Amos 7:1-9

New International Version

Locusts, Fire and a Plumb Line

7 This is what the Sovereign Lord showed me:^(A) He was preparing swarms of locusts^(B) after the king’s share had been harvested and just as the late crops were coming up. ²When they had stripped the land clean,^(C) I cried out, “Sovereign Lord, forgive! How can Jacob survive?^(D) He is so small!^(E)”

³So the Lord relented.^(F)

“This will not happen,” the Lord said.^(G)

⁴This is what the Sovereign Lord showed me: The Sovereign Lord was calling for judgment by fire;^(H) it dried up the great deep and devoured^(I) the land. ⁵Then I cried out, “Sovereign Lord, I beg you, stop! How can Jacob survive? He is so small!^(J)”

⁶So the Lord relented.^(K)

“This will not happen either,” the Sovereign Lord said.^(L)

⁷This is what he showed me: The Lord was standing by a wall that had been built true to plumb,^[a] with a plumb line^[b] in his hand. ⁸And the Lord asked me, “What do you see,^(M) Amos?^(N)”

“A plumb line,^(O)” I replied.

Then the Lord said, “Look, I am setting a plumb line among my people Israel; I will spare them no longer.^(P)

⁹“The high places^(Q) of Isaac will be destroyed
and the sanctuaries^(R) of Israel will be ruined;
with my sword I will rise against the house of Jeroboam.^(S)”

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Footnotes

Amos 7:7 The meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain.
Amos 7:7 The meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain; also in verse 8.

Amos 8:1-6

New International Version

A Basket of Ripe Fruit

8 This is what the Sovereign Lord showed me:^(A) a basket of ripe fruit. ²“What do you see,^(B) Amos?^(C)” he asked.

“A basket^(D) of ripe fruit,” I answered.

Then the Lord said to me, “The time is ripe for my people Israel; I will spare them no longer.^(E)

³“In that day,” declares the Sovereign Lord, “the songs in the temple will turn to wailing.^[a]^(F) Many, many bodies—flung everywhere! Silence!^(G)”

⁴Hear this, you who trample the needy
and do away with the poor^(H) of the land,^(I)

⁵saying,

“When will the New Moon^(J) be over
    that we may sell grain,
and the Sabbath be ended
    that we may market^(K) wheat?”^(L)—
skimping on the measure,
    boosting the price
    and cheating^(M) with dishonest scales,^(N)
⁶buying the poor^(O) with silver
    and the needy for a pair of sandals,
    selling even the sweepings with the wheat.^(P)

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Footnotes

Amos 8:3 Or “the temple singers will wail

Amos 9:1

New International Version

Israel to Be Destroyed

9 I saw the Lord standing by the altar, and he said:

“Strike the tops of the pillars
    so that the thresholds shake.
Bring them down on the heads^(A) of all the people;
    those who are left I will kill with the sword.
Not one will get away,
    none will escape.^(B)