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.” ’
各種災禍的異象
1以下是主耶和華讓我看見的異象：看啊，祂造了一大群蝗蟲。那時，王室的作物已經收割，第二季作物剛開始發苗。 2蝗蟲吃盡地上的青苗時，我說：「主耶和華啊，求你赦免！雅各那麼弱小，他怎麼受得了呢？」 3於是，耶和華心生憐憫，說：「我不降這災了。」
4以下是主耶和華讓我看見的異象：看啊，主耶和華降下審判的大火。大火燒乾了深海，正在吞噬土地。 5那時，我說：「主耶和華啊，求你停止吧！雅各那麼弱小，他怎麼受得了呢？」 6於是，耶和華心生憐憫，說：「我也不降這災了。」
7以下是祂讓我看見的異象：看啊，主站在一道按照準繩建造的牆邊，手裡拿著準繩。 8耶和華對我說：「阿摩司，你看見什麼？」我答道：「一條準繩。」主說：「我要在我的以色列子民中吊起準繩，量度他們，我不會再饒恕他們。 9以撒子孫的邱壇必遭毀壞，以色列的廟宇必成廢墟，我要用刀攻擊耶羅波安王朝。」
阿摩司被逐
10伯特利的祭司亞瑪謝派人告訴以色列王耶羅波安：「阿摩司在以色列家圖謀背叛你，我們國家無法容忍他的言論。 11因為阿摩司這樣說，『耶羅波安將喪身刀下，以色列人必被擄去，遠離家鄉。』」
12亞瑪謝對我說：「先見啊，走吧！逃回猶大去吧！你要在那裡掙吃的，在那裡說預言。 13不可再在伯特利說預言，這裡是王的聖所，是國廟。」
14我答道：「我本不是先知，也不是先知的門徒。我只是一個牧人，也替人看護桑樹。 15但耶和華不再讓我看守羊群，祂對我說，『去！向我的以色列子民說預言。』 16亞瑪謝啊，你說，『不要說攻擊以色列的預言，不要傳講攻擊以撒子孫的信息。』現在你要聽耶和華對你說的話。 17耶和華說，『你的妻子必在這城裡淪為妓女，你的兒女必喪身刀下，你的田地必被人丈量、瓜分，你自己必死在異鄉7·17 「異鄉」希伯來文是「不潔之地」，指不信上帝的國家。。以色列人必被擄去，遠離家鄉。』」
