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.’ ”
Mmoadabi, Ogya Ne Kirebennyɛ Susudua
1Nea Otumfo Awurade yi kyerɛɛ me ni: na ɔreboaboa mmoadabi bebree ano. Eyi yɛ bere a wɔatwa ɔhene kyɛfa afi mfuw no so na akyiri nnɔbae no renyin no. 2Bere a mmoadabi no awe asase no so nnɔbae nyinaa no, meteɛɛ mu se “Otumfo Awurade, mesrɛ wo, fa wo nkurɔfo bɔne kyɛ wɔn! Yakob bɛyɛ dɛn agyina? Ɔyɛ ɔman ketewa bi.”
3Ɛno nti, Awurade bo dwoe.
Na ogyaee nʼatirimpɔw no. Ɔkae se, “Merenyɛ.”
4Nea Otumfo Awurade yi kyerɛɛ me ni: Otumfo Awurade de ogya rebebu atɛn; ɛyow bun kɛse no, na ɛsɛee asase no. 5Na meteɛɛ mu se, “Otumfo Awurade, mesrɛ wo, gyae! Yakob rentumi nnyina! Ɔyɛ ɔman ketewa bi.”
6Ɛno nti, Awurade bo dwoe na ɔkae se, “Megyae mʼatirimpɔw yi nso.”
7Eyi ne nea oyi kyerɛɛ me: Na Awurade gyina ɔfasu a wɔato no kirebenn no ho, a okita kirebennyɛ susudua no. 8Na Awurade bisaa me se, “Amos, dɛn na wuhu?”
Mibuae se, “Kirebennyɛ susudua.”
Na Awurade kae se, “Mede kirebennyɛ susudua yi reto me nkurɔfo Israelfo ho; meremfa wɔn ho nkyɛ wɔn bio.
9“Wɔbɛsɛe Isak sorɔnsorɔmmea
na Israel kronkron tenabea nso wobebubu no;
mede mʼafoa bɛsɔre atia Yeroboamfi.”
Amos Ne Amasia
10Amasia a ɔyɛ Bet-El sɔfo de nkra kɔmaa Israelhene Yeroboam se, “Amos rebɔ pɔw atia wo wɔ Israel ha yi ara! Nsɛm a ɔreka no nyɛ abodwosɛm. 11Nea Amos reka ni:
“ ‘Yeroboam bewu wɔ afoa ano,
na ɔkwan biara so Israel bɛkɔ nnommum mu,
wɔ akyirikyiri asase so.’ ”
12Na Amasia ka kyerɛɛ Amos se, “Fi ha kɔ, wo ɔdehufo! San kɔ Yuda asase so na kɔtena hɔ hyɛ wo nkɔm. 13Nhyɛ nkɔm bio wɔ Bet-El ha, efisɛ ha yɛ ɔhene tenabea kronkron ne ahemman no asɔredan.”
14Amos buaa Amasia se, “Mennyɛ odiyifo anaa odiyifo bi ba, na na meyɛ oguanhwɛfo a na mehwɛ borɔdɔma nnua nso so. 15Nanso Awurade frɛɛ me fii nguan sohwɛ so, ka kyerɛɛ me se, ‘Kɔhyɛ nkɔm kyerɛ me nkurɔfo Israelfo.’ 16Na afei, tie Awurade asɛm. Woka se,
“ ‘Nhyɛ nkɔm ntia Israelfo,
na gyae asɛnka a wode tia Isakfifo no.’
17“Enti asɛm a Awurade ka ni:
“ ‘Wo yere bɛbɔ aguaman wɔ kuropɔn yi mu,
wo mmabarima ne wo mmabea bewuwu wɔ afoa ano.
Wobesusuw wʼasase na wakyekyɛ mu,
na wʼankasa nso, wubewu wɔ abosonsomman mu,
na ɔkwan biara so Israel bɛkɔ nnommum mu,
wɔ akyirikyiri asase so.’ ”
