Amos

Amos was a shepherd and fig grower from Tekoa in Judah who was called to prophesy in the northern kingdom of Israel during the prosperous reign of Jeroboam II (approximately 760 BCE). Though not a professional prophet, he fearlessly denounced the social injustices and religious complacency of a society enjoying economic prosperity while oppressing the poor, declaring 'let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream' (Amos 5:24). His vision of the plumb line (Amos 7:7–9) and the basket of summer fruit (Amos 8:1–3) announced imminent judgment. He was expelled from Bethel by the priest Amaziah (Amos 7:10–17) but his words were preserved. James quotes him in the Jerusalem Council (Acts 15:16–17), applying his vision of the restored Davidic booth to the ingathering of the Gentiles.