The Lord Jehovah showed me,
And I saw him giving command
To execute judgment by fire;

And it dried up the source of the springs,

And began to devour the fields.

Then I said, 'O Lord, let this cease,

How can Jacob stand this,
For indeed he is so small?'
At this Jehovah relented;
'Nor shall this be,' he said.

The Lord Jehovah showed me,
And I saw him beside a wall,
With a plummet in his hand.
Then Jehovah said to me,
'Amos, what do you see?’

'A plummet,' I said. He replied:
'See, I am setting a plummet,
In the midst of Israel my people;
For I will no longer spare them.
Isaac's shrines shall be desolate,
And Israel's temples in ruin!

And I will overthrow by the sword
The house of Jeroboam.'

Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent this message to Jeroboam the ruler of Israel, 'Amos has conspired against you in the midst of the commonwealth of Israel; the country cannot bear all that he is saying. For Amos has said, "Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and the people of Israel shall surely be carried away captive from their land."

To Amos Amaziah said, 'Away, you visionary! Off with you to the land of Judah. There eat your bread and there play the prophet; but you shall no longer play the prophet at Bethel, for it is a royal sanctuary and an imperial residence.'

Amos answered Amaziah, 'I am no prophet, nor do I belong to a prophetic guild; I am only a pruner of It was Jehovah who took me from following the flock and said to me, "Go, preach to my people Israel."

sycomores.

'Now therefore hear the message of Jehovah: "You say, You shall not play the prophet against Israel, nor froth against the house of Isaac!" Therefore Jehovah declares:

"Your wife shall be a harlot in the city,

Your sons and daughters by the sword shall fall,
Your land shall be divided and sold,

And you yourself shall die on heathen soil,

For Israel shall be exiled from its land."

164. THE RESULTS OF NATIONAL DEGENERACY

The Lord Jehovah showed me,

And a basket of ripe fruit I saw.
He asked, 'Amos, what do you see?'
'A basket of ripe fruit,' I answered.
Then Jehovah said to me,

"The ripe hour has come to Israel,
I will no longer spare my people.'

Hear this, you who crush the needy,
And oppress the poor of the land,
Saying, 'When shall New Moon be over,

That we may sell our corn,

The Sabbath, that we may barter,

And sell the sweepings of grain,

Making measure small and price high,
And cheating with scales that are false?'

Jehovah has sworn by the glory of Jacob:

I will never forget your deeds!
I will make the sun set at noon,

And darken the earth in broad day,
I will turn to mourning your festivals,
And all your songs into dirges,
And put sackcloth on every loin,

On every head the mourning-tonsure,
I will make them mourn as for an only son,
And like a bitter day shall be its end.

'See, the days are coming,'

Jehovah the Lord declares,

"When I will send hunger throughout the land,
Not hunger for bread nor thirst for water,
But that they may hear the words of Jehovah.
They shall wander from sea to sea,

From north to far east they shall rove,

Seeking the word of Jehovah,

But shall not be able to find it.'

I saw the Lord by the altar,

And he said. 'Strike the pillars' capitals,
That the thresholds also may tremble!
On the heads of all break them off;
By the sword I will kill the last of them,
Not one shall run away,

Not one of them escape.

If they dig to the abode of the dead,
My hand will bring them back.
Should they climb up even to heaven,
From there I will hurl them down.
If they hide on the top of Carmel,

I will find them there and seize them.

Should they hide in the bottom of the sea?
I will bid the sea-serpent bite them.

If their enemies take them captive,
I will order the sword to kill them;
I will keep my eyes upon them,
For evil and not for good.'

'Are you not to me as the Cushites, O Israelites?' asks Jehovah;

'Did I not bring Israel from Egypt,
As I did the Philistines from Crete,
And the Arameans from Kir?
The eyes of Jehovah the Lord
Are on this sinful nation;

I will sweep it from off the earth.'

HOSEA

THE MESSAGE FROM JEHOVAH THAT CAME TO HOSEA THE SON OF BEERI DURING THE REIGN OF JEROBOAM THE SON OF JOASH, THE RULER OF ISRAEL

165.

HOSEA'S UNDYING LOVE FOR HIS GUILTY WIFE When Jehovah spoke at first to Hosea, he told him to go and marry a woman who later proved unfaithful and was the mother of illegitimate children, even as the people of Israel were unfaithful to Jehovah. So he went and married Gomer the daughter of Diblaim.

After she gave birth to a son, Jehovah said, 'Name him Jezreel, for soon I will avenge upon the house of Jehu the blood shed at Jezreel, and I will put an end to the nation Israel. At that time I will break the power of Israel in the valley of Jezreel.'

When Gomer gave birth to a daughter, Jehovah said to Hosea, 'Name her Unpitied, for I will no longer have pity and spare the nation Israel.'

After Gomer had weaned Unpitied, she gave birth to another son, and Jehovah said, 'Name him Not-mypeople, for you are not my people and I do not belong to you.'

Then Jehovah said to me, 'Continue to love this woman who is loved by a friend and is an adulteress, just as I love the Israelites, although they turn to other gods and love to eat raisin cakes at their festivals.'

So I bought her for fifteen pieces of silver and eight bushels and a measure of barley; and I said to her, 'Many years you shall belong to me alone; you shall not live an immoral life nor belong to another, and I also will be loyal to you.' The Israelites too shall