Study Desk

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

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

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

"But do not prophesy at Bethel any longer, for it is a sanctuary of the king and a royal residence."

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

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

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

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

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

"Then I will turn your festivals into mourning, And all your songs into songs of mourning; And I will put sackcloth around everyone's waist, And baldness on every head. And I will make it 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 for hearing the words of the LORD.

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

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

The vision of Obadiah. This is what the Lord GOD says concerning Edom— We have heard a report from the LORD, And a messenger has been sent among the nations saying, "Arise, and let's go up against her for battle"—

"Do not enter the gate of My people On the day of their disaster. You indeed, do not gloat over their catastrophe On the day of their disaster. And do not lay a hand on their wealth On the day of their disaster.

"Then the house of Jacob will be a fire, And the house of Joseph a flame; But the house of Esau will be like stubble. And they will set them on fire and consume them, So that there will be no survivor of the house of Esau," For the LORD has spoken.

But Jonah got up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. So he went down to Joppa, found a ship that was going to Tarshish, paid the fare, and boarded it to go with them to Tarshish away from the presence of the LORD.

However, the LORD hurled a great wind on the sea and there was a great storm on the sea, so that the ship was about to break up.

So he said to them, "I am a Hebrew, and I fear the LORD God of heaven who made the sea and the dry land."

Then the men became extremely afraid of the LORD, and they offered a sacrifice to the LORD and made vows.