| King James Bible | New Living Translation |
| 1Thus 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. | 1The Sovereign LORD showed me a vision. I saw him preparing to send a vast swarm of locusts over the land. This was after the king’s share had been harvested from the fields and as the main crop was coming up. |
| 2And 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. | 2In my vision the locusts ate every green plant in sight. Then I said, “O Sovereign LORD, please forgive us or we will not survive, for Israel is so small.” |
| 3The LORD repented for this: It shall not be, saith the LORD. | 3So the LORD relented from this plan. “I will not do it,” he said. A Vision of Fire |
| 4Thus 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. | 4Then the Sovereign LORD showed me another vision. I saw him preparing to punish his people with a great fire. The fire had burned up the depths of the sea and was devouring the entire land. |
| 5Then said I, O Lord GOD, cease, I beseech thee: by whom shall Jacob arise? for he is small. | 5Then I said, “O Sovereign LORD, please stop or we will not survive, for Israel is so small.” |
| 6The LORD repented for this: This also shall not be, saith the Lord GOD. | 6Then the LORD relented from this plan, too. “I will not do that either,” said the Sovereign LORD. A Vision of a Plumb Line |
| 7Thus he shewed me: and, behold, the Lord stood upon a wall made by a plumbline, with a plumbline in his hand. | 7Then he showed me another vision. I saw the Lord standing beside a wall that had been built using a plumb line. He was using a plumb line to see if it was still straight. |
| 8And 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: | 8And the LORD said to me, “Amos, what do you see?” I answered, “A plumb line.” And the Lord replied, “I will test my people with this plumb line. I will no longer ignore all their sins. |
| 9And 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. | 9The pagan shrines of your ancestors will be ruined, and the temples of Israel will be destroyed; I will bring the dynasty of King Jeroboam to a sudden end.” Amos and Amaziah |
| 10Then 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. | 10Then Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, sent a message to Jeroboam, king of Israel: “Amos is hatching a plot against you right here on your very doorstep! What he is saying is intolerable. |
| 11For thus Amos saith, Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel shall surely be led away captive out of their own land. | 11He is saying, ‘Jeroboam will soon be killed, and the people of Israel will be sent away into exile.’” |
| 12Also Amaziah said unto Amos, O thou seer, go, flee thee away into the land of Judah, and there eat bread, and prophesy there: | 12Then Amaziah sent orders to Amos: “Get out of here, you prophet! Go on back to the land of Judah, and earn your living by prophesying there! |
| 13But prophesy not again any more at Bethel: for it is the king's chapel, and it is the king's court. | 13Don’t bother us with your prophecies here in Bethel. This is the king’s sanctuary and the national place of worship!” |
| 14Then 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: | 14But Amos replied, “I’m not a professional prophet, and I was never trained to be one. I’m just a shepherd, and I take care of sycamore-fig trees. |
| 15And the LORD took me as I followed the flock, and the LORD said unto me, Go, prophesy unto my people Israel. | 15But the LORD called me away from my flock and told me, ‘Go and prophesy to my people in Israel.’ |
| 16Now therefore hear thou the word of the LORD: Thou sayest, Prophesy not against Israel, and drop not thy word against the house of Isaac. | 16Now then, listen to this message from the LORD: “You say, ‘Don’t prophesy against Israel. Stop preaching against my people. ’ |
| 17Therefore 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. | 17But this is what the LORD says: ‘Your wife will become a prostitute in this city, and your sons and daughters will be killed. Your land will be divided up, and you yourself will die in a foreign land. And the people of Israel will certainly become captives in exile, far from their homeland.’” |
| King James Bible, text courtesy of BibleProtector.com. | Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. |
|
