Amos and the Plumbline

The words

1. Amaziah

   Amos warns Bethel’s priest Amaziah: his wife will become “an harlot,” his children will die by the sword, and he will die in a “polluted land.”

   Amos 7:10–17 (opens a new tab)

2. Amos

   The LORD takes Amos from following the flock and sends him to prophesy to Israel; Amos cites that call when Amaziah challenges him.

   Amos 7:12–15 (opens a new tab)

3. Basket of Fruit

   In this vision, the NET notes that “summer fruit” and “end” sound alike in Hebrew; the following verse foretells howling and many dead bodies.

   Amos 8:1–3 (opens a new tab) · NET Bible: Amos 8:2 (opens a new tab)

4. Earthquake

   The opening dates Amos’s words to two years before an earthquake, during the reigns of Uzziah and Jeroboam son of Joash.

   Amos 1:1 (opens a new tab)

5. Grasshoppers

   Locusts, as the NET renders the vision.

   The first vision shows grasshoppers forming as the later crop grows; Amos pleads for Jacob, and the LORD says the destruction will not happen.

   Did you know?

   The vision dates this growth after “the king’s mowings”; the NET suggests a tentative connection with crops collected as taxes.

   Amos 7:1–3 (opens a new tab) · NET Bible: Amos 7:1 (opens a new tab)

6. Great Deep

   The second vision’s fire devours the great deep; Amos asks the LORD to cease, and the reply says this will not happen.

   Amos 7:4–6 (opens a new tab)

7. Herdman

   A keeper of herds, in Webster’s definition.

   Amos describes himself as a herdman and sycomore gatherer; he says the LORD took him from following the flock to prophesy.

   Amos 7:14–15 (opens a new tab) · Webster’s 1828: herdman (opens a new tab)

8. High Places

   Centers of worship, in the NET.

   The LORD announces desolation for Isaac’s high places and Israel’s sanctuaries, then threatens to rise against Jeroboam’s house with the sword.

   Amos 7:9 (opens a new tab) · NET Bible: Amos 7:9 (opens a new tab)

9. Judgment

   Justice, in the NET.

   The LORD rejects the people’s festivals, offerings and songs, then calls for judgment and righteousness to flow like water.

   Amos 5:21–24 (opens a new tab) · NET Bible: Amos 5:24 (opens a new tab)

10. King's Chapel

    A royal temple, in the NET.

    Amaziah tells Amos not to prophesy at Bethel because it is “the king’s chapel” and “the king’s court,” tying the shrine to royal authority.

    Amos 7:13 (opens a new tab) · NET Bible: Amos 7:13 (opens a new tab)

11. Plumbline

    A weighted line for checking vertical alignment, in Webster’s definition of plumb.

    The KJV shows the Lord on a wall holding a plumbline; the NET reads “tin” and discusses differing interpretations of the image.

    Amos 7:7–8 (opens a new tab) · NET Bible: Amos 7:7-8 (opens a new tab) · Webster’s 1828: plumb (opens a new tab)

12. Prophet's Son

    A prophetic guild trainee, in the NET’s explanation.

    The KJV has Amos say he was neither a prophet nor “a prophet’s son”; he then recounts his call to prophesy to Israel.

    Did you know?

    The NET notes that the Hebrew lacks an explicit verb here, so translators differ between “I was” and “I am.”

    Amos 7:14–15 (opens a new tab) · NET Bible: Amos 7:14 (opens a new tab)

13. Sanctuaries

    The threatened sanctuaries are Israel’s places of worship; in the same message, the LORD says he will no longer pass by Israel.

    Amos 7:8–9 (opens a new tab) · NET Bible: Amos 7:9 (opens a new tab)

14. Sycomore

    The sycamore fig, as the NET names the tree.

    Amos describes himself as “a gatherer of sycomore fruit”; the NET says he took care of sycamore fig trees.

    Did you know?

    The NET’s note gives the verb’s literal sense as gashed or pierced, adding detail behind the KJV’s gatherer.

    Amos 7:14 (opens a new tab) · NET Bible: Amos 7:14 (opens a new tab)

15. Tekoa

    The book identifies Amos among Tekoa’s herdmen, dating his words to Uzziah of Judah and Jeroboam son of Joash in Israel.

    Amos 1:1 (opens a new tab)