One of the more important passages read aloud in lodge is a passage from the book of Amos, from the Old Testament. It reads:

Thus he showed me, and behold, the Lord stood upon a wall made by a plumb line, with a plumb line in his hand. And the Lord said unto me, Amos, what seest though? And I said, “A plumb line.” Then said the Lord, behold, I will set a plumb line in the midst of my people Israel, I will not again pass by them anymore.

This particular passage, which comes from the Old Testament book of Amos, has always been a favorite of mine, of all the biblical passages read during the degrees, for its striking imagery. But, I never fully understood the context or meaning behind it.
As the Mason responsible for reciting this passage, I felt it prudent to remedy my ignorance. Especially the last part, “I will not again pass by them anymore.” What was the meaning here? Was the Lord saying he wouldn’t visit the people of Israel anymore? Or was the opposite true, and he wasn’t going to stop ignoring them?
As beautiful as the language is in the King James Bible, the translations are sometimes confusing to modern-day English-speaking people. So, with the help of www.biblos.com, which listed over 15 translations of the passage, and a little background research on the book of Amos, I had my answer.
Amos was a herdsman of Tekoa, and prophet sent by the Lord to warn the people of Israel that, due to their extreme negligence in following God’s Law, they were about to be punished quite severely.
The words, “I will not again pass them by anymore,” is God way of telling Amos that he’s had enough and will no longer grant the people of Israel any special lenency. The NIV Bible translates this passage as “I will no longer ignore all their sins.”
Masonry, as a system of morality, veiled in allegory, borrows the imagery used in the book of Amos as a means of measuring our own conduct, and should be a reminder to us, as Free and Accepted Masons, to walk up-rightly in our several stations before God and Man.
Or put more simply, to be fair, honest and kind.