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 Kyirebennyɛ Homa
1Deɛ Otumfoɔ Awurade yi kyerɛɛ me nie: na ɔreboaboa ntutummɛ bebree ano, abɛto wɔn agu asase no so. Yei yɛ ɛberɛ a wɔatwa ɔhene kyɛfa afiri mfuo no so na mfudeɛ no renyini bio. 2Ɛberɛ a mmoadabi no awe asase no so nnɔbaeɛ nyinaa no, me teaam sɛ, “Otumfoɔ Awurade, mesrɛ wo, fa wo nkurɔfoɔ bɔne kyɛ wɔn! Yakob rentumi nnyina, ɛfiri sɛ, ɔyɛ ɔman ketewa bi.”
3Ɛno enti, Awurade bo dwooɛ.
Na ɔgyaee nʼatirimpɔ no. Ɔkaa sɛ, “Merenyɛ.”
4Deɛ Otumfoɔ Awurade yi kyerɛɛ me nie: Otumfoɔ Awurade de ogya rebɛbu atɛn; ɛbɛwee ebunu kɛseɛ no na ɛsɛee asase no. 5Na me teaam sɛ, “Ao, Otumfoɔ Awurade, mesrɛ wo, gyae. Yakob rentumi nnyina, ɛfiri sɛ, ɔyɛ ɔman ketewa bi.”
6Ɛno enti, Awurade bo dwooɛ na ɔkaa sɛ, “Mɛgyae mʼatirimpɔ yi nso.”
7Yei ne deɛ ɔyi kyerɛɛ me: Na Awurade gyina ɔfasuo a wɔato no kyirebenn ho, a kyirebennyɛ ahoma kura no. 8Na Awurade bisaa me sɛ, “Amos, ɛdeɛn na wohunu?”
Mebuaa sɛ, “Kyirebennyɛ ahoma.”
Na Awurade kaa sɛ, “Mede kyirebennyɛ ahoma yi reto me nkurɔfoɔ Israelfoɔ ho; meremfa wɔn ho nkyɛ wɔn bio.
9“Wɔbɛsɛe Isak sorɔnsorɔmmea
na Israel kronkron tenabea nso wɔbɛbubu no;
mede mʼakofena bɛsɔre atia Yeroboam efie.”
Amos Ne Amasia
10Amasia a ɔyɛ Bet-El ɔsɔfoɔ de nkra kɔmaa Israelhene Yeroboam sɛ, “Amos rebɔ pɔ atia wo wɔ Israel ha yi ara! Nsɛm a ɔreka no nnyɛ abodwosɛm. 11Deɛ Amos reka nie:
“ ‘Yeroboam bɛwu wɔ akofena ano,
na ɛkwan biara so Israel bɛkɔ nnommumfa mu,
wɔ akyirikyiri asase so.’ ”
12Na Amasia ka kyerɛɛ Amos sɛ, “Firi ha kɔ, wo ɔdehunufoɔ! Sane kɔ Yuda asase so na kɔtena hɔ hyɛ wo nkɔm. 13Nhyɛ nkɔm bio wɔ Bet-El ha, ɛfiri sɛ ɛha yɛ ɔhene tenabea kronkron ne ahemman no asɔredan.”
14Amos buaa Amasia sɛ, “Mennyɛ odiyifoɔ anaa odiyifoɔ bi ba, na na meyɛ odwanhwɛfoɔ, a na mehwɛ borɔdɔma nnua nso so. 15Nanso, Awurade frɛɛ me firii nnwan so hwɛ so, ka kyerɛɛ me sɛ, ‘Kɔhyɛ nkɔm kyerɛ me nkurɔfoɔ Israelfoɔ.’ 16Na afei, tie Awurade asɛm. Woka sɛ,
“ ‘Nhyɛ nkɔm ntia Israelfoɔ,
na gyae asɛnka a wode tia Isak fiefoɔ.’
17“Enti asɛm a Awurade ka nie:
“ ‘Wo yere bɛbɔ adwaman wɔ kuropɔn yi mu,
wo mmammarima ne wo mmammaa bɛwuwu wɔ akofena ano.
Wɔbɛsusu wʼasase na wakyekyɛ mu,
na wʼankasa nso, wobɛwu wɔ abosonsom ɔman mu,
na ɛkwan biara so Israel bɛkɔ nnommumfa mu,
wɔ akyirikyiri asase so.’ ”
