Amos 7: Locusts, Fire, and a Plumb-Line

Amos 7

Locusts, Fire, and a Plumb-Line

7This is what the Lord God showed me: he was forming locusts at the time the latter growth began to sprout (it was the latter growth after the king’s mowings). ²When they had finished eating the grass of the land, I said,
‘O Lord God, forgive, I beg you!
   How can Jacob stand?
   He is so small!’ 
³ The Lord relented concerning this;
   ‘It shall not be,’ said the Lord. 

4 This is what the Lord God showed me: the Lord God was calling for a shower of fire, and it devoured the great deep and was eating up the land. ⁵Then I said,
‘O Lord God, cease, I beg you!
   How can Jacob stand?
   He is so small!’ 
⁶ The Lord relented concerning this;
   ‘This also shall not be,’ said the Lord God. 

7 This is what he showed me: the Lord was standing beside a wall built with a plumb-line, with a plumb-line in his hand. ⁸And the Lord said to me, ‘Amos, what do you see?’ And I said, ‘A plumb-line.’ Then the Lord said,
‘See, I am setting a plumb-line
   in the midst of my people Israel;
   I will never again pass them by; 
⁹ the high places of Isaac shall be made desolate,
   and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste,
   and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.’

(From http://bible.oremus.org/)