Amos Chapter 7 in Simple English

Updated on October 1, 2026

Read Amos Chapter 7

1This is what the Lord GOD showed me. Look, he formed locusts when the late crop was beginning to come up. It was the late crop, after the king's mowings.

2When the locusts had finished eating the grass of the land, I said, "Lord GOD, forgive, I beg you. How can Jacob stand? For he is small."

3The LORD repented concerning this. "It shall not be," says the LORD.

4This is what the Lord GOD showed me. Look, the Lord GOD called for judgment by fire. It burned up the great deep, and it ate up a part of the land.

5Then I said, "Lord GOD, stop, I beg you. How can Jacob stand? For he is small."

6The LORD repented concerning this. "This also shall not be," says the Lord GOD.

7This is what he showed me. Look, the Lord stood on a wall that had been built with a plumbline, and he had a plumbline in his hand.

8And the LORD said to me, "Amos, what do you see?" And I said, "A plumbline." Then the Lord said, "Look, I will set a plumbline among my people Israel. I will not pass by them any more."

9"The high places of Isaac shall be made empty, and the holy places of Israel shall be laid waste. And I will rise up against the house of Jeroboam with the sword."

10Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent word to Jeroboam king of Israel. He said, "Amos has made a plot against you, right in the middle of the house of Israel. The land cannot bear all his words."

11"For this is what Amos says: 'Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel shall surely be led away as captives out of their own land.'"

12Amaziah also said to Amos, "You seer, go away. Run off to the land of Judah. Eat your bread there, and prophesy there."

13"But do not prophesy at Bethel any more, for it is the king's holy place, and it is the king's court."

14Then Amos answered Amaziah, "I was no prophet, and I was not a prophet's son. I was a herdsman, and I gathered sycomore fruit."

15And the LORD took me as I followed the flock, and the LORD said to me, 'Go, prophesy to my people Israel.'

16Now then, hear the word of the LORD. You say, 'Do not prophesy against Israel, and do not let your word fall against the house of Isaac.'

17"So this is what the LORD says: 'Your wife shall be a harlot in the city, and your sons and your daughters shall fall by the sword. Your land shall be divided up with a measuring line, and you yourself shall die in an unclean land. And Israel shall surely go into captivity, away from his own land.'"

You are readingSimple English

Explanation

Amos 7

In short

Amos receives visions showing God's judgment on Israel. The first two judgments are withdrawn when Amos pleads for mercy, but the third shows Israel measured by God's standard and found wanting, with no reprieve. A priest then confronts Amos for prophesying against the king, and Amos explains that God called him to deliver this message.

Context

This chapter stands near the end of Amos's prophecies. Amos is a shepherd from Judah whom God has called to deliver warnings to the northern kingdom of Israel. He has been speaking against the wealthy and the king. Now he receives a series of visions, and then faces opposition from the religious establishment.

What the text says

In the first two visions, verses 1-6, Amos sees a plague of grasshoppers devouring the land after the king's harvest, and then a fire consuming the deep. In both cases, Amos asks God to spare Jacob because "he is small," and God relents both times.

In the third vision, verses 7-9, God stands with a plumbline, a tool for measuring whether a wall is straight. God tells Amos he will set a plumbline against Israel itself, measuring them. This time God says, "I will not again pass by them any more," meaning no more forgiveness. God will destroy the shrines and strike the house of Jeroboam with the sword.

Verses 10-13 shift to confrontation. Amaziah, a priest at Bethel, the king's sanctuary, sends word to King Jeroboam that Amos is conspiring against him. Amaziah orders Amos to leave Israel and prophesy in his home country of Judah instead, saying Bethel is "the king's chapel."

In response, verses 14-17, Amos says he is no hired prophet but a shepherd whom God commanded to prophesy to Israel. He then pronounces judgment on Amaziah himself: his wife will become a prostitute, his children will die by the sword, his land will be divided, and he will die in an unclean land. Israel will go into captivity.

Takeaways

God's patience has limits; repeated warnings without response lead to judgment without mercy.
Amos's authority comes from God's direct call, not from priestly credentials or professional training.
Opposition to God's message brings judgment on the one who resists it.

Amos 7 - Simple English