A reading from
the Book of the Prophet Amos7:10-17
Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, sent word to Jeroboam, king of Israel: “Amos has conspired against you here within Israel; the country cannot endure all his words. For this is what Amos says:/ Jeroboam shall die by the sword,/ and Israel shall surely be exiled from its land.”
To Amos, Amaziah said: “Off with you, visionary, flee to the land of Judah! There earn your bread by prophesying, but never again prophesy in Bethel; for it is the king’s sanctuary and a royal temple.” Amos answered Amaziah, “I was no prophet, nor have I belonged to a company of prophets; I was a shepherd and a dresser of sycamores. The Lord took me from following the flock, and said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’ Now hear the word of the Lord!”
You say: prophesy not against Israel,/ preach not against the house of Isaac./ Now thus says the Lord:/ Your wife shall be made a harlot in the city,/ and your sons and daughters shall fall by the sword;/ Your land shall be divided by measuring line,/ and you yourself shall die in an unclean land;/ Israel shall be exiled far from its land.
The word of the Lord.
