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0 With a plumbline in his hand (Amos 6-9)

Episode 222: With a plumbline in his hand

Amos 6-9

Woe to everyone!

6 1 Woe to those who are at ease in Zion and trust in the mountain of Samaria.

3-6 Who forget about the evil day, lie on ivory beds and stretch out on couches, eat lambs and calves, sing to the sound of music, and drink wine in bowls.

I hate Jacob's pride and palaces

8 God has sworn by himself, saying,

I hate Jacob's pride and palaces, so I'll destroy the city.

9 If ten men survive in one house, they will die.

10 When a man burns his dead uncle's body and buries his bones, he'll say to the man on the side of the house, "Is anyone with you?"

11And he'll say, "No, and don't say anything, or mention God's name. If you do, God will smash the house."

Locusts

7 1 This is what God showed me: "God formed locusts who ate grass."

2 When they finished eating, I said to God, "How will Jacob survive? He's small."

3 God repented and said, "It won't happen."

An ocean-burning fire

4 God also showed me this: God started a fire that burned part of the ocean.

5 I said to God, "Please stop. How will Jacob get up? He's small."

6 God repented and said, "It won't happen."

God stood on a wall with a plumbline in his hand

7 God also showed me this: He stood on a wall with a plumbline in his hand.

8 He said to me, "Amos, what do you see?"

I said, "I see a plumbline."

9 He said,

I'll hang a plumbline in the midst of my people. I won't spare them anymore.

The high places of Israel will be destroyed, and I'll fight against Jeroboam's family with a sword.

Your wife will be a harlot

10 Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, sent a message to King Jeroboam, saying,

Amos has conspired against you, saying,

11Jeroboam will die with the sword, and Israel will be enslaved.

12 Then Amaziah said to Amos,

Run away to Judah. Eat bread and prophesy there.

13 But don't prophesy at Bethel anymore.

14 Amos said to Amaziah,

I'm not a prophet, I'm just a shepherd and a gatherer of sycamore fruit.

15 God told me to prophesy to Israel.

16 But now you tell me not to prophesy against Israel.

17 Here's what God says to you:

Your wife will be a harlot, your children will be killed with the sword, your land will be divided, you will die in a polluted land, and Israel will be enslaved.

A basket of summer fruit

8 1 God showed me a basket of summer fruit.

2 He said, "Amos, what do you see?"

I said, "I see a basket of summer fruit."

God said,

3 My people will be wiped out. I won't see them anymore. Instead of singing songs, they will be howling. There will be dead bodies everywhere.

4 Because they mistreat the poor.

5 They deceive their customers with false balances.

6 They buy the poor with silver, the needy for a pair of shoes, and sell the chaff as wheat.

8 The land will tremble, and everyone will mourn.

9 On that day, I'll cause the sun to set at noon, and the earth will be dark in the middle of the day.

10 Everyone will put sackcloth on their loins, and there will be baldness on every head.

11 I'll put a famine on the land. Not a famine of bread or thirst, but of hearing my word.

12 People will go from sea to sea looking for my word, but they won't find it.

13 In that day, fair virgins and young men will faint from thirst.

14 They will fall and never get up.

For evil, and not for good

9 1 I saw God standing on the altar, and he said,

Smite this building so hard that it falls down on the heads of all the people. I will kill any survivors with a sword. No one will escape.

2 If they try to dig into hell, I'll find them there. If they climb their way into heaven, I'll bring them down.

3 If they climb to the top of Mount Carmel, I'll find them. If they hide in the bottom of the sea, I'll command the serpent to bite them.

4 If they are enslaved by their enemies, I'll find them and kill them with the sword. I'll do things that are evil to them, not good.

The sinful kingdom

5 God will touch the land, and it will melt. Everyone will mourn. Then there'll be a flood that drowns them all.

6 God said,

My eyes are on the sinful kingdom. I'll destroy it all, except for some of Jacob's descendants.

10 All the sinners among my people will die with the sword.

A happy ending? - They'll drink wine

11-13 In that day, the mountains will drip sweet wine, and all the hills will melt.

14 They will plant vineyards, and drink wine.

15 I will return my people to the land that I gave them, and they will never be removed from it.

A few more words about this episode

King Jeroboam (7:10)
King Jeroboam II of Israel, who reigned from 783-742 BCE.
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