Amos 5-6
English Standard Version
Seek the Lord and Live
5 Hear this word that I (A)take up over you in lamentation, O house of Israel:
2 “Fallen, no more to rise,
is (B)the virgin Israel;
forsaken on her land,
with none to raise her up.”
3 For thus says the Lord God:
“The city that went out a thousand
shall have a hundred left,
and that which went out a hundred
shall have ten left
to the house of Israel.”
4 For thus says the Lord to the house of Israel:
(C)“Seek me and live;
5 but do not seek (D)Bethel,
and do not enter into (E)Gilgal
or cross over to (F)Beersheba;
for (G)Gilgal shall surely go into exile,
and (H)Bethel shall come to nothing.”
6 (I)Seek the Lord and live,
(J)lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph,
and it devour, with none to quench it for (K)Bethel,
7 O (L)you who turn justice to wormwood[a]
and cast down righteousness to the earth!
8 He who made the (M)Pleiades and Orion,
and turns deep darkness into the morning
and (N)darkens the day into night,
who (O)calls for the waters of the sea
(P)and pours them out on the surface of the earth,
(Q)the Lord is his name;
9 (R)who makes destruction flash forth against the strong,
so that destruction comes upon the fortress.
10 (S)They hate him who reproves (T)in the gate,
and they (U)abhor him who speaks the truth.
11 Therefore because you (V)trample on[b] the poor
and you exact taxes of grain from him,
(W)you have built houses of hewn stone,
but you shall not dwell in them;
(X)you have planted pleasant vineyards,
but you shall not drink their wine.
12 For I know how many are your transgressions
and how great are your sins—
you who afflict the righteous, who (Y)take a bribe,
and (Z)turn aside the needy (AA)in the gate.
13 Therefore he who is prudent will (AB)keep silent in such a time,
(AC)for it is an evil time.
14 (AD)Seek good, and not evil,
that you may live;
and so the Lord, (AE)the God of hosts, will be with you,
as you have said.
15 (AF)Hate evil, and love good,
and establish justice (AG)in the gate;
(AH)it may be that the Lord, the God of hosts,
will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.
16 Therefore thus says the Lord, (AI)the God of hosts, the Lord:
“In all the squares (AJ)there shall be wailing,
and in all the streets they shall say, ‘Alas! Alas!’
They shall call the farmers to mourning
and (AK)to wailing those who are skilled in lamentation,
17 and in all vineyards there shall be wailing,
for (AL)I will pass through your midst,”
says the Lord.
Let Justice Roll Down
18 Woe to you who desire (AM)the day of the Lord!
Why would you have the day of the Lord?
(AN)It is darkness, and not light,
19 (AO)as if a man fled from a lion,
and a bear met him,
or went into the house and leaned his hand against the wall,
and a serpent bit him.
20 (AP)Is not the day of the Lord darkness, and not light,
and gloom with no brightness in it?
21 (AQ)“I hate, I despise your feasts,
and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.
22 (AR)Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings,
I will not accept them;
and the peace offerings of your fattened animals,
I will not look upon them.
23 Take away from me the noise of your songs;
to (AS)the melody of your harps I will not listen.
24 But let justice roll down like waters,
and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
25 (AT)“Did you bring to me sacrifices and offerings during the forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel? 26 (AU)You (AV)shall take up Sikkuth your king, and Kiyyun your star-god—your images that you made for yourselves, 27 (AW)and I will send you into exile beyond Damascus,” says the Lord, whose name is (AX)the God of hosts.
Woe to Those at Ease in Zion
6 (AY)“Woe to those who are at ease in Zion,
and to those who feel secure on (AZ)the mountain of Samaria,
(BA)the notable men of (BB)the first of the nations,
to whom the house of Israel comes!
2 Pass over to (BC)Calneh, and see,
and from there go to (BD)Hamath the great;
then go down to (BE)Gath of the Philistines.
(BF)Are you better than these kingdoms?
Or is their territory greater than your territory,
3 (BG)O you who put far away the day of disaster
(BH)and bring near the seat of violence?
4 “Woe to those (BI)who lie on (BJ)beds of ivory
(BK)and stretch themselves out on their couches,
and eat lambs from the flock
(BL)and calves from the midst of the stall,
5 (BM)who sing idle songs to the sound of the harp
and like David (BN)invent for themselves instruments of music,
6 (BO)who drink wine in bowls
and (BP)anoint themselves with the finest oils,
but are not grieved over the ruin of Joseph!
7 (BQ)Therefore they shall now be the first of those who go into exile,
and the revelry of those who stretch themselves out shall pass away.”
8 (BR)The Lord God has sworn by himself, declares the Lord, the God of hosts:
“I abhor (BS)the pride of Jacob
and hate his strongholds,
(BT)and I will deliver up the city and all that is in it.”
9 And (BU)if ten men remain in one house, they shall die. 10 And when one's relative, (BV)the one who anoints him for burial, shall take him up to bring the bones out of the house, and shall say to him who is in the innermost parts of the house, “Is there still anyone with you?” he shall say, “No”; and he shall say, (BW)“Silence! We must not mention the name of the Lord.”
11 For behold, the Lord commands,
and (BX)the great house shall be struck down into fragments,
and the little house into bits.
12 Do horses run on rocks?
Does one plow there[c] with oxen?
(BY)But you have turned justice into (BZ)poison
(CA)and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood[d]—
13 you who rejoice in Lo-debar,[e]
who say, (CB)“Have we not by our own strength
captured Karnaim[f] for ourselves?”
14 “For behold, (CC)I will raise up against you a nation,
O house of Israel,” declares the Lord, the God of hosts;
“and they shall oppress you from (CD)Lebo-hamath
to the Brook of (CE)the Arabah.”
Psalm 119:169-176
English Standard Version
Taw
169 Let my (A)cry come before you, O Lord;
(B)give me understanding (C)according to your word!
170 Let my plea come before you;
(D)deliver me according to your word.
171 My lips will (E)pour forth praise,
for you (F)teach me your statutes.
172 My tongue will sing of your word,
for (G)all your commandments are right.
173 Let your hand be ready to help me,
for I have (H)chosen your precepts.
174 I (I)long for your salvation, O Lord,
and your law is my (J)delight.
175 Let my soul live and praise you,
and let your rules help me.
176 I have (K)gone astray like a lost sheep; seek your servant,
for I do not (L)forget your commandments.
2 John
English Standard Version
Greeting
1 (A)The elder to the elect lady and her children, (B)whom I love in truth, and not only I, but also all who (C)know (D)the truth, 2 (E)because of the truth that abides in us and will be with us forever:
3 (F)Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ the Father's Son, in truth and love.
Walking in Truth and Love
4 (G)I rejoiced greatly to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as we were commanded by the Father. 5 And now I ask you, dear lady—(H)not as though I were writing you a new commandment, but the one we have had from the beginning—(I)that we love one another. 6 And (J)this is love, that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment, just (K)as you have heard from the beginning, so that you should walk in it. 7 For (L)many deceivers (M)have gone out into the world, (N)those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist. 8 Watch yourselves, (O)so that you may not lose what we[a] have worked for, but (P)may win a full reward. 9 Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, (Q)does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching (R)has both the Father and the Son. 10 If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, (S)do not receive him into your house or give him any greeting, 11 for whoever greets him (T)takes part in his wicked works.
Final Greetings
12 (U)Though I have much to write to you, I would rather not use paper and ink. (V)Instead I hope to come to you and talk face to face, (W)so that our joy may be complete.
13 The children of your elect sister greet you.
Footnotes
- 2 John 1:8 Some manuscripts you
3 John
English Standard Version
Greeting
1 (A)The elder to the beloved Gaius, (B)whom I love in truth.
2 Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, as it goes well with your soul. 3 For (C)I rejoiced greatly when the brothers[a] came and testified to your truth, as indeed you are walking in the truth. 4 I have no greater joy than to hear that (D)my children are walking in the truth.
Support and Opposition
5 Beloved, it is a faithful thing you do in all your efforts for (E)these brothers, (F)strangers as they are, 6 who testified to your love before the church. You will do well to send them on their journey in a manner (G)worthy of God. 7 For they have gone out for the sake of (H)the name, (I)accepting nothing from the Gentiles. 8 Therefore we ought to support people like these, that we may be fellow workers for the truth.
9 I have written something to the church, but Diotrephes, who likes to put himself first, does not acknowledge our authority. 10 So if I come, I will bring up what he is doing, talking wicked nonsense against us. And not content with that, he refuses to welcome the brothers, and also stops those who want to and puts them out of the church.
11 Beloved, (J)do not imitate evil but imitate good. (K)Whoever does good is from God; (L)whoever does evil has not seen God. 12 Demetrius (M)has received a good testimony from everyone, and from the truth itself. We also add our testimony, and (N)you know that our testimony is true.
Final Greetings
13 (O)I had much to write to you, but I would rather not write with pen and ink. 14 I hope to see you soon, and we will talk face to face.
15 Peace be to you. The friends greet you. Greet the friends, (P)each by name.
Footnotes
- 3 John 1:3 Or brothers and sisters. In New Testament usage, depending on the context, the plural Greek word adelphoi (translated “brothers”) may refer either to brothers or to brothers and sisters; also verses 5, 10
Jude
English Standard Version
Greeting
1 Jude, a servant[a] of Jesus Christ and brother of James,
(A)To those who are called, (B)beloved in God the Father and (C)kept for[b] Jesus Christ:
2 May (D)mercy, (E)peace, and love be multiplied to you.
Judgment on False Teachers
3 Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our (F)common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you (G)to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. 4 For (H)certain people (I)have crept in unnoticed (J)who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert (K)the grace of our God into sensuality and (L)deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.
5 Now I want (M)to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that (N)Jesus, who saved[c] a people out of the land of Egypt, (O)afterward destroyed those who did not believe. 6 And (P)the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day— 7 just as (Q)Sodom and Gomorrah and (R)the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and (S)pursued unnatural desire,[d] serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.
8 Yet in like manner these people also, relying on their dreams, defile the flesh, reject authority, and (T)blaspheme the glorious ones. 9 But when (U)the archangel (V)Michael, contending with the devil, was disputing (W)about the body of Moses, he did not presume to pronounce a blasphemous judgment, but said, (X)“The Lord rebuke you.” 10 (Y)But these people blaspheme all that they do not understand, and they are destroyed by all that they, like unreasoning animals, understand instinctively. 11 Woe to them! For they walked in (Z)the way of Cain and abandoned themselves for the sake of gain (AA)to Balaam's error and (AB)perished in Korah's rebellion. 12 These are hidden reefs[e] (AC)at your love feasts, as they feast with you without fear, (AD)shepherds feeding themselves; (AE)waterless clouds, (AF)swept along by winds; fruitless trees in late autumn, twice dead, (AG)uprooted; 13 (AH)wild waves of the sea, casting up the foam of (AI)their own shame; (AJ)wandering stars, (AK)for whom the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved forever.
14 It was also about these that Enoch, (AL)the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, (AM)“Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones, 15 (AN)to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness that they have (AO)committed in such an ungodly way, and of all (AP)the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” 16 These are grumblers, malcontents, (AQ)following their own sinful desires; (AR)they are loud-mouthed boasters, (AS)showing favoritism to gain advantage.
A Call to Persevere
17 But you must (AT)remember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. 18 They[f] said to you, (AU)“In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions.” 19 It is these who cause divisions, worldly people, (AV)devoid of the Spirit. 20 But you, beloved, (AW)building yourselves up in your most holy faith and (AX)praying in the Holy Spirit, 21 (AY)keep yourselves in the love of God, (AZ)waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. 22 And have mercy on those who doubt; 23 save others by (BA)snatching them out of (BB)the fire; to others show mercy (BC)with fear, hating even (BD)the garment[g] stained by the flesh.
Doxology
24 (BE)Now to him who is able (BF)to keep you from stumbling and (BG)to present you (BH)blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, 25 to (BI)the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, (BJ)be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time[h] and now and forever. Amen.
Footnotes
- Jude 1:1 For the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos, see Preface
- Jude 1:1 Or by
- Jude 1:5 Some manuscripts although you fully knew it, that the Lord who once saved
- Jude 1:7 Greek different flesh
- Jude 1:12 Or are blemishes
- Jude 1:18 Or Christ, because they
- Jude 1:23 Greek chiton, a long garment worn under the cloak next to the skin
- Jude 1:25 Or before any age
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
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