HelpFinder Bible - Flipbook - Page 1178
A MO S 7
3
4
5
6
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and look at how they were destroyed.
You push away every thought of coming
disaster,
but your actions only bring the day
of judgment closer.
How terrible for you who sprawl on
ivory beds
and lounge on your couches,
eating the meat of tender lambs from
the flock
and of choice calves fattened in the stall.
You sing trivial songs to the sound of
the harp
and fancy yourselves to be great
musicians like David.
You drink wine by the bowlful
and perfume yourselves with fragrant
lotions.
You care nothing about the ruin of your
nation.*
Therefore, you will be the first to be led
away as captives.
Suddenly, all your parties will end.
8 The
Sovereign Lord has sworn by his own
name, and this is what he, the Lord God of
Heaven’s Armies, says:
“I despise the arrogance of Israel,*
and I hate their fortresses.
I will give this city
and everything in it to their enemies.”
9 (If there are ten men left in one house, they
will all die. 10 And when a relative who is responsible to dispose of the dead* goes into the
house to carry out the bodies, he will ask the
last survivor, “Is anyone else with you?” When
the person begins to swear, “No, by . . . ,” he
will interrupt and say, “Stop! Don’t even mention the name of the Lord.”)
11
When the Lord gives the command,
homes both great and small will be
smashed to pieces.
12
Can horses gallop over boulders?
Can oxen be used to plow them?
But that’s how foolish you are when you
turn justice into poison
and the sweet fruit of righteousness into
bitterness.
And you brag about your conquest of
Lo-debar.*
You boast, “Didn’t we take Karnaim* by
our own strength?”
13
14
“O people of Israel, I am about to bring an
enemy nation against you,”
says the Lord God of Heaven’s Armies.
“They will oppress you throughout your
land—
from Lebo-hamath in the north
to the Arabah Valley in the south.”
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A Vision of Locusts
The 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. 2 In 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* is so small.”
3 So the Lord relented from this plan. “I will
not do it,” he said.
7
A Vision of Fire
4 Then 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. 5 Then I said, “O Sovereign Lord,
please stop or we will not survive, for Israel is
so small.”
6 Then the Lord relented from this plan, too.
“I will not do that either,” said the Sovereign
Lord.
A Vision of a Plumb Line
7 Then 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. 8 And 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. 9 The pagan shrines of your ancestors* 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
10 Then 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.
11 He is saying, ‘Jeroboam will soon be killed,
and the people of Israel will be sent away into
exile.’”
12 Then 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! 13 Don’t bother us with your prophecies
here in Bethel. This is the king’s sanctuary and
the national place of worship!”
14 But Amos replied, “I’m not a professional
prophet, and I was never trained to be one.* I’m
just a shepherd, and I take care of sycamorefig trees. 15 But the Lord called me away from
my flock and told me, ‘Go and prophesy to my
6:6 Hebrew of Joseph. 6:8 Hebrew Jacob. See note
on 3:13. 6:10 Or to burn the dead. The meaning of the
Hebrew is uncertain. 6:13a Lo-debar means “nothing.”
6:13b Karnaim means “horns,” a term that symbolizes
strength. 7:2 Hebrew Jacob; also in 7:5. See note on 3:13.
7:9 Hebrew of Isaac. 7:14 Or I’m not a prophet nor the son
of a prophet.