'Behold' in the Bible

“Behold, I am weighted down beneath youAs a cart that is weighted down when it is full of sheaves.

Proclaim on the fortresses in Ashdod (Philistia) and on the citadels in the land of Egypt, and say, “Assemble yourselves on the mountains of Samaria, and see the great confusion within her and the oppressions and abuse of authority in her midst.

The Lord God has sworn [an oath] by His holinessThat, “Behold, the days are coming upon youWhen they shall take you away with meat hooks,And the last of you with fish hooks.

For behold, He who forms the mountains and creates the windAnd declares to man what are His thoughts,He who makes the dawn into darknessAnd treads on the heights of the earth—The Lord God of hosts is His name.

For behold, the Lord is going to command that the great house be smashed to pieces and the small house to fragments.

“For behold, I am going to stir up a nation against you,O house of Israel,” says the Lord, the God of hosts,“And they will afflict and torment you [to the entire limits of Israel] from the entrance of Hamath [in the north]To the brook of the Arabah [in the south].”

Thus the Lord God showed me [a vision], and behold, He was forming a swarm of locusts when the spring crop began to sprout. And behold, the spring crop was after the king’s mowing.

Thus the Lord God showed me, and behold, the Lord God called for punishment with fire, and it devoured the great deep [underground sources of water] and began to consume the land.

Thus He showed me [a vision], and behold, the Lord was standing by a vertical wall with a plumb line in His hand [to determine if the wall was straight or if it needed to be destroyed].

The Lord said to me, “Amos, what do you see?” And I said, “A plumb line.” Then the Lord said,“Behold, I am setting a plumb line [as a standard]Among My people Israel [showing the defectiveness of the nation, requiring judgment].I shall not spare them any longer. [The door of mercy is shut.]

Thus the Lord God showed me [a vision], and behold, there was a basket of [overripe] summer fruit.

“Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord God,“When I will send hunger over the land,Not hunger for bread or a thirst for water,But rather [a hunger] for hearing the words of the Lord.

“Behold, the eyes of the Lord God are on the sinful [northern] kingdom [of Israel’s ten tribes]And I shall destroy it from the face of the earth;But I shall not totally destroy the house of Jacob [that is, the entire nation of Israel],”Says the Lord.

“For behold, I am commanding,And I shall shake and sift the house of Israel among all nations [and cause it to tremble]Like grain is shaken in a sieve [removing the chaff],But not a kernel [of the faithful remnant] shall fall to the ground and be lost [from My sight].

“Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord,“When the plowman shall overtake the one who gathers the harvest,And the one who treads the grapes [shall overtake] him who sows the seed [for the harvest continues until planting time];When the mountains will drip sweet wineAnd all the hills shall melt [that is, everything that was once barren will overflow with streams of blessing].