Amos 4-6

Holman Christian Standard Bible

Social and Spiritual Corruption

4 Listen to this message, you cows of Bashan^(A)
who are on the hill of Samaria,
women who oppress the poor
and crush the needy,^(B)
who say to their husbands,
“Bring us something to drink.”^(C)

²The Lord God has sworn^(D) by His holiness:^(E)

Look, the days are coming^[a]
when you will be taken away with hooks,^(F)
every last one of you with fishhooks.^(G)
³You will go through breaches in the wall,^(H)
each woman straight ahead,
and you will be driven along toward Harmon.
This is the Lord’s declaration.

⁴Come to Bethel and rebel;
rebel even more at Gilgal!^(I)
Bring your sacrifices every morning,^(J)
your tenths every three days.
⁵Offer leavened bread as a thank offering,^(K)
and loudly proclaim your freewill offerings,^(L)
for that is what you Israelites love to do!^(M)
This is the Lord’s declaration.

God’s Discipline and Israel’s Apostasy

⁶I gave you absolutely nothing to eat^[b]^(N)
in all your cities,
a shortage of food in all your communities,
yet you did not return to Me.^(O)
This is the Lord’s declaration.

⁷I also withheld the rain from you^(P)
while there were still three months until harvest.
I sent rain on one city
but no rain on another.^(Q)
One field received rain
while a field with no rain withered.^(R)
⁸Two or three cities staggered
to another city to drink water^(S)
but were not satisfied,^(T)
yet you did not return^(U) to Me.
This is the Lord’s declaration.

⁹I struck you with blight and mildew;^(V)
the locust devoured^(W)
your many gardens and vineyards,
your fig trees and olive trees,^(X)
yet you did not return to Me.^(Y)
This is the Lord’s declaration.

¹⁰I sent plagues like those of Egypt;^(Z)
I killed your young men with the sword,^(AA)
along with your captured horses.^(AB)
I caused the stench of your camp
to fill your nostrils,^(AC)
yet you did not return to Me.^(AD)
This is the Lord’s declaration.

¹¹I overthrew some of you
as I^[c] overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah,^(AE)
and you were like a burning stick
snatched from a fire,^(AF)
yet you did not return to Me^(AG)—
this is the Lord’s declaration.

¹²Therefore, Israel, that is what I will do to you,
and since I will do that to you,
Israel, prepare to meet your God!^(AH)
¹³He is here:
the One who forms the mountains,^(AI)
creates the wind,^(AJ)
and reveals His^[d] thoughts to man,^(AK)
the One who makes the dawn out of darkness
and strides on the heights of the earth.^(AL)
Yahweh, the God of Hosts, is His name.^(AM)

Lamentation for Israel

5 Listen to this message that I am singing for you, a lament,^(AN) house of Israel:

²She has fallen;
Virgin Israel^(AO) will never rise again.^(AP)
She lies abandoned on her land,
with no one to raise her up.^(AQ)

³For the Lord God says:

The city that marches out a thousand strong
will have only a hundred left,^(AR)
and the one that marches out a hundred strong
will have only ten left^(AS) in the house of Israel.

Seek God and Live

⁴For the Lord says to the house of Israel:

Seek Me and live!^(AT)
⁵Do not seek Bethel^(AU)
or go to Gilgal^(AV)
or journey to Beer-sheba,^(AW)
for Gilgal will certainly go into exile,
and Bethel will come to nothing.
⁶Seek Yahweh^(AX) and live,
or He will spread like fire^(AY)
throughout the house of Joseph;
it will consume everything,
with no one at Bethel to extinguish it.^(AZ)
⁷Those who turn justice into wormwood^(BA)
throw righteousness to the ground.

⁸The One who made the Pleiades and Orion,^(BB)
who turns darkness^[e] into dawn^(BC)
and darkens day into night,^(BD)
who summons the waters of the sea^(BE)
and pours them out over the face of the earth^(BF)—
Yahweh is His name.^(BG)
⁹He brings destruction^[f] on the strong,^[g]^(BH)
and it falls on the stronghold.^(BI)

¹⁰They hate the one who convicts the guilty^(BJ)
at the city gate
and despise^(BK) the one who speaks with integrity.
¹¹Therefore, because you trample on the poor^(BL)
and exact a grain tax from him,
you will never live in the houses of cut stone^(BM)
you have built;
you will never drink the wine
from the lush vineyards
you have planted.^(BN)
¹²For I know your crimes are many
and your sins innumerable.
They oppress the righteous,^(BO) take a bribe,
and deprive the poor of justice^(BP) at the gates.
¹³Therefore, the wise person will keep silent^[h]^(BQ)
at such a time,
for the days are evil.

¹⁴Seek good and not evil
so that you may live,
and the Lord, the God of Hosts,
will be with you,
as you have claimed.^(BR)
¹⁵Hate evil and love good;^(BS)
establish justice in the gate.^(BT)
Perhaps the Lord, the God of Hosts, will be gracious^(BU)
to the remnant of Joseph.^(BV)

¹⁶Therefore Yahweh, the God of Hosts, the Lord, says:

There will be wailing in all the public squares;^(BW)
they will cry out in anguish^[i] in all the streets.
The farmer will be called on to mourn,^(BX)
and professional mourners^[j]^(BY) to wail.
¹⁷There will be wailing in all the vineyards,^(BZ)
for I will pass among you.^(CA)
The Lord has spoken.

The Day of the Lord

¹⁸Woe to you who long for the Day of the Lord!^(CB)
What will the Day of the Lord be for you?
It will be darkness and not light.^(CC)
¹⁹It will be like a man who flees from a lion^(CD)
only to have a bear confront him.
He goes home and rests his hand against the wall
only to have a snake bite him.
²⁰Won’t the Day of the Lord
be darkness rather than light,^(CE)
even gloom without any brightness in it?^(CF)
²¹I hate, I despise your feasts!^(CG)
I can’t stand the stench
of your solemn assemblies.^(CH)
²²Even if you offer Me
your burnt offerings and grain offerings,^(CI)
I will not accept them;^(CJ)
I will have no regard
for your fellowship offerings of fattened cattle.^(CK)
²³Take away from Me the noise of your songs!
I will not listen to the music of your harps.^(CL)
²⁴But let justice flow like water,
and righteousness, like an unfailing stream.^(CM)

²⁵“House of Israel, was it sacrifices and grain offerings that you presented to Me during the 40 years in the wilderness?^(CN) ²⁶But you have taken up^[k] Sakkuth^[l]^[m] your king^[n] and Kaiwan^[o] your star god, images you have made for yourselves.^(CO) ²⁷So I will send you into exile beyond Damascus.”^(CP) Yahweh, the God of Hosts, is His name.^(CQ) He has spoken.

Woe to the Complacent

6 Woe to those who are at ease in Zion^(CR)
and to those who feel secure on the hill of Samaria—
the notable people in this first of the nations,
those the house of Israel comes to.
²Cross over to Calneh^(CS) and see;
go from there to great Hamath;^(CT)
then go down to Gath^(CU) of the Philistines.
Are you better than these kingdoms?
Is their territory larger than yours?
³You dismiss any thought of the evil day^(CV)
and bring in a reign of violence.^(CW)

⁴They lie on beds inlaid with ivory,^(CX)
sprawled out on their couches,^(CY)
and dine on lambs from the flock^(CZ)
and calves from the stall.
⁵They improvise songs^[p] to the sound of the harp^(DA)
and invent^[q] their own musical instruments like David.^(DB)
⁶They drink wine by the bowlful^(DC)
and anoint themselves with the finest oils
but do not grieve over the ruin of Joseph.^(DD)
⁷Therefore, they will now go into exile
as the first of the captives,^(DE)
and the feasting^(DF) of those who sprawl out
will come to an end.

Israel’s Pride Judged

⁸The Lord God has sworn by Himself^(DG)—this is the declaration of Yahweh, the God of Hosts:

I loathe Jacob’s pride^(DH)
and hate his citadels,^(DI)
so I will hand over the city^(DJ) and everything in it.

⁹And if there are 10 men left in one house, they will die.^(DK) ¹⁰A close relative^[r] and burner^[s]^(DL) will remove his corpse^[t] from the house. He will call to someone in the inner recesses of the house, “Any more with you?”

That person will reply, “None.”

Then he will say, “Silence, because Yahweh’s name must not be invoked.”^(DM)

¹¹For the Lord commands:

The large house will be smashed to pieces,
and the small house to rubble.^(DN)

¹²Do horses gallop on the cliffs;
does anyone plow there with oxen?^[u]
Yet you have turned justice into poison^(DO)
and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood^(DP)—
¹³you who rejoice over Lo-debar^(DQ)
and say, “Didn’t we capture Karnaim
for ourselves by our own strength?”^(DR)
¹⁴But look, I am raising up a nation
against you, house of Israel^(DS)—
this is the declaration of the Lord,
the God of Hosts—
and they will oppress you
from the entrance of Hamath^[v]^(DT)
to the Brook of the Arabah.^[w]

Footnotes

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
Amos 5:8 Or turns the shadow of death
Amos 5:9 Hb obscure
Amos 5:9 Or stronghold
Amos 5:13 Or the prudent will perish
Amos 5:16 Lit will say, “Alas! Alas!”
Amos 5:16 Lit and those skilled in lamentation
Amos 5:26 Or you will lift up
Amos 5:26 LXX, Sym, Syr, Vg read the tent; Ac 7:43
Amos 5:26 Probably a Mesopotamian war god also called Adar or Ninurta
Amos 5:26 LXX reads up the tent of Molech and Rephan; Ac 7:43
Amos 5:26 Probably a Mesopotamian god identified with Saturn
Amos 6:5 Hb obscure
Amos 6:5 Or compose on
Amos 6:10 Lit His uncle
Amos 6:10 A burner of incense, a memorial fire, or a body; Hb obscure
Amos 6:10 Lit remove bones
Amos 6:12 Some emend to plow the sea
Amos 6:14 Or from Lebo-hamath
Amos 6:14 Probably the Valley of Zared at the southeast end of the Dead Sea

Psalm 55

Holman Christian Standard Bible

Psalm 55

Betrayal by a Friend

For the choir director: with stringed instruments. A Davidic Maskil.

¹God, listen to my prayer
and do not ignore^[a] my plea for help.^(A)
²Pay attention to me and answer me.^(B)
I am restless and in turmoil with my complaint,^(C)
³because of the enemy’s voice,
because of the pressure^[b] of the wicked.
For they bring down disaster on me^[c]
and harass me in anger.^(D)

⁴My heart shudders within me;^(E)
terrors of death sweep over me.
⁵Fear and trembling grip me;
horror has overwhelmed me.^(F)
⁶I said, “If only I had^[d] wings like a dove!
I would fly away and find rest.^(G)
⁷How far away I would flee;
I would stay in the wilderness.^(H)Selah
⁸I would hurry to my shelter
from the raging wind and the storm.”^(I)

⁹Lord, confuse^[e] and confound their speech,^[f]^(J)
for I see violence and strife in the city;
¹⁰day and night they make the rounds on its walls.
Crime and trouble are within it;^(K)
¹¹destruction is inside it;
oppression and deceit never leave its marketplace.^(L)

¹²Now it is not an enemy who insults me—
otherwise I could bear it;
it is not a foe who rises up against me—
otherwise I could hide from him.
¹³But it is you, a man who is my peer,
my companion and good friend!^(M)
¹⁴We used to have close fellowship;
we walked with the crowd into the house of God.^(N)

¹⁵Let death take them by surprise;^(O)
let them go down to Sheol alive,
because evil is in their homes and within them.^(P)
¹⁶But I call to God,
and the Lord will save me.^(Q)
¹⁷I complain and groan morning, noon, and night,^(R)
and He hears my voice.^(S)
¹⁸Though many are against me,
He will redeem me from my battle unharmed.^(T)
¹⁹God, the One enthroned from long ago,^(U)
will hear and will humiliate themSelah
because they do not change
and do not fear God.^(V)

²⁰My friend^(W) acts violently
against those at peace with him;^(X)
he violates his covenant.^(Y)
²¹His buttery words are smooth,^[g]
but war is in his heart.
His words are softer than oil,
but they are drawn swords.^(Z)

²²Cast your burden on the Lord,
and He will sustain you;^(AA)
He will never allow the righteous to be shaken.^(AB)

²³God, You will bring them down
to the Pit of destruction;^(AC)
men of bloodshed and treachery
will not live out half their days.^(AD)
But I will trust in You.^(AE)

Footnotes

Psalm 55:1 Lit hide Yourself from
Psalm 55:3 Or threat, or oppression
Psalm 55:3 LXX, Syr, Sym; MT reads they cause me to totter
Psalm 55:6 Lit “Who will give to me . . . dove?
Psalm 55:9 Or destroy
Psalm 55:9 Lit and divide their tongue
Psalm 55:21 Some Hb mss, Sym, Syr, Tg, Jer read His speech is smoother than butter

Matthew 14

Holman Christian Standard Bible

John the Baptist Beheaded

14 At that time^(A) Herod the tetrarch^(B) heard the report about Jesus. ²“This is John the Baptist!” he told his servants. “He has been raised from the dead, and that’s why supernatural powers are at work in him.”^(C)

³For Herod had arrested John, chained^[a] him, and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife,^(D) ⁴since John had been telling him, “It’s not lawful^(E) for you to have her!” ⁵Though he wanted to kill him, he feared the crowd, since they regarded him as a prophet.^(F)

⁶But when Herod’s birthday celebration came, Herodias’s daughter danced before them^[b] and pleased Herod. ⁷So he promised with an oath to give her whatever she might ask. ⁸And prompted by her mother, she answered, “Give me John the Baptist’s head here on a platter!” ⁹Although the king regretted it, he commanded that it be granted because of his oaths and his guests. ¹⁰So he sent orders and had John beheaded in the prison. ¹¹His head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, who carried it to her mother. ¹²Then his disciples came, removed the corpse,^[c] buried it, and went and reported to Jesus.

Feeding 5,000

¹³When Jesus heard about it,^(G) He withdrew from there by boat to a remote place to be alone. When the crowds heard this, they followed Him on foot from the towns. ¹⁴As He stepped ashore,^[d] He saw a huge crowd, felt compassion for them, and healed their sick.^(H)

¹⁵When evening came, the disciples^(I) approached Him and said, “This place is a wilderness, and it is already late.^[e] Send the crowds away so they can go into the villages and buy food for themselves.”

¹⁶“They don’t need to go away,” Jesus told them. “You give them something to eat.”

¹⁷“But we only have five loaves and two fish here,” they said to Him.

¹⁸“Bring them here to Me,” He said. ¹⁹Then He commanded the crowds to sit down^[f] on the grass. He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed them. He broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds.^(J) ²⁰Everyone ate and was filled. Then they picked up 12 baskets full of leftover pieces!^(K) ²¹Now those who ate were about 5,000 men, besides women and children.

Walking on the Water

²²Immediately^(L) He^[g] made the disciples get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side, while He dismissed the crowds. ²³After dismissing the crowds, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. When evening came, He was there alone.^(M) ²⁴But the boat was already over a mile^[h] from land,^[i] battered by the waves, because the wind was against them. ²⁵Around three in the morning,^[j] He came toward them walking on the sea.^(N) ²⁶When the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost!” they said, and cried out in fear.

²⁷Immediately Jesus spoke to them. “Have courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”^(O)

²⁸“Lord, if it’s You,” Peter answered Him, “command me to come to You on the water.”

²⁹“Come!” He said.

And climbing out of the boat, Peter started walking on the water and came toward Jesus. ³⁰But when he saw the strength of the wind,^[k] he was afraid. And beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me!”

³¹Immediately Jesus reached out His hand, caught hold of him, and said to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?”^(P) ³²When they got into the boat, the wind ceased. ³³Then those in the boat worshiped Him and said, “Truly You are the Son of God!”^(Q)

Miraculous Healings

³⁴Once they crossed over,^(R) they came to land at Gennesaret.^(S) ³⁵When the men of that place recognized Him, they alerted^[l] the whole vicinity and brought to Him all who were sick. ³⁶They were begging Him that they might only touch the tassel on His robe. And as many as touched it were made perfectly well.^(T)