“‘I struck you
With blight.
I struck you
With mildew.
I laid waste
Your gardens.
I laid waste
Your vineyards.
The locusts devoured
Your fig trees.
The locusts devoured
Your olive trees.
Yet you did not
Return to me.’
Says Yahweh.”
Amos has this oracle of Yahweh repeat the same theme, that despite the failure of their gardens and vineyards, they did not return to Yahweh. He had struck them with blight and mildew. Yahweh had laid waste their gardens and vineyards. Locusts devoured their fig trees and olive trees. Despite all this devastation, the Israelites of the northern kingdom did not return to Yahweh.
