Amos 7 :: New Living Translation (NLT)

A Vision of Locusts

Amo 7:1The Sovereign LORD showed me a vision. I saw him preparing to send a vast swarm of locusts over the land. This was after the king’s share had been harvested from the fields and as the main crop was coming up.

Amo 7:2

Amo 7:2In 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[fn] is so small.”

Amo 7:3

Amo 7:3So the LORD relented from this plan. “I will not do it,” he said.

A Vision of Fire

Amo 7:4

Amo 7:4Then the Sovereign LORD showed me another vision. I saw him preparing to punish his people with a great fire. The fire had burned up the depths of the sea and was devouring the entire land.

Amo 7:5

Amo 7:5Then I said, “O Sovereign LORD, please stop or we will not survive, for Israel is so small.”

Amo 7:6

Amo 7:6Then the LORD relented from this plan, too. “I will not do that either,” said the Sovereign LORD.

A Vision of a Plumb Line

Amo 7:7

Amo 7:7Then he showed me another vision. I saw the Lord standing beside a wall that had been built using a plumb line. He was using a plumb line to see if it was still straight.

Amo 7:8

Amo 7:8And the LORD said to me, “Amos, what do you see?”
I answered, “A plumb line.”
And the Lord replied, “I will test my people with this plumb line. I will no longer ignore all their sins.

Amo 7:9

Amo 7:9The pagan shrines of your ancestors[fn] will be ruined, and the temples of Israel will be destroyed; I will bring the dynasty of King Jeroboam to a sudden end.”

Amos and Amaziah

Amo 7:10

Amo 7:10Then Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, sent a message to Jeroboam, king of Israel: “Amos is hatching a plot against you right here on your very doorstep! What he is saying is intolerable.

Amo 7:11

Amo 7:11He is saying, ‘Jeroboam will soon be killed, and the people of Israel will be sent away into exile.’”

Amo 7:12

Amo 7:12Then Amaziah sent orders to Amos: “Get out of here, you prophet! Go on back to the land of Judah, and earn your living by prophesying there!

Amo 7:13

Amo 7:13Don’t bother us with your prophecies here in Bethel. This is the king’s sanctuary and the national place of worship!”

Amo 7:14

Amo 7:14But Amos replied, “I’m not a professional prophet, and I was never trained to be one.[fn] I’m just a shepherd, and I take care of sycamore-fig trees.

Amo 7:15

Amo 7:15But the LORD called me away from my flock and told me, ‘Go and prophesy to my people in Israel.’

Amo 7:16

Amo 7:16Now then, listen to this message from the LORD:
“You say,
‘Don’t prophesy against Israel.
Stop preaching against my people.[fn]’

Amo 7:17

Amo 7:17But this is what the LORD says:
‘Your wife will become a prostitute in this city,
and your sons and daughters will be killed.
Your land will be divided up,
and you yourself will die in a foreign land.
And the people of Israel will certainly become captives in exile,
far from their homeland.’”