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Prophets find God’s message in every word and turn of phrase. Lo-debar and Karnaim were two cities recaptured by Jeroboam II, king of Israel, after a foreign ruler had annexed them as part of his kingdom (2 Kings 10:32–36). When Jeroboam won back the region, the people celebrated (2 Kings 14:23–29); but Jeroboam was out of step with God, so the joy was short-lived. That’s where the names of the two cities become interesting. In Hebrew Lo-debar means “no thing”; Karnaim means “horns,” and horns are a symbol of strength. In a bit of sarcasm, the prophet quips that those who celebrate the retaking of Lo-debar are celebrating “nothing,” while those who claim the victory at Karnaim have only their horn, their own strength, to thank. God will have none of it.

This is what the Eternal Lord showed me: He brought a swarm of locusts when the crops had begun to sprout in late spring (after the king’s portion of the hay had been cut). When I saw the locusts devour everything green in the land that belonged to the farmers, I spoke.

Amos: O Eternal Lord, please forgive us!
        How will Jacob’s descendants survive this?
    The nation is so small.

The Eternal relented and showed mercy.

Eternal One: What you have seen will not be.

Then the Eternal Lord showed me this: He called for a rain of fire, and it devoured the deep abyss and began to devour the land itself.

Amos: O Eternal Lord, please no! Not this!
        How will Jacob’s descendants survive this?
    The nation is so small.

And the Eternal again relented and showed mercy.

Eternal One: This will not happen either.

Then He showed me this: The Lord was standing by a wall built with a plumb line, and in His hand was a plumb line.

Eternal One: What do you see, Amos?

Amos: A plumb line.

Eternal One: Watch what I’m about to do! I am going to put a plumb line
        up against My people Israel to see what is straight and true,
    And I will not look the other way any longer.
    The high places of Isaac will be destroyed
        and the religious shrines of Israel reduced to ruin,
    And with sword in hand, I will bring down the house of Jeroboam the king.

10 Then Amaziah, the priest at the royal shrine in Bethel, sent word to Jeroboam, king of Israel.

Amaziah’s Message: Amos is plotting conspiracy against you in the very heart of the land of Israel. You must act. The land cannot bear any more of his speeches. 11 For this is what Amos is saying:

Amos: Jeroboam is going to die by the sword,
        and the people of Israel will be captured and led away into exile far from home.

Amaziah’s Message: 12 I told Amos, “Listen, seer—run for the land of Judah; earn your living and spread your prophesies there, 13 but don’t ever show your face and try to prophesy at Bethel again because it is the king’s sanctuary and a temple for this kingdom.”

14 But Amos persisted.

Amos: I am not a professional prophet, or even the son of one. You shouldn’t be afraid of me; I am just a man who followed my herds and gathered the fruit from the sycamores 15 until the Eternal spoke to me, as I was minding my flock.

Eternal One: Go and speak My words to the people of Israel!

16 So now listen to what the Eternal has to say, you who say,
    “Don’t prophesy against Israel,
Or predict the downfall of Isaac’s descendants.”
17 The Eternal One says this:

Eternal One: Your wife will be reduced to selling herself in the streets,
        your sons and daughters will die by the sword,
        your land will be measured out to others,
    You yourself will end your days in an impure land,
        and Israel will be sent into exile far from home.

Locusts, Fire and a Plumb Line

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. When they had stripped the land clean,(C) I cried out, “Sovereign Lord, forgive! How can Jacob survive?(D) He is so small!(E)

So the Lord relented.(F)

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

This 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. Then I cried out, “Sovereign Lord, I beg you, stop! How can Jacob survive? He is so small!(J)

So the Lord relented.(K)

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

This 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. And 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)

“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)

Amos and Amaziah

10 Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel(T) sent a message to Jeroboam(U) king of Israel: “Amos is raising a conspiracy(V) against you in the very heart of Israel. The land cannot bear all his words.(W) 11 For this is what Amos is saying:

“‘Jeroboam will die by the sword,
    and Israel will surely go into exile,(X)
    away from their native land.’”(Y)

12 Then Amaziah said to Amos, “Get out, you seer!(Z) Go back to the land of Judah. Earn your bread there and do your prophesying there.(AA) 13 Don’t prophesy anymore at Bethel,(AB) because this is the king’s sanctuary and the temple(AC) of the kingdom.(AD)

14 Amos answered Amaziah, “I was neither a prophet(AE) nor the son of a prophet, but I was a shepherd, and I also took care of sycamore-fig trees.(AF) 15 But the Lord took me from tending the flock(AG) and said to me, ‘Go,(AH) prophesy(AI) to my people Israel.’(AJ) 16 Now then, hear(AK) the word of the Lord. You say,

“‘Do not prophesy against(AL) Israel,
    and stop preaching against the descendants of Isaac.’

17 “Therefore this is what the Lord says:

“‘Your wife will become a prostitute(AM) 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 pagan[c] country.
And Israel will surely go into exile,(AN)
    away from their native land.(AO)’”

Footnotes

  1. Amos 7:7 The meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain.
  2. Amos 7:7 The meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain; also in verse 8.
  3. Amos 7:17 Hebrew an unclean

Thus hath the Lord God shewed unto me; and, behold, he formed grasshoppers in the beginning of the shooting up of the latter growth; and, lo, it was the latter growth after the king's mowings.

And it came to pass, that when they had made an end of eating the grass of the land, then I said, O Lord God, forgive, I beseech thee: by whom shall Jacob arise? for he is small.

The Lord repented for this: It shall not be, saith the Lord.

Thus hath the Lord God shewed unto me: and, behold, the Lord God called to contend by fire, and it devoured the great deep, and did eat up a part.

Then said I, O Lord God, cease, I beseech thee: by whom shall Jacob arise? for he is small.

The Lord repented for this: This also shall not be, saith the Lord God.

Thus he shewed me: and, behold, the Lord stood upon a wall made by a plumbline, with a plumbline in his hand.

And the Lord said unto me, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A plumbline. Then said the Lord, Behold, I will set a plumbline in the midst of my people Israel: I will not again pass by them any more:

And the high places of Isaac shall be desolate, and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste; and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.

10 Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, Amos hath conspired against thee in the midst of the house of Israel: the land is not able to bear all his words.

11 For thus Amos saith, Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel shall surely be led away captive out of their own land.

12 Also Amaziah said unto Amos, O thou seer, go, flee thee away into the land of Judah, and there eat bread, and prophesy there:

13 But prophesy not again any more at Bethel: for it is the king's chapel, and it is the king's court.

14 Then answered Amos, and said to Amaziah, I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet's son; but I was an herdman, and a gatherer of sycomore fruit:

15 And the Lord took me as I followed the flock, and the Lord said unto me, Go, prophesy unto my people Israel.

16 Now therefore hear thou the word of the Lord: Thou sayest, Prophesy not against Israel, and drop not thy word against the house of Isaac.

17 Therefore thus saith the Lord; Thy wife shall be an harlot in the city, and thy sons and thy daughters shall fall by the sword, and thy land shall be divided by line; and thou shalt die in a polluted land: and Israel shall surely go into captivity forth of his land.