Amos 3-4
Holman Christian Standard Bible
God’s Reasons for Punishing Israel
3 Listen to this message that the Lord has spoken against you, Israelites, against the entire clan that I brought from the land of Egypt:(A)
2 I have known only you(B)
out of all the clans of the earth;
therefore, I will punish you for all your iniquities.(C)
3 Can two walk together(D)
without agreeing to meet?[a]
4 Does a lion roar(E) in the forest
when it has no prey?
Does a young lion growl from its lair
unless it has captured something?
5 Does a bird land in a trap on the ground
if there is no bait for it?
Does a trap spring from the ground
when it has caught nothing?
6 If a ram’s horn(F) is blown in a city,
aren’t people afraid?(G)
If a disaster(H) occurs in a city,
hasn’t the Lord done it?(I)
7 Indeed, the Lord God does nothing
without revealing His counsel
to His servants the prophets.(J)
8 A lion has roared;(K)
who will not fear?
The Lord God has spoken;(L)
who will not prophesy?(M)
9 Proclaim on the citadels in Ashdod(N)
and on the citadels in the land of Egypt:
Assemble on the mountains of Samaria(O)
and see the great turmoil in the city
and the acts of oppression within it.(P)
10 The people are incapable of doing right(Q)—
this is the Lord’s declaration—
those who store up violence and destruction(R)
in their citadels.
11 Therefore, the Lord God says:
12 The Lord says:
As the shepherd snatches two legs
or a piece of an ear
from the lion’s mouth,(V)
so the Israelites who live in Samaria
will be rescued
with only the corner of a bed(W)
or the[b] cushion[c] of a couch.[d](X)
13 Listen and testify(Y) against the house of Jacob—
this is the declaration of the Lord God,
the God of Hosts.
14 I will punish the altars of Bethel(Z)
on the day I punish Israel for its crimes;
the horns of the altar(AA) will be cut off
and fall to the ground.(AB)
15 I will demolish the winter house(AC)
and the summer house;(AD)
the houses inlaid with ivory(AE) will be destroyed,
and the great houses(AF) will come to an end.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
Social and Spiritual Corruption
4 Listen to this message, you cows of Bashan(AG)
who are on the hill of Samaria,
women who oppress the poor
and crush the needy,(AH)
who say to their husbands,
“Bring us something to drink.”(AI)
2 The Lord God has sworn(AJ) by His holiness:(AK)
Look, the days are coming[e]
when you will be taken away with hooks,(AL)
every last one of you with fishhooks.(AM)
3 You will go through breaches in the wall,(AN)
each woman straight ahead,
and you will be driven along toward Harmon.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
4 Come to Bethel and rebel;
rebel even more at Gilgal!(AO)
Bring your sacrifices every morning,(AP)
your tenths every three days.
5 Offer leavened bread as a thank offering,(AQ)
and loudly proclaim your freewill offerings,(AR)
for that is what you Israelites love to do!(AS)
This is the Lord’s declaration.
God’s Discipline and Israel’s Apostasy
6 I gave you absolutely nothing to eat[f](AT)
in all your cities,
a shortage of food in all your communities,
yet you did not return to Me.(AU)
This is the Lord’s declaration.
7 I also withheld the rain from you(AV)
while there were still three months until harvest.
I sent rain on one city
but no rain on another.(AW)
One field received rain
while a field with no rain withered.(AX)
8 Two or three cities staggered
to another city to drink water(AY)
but were not satisfied,(AZ)
yet you did not return(BA) to Me.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
9 I struck you with blight and mildew;(BB)
the locust devoured(BC)
your many gardens and vineyards,
your fig trees and olive trees,(BD)
yet you did not return to Me.(BE)
This is the Lord’s declaration.
10 I sent plagues like those of Egypt;(BF)
I killed your young men with the sword,(BG)
along with your captured horses.(BH)
I caused the stench of your camp
to fill your nostrils,(BI)
yet you did not return to Me.(BJ)
This is the Lord’s declaration.
11 I overthrew some of you
as I[g] overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah,(BK)
and you were like a burning stick
snatched from a fire,(BL)
yet you did not return to Me(BM)—
this is the Lord’s declaration.
12 Therefore, Israel, that is what I will do to you,
and since I will do that to you,
Israel, prepare to meet your God!(BN)
13 He is here:
the One who forms the mountains,(BO)
creates the wind,(BP)
and reveals His[h] thoughts to man,(BQ)
the One who makes the dawn out of darkness
and strides on the heights of the earth.(BR)
Yahweh, the God of Hosts, is His name.(BS)
Footnotes
- Amos 3:3 LXX reads without meeting
- Amos 3:12 Or Israelites will be rescued, those who sit in Samaria on a corner of a bed or a
- Amos 3:12 Hb obscure
- Amos 3:12 LXX, Aq, Sym, Theod, Syr, Tg, Vg read or in Damascus
- Amos 4:2 Lit coming on you
- Amos 4:6 Lit you cleanness of teeth
- Amos 4:11 Lit God
- Amos 4:13 Or his
Acts 13
Holman Christian Standard Bible
Preparing for the Mission Field
13 In the church that was at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius the Cyrenian, Manaen, a close friend of Herod the tetrarch,(A) and Saul.
2 As they were ministering to[a] the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work I have called them to.”(B) 3 Then after they had fasted, prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them off.(C)
The Mission to Cyprus
4 Being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they came down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus. 5 Arriving in Salamis, they proclaimed God’s message in the Jewish synagogues. They also had John as their assistant.(D) 6 When they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they came across a sorcerer, a Jewish false prophet named Bar-Jesus.(E) 7 He was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man. This man summoned Barnabas and Saul and desired to hear God’s message.(F) 8 But Elymas the sorcerer (this is the meaning of his name) opposed(G) them and tried to turn the proconsul away from the faith.(H)
9 Then Saul—also called Paul—filled with the Holy Spirit, stared straight at the sorcerer 10 and said, “You son of the Devil,(I) full of all deceit and all fraud, enemy of all righteousness! Won’t you ever stop perverting the straight paths(J) of the Lord? 11 Now, look! The Lord’s hand is against you.(K) You are going to be blind, and will not see the sun for a time.” Suddenly a mist and darkness fell on him, and he went around seeking someone to lead him by the hand.
12 Then the proconsul, seeing what happened, believed and was astonished at the teaching about the Lord.(L)
Paul’s Sermon in Antioch of Pisidia
13 Paul and his companions set sail from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia. John, however, left them and went back to Jerusalem.(M) 14 They continued their journey from Perga and reached Antioch in Pisidia. On the Sabbath day they went into the synagogue and sat down.(N) 15 After the reading of the Law and the Prophets, the leaders of the synagogue sent word to them, saying, “Brothers, if you have any message of encouragement for the people, you can speak.”(O)
16 Then Paul stood up and motioned with his hand and said: “Men of Israel, and you who fear God, listen!(P) 17 The God of this people Israel chose our ancestors, exalted the people during their stay in the land of Egypt, and led them out of it with a mighty[b] arm.(Q) 18 And for about 40 years He put up with them[c] in the wilderness;(R) 19 then after destroying seven nations in the land of Canaan,(S) He gave their land to them as an inheritance. 20 This all took about 450 years. After this, He gave them judges until Samuel the prophet.(T) 21 Then they asked for a king, so God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for 40 years.(U) 22 After removing him,(V) He raised up David as their king and testified about him: ‘I have found David the son of Jesse, a man loyal to Me,(W)[d] who will carry out all My will.’
23 “From this man’s descendants, according to the promise, God brought the Savior, Jesus,[e] to Israel.(X) 24 Before He came to public attention,[f] John had previously proclaimed a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel.(Y) 25 Then as John was completing his life’s work, he said, ‘Who do you think I am? I am not the One. But look! Someone is coming after me, and I am not worthy to untie the sandals on His feet.’(Z)
26 “Brothers, sons of Abraham’s race, and those among you who fear God, the message of this salvation has been sent to us.(AA) 27 For the residents of Jerusalem and their rulers, since they did not recognize Him or the voices of the prophets that are read every Sabbath, have fulfilled their words[g] by condemning Him.(AB) 28 Though they found no grounds for the death penalty, they asked Pilate to have Him killed.(AC) 29 When they had fulfilled all that had been written about Him, they took Him down from the tree and put Him in a tomb.(AD) 30 But God raised Him from the dead,(AE) 31 and He appeared for many days to those who came with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are now His witnesses to the people.(AF) 32 And we ourselves proclaim to you the good news of the promise that was made to our ancestors.(AG) 33 God has fulfilled this for us, their children, by raising up Jesus, as it is written in the second Psalm:
34 Since He raised Him from the dead, never to return to decay, He has spoken in this way, I will grant you the faithful covenant blessings[j] made to David.(AI)[k] 35 Therefore He also says in another passage, You will not allow Your Holy One to see decay.(AJ)[l] 36 For David, after serving his own generation in God’s plan, fell asleep,(AK) was buried with his fathers, and decayed.(AL) 37 But the One God raised up did not decay. 38 Therefore, let it be known to you, brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is being proclaimed to you,(AM) 39 and everyone who believes in Him is justified from everything that you could not be justified from through the law of Moses.(AN) 40 So beware that what is said in the prophets does not happen to you:
41 Look, you scoffers,
marvel and vanish away,
because I am doing a work in your days,
a work that you will never believe,
even if someone were to explain it to you.”(AO)[m]
Paul and Barnabas in Antioch
42 As they[n] were leaving, the people[o] begged that these matters be presented to them the following Sabbath. 43 After the synagogue had been dismissed, many of the Jews and devout proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, who were speaking with them and persuading them to continue in the grace of God.(AP)
44 The following Sabbath almost the whole town assembled to hear the message of the Lord.[p] 45 But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began to oppose what Paul was saying by insulting him.(AQ)
46 Then Paul and Barnabas boldly said: “It was necessary that God’s message be spoken to you first. But since you reject it and consider yourselves unworthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles!(AR) 47 For this is what the Lord has commanded us:
48 When the Gentiles heard this, they rejoiced and glorified the message of the Lord, and all who had been appointed to eternal life believed. 49 So the message of the Lord spread through the whole region. 50 But the Jews incited the prominent women, who worshiped God, and the leading men of the city. They stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas and expelled them from their district.(AT) 51 But they shook the dust off their feet(AU) against them(AV) and went to Iconium. 52 And the disciples were filled with joy and the Holy Spirit.(AW)
Footnotes
- Acts 13:2 Or were worshiping
- Acts 13:17 Lit with an uplifted
- Acts 13:18 Other mss read He cared for them
- Acts 13:22 1Sm 13:14; Ps 89:20
- Acts 13:23 Other mss read brought salvation
- Acts 13:24 Lit Before the face of His entrance
- Acts 13:27 Lit fulfilled them
- Acts 13:33 Or I have begotten You
- Acts 13:33 Ps 2:7
- Acts 13:34 Lit faithful holy things
- Acts 13:34 Is 55:3
- Acts 13:35 Ps 16:10
- Acts 13:41 Hab 1:5
- Acts 13:42 Paul and Barnabas
- Acts 13:42 Other mss read they were leaving the synagogue of the Jews, the Gentiles
- Acts 13:44 Other mss read of God
- Acts 13:47 Lit the end
- Acts 13:47 Is 49:6
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