Amos 7
7
To Die Homeless and Friendless
1-2 God, my Master, showed me this vision: He was preparing a locust swarm. The first cutting, which went to the king, was complete, and the second crop was just sprouting. The locusts ate everything green. Not even a blade of grass was left.
I called out, “God, my Master! Excuse me, but what’s going to come of Jacob? He’s so small.”
3 God gave in.
“It won’t happen,” he said.
* * *
4 God showed me this vision: Oh! God, my Master God was calling up a firestorm. It burned up the ocean. Then it burned up the Promised Land.
5I said, “God, my Master! Hold it—please! What’s going to come of Jacob? He’s so small.”
6 God gave in.
“All right, this won’t happen either,” God, my Master, said.
* * *
7 God showed me this vision: My Master was standing beside a wall. In his hand he held a plumb line.
8-9 God said to me, “What do you see, Amos?”
I said, “A plumb line.”
Then my Master said, “Look what I’ve done. I’ve hung a plumb line in the midst of my people Israel. I’ve spared them for the last time. This is it!
“Isaac’s sex-and-religion shrines will be smashed,
Israel’s unholy shrines will be knocked to pieces.
I’m raising my sword against the royal family of Jeroboam.”
10Amaziah, priest at the shrine at Bethel, sent a message to Jeroboam, king of Israel:
“Amos is plotting to get rid of you; and he’s doing it as an insider, working from within Israel. His talk will destroy the country. He’s got to be silenced. Do you know what Amos is saying?
11‘Jeroboam will be killed.
Israel is headed for exile.’”
12-13Then Amaziah confronted Amos: “Seer, be on your way! Get out of here and go back to Judah where you came from! Hang out there. Do your preaching there. But no more preaching at Bethel! Don’t show your face here again. This is the king’s chapel. This is a royal shrine.”
14-15But Amos stood up to Amaziah: “I never set up to be a preacher, never had plans to be a preacher. I raised cattle and I pruned trees. Then God took me off the farm and said, ‘Go preach to my people Israel.’
16-17“So listen to God’s Word. You tell me, ‘Don’t preach to Israel. Don’t say anything against the family of Isaac.’ But here’s what God is telling you:
Your wife will become a whore in town.
Your children will get killed.
Your land will be auctioned off.
You will die homeless and friendless.
And Israel will be hauled off to exile, far from home.”
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Amos 7: MSG
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THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved. Used by permission of NavPress. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.
Amos 7
7
The Vision of the Locusts
1This is what the Lord GOD showed me: He was making locusts. This was at the time the second crop began to grow, after the king’s people had cut the first crop. 2Before 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!”
3Then the Lord changed his mind about this. The Lord said, “It will not happen.”
The Vision of the Fire
4This is what the Lord GOD showed me: I saw the Lord GOD calling for judgment by fire. The fire destroyed the ocean and was beginning to eat up the land. 5But I said, “Lord GOD, stop, I beg you! Jacob cannot survive! He is too small!”
6Then the Lord changed his mind about this. The Lord GOD said, “It will not happen either.”
The Vision of the Plumb Line
7This is what the Lord showed me: He stood by a wall with a plumb line#7:7 plumb line A string with a weight on one end used to show how straight the walls of a building were. Sometimes the line was coated with paint or chalk to mark a straight line. in his hand. (The wall had been marked with a plumb line.) 8The Lord said to me, “Amos, what do you see?”
I said, “A plumb line.”
Then the Lord said to me, “See, I will put a plumb line among my people Israel. I will not let their ‘crooked ways’ pass inspection anymore. 9Isaac’s high places will be destroyed. Israel’s holy places will be made into a pile of rocks. I will attack and kill Jeroboam’s#7:9 Jeroboam The king of Israel. See verse 10. family with swords.”
Amaziah Tries to Stop Amos
10Amaziah, a priest at Bethel,#7:10 Bethel A town in Israel. This name means “God’s house.” sent this message to Jeroboam, the king of Israel: “Amos is making plans against you. He is trying to make the people of Israel fight against you. He has been speaking so much that this country cannot hold all his words. 11Amos has said, ‘Jeroboam will die by the sword, and the people of Israel will be taken as prisoners out of their country.’”
12Amaziah also said to Amos, “You seer, go down to Judah and eat there.#7:12 eat there This shows that Amaziah thought that Amos was a professional prophet who prophesied to receive food or money. Do your prophesying there. 13But don’t prophesy anymore here at Bethel. This is Jeroboam’s holy place. This is Israel’s temple.”
14Then Amos answered Amaziah, “I am not a professional prophet, and I am not from a prophet’s family. I raise cattle and take care of sycamore trees. 15I was a shepherd and the Lord took me from following the sheep. The Lord said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’ 16So listen to the Lord’s message. You tell me, ‘Don’t prophesy against Israel. Don’t speak against Isaac’s family.’ 17But the Lord says, ‘Your wife will become a prostitute in the city. Your sons and daughters will be killed with swords. Other people will take your land and divide it among themselves, and you will die in a foreign#7:17 foreign Literally, “unclean.” See “unclean” in the Word List. country. The people of Israel will definitely be taken from this country as prisoners.’”
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