Amos is given three visions of the coming judgment. For the first two visions he prays on behalf of Israel and asks the Lord to forgive and cease. After the third vision, however, he is silent: judgment is coming upon Israel and he cannot stop it. Following these visions, there is a narrative between Amos and Amaziah. The focus of the narrative is the issue of authority. Amaziah claims that he has authority because he is the priest of Bethel, and therefore he commands Amos to go back to Judah. However, Amos testifies that the Lord has called him and he pronounces a curse of judgment upon Amaziah for his refusal to listen to the prophet of the Lord.
1 This is what the Lord GOD showed me: behold, he was forming locusts when the latter growth was just beginning to sprout, and behold, it was the latter growth after the king’s mowings.