Brief Bible commentary on Amos 7:7-13
This is what the Sovereign YHWH showed me: God was standing by a wall, a plumb line in hand. “What do you see, Amos?” YHWH asked me. “A plumb line,” I said. Then God said to me, “Look, I am going to measure my people Israel by plumb line. I will no longer excuse their atrocities. The high places of Isaac are going to be ruined, the sanctuaries of Israel destroyed. With sword in hand, I will attack the House of Jeroboam.” Amaziah the priest of Bethel then sent the following message to Jeroboam ruler of Israel: “Amos is plotting against you in the midst of the House of Israel. The country can no longer tolerate what he keeps saying. For this is what he says, ‘Jeroboam is going to die by the sword, and Israel is going into exile from its land.’ ” Amaziah told Amos, “Go away, seer! Go back to the land of Judah. Earn your bread there. Do your prophesying there. We want no more prophesying in Bethel. This is the royal sanctuary, the national Temple!”