Day 353 of 730

¹Thus the Lord God showed me: and behold, he formed locusts in the beginning of the shooting up of the latter growth; and behold, it was the latter growth after the king's harvest.

²It happened that, when they made an end of eating the grass of the land, then I said, "Lord God, forgive, I beg you! How could Jacob stand? For he is small."

³The Lord relented concerning this. "It shall not be," says the Lord.

⁴Thus the Lord God showed me and behold, the Lord God called for judgment by fire; and it dried up the great deep, and would have devoured the land.

⁵Then I said, "Lord God, stop, I beg you! How could Jacob stand? For he is small."

⁶The Lord relented concerning this. "This also shall not be," says the Lord God.

⁷Thus he showed me and behold, the Lord stood beside a wall made by a plumb line, with a plumb line in his hand.

⁸The Lord said to me, "Amos, what do you see?" I said, "A plumb line." Then the Lord said, "Behold, I will set a plumb line in the midst of my people Israel. I will not again pass by them any more.

⁹The high places of Isaac will be desolate, the sanctuaries of Israel will be laid waste; and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword."

¹⁰Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, "Amos has conspired against you in the midst of the house of Israel. The land is not able to bear all his words.

¹¹For Amos says, 'Jeroboam will die by the sword, and Israel shall surely be led away captive out of his land.'"

¹²Amaziah also said to Amos, "You seer, go, flee away into the land of Judah, and there eat bread, and prophesy there:

¹³but do not prophesy again any more at Bethel; for it is the king's sanctuary, and it is a royal house!"

¹⁴Then Amos answered Amaziah, "I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet's son; but I was a herdsman, and a farmer of sycamore figs;

¹⁵and the Lord took me from following the flock, and the Lord said to me, 'Go, prophesy to my people Israel.'

¹⁶Now therefore listen to the word of the Lord: 'You say, Do not prophesy against Israel, and do not proclaim against the house of Isaac.'

¹⁷Therefore thus says the Lord: 'Your wife shall be a prostitute in the city, and your sons and your daughters shall fall by the sword, and your land shall be divided by line; and you yourself shall die in a land that is unclean, and Israel shall surely be led away captive out of his land.'"

¹Thus the Lord God showed me: behold, a basket of summer fruit.

²He said, "Amos, what do you see?" I said, "A basket of summer fruit." Then the Lord said to me, "The end has come on my people Israel. I will not again pass by them any more.

³The songs of the temple will be wailings in that day," says the Lord God. "The dead bodies will be many. In every place they will throw them out with silence.

⁴Hear this, you who desire to swallow up the needy, and cause the poor of the land to fail,

⁵Saying, 'When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell grain? And the Sabbath, that we may market wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel large, and dealing falsely with balances of deceit;

⁶that we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes, and sell the sweepings with the wheat?'"

⁷The Lord has sworn by the pride of Jacob, "Surely I will never forget any of their works.

⁸Won't the land tremble for this, and everyone mourn who dwells in it? Yes, it will rise up wholly like the River; and it will be stirred up and sink again, like the River of Egypt.

⁹It will happen in that day," says the Lord God, "that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day.

¹⁰I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; and I will make you wear sackcloth on all your bodies, and baldness on every head. I will make it like the mourning for an only son, and its end like a bitter day.

¹¹Behold, the days come," says the Lord God, "that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord.

¹²They will wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east; they will run back and forth to seek the word of the Lord, and will not find it.

¹³In that day the beautiful virgins and the young men will faint for thirst.

¹⁴Those who swear by the sin of Samaria, and say, 'As your god, Dan, lives;' and, 'As the way of Beersheba lives;' they will fall, and never rise up again."

¹The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, and have done abominable iniquity. There is no one who does good.

²God looks down from heaven on the children of men, to see if there are any who understood, who seek after God.

³Every one of them has gone back. They have become filthy together. There is no one who does good, no, not one.

⁴Have the workers of iniquity no knowledge, who eat up my people as they eat bread, and do not call on God?

⁵There they were in great fear, where no fear was, for God has scattered the bones of him who encamps against you. You have put them to shame, because God has rejected them.

⁶Oh that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion! When God brings back his people from captivity, then Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad.

¹Whoever loves correction loves knowledge, but he who hates reproof is stupid.

²A good man shall obtain favor from the Lord, but he will condemn a man of wicked devices.

³A man shall not be established by wickedness, but the root of the righteous shall not be moved.

⁴A worthy woman is the crown of her husband, but a disgraceful wife is as rottenness in his bones.

⁵The thoughts of the righteous are just, but the advice of the wicked is deceitful.

⁶The words of the wicked are about lying in wait for blood, but the speech of the upright rescues them.

⁷The wicked are overthrown, and are no more, but the house of the righteous shall stand.

⁸A man shall be commended according to his wisdom, but he who has a warped mind shall be despised.

⁹Better is he who is lightly esteemed, and has a servant, than he who honors himself, and lacks bread.

¹⁰A righteous man regards the life of his animal, but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel.

¹¹He who tills his land shall have plenty of bread, but he who chases fantasies is void of understanding.

¹²The wicked desires the plunder of evil men, but the root of the righteous flourishes.

¹³An evil man is trapped by sinfulness of lips, but the righteous shall come out of trouble.

¹⁴A man shall be satisfied with good by the fruit of his mouth. The work of a man's hands shall be rewarded to him.

¹⁵The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but he who is wise listens to counsel.

¹⁶A fool shows his annoyance the same day, but one who overlooks an insult is prudent.

¹⁷He who is truthful testifies honestly, but a false witness lies.

¹⁸There is one who speaks rashly like the piercing of a sword, but the tongue of the wise heals.

¹⁹Truth's lips will be established forever, but a lying tongue is only momentary.

²⁰Deceit is in the heart of those who plot evil, but joy comes to the promoters of peace.

²¹No mischief shall happen to the righteous, but the wicked shall be filled with evil.

²²Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, but those who do the truth are his delight.

²³A prudent man keeps his knowledge, but the hearts of fools proclaim foolishness.

²⁴The hands of the diligent ones shall rule, but laziness ends in slave labor.

²⁵Anxiety in a man's heart weighs it down, but a kind word makes it glad.

²⁶A righteous person is cautious in friendship, but the way of the wicked leads them astray.

²⁷The slothful man doesn't roast his game, but the possessions of diligent men are prized.

²⁸In the way of righteousness is life; in its path there is no death.