Prophet
Prophet Prophet Amos
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Prophet Amos — a shepherd from Tekoa, the first of the "writing prophets," who denounced social injustice and hollow piety in Israel during the reign of Jeroboam II.
Amos was a shepherd and cultivator of sycamore-fig trees from Tekoa, a small town in the hill country of Judah south of Bethlehem. Though a native of the southern kingdom of Judah, God called him from tending his flock to prophesy in the northern kingdom of Israel, chiefly in Bethel and Samaria, "two years before the earthquake" (Amos 1:1) — around 760 BC, during the reign of King Jeroboam II.
Amos is regarded as the first of the "writing prophets," whose oracles were set down in the Book of Amos, the third of the twelve Minor Prophets. His preaching focused almost entirely on social justice: he denounced the wealthy of Israel for exploiting the poor, perverting justice, indulging in luxury while ignoring the needy, and reducing worship to empty ritual sacrifice devoid of righteousness ("let justice roll down like waters"). He proclaimed the coming "Day of the Lord" as a day of judgment rather than deliverance for a nation that had broken its covenant.
His confrontation with Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, who tried to expel him, is recorded in chapter 7. Tradition holds that Amaziah's son struck Amos with a club, and the prophet died of his wounds after returning to Tekoa.