Amos 7

English TL (The Living Bible) (1971)

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1This is what the Lord God showed me in a vision: He was preparing a vast swarm of locusts to destroy all the main crop that sprang up after the first mowing, which went as taxes to the king.

2They ate everything in sight. Then I said, “O Lord God, please forgive your people! Don't send them this plague! If you turn against Israel, what hope is there? For Israel is so small!“

3So the Lord relented and did not fulfill the vision. “I won't do it,“ he told me.

4Then the Lord God showed me a great fire he had prepared to punish them; it had burned up the waters and was devouring the entire land.

5Then I said, “O Lord God, please don't do it. If you turn against them, what hope is there? For Israel is so small!“

6Then the Lord turned from this plan too, and said, “I won't do that either.“

7Then he showed me this: The Lord was standing beside a wall built with a plumbline, checking it with a plumbline to see if it was straight.

8And the Lord said to me, “Amos, what do you see?“ I answered, “A plumbline.“ And he replied, “I will test my people with a plumbline. I will no longer turn away from punishing.

9The idol altars and temples of Israel will be destroyed, and I will destroy the dynasty of King Jeroboam by the sword.“

10But when Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, heard what Amos was saying, he rushed a message to Jeroboam, the king: “Amos is a traitor to our nation and is plotting your death. This is intolerable. It will lead to rebellion all across the land.

11He says you will be killed and Israel will be sent far away into exile and slavery.“

12Then Amaziah sent orders to Amos, “Get out of here, you prophet, you! Flee to the land of Judah and do your prophesying there!

13Don't bother us here with your visions, not here in the capital where the king's chapel is!“

14But Amos replied, “I am not really one of the prophets. I do not come from a family of prophets. I am just a herdsman and fruit picker.

15But the Lord took me from caring for the flocks and told me, 'Go and prophesy to my people Israel.'

16“Now, therefore, listen to this message to you from the Lord. You say, 'Don't prophesy against Israel.'

17The Lord's reply is this: 'Because of your interference, your wife will become a prostitute in this city, your sons and daughters will be killed, and your land divided up. You yourself will die in a heathen land, and the people of Israel will certainly become slaves in exile, far from their land.' “

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