Amos 7:2

Good News Translation

In my vision I saw the locusts eat up every green thing in the land, and then I said, "Sovereign Lord , forgive your people! How can they survive? They are so small and weak!"

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
When the locusts finished eating the vegetation of the land, I said, “Lord God, please forgive! How will Jacob survive since he is so small?”

Hebrew Names Version
It happened that, when they made an end of eating the grass of the land, then I said, "Lord GOD, forgive, I beg you! How could Ya`akov stand? For he is small."

King James Version (1611)
And it came to passe, that when they had made an ende of eating the grasse of the land, then I said; O Lord God, forgiue, I beseech thee, by whom shal Iacob arise? for he is small.

King James Version
And it came to pass, that when they had made an end of eating the grass of the land, then I said, O Lord God , forgive, I beseech thee: by whom shall Jacob arise? for he is small.

English Standard Version
When they had finished eating the grass of the land, I said, "O Lord God , please forgive! How can Jacob stand? He is so small!"

New American Standard Bible
And it came about, when it had finished eating the vegetation of the land, that I said, "Lord GOD, please pardon! How can Jacob stand? For he is small."

New Century Version
When the locusts ate all the crops in the country, I said, "Lord God , forgive us. How could Israel live through this? It is too small already!"

Amplified Bible
And when the locusts had finished eating the plants of the land, then I said, "O Lord GOD, please forgive! How can Jacob stand, For he is so small [that he cannot endure this]?"

Geneva Bible (1587)
And when they had made an ende of eating the grasse of the land, then I saide, O Lorde God, spare, I beseeche thee: who shal raise vp Iaakob? for he is small.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
And it came about, when it had finished eating the vegetation of the land, that I said, "Lord GOD, please pardon! How can Jacob stand, For he is small?"

Legacy Standard Bible
And it happened when it had completed eating the vegetation of the land, that I said,"Lord Yahweh, please pardon!How can Jacob rise up,For he is small?"

Berean Standard Bible
And when the locusts had eaten every green plant in the land, I said, "Lord GOD, please forgive! How will Jacob survive, since he is so small?"

Contemporary English Version
In my vision the locusts ate every crop in the land, and I said to the Lord , "Forgive me for asking, but how can the nation survive? It's so weak."

Complete Jewish Bible
While they were finishing up eating all the vegetation in the land, I said, "Adonai Elohim , forgive — please! How will tiny Ya‘akov survive?"

Darby Translation
And it came to pass, when they had wholly eaten the grass of the land, that I said, O Lord Jehovah, forgive, I beseech thee! How shall Jacob arise? for he is small.

Easy-to-Read Version
Before the locusts could eat all the grass in the country, I said, "Lord God , I beg you, forgive us! Jacob cannot survive! He is too small!"

George Lamsa Translation
And it came to pass when they had finished eating the grass of the land, then I said, O LORD God, forgive. Who shall raise up Jacob? For he is small in numbers.

Lexham English Bible
And then when they finished eating the vegetation of the land, I said, "O Lord Yahweh, please forgive! How can Jacob stand, because he is small?"

Literal Translation
And it happened when it had made an end of eating the vegetation of the land, then I said, Lord Jehovah, I pray, forgive. How can Jacob rise up? For he is small.

American Standard Version
And it came to pass that, when they made an end of eating the grass of the land, then I said, O Lord Jehovah, forgive, I beseech thee: how shall Jacob stand? for he is small.

Bible in Basic English
And it came about that after they had taken all the grass of the land, I said, O Lord God, have mercy: how will Jacob be able to keep his place? for he is small.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And if it had come to pass, that when they had made an end of eating the grass of the land--so I said: O Lord GOD, forgive, I beseech Thee; how shall Jacob stand? for he is small.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And when they hath made an end of eating the grasse of the lande, then I sayde, O Lorde God, spare I beseche thee: who shall rayse vp Iacob? for he is smal.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And it came to pass when he had finished devouring the grass of the land, that I said, Lord God, be merciful; who shall raise up Jacob? for he is small in number.

English Revised Version
And 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.

World English Bible
It happened that, when they made an end of eating the grass of the land, then I said, "Lord Yahweh, forgive, I beg you! How could Jacob stand? For he is small."

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And it was don, whanne he hadde endid for to ete the erbe of erthe, Y seide, Lord God, Y biseche, be thou merciful; who schal reise Jacob, for he is litil?

Update Bible Version
And it came to pass that, when they made an end of eating the grass of the land, then I said, O Lord Yahweh, forgive, I urge you: how shall Jacob stand? for he is small.

Webster's Bible Translation
And it came to pass, [that] when they had made an end of eating the grass of the land, then I said, O Lord GOD, forgive, I beseech thee: by whom shall Jacob arise? for he [is] small.

New English Translation
When they had completely consumed the earth's vegetation, I said, "Sovereign Lord , forgive Israel! How can Jacob survive? He is too weak!"

New King James Version
And so it was, when they had finished eating the grass of the land, that I said: "O Lord GOD, forgive, I pray! Oh, that Jacob may stand, For he is small!"

New Living Translation
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 Israel is so small."

New Life Bible
When they had finished eating the grass I said, "Lord God, forgive! O that Jacob may stay alive for he is so small!"

New Revised Standard
When they had finished eating the grass of the land, I said, "O Lord God , forgive, I beg you! How can Jacob stand? He is so small!"

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And it came to pass, when they had made an end of eating the herbage of the land, that I said - Oh, My Lord, Yahweh, forgive, I beseech thee: By whom shall Jacob, arise? for, small, he is.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And it came to pass, that when they had made an end of eating the grass of the land, I said: O Lord God, be merciful, I beseech thee: who shall raise up Jacob, for he is very little?

Revised Standard Version
When they had finished eating the grass of the land, I said, "O Lord GOD, forgive, I beseech thee! How can Jacob stand? He is so small!"

Young's Literal Translation
and it hath come to pass, when it hath finished to consume the herb of the land, that I say: `Lord Jehovah, forgive, I pray Thee, How doth Jacob arise -- for he [is] small?'

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Now when they vndertoke to eate vp all the grene thinges in ye lode, I sayde: O LORDE God, be mercifull, I beseke the: who shulde els helpe vp Iacob, that is brought so lowe?

Contextual Overview

¹ I had a vision from the Sovereign Lord . In it I saw him create a swarm of locusts just after the king's share of the hay had been cut and the grass was starting to grow again. ² In my vision I saw the locusts eat up every green thing in the land, and then I said, "Sovereign Lord , forgive your people! How can they survive? They are so small and weak!" ³ The Lord changed his mind and said, "What you saw will not take place." ⁴ I had another vision from the Sovereign Lord . In it I saw him preparing to punish his people with fire. The fire burned up the great ocean under the earth and started to burn up the land. ⁵ Then I said, "Stop, O Sovereign Lord ! How can your people survive? They are so small and weak!" ⁶ The Lord changed his mind again and said, "This will not take place either." ⁷ I had another vision from the Lord . In it I saw him standing beside a wall that had been built with the use of a plumb line, and there was a plumb line in his hand. ⁸ He asked me, "Amos, what do you see?" "A plumb line," I answered. Then he said, "I am using it to show that my people are like a wall that is out of line. I will not change my mind again about punishing them. ⁹ The places where Isaac's descendants worship will be destroyed. The holy places of Israel will be left in ruins. I will bring the dynasty of King Jeroboam to an end."

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

when: Exodus 10:15, Revelation 9:4

O Lord: Amos 7:5, Exodus 32:11, Exodus 32:12, Exodus 34:9, Numbers 14:17-19, Jeremiah 14:7, Jeremiah 14:20, Jeremiah 14:21, Daniel 9:19, James 5:15, James 5:16

by whom shall Jacob arise: or, who of - or for Jacob shall stand, Isaiah 51:19, Ezekiel 9:8, Ezekiel 11:13

for: Psalms 12:1, Psalms 44:24-26, Isaiah 37:4, Jeremiah 42:2, Zechariah 4:10

Reciprocal: Exodus 32:32 - if thou Numbers 11:2 - prayed Deuteronomy 9:19 - But the Deuteronomy 28:38 - for the locust Deuteronomy 28:42 - thy trees 1 Kings 8:34 - forgive the sin Psalms 78:46 - gave also Proverbs 29:8 - wise Joel 2:13 - and repenteth Joel 2:17 - Spare Amos 4:9 - the palmerworm Amos 5:2 - none

Cross-References

Genesis 7:1
The Lord said to Noah, "Go into the boat with your whole family; I have found that you are the only one in all the world who does what is right.

Genesis 7:8
A male and a female of every kind of animal and bird, whether ritually clean or unclean,

Genesis 7:11
When Noah was six hundred years old, on the seventeenth day of the second month all the outlets of the vast body of water beneath the earth burst open, all the floodgates of the sky were opened,

Genesis 7:15
A male and a female of each kind of living being went into the boat with Noah,

Genesis 7:19
It became so deep that it covered the highest mountains;

Genesis 7:21
Every living being on the earth died—every bird, every animal, and every person.

Genesis 8:20
Noah built an altar to the Lord ; he took one of each kind of ritually clean animal and bird, and burned them whole as a sacrifice on the altar.

Leviticus 10:10
You must distinguish between what belongs to God and what is for general use, between what is ritually clean and what is unclean.

Ezekiel 44:23
"The priests are to teach my people the difference between what is holy and what is not, and between what is ritually clean and what is not.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And it came to pass, [that] when they had made an end of eating the grass of the land,.... That is, the grasshoppers or locusts; when in the vision it seemed to the prophet that almost all the grass of the land was eaten up, and they were going to seize upon the corn, and other fruits of the earth: this signifies not Sennacherib's invasion of the land of Judea, but Pul's invasion of the land of Israel, whose army seemed like these locusts; and spreading themselves over the land, threatened it with desolation, as these locusts seemed to have wholly consumed all the grass of the land; then the prophet said what follows:

then I said, O Lord God, forgive, I beseech thee; the sins of the people, as the Targum, which were the cause of these locusts coming, or of the Assyrian army invading the land; and the prophet prays that God would avert this judgment, signified in this vision, or remove it, which is often in Scripture meant by the forgiveness of sin, Exodus 32:31; this is the business of the prophets and ministers of the Lord, to intercede for a people when ruin is near; and happy is that people, when they have such to stand up in the breach for them. The argument the prophet uses is,

by whom shall Jacob arise? for he [is] small; or "little" a; like the first shooting up of the grass, after it has been own: or, as Noldius b renders it, "how [otherwise] should Jacob stand?" and so Kimchi, how should there be a standing for him? that is, unless God forgives his sin, and turns away his wrath, how shall he stand up under the weight of his sins, which must lie upon him, unless forgiven? and how shall he bear the wrath and indignation of God for them? and so if any sinner is not forgiven, how shall he stand before God to serve and worship him now? or at his tribunal with confidence hereafter? or sustain his wrath and displeasure to all eternity? see Psalms 130:3; or, "who of" or "in Jacob shall stand" c? not one will be left; all must be cut off, if God forgive not; for all are sinners, there are none without sin: or, "who shall stand for Jacob?" d or intercede for him? it will be to no purpose, if God is inexorable: so the Targum,

"who will stand and ask "pardon" for their sins?''

or, "who will raise up Jacob?" e from that low condition in which he is, or likely to be in, if God forgive not, and does not avert the judgment threatened, to a high and glorious state of prosperity and happiness; for, if all are cut off, there will be none left to be instruments of such a work: "for he [is] small"; few in number, and greatly weakened by one calamity or another; and, if this should take place, would be fewer and weaker still. So the church of Christ, which is often signified by Jacob, is sometimes in a very low estate; the number of converts few; has but a little strength to bear afflictions, perform duty, and withstand enemies; it is a day of small things with it, with respect to light and knowledge, and the exercise of grace, especially faith; when some like the prophet are concerned for it, by whom it shall arise; the God of Jacob can cause it to arise, and can raise up instruments for such service, and make his ministers, and the ministry of the word and ordinances, means of increasing the number, stature, spiritual light, knowledge, grace, and strength of his people.

a קטן "parvulus", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus; "parvus", Junius Tremellius, Piscator, Cocceius. b מי יקום יעקב "quomodo (alias) surgeret Jacob?" Concord. Ebr. Part. p. 60. No. 1979. "quomodo consistet?" Liveleus "quomodo surget Jacob?" Drusius. c "Quis staret, Jahacobo?" Junius Tremellius "quis remaneret Jacobo?" Piscator. d "Quis stabit pro Jacobo?" Mercerus. e "Quis suseitabit Jahacob?" V. L. Pagninus, Montanus, Vatablus.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Amos 7:2. By whom shall Jacob arise? — The locusts, the symbols of the many enemies that had impoverished Jerusalem, having devoured much of the produce of the land, were proceeding, till, at the intercession of the prophet, they were removed. Then, seeing in the light of prophecy the nation in every sense brought low, he cries, "By whom shall Jacob arise? for he is small." Calmet justly remarks: "After the death of Jeroboam the second, the kingdom, so flourishing and powerful before, was reduced to such weakness that it was obliged to have recourse to strangers for support. Menahem applied to Pul, king of Assyria, whence arose the final misery of the state.