1. This is what the Almighty Lord showed me: He was preparing swarms of locusts when the second crop was being harvested. It was the harvest that followed the harvest for the king.
2. When the locusts had finished eating every plant in the land, I said, “Almighty Lord, please forgive us! How can ⌊the descendants of⌋ Jacob survive? There are so few of them.”
3. The Lord changed his plans about this. “This won’t happen,” the Lord said.
4. This is what the Almighty Lord showed me: The Almighty Lord was calling for judgment by fire. The fire dried up the ocean and burned up the land.
5. Then I said, “Almighty Lord, please stop! How can ⌊the descendants of⌋ Jacob survive? There are so few of them.”
6. The Lord changed his plans about this. “This won’t happen either,” the Almighty Lord said.
7. This is what he showed me: The Lord was standing by a wall built with the use of a plumb line, and he had a plumb line in his hand.
8. He asked me, “What do you see, Amos?”I answered, “A plumb line.”Then the Lord said, “I’m going to hold a plumb line in the middle of my people Israel. I will no longer overlook what they have done.
9. The worship sites of Isaac will be destroyed, and the holy places of Israel will be in ruins. I will attack Jeroboam’s heirs with my sword.”
10. Then Amaziah, the priest at Bethel, sent a message to King Jeroboam of Israel. It read, “Amos is plotting against you among the people of Israel. The country isn’t able to endure everything he is saying.
11. Amos says that Jeroboam will be killed with a sword and that Israel cannot avoid being taken from its land into exile.”