The Locusts, Fire, and Plumb Line (Joel 2:1–11)
1 UST Yahweh our Lord showed me a vision. In the vision, he was forming a swarm of locusts{ to destroy our crops}. This was happening right after the workers had harvested the king’s share of the hay, when the second crop of the season was just starting to grow. 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 UST In the vision, when the locusts had finished eating everything green in the land, I cried out,“Yahweh our Lord, please forgive{ us}! We people of Jacob are weak and helpless; we will not be able to survive this!” 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 UST So Yahweh changed his mind about this. Yahweh said,“This will not happen.” BSB BSB: So the LORD relented from this plan. “It will not happen,” He said.
4 UST Then Yahweh our Lord showed me another vision. In it, Yahweh our Lord was summoning fire to punish{ his people}. The fire dried up the great deep waters and then was burning up the land. 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 UST Then I cried out,“Yahweh our Lord, please stop! We people of Jacob will not be able to survive this, because we are weak and helpless!” BSB BSB: Then I said, “Lord GOD, please stop! How will Jacob survive, since he is so small?”
6 UST So Yahweh changed his mind about this also. Lord Yahweh said,“This will not happen, either.” BSB BSB: So the LORD relented from this plan. “It will not happen either,” said the Lord GOD.
7 UST Then Yahweh showed me another vision. In it, I saw the Lord standing beside a wall. Someone had built the wall very straight, using a plumb line. Yahweh was holding 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 UST Yahweh asked me,“Amos, what do you see?” I replied,“A plumb line.” Then the Lord said,“Look, I am about to test my people the Israelites to see if they are living rightly, just as a builder uses a plumb line to see if a wall is straight. I will no longer hold back from punishing them{ for their sin}. 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 UST I will destroy the hilltop shrines where the descendants of Isaac worship{ idols}, and I will demolish the other holy places in Israel, and I will send men with swords to end the dynasty of King Jeroboam.” 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 UST Then Amaziah, the priest at Bethel, sent{ a message} to Jeroboam, the king of Israel.{ In the message} he said,“Amos is plotting against you{ right here} among the people of Israel. He is saying so much against you that the people of this land cannot bear to hear it. 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 UST In fact, this is what Amos keeps saying,‘Someone will kill Jeroboam with a sword, and an army will force the people of Israel to leave their own land and become exiles in a foreign country.’” 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 UST Then Amaziah said to Amos,“You seer, get out of here! Run away to the country of Judah! Earn your living there, and do your prophesying 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 UST But you have prophesied{ here} at Bethel for the last time, because this is the king’s holy place; it is a royal temple.” BSB BSB: But never prophesy at Bethel again, because it is the sanctuary of the king and the temple of the kingdom.”
14 UST Then Amos replied to Amaziah,“I am not a{ professional} prophet, and I do not belong to any group of prophets. Instead, I take care of sheep, and I also take care of sycamore-fig trees. 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 UST But Yahweh took me away from tending the flock, and Yahweh said to me,‘Go, prophesy to my people in Israel.’ BSB BSB: But the LORD took me from following the flock and said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to My people Israel.’
16 UST So now listen to what Yahweh has to say{ to you}. You keep telling me,‘Do not prophesy against the people of Israel, and stop preaching against the descendants 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 UST Therefore, this is what Yahweh says{ to you},‘{ When your enemies come,} your wife will become a prostitute in this city, and they will kill your sons and your daughters with their swords, and they will measure your land with a rope and divide it up{ among themselves}. As for you, you will die in a foreign, pagan country, and your enemies will certainly force the people of Israel to become exiles, far from their own 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.’”