7

蝗蟲的異象

¹主耶和華指示我一件事，在春天作物剛長出時，看哪，主⚓造了蝗蟲；看哪，這是王收割後長出的春天作物。 ²蝗蟲吃盡那地青草的時候，我說：
「主耶和華啊，求你赦免；
因為雅各弱小，
他怎能站立得住呢？」
³耶和華對這事改變心意，
耶和華說：「這災可以免了。」

火的異象

⁴主耶和華又指示我一件事，看哪，主耶和華命火施行審判，火就吞滅深淵，燒盡產業。 ⁵我就說：
「主耶和華啊，求你止息；
因為雅各弱小，
他怎能站立得住呢？」
⁶耶和華對這事改變心意，
主耶和華說：「這災也可免了。」

鉛垂線的異象

⁷他又指示我一件事，看哪，主手拿鉛垂線，站立在依鉛垂線建好的牆邊。 ⁸耶和華對我說：「阿摩司，你看見甚麼？」我說：「鉛垂線。」主說：
「看哪，我要在我子民以色列中
吊起鉛垂線，
不再寬恕他們。
⁹以撒的丘壇必荒涼，
以色列的聖所必荒廢；
我要起來用刀攻擊耶羅波安的家。」

阿摩司和亞瑪謝

¹⁰伯特利的祭司亞瑪謝派人到以色列王耶羅波安那裏，說：「阿摩司在以色列家中圖謀背叛你，他所說的一切話，這地不能承擔； ¹¹因為阿摩司這樣說：
『耶羅波安必被刀殺，
以色列百姓必被擄，
離開本地。』」
¹²於是亞瑪謝對阿摩司說：「你這先見哪，要逃到猶大地，在那裏過活⚓，在那裏說預言； ¹³卻不要在伯特利再說預言，因為這裏有王的聖所，有王的宮殿。」
¹⁴阿摩司對亞瑪謝說：「我原不是先知，也不是先知的門徒；我是牧人，是修剪桑樹的。 ¹⁵耶和華帶領我，叫我不再牧放羊羣，對我說：『你去向我子民以色列說預言。』
¹⁶「現在你要聽耶和華的話。
你說：『不要向以色列說預言，
也不要向以撒家傳講⚓。』
¹⁷所以耶和華如此說：
『你的妻子要在城中作妓女，
你的兒女要倒在刀下；
你的地必有人用繩子量了瓜分，
你自己必死在不潔淨之地；
以色列百姓必被擄，
離開本地。』」

7

Locusts, Fire and a Plumb Line

¹This is what the Sovereign Lord showed me: He was preparing swarms of locusts after the king’s share had been harvested and just as the late crops were coming up. ²When they had stripped the land clean, I cried out, “Sovereign Lord, forgive! How can Jacob survive? He is so small!”
³So the Lord relented.
“This will not happen,” the Lord said.
⁴This is what the Sovereign Lord showed me: The Sovereign Lord was calling for judgment by fire; it dried up the great deep and devoured the land. ⁵Then I cried out, “Sovereign Lord, I beg you, stop! How can Jacob survive? He is so small!”
⁶So the Lord relented.
“This will not happen either,” the Sovereign Lord said.
⁷This is what he showed me: The Lord was standing by a wall that had been built true to plumb,⚓ with a plumb line⚓ in his hand. ⁸And the Lord asked me, “What do you see, Amos?”
“A plumb line,” I replied.
Then the Lord said, “Look, I am setting a plumb line among my people Israel; I will spare them no longer.
⁹“The high places of Isaac will be destroyed
and the sanctuaries of Israel will be ruined;
with my sword I will rise against the house of Jeroboam.”

Amos and Amaziah

¹⁰Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent a message to Jeroboam king of Israel: “Amos is raising a conspiracy against you in the very heart of Israel. The land cannot bear all his words. ¹¹For this is what Amos is saying:
“ ‘Jeroboam will die by the sword,
and Israel will surely go into exile,
away from their native land.’ ”
¹²Then Amaziah said to Amos, “Get out, you seer! Go back to the land of Judah. Earn your bread there and do your prophesying there. ¹³Don’t prophesy anymore at Bethel, because this is the king’s sanctuary and the temple of the kingdom.”
¹⁴Amos answered Amaziah, “I was neither a prophet nor the son of a prophet, but I was a shepherd, and I also took care of sycamore-fig trees. ¹⁵But the Lord took me from tending the flock and said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’ ¹⁶Now then, hear the word of the Lord. You say,
“ ‘Do not prophesy against Israel,
and stop preaching against the descendants of Isaac.’
¹⁷“Therefore this is what the Lord says:
“ ‘Your wife will become a prostitute in the city,
and your sons and daughters will fall by the sword.
Your land will be measured and divided up,
and you yourself will die in a pagan⚓ country.
And Israel will surely go into exile,
away from their native land.’ ”