Three Visions of Destruction

71 This is what the Lord God let me see: and I saw that, when the growth of the late grass was starting, he made locusts; it was the late growth after the king's cutting was done. 2 And it came about that after they had taken all the grass of the land, I said, O Lord God, have mercy: how will Jacob be able to keep his place? for he is small. 3 The Lord, changing his purpose about this, said, It will not be. 4 This is what the Lord let me see: and I saw that the Lord God sent for a great fire to be the instrument of his punishment; and, after burning up the great deep, it was about to put an end to the Lord's heritage. 5 Then said I, O Lord God, let there be an end: how will Jacob be able to keep his place? for he is small. 6 The Lord, changing his purpose about this, said, And this will not be. 7 This is what he let me see: and I saw the Lord stationed by a wall made straight by a weighted line, and he had a weighted line in his hand. 8 And the Lord said to me, Amos, what do you see? And I said, A weighted line. Then the Lord said, See, I will let down a weighted line among my people Israel; never again will my eyes be shut to their sin: 9 And the high places of Isaac will be unpeopled, and the holy places of Israel will be made waste; and I will come up against the family of Jeroboam with the sword.

Amos and Amaziah

10 Then Amaziah, the priest of Beth-el, sent to Jeroboam, king of Israel, saying, Amos has made designs against you among the people of Israel: the land is troubled by his words. 11 For Amos has said, Jeroboam will be put to the sword, and Israel will certainly be taken away as a prisoner out of his land. 12 And Amaziah said to Amos, O seer, go in flight into the land of Judah, and there get your living by working as a prophet: 13 But be a prophet no longer at Beth-el: for it is the holy place of the king, and the king's house. 14 Then Amos in answer said to Amaziah, I am no prophet, or one of the sons of the prophets; I am a herdman and one who takes care of sycamore-trees: 15 And the Lord took me from the flock, and the Lord said to me, Go, be a prophet to my people Israel. 16 Now then, give ear to the word of the Lord: You say, Be no prophet to Israel, and say not a word against the people of Isaac. 17 So this is what the Lord has said: Your wife will be a loose woman in the town, and your sons and your daughters will be put to the sword, and your land will be cut up into parts by a line; and you yourself will come to your end in an unclean land, and Israel will certainly be taken away a prisoner out of his land.

The Roar of the Lion

31 Give ear to this word which the Lord has said against you, O children of Israel, against all the family which I took up out of the land of Egypt, saying, 2 You only of all the families of the earth have I taken care of: for this reason I will send punishment on you for all your sins. 3 Is it possible for two to go walking together, if not by agreement? 4 Will a lion give his loud cry in the woodland when no food is there? will the voice of the young lion be sounding from his hole if he has taken nothing? 5 Is it possible for a bird to be taken in a net on the earth where no net has been put for him? will the net come up from the earth if it has taken nothing at all? 6 If the horn is sounded in the town will the people not be full of fear? will evil come on a town if the Lord has not done it? 7 Certainly the Lord will do nothing without making clear his secret to his servants, the prophets. 8 The cry of the lion is sounding; who will not have fear? The Lord God has said the word; is it possible for the prophet to keep quiet?

The Doom of Samaria

9 Give out the news in the great houses of Assyria and in the land of Egypt, and say, Come together on the mountains of Samaria, and see what great outcries are there, and what cruel acts are done in it. 10 For they have no knowledge of how to do what is right, says the Lord, who are storing up violent acts and destruction in their great houses. 11 For this reason, says the Lord, an attacker will come, shutting in the land on every side; and your strength will come down and your great houses will be made waste. 12 These are the words of the Lord: As the keeper of sheep takes out of the mouth of the lion two legs or part of an ear; so will the children of Israel be made safe, who are resting in Samaria on seats of honour or on the silk cushions of a bed. 13 Give ear now, and give witness against the family of Jacob, says the Lord God, the God of armies; 14 For in the day when I give Israel punishment for his sins, I will send punishment on the altars of Beth-el, and the horns of the altar will be cut off and come down to the earth. 15 And I will send destruction on the winter house with the summer house; the ivory houses will be falling down and the great houses will come to an end, says the Lord.