[1] This is what the Lord God let me see: and I saw that, when the growth
of the late grass was starting, he made locusts; it was the late growth
after the king's cutting was done. [2] And it came about that after they
had taken all the grass of the land, I said, O Lord God, have mercy: how
will Jacob be able to keep his place? for he is small. [3] The Lord,
changing his purpose about this, said, It will not be. [4] This is what the
Lord let me see: and I saw that the Lord God sent for a great fire to be
the instrument of his punishment; and, after burning up the great deep, it
was about to put an end to the Lord's heritage. [5] Then said I, O Lord
God, let there be an end: how will Jacob be able to keep his place? for he
is small. [6] The Lord, changing his purpose about this, said, And this
will not be. [7] This is what he let me see: and I saw the Lord stationed
by a wall made straight by a weighted line, and he had a weighted line in
his hand. [8] And the Lord said to me, Amos, what do you see? And I said, A
weighted line. Then the Lord said, See, I will let down a weighted line
among my people Israel; never again will my eyes be shut to their sin: [9]
And the high places of Isaac will be unpeopled, and the holy places of
Israel will be made waste; and I will come up against the family of
Jeroboam with the sword. [10] Then Amaziah, the priest of Beth-el, sent to
Jeroboam, king of Israel, saying, Amos has made designs against you among
the people of Israel: the land is troubled by his words. [11] For Amos has
said, Jeroboam will be put to the sword, and Israel will certainly be taken
away as a prisoner out of his land. [12] And Amaziah said to Amos, O seer,
go in flight into the land of Judah, and there get your living by working
as a prophet: [13] But be a prophet no longer at Beth-el: for it is the
holy place of the king, and the king's house. [14] Then Amos in answer said
to Amaziah, I am no prophet, or one of the sons of the prophets; I am a
herdman and one who takes care of sycamore-trees: [15] And the Lord took me
from the flock, and the Lord said to me, Go, be a prophet to my people
Israel. [16] Now then, give ear to the word of the Lord: You say, Be no
prophet to Israel, and say not a word against the people of Isaac. [17] So
this is what the Lord has said: Your wife will be a loose woman in the
town, and your sons and your daughters will be put to the sword, and your
land will be cut up into parts by a line; and you yourself will come to
your end in an unclean land, and Israel will certainly be taken away a
prisoner out of his land.
