Amos 4

New International Version

Israel Has Not Returned to God

4 Hear this word, you cows of Bashan^(A) on Mount Samaria,^(B)
    you women who oppress the poor^(C) and crush the needy^(D)
    and say to your husbands,^(E) “Bring us some drinks!^(F)”
²The Sovereign Lord has sworn by his holiness:
    “The time^(G) will surely come
when you will be taken away^(H) with hooks,^(I)
    the last of you with fishhooks.^[a]
³You will each go straight out
    through breaches in the wall,^(J)
    and you will be cast out toward Harmon,^[b]”
declares the Lord.
⁴“Go to Bethel^(K) and sin;
    go to Gilgal^(L) and sin yet more.
Bring your sacrifices every morning,^(M)
    your tithes^(N) every three years.^[c]^(O)
⁵Burn leavened bread^(P) as a thank offering
    and brag about your freewill offerings^(Q)—
boast about them, you Israelites,
    for this is what you love to do,”
declares the Sovereign Lord.

⁶“I gave you empty stomachs in every city
and lack of bread in every town,
yet you have not returned to me,”
declares the Lord.^(R)

⁷“I also withheld^(S) rain from you
    when the harvest was still three months away.
I sent rain on one town,
    but withheld it from another.^(T)
One field had rain;
    another had none and dried up.
⁸People staggered from town to town for water^(U)
    but did not get enough^(V) to drink,
    yet you have not returned^(W) to me,”
declares the Lord.^(X)

⁹“Many times I struck your gardens and vineyards,
destroying them with blight and mildew.^(Y)
Locusts^(Z) devoured your fig and olive trees,^(AA)
yet you have not returned^(AB) to me,”
declares the Lord.

¹⁰“I sent plagues^(AC) among you
    as I did to Egypt.^(AD)
I killed your young men^(AE) with the sword,
    along with your captured horses.
I filled your nostrils with the stench^(AF) of your camps,
    yet you have not returned to me,”^(AG)
declares the Lord.^(AH)

¹¹“I overthrew some of you
as I overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.^(AI)
You were like a burning stick^(AJ) snatched from the fire,
yet you have not returned to me,”
declares the Lord.^(AK)

¹²“Therefore this is what I will do to you, Israel,
and because I will do this to you, Israel,
prepare to meet your God.”

¹³He who forms the mountains,^(AL)
    who creates the wind,^(AM)
    and who reveals his thoughts^(AN) to mankind,
who turns dawn to darkness,
    and treads on the heights of the earth^(AO)—
    the Lord God Almighty is his name.^(AP)

Footnotes

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

Mark 3

New International Version

Jesus Heals on the Sabbath

3 Another time Jesus went into the synagogue,^(A) and a man with a shriveled hand was there. ²Some of them were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely^(B) to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath.^(C) ³Jesus said to the man with the shriveled hand, “Stand up in front of everyone.”

⁴Then Jesus asked them, “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they remained silent.

⁵He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored. ⁶Then the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians^(D) how they might kill Jesus.^(E)

Crowds Follow Jesus^(F)

⁷Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the lake, and a large crowd from Galilee followed.^(G) ⁸When they heard about all he was doing, many people came to him from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, and the regions across the Jordan and around Tyre and Sidon.^(H) ⁹Because of the crowd he told his disciples to have a small boat ready for him, to keep the people from crowding him. ¹⁰For he had healed many,^(I) so that those with diseases were pushing forward to touch him.^(J) ¹¹Whenever the impure spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, “You are the Son of God.”^(K) ¹²But he gave them strict orders not to tell others about him.^(L)

Jesus Appoints the Twelve^(M)

¹³Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to him those he wanted, and they came to him.^(N) ¹⁴He appointed twelve^[a]^(O) that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach ¹⁵and to have authority to drive out demons.^(P) ¹⁶These are the twelve he appointed: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter),^(Q) ¹⁷James son of Zebedee and his brother John (to them he gave the name Boanerges, which means “sons of thunder”), ¹⁸Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot ¹⁹and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

Jesus Accused by His Family and by Teachers of the Law^(R)^(S)

²⁰Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered,^(T) so that he and his disciples were not even able to eat.^(U) ²¹When his family^[b] heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.”^(V)

²²And the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem^(W) said, “He is possessed by Beelzebul!^(X) By the prince of demons he is driving out demons.”^(Y)

²³So Jesus called them over to him and began to speak to them in parables:^(Z) “How can Satan^(AA) drive out Satan? ²⁴If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. ²⁵If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. ²⁶And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come. ²⁷In fact, no one can enter a strong man’s house without first tying him up. Then he can plunder the strong man’s house.^(AB) ²⁸Truly I tell you, people can be forgiven all their sins and every slander they utter, ²⁹but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; they are guilty of an eternal sin.”^(AC)

³⁰He said this because they were saying, “He has an impure spirit.”

³¹Then Jesus’ mother and brothers arrived.^(AD) Standing outside, they sent someone in to call him. ³²A crowd was sitting around him, and they told him, “Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you.”

³³“Who are my mother and my brothers?” he asked.

³⁴Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! ³⁵Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.”