Amos 7:7-17

Thus He showed me [a vision], and behold, the Lord was standing by a vertical wall with a plumb line in His hand [to determine if the wall was straight or if it needed to be destroyed]. [2 Kin 21:13; Is 34:11] The LORD said to me, “Amos, what do you see?” And I said, “A plumb line.” Then the Lord said, “Behold, I am setting a plumb line [as a standard] Among My people Israel [showing the defectiveness of the nation, requiring judgment]. I shall not spare them any longer. [The door of mercy is shut.] “And the [idolatrous] high places of Isaac (Israel) will be devastated and deserted, And the sanctuaries of Israel will be in ruins. Then I shall rise up against the house of Jeroboam with the sword [and destroy the monarchy].” Then Amaziah, the priest of Bethel [site of the golden calf shrine], sent word to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, “Amos has conspired against you in the midst of the house of Israel; the land is unable to endure all his words. [1 Kin 12:31, 32] For in this way Amos has said, ‘Jeroboam will die by the sword and Israel will certainly go from its land into exile.’ ” Then Amaziah said to Amos, “Go, you seer, run for your life [from Israel] to the land of Judah [your own country] and eat bread and live as a prophet there! But do not prophesy any longer at Bethel, for it is the king’s sanctuary and a royal residence.” [Luke 10:10-12] Then Amos replied to Amaziah, “I am not a prophet [by profession], nor am I a prophet’s son; I am a herdsman and a grower of sycamore figs. But the LORD took me as I followed the flock and the LORD said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to My people Israel.’ Now therefore, listen to the word of the LORD: You say, ‘You shall not prophesy against Israel nor shall you speak against the house of Isaac.’ Therefore, thus says the LORD, ‘Your wife shall become a prostitute in the city [when the Assyrians capture Samaria] and your sons and your daughters shall fall by the sword, and your land shall be divided by a measuring line; you yourself shall die in an unclean and defiled [pagan] land, and Israel shall certainly go from its land into exile.’ ”