Study Desk

He said, "Behold, I am going to let you know what will happen during the final time of the indignation and wrath [of God upon the ungodly], for it concerns the appointed time of the end.

So he said to me, "O Daniel, you highly regarded and greatly beloved man, understand the words that I am about to say to you and stand upright, for I have now been sent to you." And while he was saying this word to me, I stood up trembling.

And the LORD said, "Name him Lo-Ammi (not my people), for you are not My people and I am not your God."

"Contend with your mother (nation); contend, For she is not my wife and I am not her husband; And have her remove her [marks of] prostitution from her face And her adultery from between her breasts

Therefore I am like a moth to Ephraim And like dry rot to the house of Judah [in My judgment against them].

I will not execute the fierceness of My anger; I will not return to Ephraim to destroy him again. For I am God and not man, the Holy One in your midst [who will not revoke My covenant], And I will not come in wrath or enter the city [in judgment].

O Ephraim, what more have I to do with idols? It is I who have answered and will care for you and watch over you. I am like a luxuriant cypress tree; With Me your fruit is found [which is to nourish you].

The LORD will answer and say to His people, "Behold, I am going to send you grain and new wine and oil, And you will be satisfied in full with them; And I will never again make you an object of ridicule among the [Gentile] nations.

"And you shall know [without any doubt] that I am in the midst of Israel [to protect and bless you], And that I am the LORD your God, And there is no other; My people will never be put to shame.

behold, I am going to stir them up from the place where you have sold them [and return them to their land], and I shall return your action [of retaliation] on your own head.

Beat your plowshares into swords And your pruning hooks into spears; Let the weak say, "I am strong!"

Then you will know and understand fully that I am the LORD your God, Dwelling in Zion, My holy mountain. Then Jerusalem will be holy, And strangers [who do not belong] will no longer pass through it.

"Behold, I am weighted down beneath you As a cart that is weighted down when it is full of sheaves.

"For behold, I am going to stir up a nation against you, O house of Israel," says the LORD, the God of hosts, "And they will afflict and torment you [to the entire limits of Israel] from the entrance of Hamath [in the north] To the brook of the Arabah [in the south]."

The LORD said to me, "Amos, what do you see?" And I said, "A plumb line." Then the Lord said, "Behold, I am setting a plumb line [as a standard] Among My people Israel [showing the defectiveness of the nation, requiring judgment]. I shall not spare them any longer. [The door of mercy is shut.]

Then Amos replied to Amaziah, "I am not a prophet [by profession], nor am I a prophet's son; I am a herdsman and a grower of sycamore figs.

"For behold, I am commanding, And I shall shake and sift the house of Israel among all nations [and cause it to tremble] Like grain is shaken in a sieve [removing the chaff], But not a kernel [of the faithful remnant] shall fall to the ground and be lost [from My sight].

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

"Go to Nineveh the great city and declare to it the message which I am going to tell you."

Therefore, thus says the LORD, "Behold, I am planning against this family a disaster (exile) [Like a noose] from which you cannot remove your necks; Nor will you be able to walk haughtily and erect, For it will be an evil time [of subjugation to the invaders].