Tre syner om dom over Israel
1Herren viste mig følgende syn: Efter at den tidlige afgrøde var klar til høst (den, som kongen får en del af), og de andre afgrøder var begyndt at komme op, lod Herren græshopper invadere landet, 2og de åd alle grønne planter. Da råbte jeg: „Herre, min Gud, tilgiv dit folk! Hvordan skal Israel overleve? Det er jo kun et lille folk!” 3Da forbarmede Herren sig og sagde: „Hvad du så, vil alligevel ikke ske!”
4Derpå viste Herren mig et andet syn: Jeg så en regn af ild nærme sig. Den opbrændte havet og var i gang med landjorden. 5Da råbte jeg: „Herre, min Gud, stands ilden! Hvordan skal Israel overleve? Det er jo kun et lille folk!” 6Da forbarmede Herren sig og sagde: „Hvad du så denne gang, vil heller ikke ske!”
7Så viste Herren mig et tredje syn: Han stod på en lodret mur med et blylod i hånden. 8Så spurgte han mig: „Amos, hvad ser du?” „Et blylod,” svarede jeg, og han fortsatte: „En mur, der ikke er lodret, skal rives ned,7,8 Teksten i vers 7 og 8 er usikker, og meningen med billedet er omstridt. og når mit folk, Israel, ikke handler ret, er jeg nødt til at skride ind. 9Israels offerhøje skal fjernes, deres afgudsaltre skal rives ned, og Jeroboams kongeslægt skal udryddes.”
Amos og Amatzja
10Amatzja, som var afgudspræst i Betel, sendte nu besked til kong Jeroboam: „Amos taler ondt imod dig. Vi kan ikke længere tolerere hans profetier. 11Han siger, at du vil blive slået ihjel og Israels folk blive ført bort som slaver.”
12Derefter tog Amatzja hen til Amos og sagde: „Se at komme væk herfra, profet! Rejs hjem til Judas land! Der kan du sikkert leve af at profetere. 13Men her i Betel må du ikke tale mere, for her ligger kongens helligdom, Israels riges tempel.”
14Amos svarede: „Jeg er hverken profet eller står i lære som profet. Jeg er hyrde og frugtavler. 15Men Herren sagde til mig: ‚Gå hen og profetér imod mit folk Israel!’ 16Men nu har Herren en besked til dig. Fordi du sagde, at jeg skulle holde op med at fantasere og profetere imod Israel, 17så hør hvad Herren siger til dig: ‚Du kommer til at dø i et fremmed land, og dine sønner og døtre bliver slået ihjel. Din jord bliver delt ud til andre, og din kone ender som prostitueret i byen. Og Israels folk bliver som sagt ført i eksil!’ ”
Locusts, Fire and a Plumb Line
1This is what the Sovereign Lord showed me: He was preparing swarms of locusts after the king’s share had been harvested and just as the late crops were coming up. 2When they had stripped the land clean, I cried out, “Sovereign Lord, forgive! How can Jacob survive? He is so small!”
3So the Lord relented.
“This will not happen,” the Lord said.
4This is what the Sovereign Lord showed me: The Sovereign Lord was calling for judgment by fire; it dried up the great deep and devoured the land. 5Then I cried out, “Sovereign Lord, I beg you, stop! How can Jacob survive? He is so small!”
6So the Lord relented.
“This will not happen either,” the Sovereign Lord said.
7This is what he showed me: The Lord was standing by a wall that had been built true to plumb,7:7 The meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain. with a plumb line7:7 The meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain; also in verse 8. in his hand. 8And the Lord asked me, “What do you see, Amos?”
“A plumb line,” I replied.
Then the Lord said, “Look, I am setting a plumb line among my people Israel; I will spare them no longer.
9“The high places of Isaac will be destroyed
and the sanctuaries of Israel will be ruined;
with my sword I will rise against the house of Jeroboam.”
Amos and Amaziah
10Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent a message to Jeroboam king of Israel: “Amos is raising a conspiracy against you in the very heart of Israel. The land cannot bear all his words. 11For this is what Amos is saying:
“ ‘Jeroboam will die by the sword,
and Israel will surely go into exile,
away from their native land.’ ”
12Then Amaziah said to Amos, “Get out, you seer! Go back to the land of Judah. Earn your bread there and do your prophesying there. 13Don’t prophesy anymore at Bethel, because this is the king’s sanctuary and the temple of the kingdom.”
14Amos answered Amaziah, “I was neither a prophet nor the son of a prophet, but I was a shepherd, and I also took care of sycamore-fig trees. 15But the Lord took me from tending the flock and said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’ 16Now then, hear the word of the Lord. You say,
“ ‘Do not prophesy against Israel,
and stop preaching against the descendants of Isaac.’
17“Therefore this is what the Lord says:
“ ‘Your wife will become a prostitute in the city,
and your sons and daughters will fall by the sword.
Your land will be measured and divided up,
and you yourself will die in a pagan7:17 Hebrew an unclean country.
And Israel will surely go into exile,
away from their native land.’ ”
