[Three sins] I have passed by,
The fourth I cannot overlook.
“He beholds first the approach of a desolating flight of locusts, then a terrible fire, and having interceded against both, he sees the Lord, standing with a plummet in his hand beside the wall, and hears the words:
Behold I will set a plumb-line in the midst of my people Israel;
I will not again pass by them any more.
The high places of Isaac shall be desolate,
And the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste,
And I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.—Amos vii. 7.
“Let me here subjoin, Myron, the history which follows, which will show you clearly in what relation the prophet stood to the priests: ‘Then Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, sent to Jeroboam, king of Israel, saying, Amos hath conspired against thee in the midst of the house of Israel, the land cannot remain tranquil for the words which he speaketh. For thus Amos saith; Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel shall surely be led away captive out of their own land. And Amaziah said unto Amos, O thou seer, go flee away into the land of Judah, and there eat bread and prophesy there: but prophesy no more at Bethel: for it is the king’s sanctuary and royal palace. Then answered Amos and said to Amaziah, I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet’s son, but I was a herdsman, and I lived on sycamore fruit. And the Lord took me, as I followed my flock, and he said to me, Go prophesy unto my people Israel. Now therefore hear thou the word of the Lord. Thou sayest
Prophesy not against Israel