Amos 7
7
Locusts and the Trial by Fire
1This is what my Lord Adonai has shown me: Behold, He was forming locusts at the beginning of the spring crop—after the cutting of the king’s hay.
2When the locust-swarm had finished devouring the vegetation of the land, I said: “Adonai Elohim, please pardon! How can Jacob stand, for he is small?”
3Adonai relented concerning this. “It shall not be,” Adonai said.
4This is what my Lord Adonai has shown me: Behold, Adonai Elohim was calling for the trial by fire, and it would have devoured the great deep, and it would have devoured the territory.
5But I said: “My Lord Adonai, stop, please! How can Jacob stand, for he is small?”
6Adonai relented concerning this. “This also shall not happen,” says my Lord Adonai.
Plumb Line on a Wall
7This is what He has revealed to me: Behold, my Lord was standing by a vertical wall, and in His hand was a plumb line.
8Then Adonai said to me: “What do you see, Amos?” I said: “A plumb line.” Then my Lord said: “Behold, I am setting a plumb line among My people Israel— I will no longer pass over them.
9So the high places of Isaac will become desolate, the sanctuaries of Israel will be laid waste, and I will rise up against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.”
10Then Amaziah, the priest of Beth-el, sent word to King Jeroboam of Israel, saying: “Amos has been conspiring against you in the midst of the house of Israel. The land cannot endure all his words.
11For this is what Amos has said: ‘Jeroboam will die by the sword, and Israel will surely go captive from his land.’”
12Then Amaziah said to Amos: “Seer, go away! Flee back to the land of Judah. Eat bread there, and prophesy there.
13But at Bethel you are not to prophesy any more—for it is a royal sanctuary and a house of the kingdom.”
14So Amos responded and said to Amaziah: “I am no prophet, nor am I a son of a prophet. Rather, I am a shepherd tending fig trees.
15But Adonai took me from following the flock and Adonai said to me: ‘Go, prophesy to My people Israel.’
16So now, hear the word of Adonai: You are saying, ‘Do not prophesy against Israel and do not preach against the house of Isaac.’
17Therefore, this is what Adonai says: ‘Your wife shall become a prostitute in the city, your sons and your daughters will fall by the sword, and your land divided up by a measuring line. Now, as for you— you will die in an unclean land, and Israel will surely be led away captive out of its land.’”
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Amos 7: TLV
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Copyright © 2014 - Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society
Amos 7
7
First Vision: The Locust Swarm
1This is what the Lord God showed me: He was forming a locust swarm when the late growth began to come up (the late growth after the king’s mowing#The king’s mowing: the first harvesting of the crops apparently belonged to the king as a kind of tax.). 2When they had finished eating the grass in the land, I said:
Forgive, O Lord God!
Who will raise up Jacob?
He is so small!
3The Lord relented concerning this. “This shall not be,” said the Lord God.
Second Vision: The Rain of Fire
4This is what the Lord God showed me: He was summoning a rain of fire. It had devoured the great abyss and was consuming the fields. 5Then I said:
Cease, O Lord God!
Who will raise up Jacob?
He is so small!
6The Lord relented concerning this. “This also shall not be,” said the Lord God.
Third Vision: The Plummet
7#Jer 1:11–14. This is what the Lord God showed me: He was standing, plummet in hand, by a wall built with a plummet.#A plummet: with this vision, the pleas of the prophet (vv. 1–6) disappear, and disaster is announced. One use of the plummet in ancient times was to see how far out of line a wall or building had become, to determine whether it could be repaired or would have to be torn down. Like a structure that had become architecturally unsound, Israel was unsalvageable and would have to be demolished (cf. 2 Kgs 21:13; Is 34:11; Lam 2:8). 8The Lord God asked me, “What do you see, Amos?” And I answered, “A plummet.” Then the Lord said:
See, I am laying the plummet
in the midst of my people Israel;
I will forgive them no longer.
9The high places of Isaac shall be laid waste,
and the sanctuaries of Israel made desolate;
and I will attack the house of Jeroboam with the sword.
Biographical Interlude: Amos and Amaziah
10Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, sent word to Jeroboam, king of Israel: “Amos has conspired against you within the house of Israel; the country cannot endure all his words. 11For this is what Amos says:
‘Jeroboam shall die by the sword,
and Israel shall surely be exiled from its land.’”
12To Amos, Amaziah said: “Off with you, seer, flee to the land of Judah and there earn your bread by prophesying! 13But never again prophesy in Bethel;#Am 2:12. for it is the king’s sanctuary and a royal temple.” 14Amos answered Amaziah, “I am not a prophet,#I am not a prophet: Amos reacts strongly to Amaziah’s attempt to classify him as a “prophet-for-hire” who “earns [his] bread” by giving oracles in exchange for payment (cf. 1 Sm 9:3–10; Mi 3:5). To disassociate himself from this kind of “professional” prophet, Amos rejects outright the title of nabi’ (“prophet”). By profession he is a herdsman/sheepbreeder and a dresser of sycamore trees, but God’s call has commissioned him to prophesy to Israel. nor do I belong to a company of prophets. I am a herdsman and a dresser of sycamores,#Am 1:1; 2 Sm 7:8. 15but the Lord took me from following the flock, and the Lord said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’#Am 3:8. 16Now hear the word of the Lord:
You say: ‘Do not prophesy against Israel,
do not preach against the house of Isaac.’
17Therefore thus says the Lord:
Your wife shall become a prostitute in the city,
and your sons and daughters shall fall by the sword.
Your land shall be parcelled out by measuring line,
and you yourself shall die in an unclean land;
and Israel shall be exiled from its land.”
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