1 This is what the Lord GOD showed me: he was forming locusts when the late growth was beginning to sprout—the late growth after the king’s mowings. 2 When they had finished eating the vegetation of the land, I said, “Lord GOD, please forgive! How can Jacob stand? He is so small.” 3 The LORD relented concerning this. “It will not happen,” said the LORD. 4 This is what the Lord GOD showed me: the Lord GOD was calling for judgment by fire. It devoured the great deep and was consuming the portion of land. 5 Then I said, “Lord GOD, please stop! How can Jacob stand? He is so small.” 6 The LORD relented concerning this. “This will not happen either,” said the Lord GOD.

7 This is what he showed me: the Lord was standing beside a wall built with a plumb line, with a plumb line in his hand. 8 The LORD said to me, “What do you see, Amos?” I said, “A plumb line.” Then the Lord said, “Look, I am setting a plumb line in the midst of my people Israel. I will no longer pass over them. 9 The high places of Isaac will be desolate, and the sanctuaries of Israel will be laid waste. I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.”

10 Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent word to Jeroboam king of Israel: “Amos has conspired against you in the midst of the house of Israel. The land cannot bear all his words. 11 For this is what Amos says: ‘Jeroboam will die by the sword, and Israel will surely go into exile away from its land.’ ”

12 Amaziah said to Amos, “Seer, go! Flee to the land of Judah. Eat your bread there, and prophesy there. 13 But never again prophesy at Bethel, for it is the king’s sanctuary and the temple of the kingdom.”

14 Amos answered Amaziah, “I am no prophet, nor am I a prophet’s son. I am a cattle herder and a tender of sycamore figs. 15 But the LORD took me from following the flock, and the LORD said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’ 16 Now hear the word of the LORD. You say, ‘Do not prophesy against Israel, and do not preach against the house of Isaac.’ 17 Therefore this is what the LORD says: ‘Your wife will become a prostitute in the city; your sons and daughters will fall by the sword, and your land will be divided by a measuring line. You will die on unclean soil, and Israel will surely go into exile away from its land.’ ”