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Amos 7:10-17

I Was No Prophet

Lyrics · Amos

I Was No Prophet

Amos 7:10-17

Lyrics

About this song

About this song

This song belongs to the Amos collection. One recording is available to play here, with the complete lyrics below.

Bible book
Amos
Collection
Amos
Musical styles
Uncategorized
[Downbeat Hook] I was no prophet, no prophet’s son, I followed the herd where the sycamores grew. [Verse 1] The priest sent word to the palace: conspiracy, The land cannot carry the weight of this voice. Go south, O seer, earn bread with your visions, Bethel belongs to the king and his court. [Chorus] I was no prophet, no prophet’s son, I followed the herd where the sycamores grew. The LORD took me out from behind the flock, Said, Go to my people and speak what is true. [Verse 2] A title did not call me, a market did not pay me, A chapel of power cannot cancel the word. Hear now, Amaziah, the warning you banished: Silencing the messenger does not silence the LORD. [Bridge] The pasture remains in the dust on my feet, But the roar of Zion is the reason I speak. [Final Chorus] I was no prophet, no prophet’s son, I followed the herd where the sycamores grew. Said, Go to my people and speak what is true. But the roar of Zion is the reason I speak.

Named in this songBethelZion

About the passage

Amos 7: The prophet whose words the sanctuary cannot bear

Three visions establish the chapter’s movement before the conflict at Bethel makes it public. Locusts threaten the latter growth, then fire reaches even the great deep. In both scenes Amos pleads for small Jacob, and the announced calamity is withdrawn. The third vision breaks the pattern. A plumbline is set among Israel, the LORD says he will not pass by the people again, and sanctuaries and the house of Jeroboam are named for judgment. Amaziah responds not by answering the accusation but by treating Amos as a political threat and a professional nuisance who should earn his bread elsewhere. His defense of Bethel is revealing: it is the king’s chapel and court. Amos answers by locating his authority outside that institution. Herds, sycomore fruit, and the LORD’s command stand behind a commission that royal property cannot revoke.

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