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Amos 7
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Amos 7
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
V. Symbolic Visions
Chapter 7
First Vision: The Locust Swarm
1 This 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[a]). 2 When they had finished eating the grass in the land, I said:
Forgive, O Lord God!
Who will raise up Jacob?
He is so small!
3 The Lord relented concerning this. “This shall not be,” said the Lord God.
Second Vision: The Rain of Fire
4 This 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. 5 Then I said:
Cease, O Lord God!
Who will raise up Jacob?
He is so small!
6 The Lord relented concerning this. “This also shall not be,” said the Lord God.
Third Vision: The Plummet
7 (A)This is what the Lord God showed me: He was standing, plummet in hand, by a wall built with a plummet.[b] 8 The 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.
9 The 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
10 Amaziah, 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. 11 For this is what Amos says:
‘Jeroboam shall die by the sword,
and Israel shall surely be exiled from its land.’”
12 To Amos, Amaziah said: “Off with you, seer, flee to the land of Judah and there earn your bread by prophesying! 13 But never again prophesy in Bethel;(B) for it is the king’s sanctuary and a royal temple.” 14 Amos answered Amaziah, “I am not a prophet,[c] nor do I belong to a company of prophets. I am a herdsman and a dresser of sycamores,(C) 15 but the Lord took me from following the flock, and the Lord said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’(D) 16 Now hear the word of the Lord:
You say: ‘Do not prophesy against Israel,
do not preach against the house of Isaac.’
17 Therefore 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.”
Footnotes
- 7:1 The king’s mowing: the first harvesting of the crops apparently belonged to the king as a kind of tax.
- 7:7 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).
- 7:14 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.
Amos 7
New International Version
Amos 7
New International Version
Locusts, Fire and a Plumb Line
7 This is what the Sovereign Lord showed me:(A) He was preparing swarms of locusts(B) after the king’s share had been harvested and just as the late crops were coming up. 2 When they had stripped the land clean,(C) I cried out, “Sovereign Lord, forgive! How can Jacob survive?(D) He is so small!(E)”
3 So the Lord relented.(F)
“This will not happen,” the Lord said.(G)
4 This is what the Sovereign Lord showed me: The Sovereign Lord was calling for judgment by fire;(H) it dried up the great deep and devoured(I) the land. 5 Then I cried out, “Sovereign Lord, I beg you, stop! How can Jacob survive? He is so small!(J)”
6 So the Lord relented.(K)
“This will not happen either,” the Sovereign Lord said.(L)
7 This is what he showed me: The Lord was standing by a wall that had been built true to plumb,[a] with a plumb line[b] in his hand. 8 And the Lord asked me, “What do you see,(M) Amos?(N)”
“A plumb line,(O)” I replied.
Then the Lord said, “Look, I am setting a plumb line among my people Israel; I will spare them no longer.(P)
9 “The high places(Q) of Isaac will be destroyed
and the sanctuaries(R) of Israel will be ruined;
with my sword I will rise against the house of Jeroboam.(S)”
Amos and Amaziah
10 Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel(T) sent a message to Jeroboam(U) king of Israel: “Amos is raising a conspiracy(V) against you in the very heart of Israel. The land cannot bear all his words.(W) 11 For this is what Amos is saying:
“‘Jeroboam will die by the sword,
and Israel will surely go into exile,(X)
away from their native land.’”(Y)
12 Then Amaziah said to Amos, “Get out, you seer!(Z) Go back to the land of Judah. Earn your bread there and do your prophesying there.(AA) 13 Don’t prophesy anymore at Bethel,(AB) because this is the king’s sanctuary and the temple(AC) of the kingdom.(AD)”
14 Amos answered Amaziah, “I was neither a prophet(AE) nor the son of a prophet, but I was a shepherd, and I also took care of sycamore-fig trees.(AF) 15 But the Lord took me from tending the flock(AG) and said to me, ‘Go,(AH) prophesy(AI) to my people Israel.’(AJ) 16 Now then, hear(AK) the word of the Lord. You say,
“‘Do not prophesy against(AL) Israel,
and stop preaching against the descendants of Isaac.’
17 “Therefore this is what the Lord says:
New American Bible (Revised Edition) (NABRE)
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