Study Desk

This is what the Lord ^(F1)GOD showed me, and behold, He was forming a ^(C1)swarm of locusts ^(F2)when the spring crop began to sprout. And behold, the spring crop was after the king's mowing.

And it came about, ^(F1)when it had ^(C1)finished eating the vegetation of the land, that I said, "^(C2)Lord GOD, please pardon! How can Jacob stand? For he is ^(C3)small."

The LORD ^(C1)relented of this. "It shall not be," said the LORD.

So the Lord GOD showed me, and behold, the Lord GOD was calling to contend with them by ^(C1)fire, and it consumed the great deep and began to consume the ^(F1)farmland.

Then I said, "^(C1)Lord GOD, please stop! ^(C2)How can Jacob stand? For he is small."

The LORD ^(C1)relented of this. "This too shall not be," said the Lord GOD.

So He showed me, and behold, the Lord was standing ^(F1)by a ^(F2)vertical wall with a plumb line in His hand.

And the LORD said to me, "^(C1)What do you see, Amos?" And I said, "A plumb line." Then the Lord said, "Behold I am about to put a ^(C2)plumb line In the midst of My people Israel. I will not ^(F1)(C3)spare them any longer.

-"The ^(C1)high places of Isaac will become deserted, And the ^(C2)sanctuaries of Israel will be in ruins. Then I will ^(C3)rise up against the house of Jeroboam with the sword."

Then Amaziah, the ^(C1)priest of Bethel, sent word to ^(C2)Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, "Amos has ^(C3)conspired against you in the midst of the house of Israel; the land is unable to endure all his words.

"For this is what Amos says: 'Jeroboam will die by the sword, and Israel will certainly go from its land into exile.'"

Then Amaziah said to Amos, "^(C1)Go, you seer, flee to the land of Judah; and eat bread there and do your prophesying there!

"But ^(C1)do not prophesy at Bethel any longer, for it is a ^(C2)sanctuary of the king and a royal ^(F1)residence."

Then Amos replied to Amaziah, "I am not a prophet, nor am I the ^(C1)son of a prophet; for I am a herdsman and a ^(F1)grower of sycamore figs.

"But the LORD took me from ^(F1)following the flock, and the LORD said to me, 'Go ^(C1)prophesy to My people Israel.'

"So now hear the word of the LORD: you are saying, 'You ^(C1)shall not prophesy against Israel ^(C2)nor shall you ^(F1)prophesy against the house of Isaac.'

"Therefore, this is what the LORD says: 'Your ^(C1)wife will become a prostitute in the city, your ^(C2)sons and your daughters will fall by the sword, your land will be parceled up by a measuring line, and you yourself will die ^(F1)upon ^(C3)unclean soil. Furthermore Israel will certainly go from its land into exile.'"

This is what the Lord ^(F1)GOD showed me, and behold, there was a basket of summer fruit.

And He said, "What do you see, Amos?" And ^(C1)I said, "A basket of summer fruit." Then the LORD said to me, "The ^(C2)end has come for My people Israel. I will not ^(F1)(C3)spare them any longer.

"^(F1)The ^(C1)songs of the palace will turn to ^(C2)wailing on that day," declares the Lord GOD. "The ^(C3)corpses will be many; in every place ^(F2)they will throw them out. ^(F3)Hush!"

Hear this, you who ^(F1)(C1)trample the needy, to put an end to the humble of the land,

saying, "When will the ^(C1)new moon ^(F1)be over, So that we may sell grain; And the ^(C2)Sabbath, so that we may open the wheat market, To make the ^(F2)ephah smaller and the ^(F3)shekel bigger, And to ^(C3)cheat with dishonest scales,

So as to ^(C1)buy the helpless for ^(F1)money, And the needy for a pair of sandals, And that we may sell the refuse of the wheat?"

The LORD has ^(C1)sworn by the ^(C2)pride of Jacob, "Indeed, I will ^(C3)never forget any of their deeds.

-"Because of this will the land not ^(C1)quake, And everyone who lives in it ^(C2)mourn? Indeed, all of it will ^(C3)rise up like the Nile, And it will be tossed about And subside like the Nile of Egypt.

-"And it will come about on that day," declares the Lord GOD, "That I will make the ^(C1)sun go down at noon, And ^(C2)make the earth dark in ^(F1)broad daylight.

-"Then I will ^(C1)turn your festivals into mourning, And all your songs into songs of mourning; And I will put ^(C2)sackcloth around everyone's waist, And ^(F1)baldness on every head. And I will make it ^(C3)like a time of mourning for an only son, And the end of it will be like a bitter day.

"Behold, days are coming," declares the Lord GOD, "When I will send a famine on the land, Not a famine of bread or a thirst for water, But rather ^(C1)for hearing the words of the LORD.

-"People will stagger from sea to sea And from the north even to the east; They will roam about to ^(C1)seek the word of the LORD, But they will not find it.

-"On that day the beautiful ^(C1)virgins And the young men will ^(C2)faint from thirst.

-"As for those who swear by the ^(F1)(C1)guilt of Samaria, And say, 'As your god lives, ^(C2)Dan,' And, 'As the way of ^(C3)Beersheba lives,' They will fall and ^(C4)not rise again."

I saw the Lord standing beside the ^(C1)altar, and He said, "Strike the pillar capitals so that the ^(C2)thresholds will shake, And ^(C3)break them on the heads of them all! Then I will ^(C4)put to death the rest of them with the sword; They will ^(C5)not have a fugitive who will flee, Nor a survivor who will escape.

-"Though they dig into ^(C1)Sheol, From there My hand will take them; And though they ^(C2)ascend to heaven, From there I will bring them down.

-"And though they hide on the summit of Carmel, I will ^(C1)track them down and take them from there; And though they ^(C2)hide themselves from My sight on the bottom of the sea, I will command the ^(C3)serpent from there, and it will bite them.

-"And though they go into ^(C1)captivity before their enemies, From there I will command the sword and it will kill them, And I will ^(C2)set My eyes against them for harm and not for good."

The Lord ^(F1)GOD of armies, The One who ^(C1)touches the land so that it quakes, And ^(C2)all those who live in it mourn, And all of it rises up like the Nile And subsides like the Nile of Egypt;

The One who builds His ^(C1)upper chambers in the heavens And has founded His vaulted dome over the earth, He who ^(C2)calls for the waters of the sea And ^(C3)pours them out on the face of the earth, ^(C4)The LORD is His name.

"Are you not as the sons of ^(C1)Ethiopia to Me, You sons of Israel?" declares the LORD. "Have I not brought up Israel from the land of Egypt, And the ^(C2)Philistines from Caphtor and the ^(C3)Arameans from ^(C4)Kir?

-"Behold, the ^(C1)eyes of the Lord GOD are on the sinful kingdom, And I will ^(C2)eliminate it from the face of the earth; Nevertheless, I will ^(C3)not totally eliminate the house of Jacob," Declares the LORD.

"For behold, I am commanding, And I will ^(C1)shake the house of Israel among all nations As grain is shaken in a sieve, But not a pebble will fall to the ground.

-"All the ^(C1)sinners of My people will die by the sword, Those who say, '^(C2)The catastrophe will not overtake or confront us.'