The Locusts, Fire, and Plumb Line (Joel 2:1–11)
1 AKJV Thus has the Lord GOD showed to me; and, behold, he formed grasshoppers in the beginning of the shooting up of the latter growth; and, see, it was the latter growth after the king’s mowings. BSB BSB: This is what the Lord GOD showed me: He was preparing swarms of locusts just after the king’s harvest, as the late spring crop was coming up.
2 AKJV And it came to pass, that when they had made an end of eating the grass of the land, then I said, O Lord GOD, forgive, I beseech you: by whom shall Jacob arise? for he is small. BSB BSB: And when the locusts had eaten every green plant in the land, I said, “Lord GOD, please forgive! How will Jacob survive, since he is so small?”
3 AKJV The LORD repented for this: It shall not be, says the LORD. BSB BSB: So the LORD relented from this plan. “It will not happen,” He said.
4 AKJV Thus has the Lord GOD showed to me: and, behold, the Lord GOD called to contend by fire, and it devoured the great deep, and did eat up a part. BSB BSB: This is what the Lord GOD showed me: The Lord GOD was calling for judgment by fire. It consumed the great deep and devoured the land.
5 AKJV Then said I, O Lord GOD, cease, I beseech you: by whom shall Jacob arise? for he is small. BSB BSB: Then I said, “Lord GOD, please stop! How will Jacob survive, since he is so small?”
6 AKJV The LORD repented for this: This also shall not be, says the Lord GOD. BSB BSB: So the LORD relented from this plan. “It will not happen either,” said the Lord GOD.
7 AKJV Thus he showed me: and, behold, the LORD stood on a wall made by a plumb line, with a plumb line in his hand. BSB BSB: This is what He showed me: Behold, the Lord was standing by a wall true to plumb, with a plumb line in His hand.
8 AKJV And the LORD said to me, Amos, what see you? And I said, A plumb line. Then said the LORD, Behold, I will set a plumb line in the middle of my people Israel: I will not again pass by them any more: BSB BSB: “Amos, what do you see?” asked the LORD. “A plumb line,” I replied. “Behold,” said the Lord, “I am setting a plumb line among My people Israel; I will no longer spare them:
9 AKJV And the high places of Isaac shall be desolate, and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste; and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword. BSB BSB: The high places of Isaac will be deserted, and the sanctuaries of Israel will be laid waste; and I will rise up against the house of Jeroboam with My sword.”
Amaziah Accuses Amos 10 AKJV Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, Amos has conspired against you in the middle of the house of Israel: the land is not able to bear all his words. BSB BSB: Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent word to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, “Amos has conspired against you in the midst of the house of Israel. The land cannot bear all his words,
11 AKJV For thus Amos says, Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel shall surely be led away captive out of their own land. BSB BSB: for this is what Amos has said: ‘Jeroboam will die by the sword, and Israel will surely go into exile, away from their homeland.’”
12 AKJV Also Amaziah said to Amos, O you seer, go, flee you away into the land of Judah, and there eat bread, and prophesy there: BSB BSB: And Amaziah said to Amos, “Go away, you seer! Flee to the land of Judah; earn your bread there and do your prophesying there.
13 AKJV But prophesy not again any more at Bethel: for it is the king’s chapel, and it is the king’s court. BSB BSB: But never prophesy at Bethel again, because it is the sanctuary of the king and the temple of the kingdom.”
14 AKJV Then answered Amos, and said to Amaziah, I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet’s son; but I was an herdsman, and a gatherer of sycomore fruit: BSB BSB: “I was not a prophet,” Amos replied, “nor was I the son of a prophet; rather, I was a herdsman and a tender of sycamore-fig trees.
15 AKJV And the LORD took me as I followed the flock, and the LORD said to me, Go, prophesy to my people Israel. BSB BSB: But the LORD took me from following the flock and said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to My people Israel.’
16 AKJV Now therefore hear you the word of the LORD: You say, Prophesy not against Israel, and drop not your word against the house of Isaac. BSB BSB: Now, therefore, hear the word of the LORD. You say: ‘Do not prophesy against Israel; do not preach against the house of Isaac.’
17 AKJV Therefore thus says the LORD; Your wife shall be an harlot in the city, and your sons and your daughters shall fall by the sword, and your land shall be divided by line; and you shall die in a polluted land: and Israel shall surely go into captivity forth of his land. BSB BSB: 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 divided by a measuring line, and you yourself will die on pagan soil. And Israel will surely go into exile, away from their homeland.’”