Amos 7:14-16
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
14 Amos answered Amaziah, “I am not a prophet,[a] nor do I belong to a company of prophets. I am a herdsman and a dresser of sycamores,(A) 15 but the Lord took me from following the flock, and the Lord said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’(B) 16 Now hear the word of the Lord:
You say: ‘Do not prophesy against Israel,
do not preach against the house of Isaac.’
Footnotes
- 7:14 I am not a prophet: Amos reacts strongly to Amaziah’s attempt to classify him as a “prophet-for-hire” who “earns [his] bread” by giving oracles in exchange for payment (cf. 1 Sm 9:3–10; Mi 3:5). To disassociate himself from this kind of “professional” prophet, Amos rejects outright the title of nabi’ (“prophet”). By profession he is a herdsman/sheepbreeder and a dresser of sycamore trees, but God’s call has commissioned him to prophesy to Israel.
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