"Amos hath conspired against thee in the midst of the house of Israel; the land is not able to bear his words. For thus hath Amos said, 'Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel shall surely be led away captive out of his land.'" The messenger proceeded, post haste, to the palace of the king, and Amaziah, quietly and with dignity, went to the sanctuary. Hardly had Amos lifted his head from his low salute, when Amaziah addressed him: "O seer! Go, flee away to the land of Judah, and there eat bread, and prophesy there; but prophesy not again any more in Bethel, for it is the king's sanctuary, and it is the royal residence." How the Priest misunderstood the Prophet! Just because Bethel was the king's sanctuary and the royal residence and the seat of all the mighty in the land of Israel, Amos had selected it, above all other places, to preach his message there. But Amaziah's little speech contained something more important to Amos than this. Amaziah had addressed the Prophet as "seer," he had taken him for the leader of a "School of Prophets." Amos immediately disclaimed such a questionable distinction. He answered Amaziah: "I am no Prophet, nor am I the son of a Prophet; but I was a herdsman and a dresser of sycamore trees, when God took me from following the flock and God said to me, 'Go, prophesy against My people Israel.'" Entirely unprepared for such an answer, and not quite certain whether he understood what Amos meant by his claim that he had taken his orders direct from God, Amaziah was disconcerted. Amos did not give the Priest a chance to recover from his surprise and continued: "Now, therefore, hear thou the word of God: 'Thou sayest, "Prophesy not against Israel, nor preach against the house of Isaac."' Therefore, thus saith God, 'Thy sons and thy daughters shall fall by the sword and thy land shall be divided by line; and thou shall die upon an unclean soil, and Israel shall surely be led away captive out of this land.'" The fearlessness of the Prophet in attacking the High Priest dismayed Amaziah and his followers greatly. The crowd, too, by its acclamations, was evidently siding with Amos. Amaziah was, therefore, placed on the defensive. In broken and halting sentences he defended himself and the people. The ancient laws of Israel, he pointed out, were being adhered to by all Israelites. He, for one, was not afraid, even if the Day of God, the judgment day, should come to-morrow. Now, a man like Amaziah might not fear the strict judgment which, Amos said, God was to visit upon Israel; but, how about those who were guilty of the crimes of which God, through the Prophet, was accusing Israel? Amos understood this, though Amaziah did not. The Prophet was speaking to all the people and not to one man in particular. Therefore, he continued: