VR1)8 The LORD said to me, "Amos, ^(C1)what do you see?" And I said, "A plumb line." Then the Lord said,

"Behold, I am setting a ^(C2)plumb line as a standard
Among My people Israel showing the defectiveness of the nation, requiring judgment.
I shall not ^(C3)spare them any longer. The door of mercy is shut.

⁹ "And the idolatrous ^(C1)high places of Isaac (Israel) will be devastated and deserted,
And the ^(C2)sanctuaries of Israel will be in ruins.
Then I shall ^(C3)rise up against the house of Jeroboam with the sword and destroy the monarchy."

Amos Accused, Answers

¹⁰ Then Amaziah, the ^(C1)priest of Bethel site of the golden calf shrine, sent word to ^(F1)(C2)Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, "Amos has ^(C3)conspired against you in the midst of the house of Israel; the land is unable to endure all his words. ^(VR1)11 "For in this way Amos has said, 'Jeroboam will die by the sword and Israel will certainly go from its land into exile.'"¹² Then Amaziah said to Amos, "^(C1)Go, you seer, run for your life from Israel to the land of Judah your own country and eat bread and live as a prophet there!¹³ "But ^(C1)do not prophesy any longer at Bethel, for it is the king's ^(C2)sanctuary and a royal residence." ^(VR1)

¹⁴ Then Amos replied to Amaziah, "I am not a prophet by profession, nor am I a ^(C1)prophet's son; I am a herdsman and a grower of sycamore figs.¹⁵ "But the LORD took me as I followed the flock and the LORD said to me, 'Go, ^(C1)prophesy to My people Israel.'¹⁶ "Now therefore, listen to the word of the LORD: You say, '^(C1)You shall not prophesy against Israel ^(C2)nor shall you speak against the house of Isaac.'¹⁷ "Therefore, thus says the LORD, 'Your ^(C1)wife shall become a prostitute in the city when the ^(F1)Assyrians capture Samaria and your ^(C2)sons and your daughters shall fall by the sword, and your land shall be divided by a measuring line; you yourself shall die in an ^(C3)unclean and defiled pagan land, and Israel shall certainly go from its land into exile.'"