1The Lord Yahweh showed me a vision. I saw him forming swarms of locusts just as the later crops were starting to grow. This was after the king had already taken his share of the first harvest.
2After the locusts had completely eaten all the grass in the land, I said, 'Lord Yahweh, please forgive us! How can Jacob survive? He is so small.'
3Yahweh changed his mind about this. 'It will not happen,' Yahweh said.
4The Lord Yahweh showed me another vision. I saw the Lord Yahweh calling for judgment by fire. It dried up the great ocean and was about to consume the land.
5Then I said, 'Lord Yahweh, please stop! How can Jacob survive? He is so small.'
6Yahweh changed his mind about this. The Lord Yahweh said, 'This will not happen either.'
7He showed me another vision. I saw the Lord standing beside a wall that had been built with a plumb line, and he held a plumb line in his hand.
8Yahweh asked me, 'Amos, what do you see?' I replied, 'A plumb line.' Then the Lord said, 'Look, I am putting a plumb line in the middle of my people Israel. I will no longer overlook their sins.'
9The shrines of Isaac will be destroyed, the holy places of Israel will be ruined, and I will attack the household of Jeroboam with a sword.
10Then Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, sent a message to King Jeroboam of Israel, saying, 'Amos is plotting against you right here in Israel. The country cannot tolerate all his words.'
11Amaziah also reported, 'Amos is saying, "Jeroboam will die by the sword, and the people of Israel will certainly be taken away from their land as captives."'
12Amaziah also said to Amos, 'You seer, go away! Flee to the land of Judah. Earn your living there and prophesy there.'
13But don't ever prophesy in Bethel again, because it is the king's sanctuary and a royal temple.
14Then Amos answered Amaziah, 'I was not a prophet, nor was I a prophet's son; I was a herdsman and I took care of sycamore fig trees.'
15But Yahweh took me from tending the flock and told me, 'Go, prophesy to my people Israel.'
16Now listen to Yahweh's message. You say, 'Don't prophesy against Israel, and don't preach against the descendants of Isaac.'
17Therefore, Yahweh says: 'Your wife will become a prostitute in the city, your sons and daughters will die by the sword, your land will be divided among others, and you yourself will die in a foreign, unclean land. And the people of Israel will certainly be led away captive from their land.'