Visions that Yahweh gave to Joel

7 Yahweh our God showed me in a vision that he was going to send locusts to destroy our crops. It was going to happen right after the king’s share of the hay had been harvested/cut and before the rest of the hay was ready to be harvested. 2 And in the vision I saw those locusts come, and they ate everything that was green. Then I cried out, “Yahweh our Lord, please forgive us! We Israeli people are very helpless; ◄how will we be able to survive [RHQ]?/we will not be able to survive!►”

3 So Yahweh changed his mind and said, “That will not happen.”

4 Then this is what Yahweh our Lord showed me in another vision: He was calling to a fire to come and punish his people. In the vision I saw that the fire dried up the ocean and also burned everything on the land. 5 Then I cried out again, “Yahweh our Lord, I plead with you, please stop this! We Israeli people are very helpless; how will we be able to survive [RHQ]?”

6 So Yahweh changed his mind again, and said, “That also will not happen.”

7 Then Yahweh showed me another vision. I saw him standing beside a wall. It was very straight because it had been built using a ◄plumb line/cord with a weight on one end to determine if walls are vertically straight►. Yahweh had the plumb line in his hand. 8 Yahweh asked me, “Amos, what do you see?”

I replied, “A plumb line.”

Then Yahweh said, “Look, I am going to use a plumb line among my Israeli people, to show that they are like a wall that is not straight. I will not change my mind again about punishing them.

9 The places on hills where the descendants of [MTY] Isaac worship idols will be destroyed.

And the other important shrines in Israel will also be destroyed.

And I will enable your enemies to attack your people with swords

and they will get rid of King Jeroboam and all his descendants.”