¹This is what the Lord God showed me. I saw that he was preparing a swarm of locusts just when the spring crops began to grow. (Spring crops begin to grow right after the time when the king's hay is cut.)[#7:1. In vision.; #7:1. Assumed meaning; Hebrew is unclear.]

²And so when the locusts finished eating every green plant in the fields, I pleaded with the Lord God, “Please forgive your people! How can the descendants of Jacob survive? They are so weak.”

³So the Lord changed his mind. “It won't happen,” said the Lord.

⁴This is what the Lord God showed me. I saw that the Lord God was calling for a judgment of fire. The fire burned up the depths of the sea and destroyed the farmland.

⁵I pleaded with the Lord God, “Please stop! How can the descendants of Jacob survive? They are so weak.”

⁶So the Lord changed his mind. “This too won't happen,” said the Lord.

⁷This is what he showed me. I saw the Lord was standing beside a wall that had been built with a plumb line. He was holding a plumb line in his hand.[#7:7. This term only occurs here, so the meaning is not certain.]

⁸And the Lord asked me, “Amos, what do you see?” I replied, “A plumb line.” And the Lord God said, “I am placing a plumb line in the midst of my people Israel. I won't ignore their sins anymore.[#7:8. As a standard to measure his people's faithfulness.]

⁹The high places of the descendants of Isaac will be torn down, and the holy places of Israel will be destroyed. Sword in hand, I will rise up against the house of Jeroboam.”[#7:9. Where pagan worship occurred.]

¹⁰Then Amaziah, priest of Bethel, sent a message to Jeroboam, king of Israel, saying, “Amos is plotting against you among the people of Israel. What he's saying is unbearable!

¹¹For he's saying Jeroboam will be killed by the sword, and the people will be taken away from their land into exile.”

¹²Amaziah said to Amos, “Go away prophet! Run away to the land of Judah. Go and prophesy there to earn your bread.[#7:12. Implying a selfish motive for Amos' prophesying—to earn a living.]

¹³But don't ever prophesy again at Bethel, for this is where the king worships, the national Temple.”

¹⁴But Amos replied, “I'm not a trained prophet, or the son of a prophet. I was just a shepherd, and also took care of fig trees.[#7:14. Meaning that Amos had not attended the schools of the prophets.]

¹⁵The Lord took me from following my flock, and the Lord told me, ‘Go, and give my message to my people of Israel.’”

¹⁶So now hear what the Lord is telling you: You say, “Don't prophesy against Israel, and don't preach against the descendants of Isaac.”

¹⁷But this is what the Lord says: Your wife will become a prostitute in the city; your sons and daughters will be killed by the sword. Your land will be measured and divided up, and you yourself will die in a foreign land. The people of Israel will definitely be taken from the land and go into exile.