12 Teach us to number our days,(A)
    that we may gain a heart of wisdom.(B)

13 Relent, Lord! How long(C) will it be?
    Have compassion on your servants.(D)
14 Satisfy(E) us in the morning with your unfailing love,(F)
    that we may sing for joy(G) and be glad all our days.(H)
15 Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us,
    for as many years as we have seen trouble.
16 May your deeds be shown to your servants,
    your splendor to their children.(I)

17 May the favor[a] of the Lord our God rest on us;
    establish the work of our hands for us—
    yes, establish the work of our hands.(J)

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Footnotes

  1. Psalm 90:17 Or beauty

12 So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.

13 Return, O Lord, how long? and let it repent thee concerning thy servants.

14 O satisfy us early with thy mercy; that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.

15 Make us glad according to the days wherein thou hast afflicted us, and the years wherein we have seen evil.

16 Let thy work appear unto thy servants, and thy glory unto their children.

17 And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us: and establish thou the work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands establish thou it.

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13 “Hear this and testify(A) against the descendants of Jacob,” declares the Lord, the Lord God Almighty.

14 “On the day I punish(B) Israel for her sins,
    I will destroy the altars of Bethel;(C)
the horns(D) of the altar will be cut off
    and fall to the ground.
15 I will tear down the winter house(E)
    along with the summer house;(F)
the houses adorned with ivory(G) will be destroyed
    and the mansions(H) will be demolished,(I)
declares the Lord.(J)

Israel Has Not Returned to God

Hear this word, you cows of Bashan(K) on Mount Samaria,(L)
    you women who oppress the poor(M) and crush the needy(N)
    and say to your husbands,(O) “Bring us some drinks!(P)
The Sovereign Lord has sworn by his holiness:
    “The time(Q) will surely come
when you will be taken away(R) with hooks,(S)
    the last of you with fishhooks.[a]
You will each go straight out
    through breaches in the wall,(T)
    and you will be cast out toward Harmon,[b]
declares the Lord.
“Go to Bethel(U) and sin;
    go to Gilgal(V) and sin yet more.
Bring your sacrifices every morning,(W)
    your tithes(X) every three years.[c](Y)
Burn leavened bread(Z) as a thank offering
    and brag about your freewill offerings(AA)
boast about them, you Israelites,
    for this is what you love to do,”
declares the Sovereign Lord.

Footnotes

  1. Amos 4:2 Or away in baskets, / the last of you in fish baskets
  2. Amos 4:3 Masoretic Text; with a different word division of the Hebrew (see Septuagint) out, you mountain of oppression
  3. Amos 4:4 Or days

13 Hear ye, and testify in the house of Jacob, saith the Lord God, the God of hosts,

14 That in the day that I shall visit the transgressions of Israel upon him I will also visit the altars of Bethel: and the horns of the altar shall be cut off, and fall to the ground.

15 And I will smite the winter house with the summer house; and the houses of ivory shall perish, and the great houses shall have an end, saith the Lord.

Hear this word, ye kine of Bashan, that are in the mountain of Samaria, which oppress the poor, which crush the needy, which say to their masters, Bring, and let us drink.

The Lord God hath sworn by his holiness, that, lo, the days shall come upon you, that he will take you away with hooks, and your posterity with fishhooks.

And ye shall go out at the breaches, every cow at that which is before her; and ye shall cast them into the palace, saith the Lord.

Come to Bethel, and transgress; at Gilgal multiply transgression; and bring your sacrifices every morning, and your tithes after three years:

And offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving with leaven, and proclaim and publish the free offerings: for this liketh you, O ye children of Israel, saith the Lord God.

That Which Defiles(A)

15 Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don’t wash their hands before they eat!”(B)

Jesus replied, “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’[a](C) and ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.’[b](D) But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is ‘devoted to God,’ they are not to ‘honor their father or mother’ with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition. You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you:

“‘These people honor me with their lips,
    but their hearts are far from me.
They worship me in vain;
    their teachings are merely human rules.(E)[c](F)

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Footnotes

  1. Matthew 15:4 Exodus 20:12; Deut. 5:16
  2. Matthew 15:4 Exodus 21:17; Lev. 20:9
  3. Matthew 15:9 Isaiah 29:13

15 Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem, saying,

Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread.

But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?

For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death.

But ye say, Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me;

And honour not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition.

Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying,

This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.

But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.

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