Amos 5

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.”

³For 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.”

⁴For 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,
⁷O ^(L)you who turn justice to wormwood^[a]
    and cast down righteousness to the earth!

⁸He 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.
¹¹Therefore 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.
¹²For 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.
¹³Therefore 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.

¹⁶Therefore 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,
¹⁷and in all vineyards there shall be wailing,
    for ^(AL)I will pass through your midst,”
says the Lord.

Let Justice Roll Down

¹⁸Woe 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.
²³Take away from me the noise of your songs;
    to ^(AS)the melody of your harps I will not listen.
²⁴But 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.

Footnotes

Amos 5:7 Or to bitter fruit
Amos 5:11 Or you tax

Isaiah 7

English Standard Version

Isaiah Sent to King Ahaz

7 In the days of ^(A)Ahaz the son of Jotham, son of Uzziah, king of Judah, ^(B)Rezin the king of Syria and ^(C)Pekah the son of Remaliah the king of Israel came up to Jerusalem to wage war against it, but could not yet mount an attack against it. ²When the house of David was told, ^(D)“Syria is in league with^[a] ^(E)Ephraim,” the heart of Ahaz^[b] and the heart of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake before the wind.

³And the Lord said to Isaiah, “Go out to meet Ahaz, you and ^(F)Shear-jashub^[c] your son, at the end of ^(G)the conduit of the upper pool on the highway to the Washer's Field. ⁴And say to him, ^(H)‘Be careful, ^(I)be quiet, do not fear, and do not let your heart be faint because of these two ^(J)smoldering stumps of firebrands, at the fierce anger of Rezin and Syria and ^(K)the son of Remaliah. ⁵Because Syria, with Ephraim and ^(L)the son of Remaliah, has devised evil against you, saying, ⁶“Let us go up against Judah and terrify it, and let us conquer it^[d] for ourselves, and set up the son of Tabeel as king in the midst of it,” ⁷thus says the Lord God:

^(M)“‘It shall not stand,
    and it shall not come to pass.
⁸For the head of Syria is ^(N)Damascus,
    and the head of Damascus is Rezin.
And within sixty-five years
    Ephraim will be shattered from being a people.
⁹And the head of Ephraim is Samaria,
    and the head of Samaria is ^(O)the son of Remaliah.
^(P)If you^[e] are not firm in faith,
    you will not be firm at all.’”

The Sign of Immanuel

¹⁰Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz: ¹¹“Ask ^(Q)a sign of the Lord your^[f] God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven.” ¹²But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, and I will not put the Lord to the test.” ¹³And he^[g] said, “Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary men, that you ^(R)weary my God also? ¹⁴Therefore the ^(S)Lord himself will give you a sign. ^(T)Behold, the ^(U)virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name ^(V)Immanuel.^[h] ¹⁵He shall eat ^(W)curds and honey when he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. ¹⁶^(X)For before the boy knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land whose two kings you dread will be ^(Y)deserted. ¹⁷^(Z)The Lord will bring upon you and upon your people and upon your father's house such days as have not come since the day that ^(AA)Ephraim departed from Judah—the king of Assyria!”

¹⁸In that day the Lord will ^(AB)whistle for the fly that is at the end of the streams of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria. ¹⁹And they will all come and settle in the steep ravines, and ^(AC)in the clefts of the rocks, and on all the thornbushes, and on all the pastures.^[i]

²⁰In that day ^(AD)the Lord will ^(AE)shave with a razor that is ^(AF)hired beyond ^(AG)the River^[j]—with the king of Assyria—the head and the hair of the feet, and it will sweep away the beard also.

²¹^(AH)In that day a man will keep alive a young cow and two sheep, ²²and because of the abundance of milk that they give, he will eat curds, for everyone who is left in the land will eat ^(AI)curds and honey.

²³In that day every place where there used to be a thousand vines, worth a thousand shekels^[k] of silver, will become ^(AJ)briers and thorns. ²⁴^(AK)With bow and arrows a man will come there, for all the land will be briers and thorns. ²⁵^(AL)And as for all the hills that used to be hoed with a hoe, you will not come there for fear ^(AM)of briers and thorns, but they will become a place where cattle are let loose and where sheep tread.

Footnotes

Isaiah 7:2 Hebrew Syria has rested upon
Isaiah 7:2 Hebrew his heart
Isaiah 7:3 Shear-jashub means A remnant shall return
Isaiah 7:6 Hebrew let us split it open
Isaiah 7:9 The Hebrew for you is plural in verses 9, 13, 14
Isaiah 7:11 The Hebrew for you and your is singular in verses 11, 16, 17
Isaiah 7:13 That is, Isaiah
Isaiah 7:14 Immanuel means God is with us
Isaiah 7:19 Or watering holes, or brambles
Isaiah 7:20 That is, the Euphrates
Isaiah 7:23 A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams

Ezekiel 1

English Standard Version

Ezekiel in Babylon

1 ^(A)In the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I was among the exiles by ^(B)the Chebar canal, ^(C)the heavens were opened, and I saw ^(D)visions of God.^[a] ²On the fifth day of the month (it was ^(E)the fifth year of ^(F)the exile of King Jehoiachin), ³the word of the Lord came to Ezekiel ^(G)the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by ^(H)the Chebar canal, and ^(I)the hand of the Lord was upon him there.

The Glory of the Lord

⁴As I looked, behold, ^(J)a stormy wind came ^(K)out of the north, and a great cloud, with ^(L)brightness around it, and fire flashing forth continually, and in the midst of the fire, ^(M)as it were gleaming metal.^[b] ⁵And from the midst of it came the likeness of ^(N)four living creatures. ^(O)And this was their appearance: they had a human likeness, ⁶^(P)but each had four faces, and each of them had four wings. ⁷Their legs were straight, and the soles of their feet were like the sole of a calf's foot. And they sparkled ^(Q)like burnished bronze. ⁸Under their wings ^(R)on their four sides ^(S)they had human hands. And the four had their faces and their wings thus: ⁹their wings touched one another. ^(T)Each one of them went straight forward, ^(U)without turning as they went. ¹⁰As for the likeness of their faces, ^(V)each had a human face. The four had the face of a lion on the right side, the four had the face of an ox on the left side, and the four had the face of an eagle. ¹¹Such were their faces. And their wings were spread out above. Each creature had two wings, each of which touched the wing of another, while ^(W)two covered their bodies. ¹²^(X)And each went straight forward. ^(Y)Wherever the spirit^[c] would go, they went, without turning as they went. ¹³As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was ^(Z)like burning coals of fire, ^(AA)like the appearance of torches moving to and fro among the living creatures. ^(AB)And the fire was bright, and out of the fire went forth lightning. ¹⁴And the living creatures ^(AC)darted to and fro, ^(AD)like the appearance of a flash of lightning.

¹⁵^(AE)Now as I looked at the living creatures, I saw a wheel on the earth beside the living creatures, one for each of the four of them.^[d] ¹⁶^(AF)As for the appearance of the wheels and their construction: their appearance was like ^(AG)the gleaming of beryl. ^(AH)And the four had the same likeness, their appearance and construction being as it were a wheel within a wheel. ¹⁷^(AI)When they went, they went ^(AJ)in any of their four directions^[e] ^(AK)without turning as they went. ¹⁸And their rims were tall and awesome, ^(AL)and the rims of all four were full of eyes all around. ¹⁹^(AM)And when the living creatures went, the wheels went beside them; ^(AN)and when the living creatures rose from the earth, the wheels rose. ²⁰^(AO)Wherever the spirit wanted to go, they went, and the wheels rose along with them, ^(AP)for the spirit of the living creatures^[f] was in the wheels. ²¹^(AQ)When those went, these went; and when those stood, these stood; ^(AR)and when those rose from the earth, the wheels rose along with them, ^(AS)for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.

²²Over the heads of the living creatures there was ^(AT)the likeness of an expanse, shining like awe-inspiring ^(AU)crystal, spread out above their heads. ²³And under the expanse their wings were ^(AV)stretched out straight, one toward another. ^(AW)And each creature had two wings covering its body. ²⁴And when they went, I heard the sound of their wings ^(AX)like the sound of many waters, like ^(AY)the sound of the ^(AZ)Almighty, a sound of tumult ^(BA)like the sound of an army. When they stood still, they let down their wings. ²⁵And there came a voice from above ^(BB)the expanse over their heads. When they stood still, they let down their wings.

²⁶And above the expanse over their heads there was ^(BC)the likeness of a throne, ^(BD)in appearance ^(BE)like sapphire;^[g] and seated above the likeness of a throne was ^(BF)a likeness with a human appearance. ²⁷And ^(BG)upward from what had the appearance of his waist I saw as it were ^(BH)gleaming metal, like the appearance of fire enclosed all around. And downward from what had the appearance of his waist I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and ^(BI)there was brightness around him.^[h] ²⁸Like the appearance of ^(BJ)the bow that is in the cloud on the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness all around.

Such was the appearance of the likeness of ^(BK)the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it, ^(BL)I fell on my face, and I heard the voice of one speaking.