Bible Strands
Amos 7:2
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?”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Amos speaks to the Lord GOD immediately after a vision of locusts consuming the late spring crop following the king’s harvest.
The words — כִּלָּה (ki.Lah) translates as "it had finished" or "consumed," describing the locusts' total destruction of the vegetation (עֵשֶׂב הָאָרֶץ) of the land. וָ/אֹמַר (va./'o.Mar) marks the prophet's immediate verbal response to this devastation.
The thread — The plea for divine forgiveness amid national disaster echoes intercessory prayers in Isaiah 37:4 and Ezekiel 11:13, while the locust imagery parallels the plague in Exodus 10:15.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that human survival depends on divine mercy rather than national strength, requiring the reader to confront the fragility of life under judgment.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And it came to pass, that when they had made an end of eating the grass of the land, then I said, O Lord God, forgive, I beseech thee: by whom shall Jacob arise? for he is small.
Cross-references
- Isaiah 37:4 Perhaps the LORD your God will hear the words of the Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to defy the living God, and He will rebuke him for the words that the LORD your God has heard. Therefore lift up a prayer for the remnant that still survives.”
- Ezekiel 11:13 Now as I was prophesying, Pelatiah son of Benaiah died. Then I fell facedown and cried out in a loud voice, “Oh, Lord GOD, will You bring the remnant of Israel to a complete end?”
- Exodus 10:15 They covered the face of all the land until it was black, and they consumed all the plants on the ground and all the fruit on the trees that the hail had left behind. Nothing green was left on any tree or plant in all the land of Egypt.
- Jeremiah 14:7 Although our iniquities testify against us, O LORD, act for the sake of Your name. Indeed, our rebellions are many; we have sinned against You.
- Jeremiah 14:20 We acknowledge our wickedness, O LORD, the guilt of our fathers; indeed, we have sinned against You.
- Jeremiah 42:2 Jeremiah the prophet and said, “May our petition come before you; pray to the LORD your God on behalf of this entire remnant. For few of us remain of the many, as you can see with your own eyes.
- Ezekiel 9:8 While they were killing, I was left alone. And I fell facedown and cried out, “Oh, Lord GOD, when You pour out Your wrath on Jerusalem, will You destroy the entire remnant of Israel?”
- Exodus 32:11 But Moses sought the favor of the LORD his God, saying, “O LORD, why does Your anger burn against Your people, whom You brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand?
- Exodus 34:9 “O Lord,” he said, “if I have indeed found favor in Your sight, my Lord, please go with us. Although this is a stiff-necked people, forgive our iniquity and sin, and take us as Your inheritance.”
- Numbers 14:17 So now I pray, may the power of my Lord be magnified, just as You have declared: