4. The Lord showed me that he is going to send a ball of fire to burn up everything on earth, including the sea.
5. Then I said, “Won't you please stop? How can our weak nation survive?”
6. Again the Lord felt sorry and answered, “I won't let it be destroyed.”
7. The Lord showed me a vision of himself standing beside a wall and holding a string with a weight tied to the end of it. The string and weight had been used to measure the straightness of the wall.
8. Then he asked, “Amos, what do you see?”“A measuring line,” I answered.The Lord said, “I'm using this measuring line to show that my people Israel don't measure up, and I won't forgive them any more.
9. Their sacred places will be destroyed, and I will send war against the nation of King Jeroboam.”