Vision of the Locusts
Study note
In the first vision, God shows Amos a swarm of locusts He is forming to destroy the crops after the king's harvest. When Amos sees the locusts devouring everything, he cries out to God to forgive Israel because the nation is so small and helpless. God listens to the prophet's plea and decides not to send this judgment.
1 The Lord GOD showed me a vision. He was getting ready a swarm of locusts. This was right when the second planting of crops was starting to sprout. The king had already taken his share of the first harvest. Thus hath the Lord GOD shewed unto me; and, behold, he formed grasshoppers in the beginning of the shooting up of the latter growth; and, lo, it was the latter growth after the king's mowings.
2 When the locusts had stripped every green thing from the land, I cried out, "Lord GOD, please forgive your people! How can little Jacob possibly survive this?" And it came to pass, that when they had made an end of eating the grass of the land, then I said, O Lord GOD, forgive, I beseech thee: by whom shall Jacob arise? for he is small.
3 The LORD changed his mind. "It will not happen," the LORD said. The LORD repented for this: It shall not be, saith the LORD.
Vision of the Fire
Study note
In the second vision, God shows Amos a great fire that devours even the deep ocean and begins to consume the land. Again Amos pleads with God to stop, saying Israel is too small to survive. God again listens and says this judgment will not happen either. These first two visions show God's patience and His willingness to hear the prayers of His prophets.
4 Then the Lord GOD showed me another vision: He was summoning a judgment of fire. The fire dried up the deep underground waters and was devouring the farmland. Thus hath the Lord GOD shewed unto me: and, behold, the Lord GOD called to contend by fire, and it devoured the great deep, and did eat up a part.
5 I cried out again, "Lord GOD, please stop! How can Jacob possibly survive? He is so small!" Then said I, O Lord GOD, cease, I beseech thee: by whom shall Jacob arise? for he is small.
6 The LORD changed his mind again. "This will not happen either," the Lord GOD said. The LORD repented for this: This also shall not be, saith the Lord GOD.
Vision of the Plumb Line
Study note
In the third vision, the Lord stands beside a wall with a plumb line, a tool used to check if a wall is perfectly straight. God tells Amos that He is measuring Israel against His standard and the nation is crooked. This time God does not ask Amos to pray and declares He will no longer pass over Israel's sin. The worship sites will be destroyed, and the royal house of Jeroboam will fall to the sword.
7 Then he showed me a third vision: The Lord stood next to a wall, holding a plumb line. That is a weighted string used to check if a wall is straight. Thus he shewed me: and, behold, the Lord stood upon a wall made by a plumbline, with a plumbline in his hand.
8 "Amos, what do you see?" the LORD asked. "A plumb line," I answered. Then the Lord said, "I am testing my people Israel against this plumb line. I will not let them off the hook any longer." And the LORD said unto me, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A plumbline. Then said the Lord, Behold, I will set a plumbline in the midst of my people Israel: I will not again pass by them any more:
9 "The worship shrines of Isaac will be torn down. The holy places of Israel will be left in rubble. I will come after the dynasty of Jeroboam with a sword." And the high places of Isaac shall be desolate, and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste; and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.
Amaziah Confronts Amos
Study note
Amaziah, the priest at Bethel, reports Amos to King Jeroboam, claiming the prophet is plotting against the king. Amaziah then confronts Amos directly, telling him to go back to Judah and prophesy there instead. He calls Bethel the king's own sanctuary, meaning Amos has no right to speak there. This confrontation shows how Israel's religious leaders tried to silence God's messengers.
10 Amaziah was the priest in charge at Bethel. He sent word to King Jeroboam of Israel. He said, "Amos stirs up trouble against you. He does it right here among your own people. The land cannot handle his words." Then Amaziah the priest of Beth-el sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, Amos hath conspired against thee in the midst of the house of Israel: the land is not able to bear all his words.
11 "He is saying that Jeroboam will die by the sword. He is saying that Israel will be taken away from their land as prisoners." For thus Amos saith, Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel shall surely be led away captive out of their own land.
12 Then Amaziah turned to Amos himself: "Get out of here, you prophet! Go back to Judah where you came from. You can earn your living and do your preaching there." Also Amaziah said unto Amos, O thou seer, go, flee thee away into the land of Judah, and there eat bread, and prophesy there:
13 "But do not speak your messages here at Bethel anymore. This is the king's own place of worship, the national temple." But prophesy not again any more at Beth-el: for it is the king's chapel, and it is the king's court.
Amos Defends His Calling
Study note
Amos responds that he was not a professional prophet or even the son of a prophet. He was simply a shepherd and a fig farmer. But the LORD took him from tending his flock and commanded him to prophesy to Israel. Because Amaziah tried to silence God's word, Amos delivers a devastating prophecy against the priest and his family, and confirms that Israel will indeed go into exile.
14 Amos fired right back: "I was never a professional prophet, and I was not trained as one either. I was just a shepherd who managed fig trees." Then answered Amos, and said to Amaziah, I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet's son; but I was an herdman, and a gatherer of sycomore fruit:
15 "But the LORD grabbed me right out of my sheep pasture and told me, 'Go deliver my message to my people Israel.'" And the LORD took me as I followed the flock, and the LORD said unto me, Go, prophesy unto my people Israel.
16 "So now hear the LORD's word. You tell me, 'Stop preaching against Israel. Stop speaking out against Isaac's descendants.'" Now therefore hear thou the word of the LORD: Thou sayest, Prophesy not against Israel, and drop not thy word against the house of Isaac.
17 "Well, here is what the LORD has to say about that: Your wife will be publicly shamed. Your sons and daughters will die in battle. Your land will be divided up among strangers. You yourself will die in a foreign country. And Israel will, certainly be marched away as captives, far from their homeland." Therefore thus saith the LORD; Thy wife shall be an harlot in the city, and thy sons and thy daughters shall fall by the sword, and thy land shall be divided by line; and thou shalt die in a polluted land: and Israel shall surely go into captivity forth of his land.