The Locusts, Fire, and Plumb Line

(Joel 2:1–11)

This is what the Lord GOD showed me He was preparing swarms of locusts just after the king’s harvest, as the late spring crop was coming up 2 And when the locusts had eaten every green plant in the land, I said,“Lord GOD, please forgive! How will Jacob survive, since he is so small?”

3 

So the LORD relented from this [plan].“It will not happen,” [He] said.

4 

This is what the Lord GOD showed me The Lord GOD was calling for judgment by fire. It consumed the great deep and devoured the land. 5 Then I said,“Lord GOD, please stop! How will Jacob survive, since he is so small?”

6 

So the LORD relented from this [plan].“It will not happen either,” said the Lord GOD.

7 

This is what He showed me: Behold, the Lord was standing by a wall true to plumb, with a plumb line in His hand. 8 “Amos, what do you see?” asked the LORD.

“A plumb line,” I replied.

“Behold,” said the Lord,“I am setting a plumb line among My people Israel; I will no longer spare them:

9 

The high places of Isaac will be deserted,

and the sanctuaries of Israel will be laid waste;

and I will rise up against the house of Jeroboam

with My sword.”

10