Amos 5:18-27

New International Version

The Day of the Lord

¹⁸Woe to you who long
    for the day of the Lord!^(A)
Why do you long for the day of the Lord?^(B)
    That day will be darkness,^(C) not light.^(D)
¹⁹It will be as though a man fled from a lion
    only to meet a bear,^(E)
as though he entered his house
    and rested his hand on the wall
    only to have a snake bite him.^(F)
²⁰Will not the day of the Lord be darkness,^(G) not light—
    pitch-dark, without a ray of brightness?^(H)

²¹“I hate,^(I) I despise your religious festivals;^(J)
    your assemblies^(K) are a stench to me.
²²Even though you bring me burnt offerings^(L) and grain offerings,
    I will not accept them.^(M)
Though you bring choice fellowship offerings,
    I will have no regard for them.^(N)
²³Away with the noise of your songs!
    I will not listen to the music of your harps.^(O)
²⁴But let justice^(P) roll on like a river,
    righteousness^(Q) like a never-failing stream!^(R)

²⁵“Did you bring me sacrifices^(S) and offerings
    forty years^(T) in the wilderness, people of Israel?
²⁶You have lifted up the shrine of your king,
    the pedestal of your idols,^(U)
    the star of your god^[a]—
    which you made for yourselves.
²⁷Therefore I will send you into exile^(V) beyond Damascus,”
    says the Lord, whose name is God Almighty.^(W)

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Footnotes

Amos 5:26 Or lifted up Sakkuth your king / and Kaiwan your idols, / your star-gods; Septuagint lifted up the shrine of Molek / and the star of your god Rephan, / their idols

Micah 6:1-8

New International Version

The Lord’s Case Against Israel

6 Listen to what the Lord says:

“Stand up, plead my case before the mountains;^(A)
let the hills hear what you have to say.

²“Hear,^(B) you mountains, the Lord’s accusation;^(C)
listen, you everlasting foundations of the earth.
For the Lord has a case^(D) against his people;
he is lodging a charge^(E) against Israel.

³“My people, what have I done to you?
    How have I burdened^(F) you?^(G) Answer me.
⁴I brought you up out of Egypt^(H)
    and redeemed you from the land of slavery.^(I)
I sent Moses^(J) to lead you,
    also Aaron^(K) and Miriam.^(L)
⁵My people, remember
    what Balak^(M) king of Moab plotted
    and what Balaam son of Beor answered.
Remember your journey from Shittim^(N) to Gilgal,^(O)
    that you may know the righteous acts^(P) of the Lord.”

⁶With what shall I come before^(Q) the Lord
    and bow down before the exalted God?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
    with calves a year old?^(R)
⁷Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,^(S)
    with ten thousand rivers of olive oil?^(T)
Shall I offer my firstborn^(U) for my transgression,
    the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?^(V)
⁸He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
    And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly^(W) and to love mercy
    and to walk humbly^[a]^(X) with your God.^(Y)

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Footnotes

Micah 6:8 Or prudently

Mark 12:28-34

New International Version

The Greatest Commandment^(A)

²⁸One of the teachers of the law^(B) came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”

²⁹“The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.^[a] ³⁰Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’^[b]^(C) ³¹The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’^[c]^(D) There is no commandment greater than these.”

³²“Well said, teacher,” the man replied. “You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him.^(E) ³³To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”^(F)

³⁴When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.”^(G) And from then on no one dared ask him any more questions.^(H)

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Footnotes

Mark 12:29 Or The Lord our God is one Lord
Mark 12:30 Deut. 6:4,5
Mark 12:31 Lev. 19:18

2 Peter 3:8-13

New International Version

⁸But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.^(A) ⁹The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise,^(B) as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient^(C) with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.^(D)

¹⁰But the day of the Lord will come like a thief.^(E) The heavens will disappear with a roar;^(F) the elements will be destroyed by fire,^(G) and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare.^[a]^(H)

¹¹Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives ¹²as you look forward^(I) to the day of God and speed its coming.^[b]^(J) That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat.^(K) ¹³But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth,^(L) where righteousness dwells.