Four Visions of Amos*

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I. A Vision of a Swarm of Locusts (Amos 7:1–3)

¹This is what [the Lord] Yahweh showed me:

Lo, he was forming a swarm of locusts When the second crop was beginning to come up

[Lo, it was the late sowing after the king’s cutting.]

^2bTo devour the herbage of the earth.

^2a And when he had finished

^2c I said, “O [Lord] Yahweh, forgive, I beg of you; How will Jacob survive since he is so small?”

³Yahweh repented of this—

It won’t happen,” said [the Lord] Yahweh.

II. A Vision of a Rain of Fire (Amos 7:4–6)

⁴This is what [the Lord] Yahweh showed me:

Lo, he was calling for a rain of fire Which would consume the great deep and devour the land.

⁵Then I said, “O [Lord] Yahweh, stop, I beg of you;

How will Jacob survive since he is so small?”

⁶Yahweh repented of this—

“It won’t happen,” said [the Lord] Yahweh.

III. A Vision of Tin (Amos 7:7–9)

⁷This is what (Yahweh) showed me:

Lo, someone stood beside the heat holding tin in his hand.

⁸Yahweh said to me: “What do you see, Amos?”

I said to him, “Tin.”

Yahweh said to me:

“Lo, I am putting a groan in the midst of my people Israel. Never again will I pardon her.

⁹The high places of Isaac will be deserted.

The sanctuaries of Israel abandoned.

I will attack the house of Jeroboam with the sword.”

IV. A Vision of Ripe Fruit (Amos 8:1–3)

¹This is what [the Lord] Yahweh showed me:

Lo, there was a basket of ripe fruit.

²Then he said to me: “What do you see, Amos?” I said, “A basket of ripe fruit!” Yahweh said to me:

“The end has come for my people Israel. Never again will I pardon her.

³The Palace singers will wail that day So many corpses will be strewn about. Hush!”