Vision of the Summer Fruit

Thus the Lord God showed me: Behold, a basket of summer fruit. And He said, “Amos, what do you see?”

So I said, “A basket of summer fruit.”

Then the Lord said to me:

(A)“The end has come upon My people Israel;
(B)I will not pass by them anymore.
And (C)the songs of the temple
Shall be wailing in that day,”
Says the Lord God
“Many dead bodies everywhere,
(D)They shall be thrown out in silence.”

Hear this, you who [a]swallow up the needy,
And make the poor of the land fail,

Saying:

“When will the New Moon be past,
That we may sell grain?
And (E)the Sabbath,
That we may [b]trade wheat?
(F)Making the ephah small and the shekel large,
Falsifying the scales by (G)deceit,
That we may buy the poor for (H)silver,
And the needy for a pair of sandals—
Even sell the bad wheat?”

The Lord has sworn by (I)the pride of Jacob:
“Surely (J)I will never forget any of their works.
(K)Shall the land not tremble for this,
And everyone mourn who dwells in it?
All of it shall swell like [c]the River,
Heave and subside
(L)Like the River of Egypt.

“And it shall come to pass in that day,” says the Lord God,
(M)“That I will make the sun go down at noon,
And I will darken the earth in [d]broad daylight;
10 I will turn your feasts into (N)mourning,
(O)And all your songs into lamentation;
(P)I will bring sackcloth on every waist,
And baldness on every head;
I will make it like mourning for an only son,
And its end like a bitter day.

11 “Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord God,
“That I will send a famine on the land,
Not a famine of bread,
Nor a thirst for water,
But (Q)of hearing the words of the Lord.
12 They shall wander from sea to sea,
And from north to east;
They shall run to and fro, seeking the word of the Lord,
But shall (R)not find it.

13 “In that day the fair virgins
And strong young men
Shall faint from thirst.
14 Those who (S)swear by (T)the [e]sin of Samaria,
Who say,
‘As your god lives, O Dan!’
And, ‘As the way of (U)Beersheba lives!’
They shall fall and never rise again.”

The Destruction of Israel

I saw the Lord standing by the altar, and He said:

“Strike the [f]doorposts, that the thresholds may shake,
And (V)break them on the heads of them all.
I will slay the last of them with the sword.
(W)He who flees from them shall not get away,
And he who escapes from them shall not be delivered.

“Though(X) they dig into [g]hell,
From there My hand shall take them;
(Y)Though they climb up to heaven,
From there I will bring them down;
And though they (Z)hide themselves on top of Carmel,
From there I will search and take them;
Though they hide from My sight at the bottom of the sea,
From there I will command the serpent, and it shall bite them;
Though they go into captivity before their enemies,
From there (AA)I will command the sword,
And it shall slay them.
(AB)I will set My eyes on them for harm and not for good.”

The Lord God of hosts,
He who touches the earth and it (AC)melts,
(AD)And all who dwell there mourn;
All of it shall swell like [h]the River,
And subside like the River of Egypt.
He who builds His (AE)layers[i] in the sky,
And has founded His strata in the earth;
Who (AF)calls for the waters of the sea,
And pours them out on the face of the earth—
(AG)The Lord is His name.

Are you not like the [j]people of Ethiopia to Me,
O children of Israel?” says the Lord.
“Did I not bring up Israel from the land of Egypt,
The (AH)Philistines from (AI)Caphtor,[k]
And the Syrians from (AJ)Kir?

“Behold, (AK)the eyes of the Lord God are on the sinful kingdom,
And I (AL)will destroy it from the face of the earth;
Yet I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob,”
Says the Lord.

“For surely I will command,
And will [l]sift the house of Israel among all nations,
As grain is sifted in a sieve;
(AM)Yet not the smallest [m]grain shall fall to the ground.
10 All the sinners of My people shall die by the sword,
(AN)Who say, ‘The calamity shall not overtake nor confront us.’

Israel Will Be Restored

11 “On(AO) that day I will raise up
The [n]tabernacle of David, which has fallen down,
And [o]repair its damages;
I will raise up its ruins,
And rebuild it as in the days of old;
12 (AP)That they may possess the remnant of (AQ)Edom,[p]
And all the Gentiles who are called by My name,”
Says the Lord who does this thing.

13 “Behold, (AR)the days are coming,” says the Lord,
“When the plowman shall overtake the reaper,
And the treader of grapes him who sows seed;
(AS)The mountains shall drip with sweet wine,
And all the hills shall flow with it.
14 (AT)I will bring back the captives of My people Israel;
(AU)They shall build the waste cities and inhabit them;
They shall plant vineyards and drink wine from them;
They shall also make gardens and eat fruit from them.
15 I will plant them in their land,
(AV)And no longer shall they be pulled up
From the land I have given them,”
Says the Lord your God.

Footnotes

  1. Amos 8:4 Or trample on, Amos 2:7
  2. Amos 8:5 Lit. open
  3. Amos 8:8 The Nile; some Heb. mss., LXX, Tg., Syr., Vg. River (cf. 9:5); MT the light
  4. Amos 8:9 Lit. a day of light
  5. Amos 8:14 Or Ashima, a Syrian goddess
  6. Amos 9:1 Capitals of the pillars
  7. Amos 9:2 Or Sheol
  8. Amos 9:5 The Nile
  9. Amos 9:6 Or stairs
  10. Amos 9:7 Lit. sons of the Ethiopians
  11. Amos 9:7 Crete
  12. Amos 9:9 shake
  13. Amos 9:9 Lit. pebble
  14. Amos 9:11 Lit. booth; a figure of a deposed dynasty
  15. Amos 9:11 Lit. wall up its breaches
  16. Amos 9:12 LXX mankind

An Earnest Appeal for Guidance and Deliverance

A Psalm of David.

143 Hear my prayer, O Lord,
Give ear to my supplications!
In Your faithfulness answer me,
And in Your righteousness.
Do not enter into judgment with Your servant,
(A)For in Your sight no one living is righteous.

For the enemy has persecuted my soul;
He has crushed my life to the ground;
He has made me dwell in [a]darkness,
Like those who have long been dead.
(B)Therefore my spirit is overwhelmed within me;
My heart within me is distressed.

(C)I remember the days of old;
I meditate on all Your works;
I [b]muse on the work of Your hands.
I spread out my hands to You;
(D)My soul longs for You like a thirsty land. Selah

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Footnotes

  1. Psalm 143:3 dark places
  2. Psalm 143:5 ponder

The Wisdom of Agur

30 The words of Agur the son of Jakeh, his utterance. This man declared to Ithiel—to Ithiel and Ucal:

(A)Surely I am more stupid than any man,
And do not have the understanding of a man.
I neither learned wisdom
Nor have (B)knowledge of the Holy One.

(C)Who has ascended into heaven, or descended?
(D)Who has gathered the wind in His fists?
Who has bound the waters in a garment?
Who has established all the ends of the earth?
What is His name, and what is His Son’s name,
If you know?

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First Seal: The Conqueror

Now (A)I saw when the Lamb opened one of the [a]seals; and I heard (B)one of the four living creatures saying with a voice like thunder, “Come and see.” And I looked, and behold, (C)a white horse. (D)He who sat on it had a bow; (E)and a crown was given to him, and he went out (F)conquering and to conquer.

Second Seal: Conflict on Earth

When He opened the second seal, (G)I heard the second living creature saying, “Come [b]and see.” (H)Another horse, fiery red, went out. And it was granted to the one who sat on it to (I)take peace from the earth, and that people should kill one another; and there was given to him a great sword.

Third Seal: Scarcity on Earth

When He opened the third seal, (J)I heard the third living creature say, “Come and see.” So I looked, and behold, (K)a black horse, and he who sat on it had a pair of (L)scales[c] in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, “A [d]quart of wheat for a [e]denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and (M)do not harm the oil and the wine.”

Fourth Seal: Widespread Death on Earth

When He opened the fourth seal, (N)I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, “Come and see.” (O)So I looked, and behold, a pale horse. And the name of him who sat on it was Death, and Hades followed with him. And [f]power was given to them over a fourth of the earth, (P)to kill with sword, with hunger, with death, (Q)and by the beasts of the earth.

Fifth Seal: The Cry of the Martyrs

When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under (R)the altar (S)the souls of those who had been slain (T)for the word of God and for (U)the testimony which they held. 10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, (V)“How long, O Lord, (W)holy and true, (X)until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” 11 Then a (Y)white robe was given to each of them; and it was said to them (Z)that they should rest a little while longer, until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren, who would be killed as they were, was completed.

Sixth Seal: Cosmic Disturbances

12 I looked when He opened the sixth seal, (AA)and [g]behold, there was a great earthquake; and (AB)the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the [h]moon became like blood. 13 (AC)And the stars of heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree drops its late figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind. 14 (AD)Then the sky [i]receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and (AE)every mountain and island was moved out of its place. 15 And the (AF)kings of the earth, the great men, [j]the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, (AG)hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, 16 (AH)and said to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who (AI)sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! 17 For the great day of His wrath has come, (AJ)and who is able to stand?”

Footnotes

  1. Revelation 6:1 NU, M seven seals
  2. Revelation 6:3 NU, M omit and see
  3. Revelation 6:5 balances
  4. Revelation 6:6 Gr. choinix, about 1 quart
  5. Revelation 6:6 About 1 day’s wage for a worker
  6. Revelation 6:8 authority
  7. Revelation 6:12 NU, M omit behold
  8. Revelation 6:12 NU, M whole moon
  9. Revelation 6:14 Or split apart
  10. Revelation 6:15 NU, M the commanders, the rich men,

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