Amos 5

New International Version

A Lament and Call to Repentance

5 Hear this word, Israel, this lament^(A) I take up concerning you:

²“Fallen is Virgin^(B) Israel,
never to rise again,
deserted in her own land,
with no one to lift her up.^(C)”

³This is what the Sovereign Lord says to Israel:

“Your city that marches out a thousand strong
will have only a hundred left;
your town that marches out a hundred strong
will have only ten left.^(D)”

⁴This is what the Lord says to Israel:

“Seek^(E) me and live;^(F)
⁵    do not seek Bethel,
do not go to Gilgal,^(G)
    do not journey to Beersheba.^(H)
For Gilgal will surely go into exile,
    and Bethel will be reduced to nothing.^[a]^(I)”
⁶Seek^(J) the Lord and live,^(K)
    or he will sweep through the tribes of Joseph like a fire;^(L)
it will devour them,
    and Bethel^(M) will have no one to quench it.^(N)

⁷There are those who turn justice into bitterness^(O)
and cast righteousness^(P) to the ground.^(Q)

⁸He who made the Pleiades and Orion,^(R)
    who turns midnight into dawn^(S)
    and darkens day into night,^(T)
who calls for the waters of the sea
    and pours them out over the face of the land—
    the Lord is his name.^(U)
⁹With a blinding flash he destroys the stronghold
    and brings the fortified city to ruin.^(V)

¹⁰There are those who hate the one who upholds justice in court^(W)
and detest the one who tells the truth.^(X)

¹¹You levy a straw tax on the poor^(Y)
    and impose a tax on their grain.
Therefore, though you have built stone mansions,^(Z)
    you will not live in them;^(AA)
though you have planted lush vineyards,
    you will not drink their wine.^(AB)
¹²For I know how many are your offenses
    and how great your sins.^(AC)

There are those who oppress the innocent and take bribes^(AD)
and deprive the poor^(AE) of justice in the courts.^(AF)
¹³Therefore the prudent keep quiet^(AG) in such times,
for the times are evil.^(AH)

¹⁴Seek good, not evil,
    that you may live.^(AI)
Then the Lord God Almighty will be with you,
    just as you say he is.
¹⁵Hate evil,^(AJ) love good;^(AK)
    maintain justice in the courts.^(AL)
Perhaps^(AM) the Lord God Almighty will have mercy^(AN)
    on the remnant^(AO) of Joseph.

¹⁶Therefore this is what the Lord, the Lord God Almighty, says:

“There will be wailing^(AP) in all the streets^(AQ)
    and cries of anguish in every public square.
The farmers^(AR) will be summoned to weep
    and the mourners to wail.
¹⁷There will be wailing^(AS) in all the vineyards,
    for I will pass through^(AT) your midst,”
says the Lord.^(AU)

The Day of the Lord

¹⁸Woe to you who long
    for the day of the Lord!^(AV)
Why do you long for the day of the Lord?^(AW)
    That day will be darkness,^(AX) not light.^(AY)
¹⁹It will be as though a man fled from a lion
    only to meet a bear,^(AZ)
as though he entered his house
    and rested his hand on the wall
    only to have a snake bite him.^(BA)
²⁰Will not the day of the Lord be darkness,^(BB) not light—
    pitch-dark, without a ray of brightness?^(BC)

²¹“I hate,^(BD) I despise your religious festivals;^(BE)
    your assemblies^(BF) are a stench to me.
²²Even though you bring me burnt offerings^(BG) and grain offerings,
    I will not accept them.^(BH)
Though you bring choice fellowship offerings,
    I will have no regard for them.^(BI)
²³Away with the noise of your songs!
    I will not listen to the music of your harps.^(BJ)
²⁴But let justice^(BK) roll on like a river,
    righteousness^(BL) like a never-failing stream!^(BM)

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

Footnotes

Amos 5:5 Hebrew aven, a reference to Beth Aven (a derogatory name for Bethel); see Hosea 4:15.
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

Amos 6

New International Version

Woe to the Complacent

6 Woe to you^(A) who are complacent^(B) in Zion,
    and to you who feel secure^(C) on Mount Samaria,^(D)
you notable men of the foremost nation,
    to whom the people of Israel come!^(E)
²Go to Kalneh^(F) and look at it;
    go from there to great Hamath,^(G)
    and then go down to Gath^(H) in Philistia.
Are they better off than^(I) your two kingdoms?
    Is their land larger than yours?
³You put off the day of disaster
    and bring near a reign of terror.^(J)
⁴You lie on beds adorned with ivory
    and lounge on your couches.^(K)
You dine on choice lambs
    and fattened calves.^(L)
⁵You strum away on your harps^(M) like David
    and improvise on musical instruments.^(N)
⁶You drink wine^(O) by the bowlful
    and use the finest lotions,
    but you do not grieve^(P) over the ruin of Joseph.^(Q)
⁷Therefore you will be among the first to go into exile;^(R)
    your feasting and lounging will end.^(S)

The Lord Abhors the Pride of Israel

⁸The Sovereign Lord has sworn by himself^(T)—the Lord God Almighty declares:

“I abhor^(U) the pride of Jacob^(V)
and detest his fortresses;^(W)
I will deliver up^(X) the city
and everything in it.^(Y)”

⁹If ten^(Z) people are left in one house, they too will die. ¹⁰And if the relative who comes to carry the bodies out of the house to burn them^[a]^(AA) asks anyone who might be hiding there, “Is anyone else with you?” and he says, “No,” then he will go on to say, “Hush!^(AB) We must not mention the name of the Lord.”

¹¹For the Lord has given the command,
and he will smash^(AC) the great house^(AD) into pieces
and the small house into bits.^(AE)

¹²Do horses run on the rocky crags?
    Does one plow the sea^[b] with oxen?
But you have turned justice into poison^(AF)
    and the fruit of righteousness^(AG) into bitterness^(AH)—
¹³you who rejoice in the conquest of Lo Debar^[c]
    and say, “Did we not take Karnaim^[d] by our own strength?^(AI)”

¹⁴For the Lord God Almighty declares,
“I will stir up a nation^(AJ) against you, Israel,
that will oppress you all the way
from Lebo Hamath^(AK) to the valley of the Arabah.^(AL)”

Footnotes

Amos 6:10 Or to make a funeral fire in honor of the dead
Amos 6:12 With a different word division of the Hebrew; Masoretic Text plow there
Amos 6:13 Lo Debar means nothing.
Amos 6:13 Karnaim means horns; horn here symbolizes strength.

Hebrews 11

New International Version

Faith in Action

11 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for^(A) and assurance about what we do not see.^(B) ²This is what the ancients were commended for.^(C)

³By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command,^(D) so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.

⁴By faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did. By faith he was commended^(E) as righteous, when God spoke well of his offerings.^(F) And by faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead.^(G)

⁵By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death: “He could not be found, because God had taken him away.”^[a]^(H) For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. ⁶And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him^(I) must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

⁷By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen,^(J) in holy fear built an ark^(K) to save his family.^(L) By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith.^(M)

⁸By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance,^(N) obeyed and went,^(O) even though he did not know where he was going. ⁹By faith he made his home in the promised land^(P) like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents,^(Q) as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise.^(R) ¹⁰For he was looking forward to the city^(S) with foundations,^(T) whose architect and builder is God.^(U) ¹¹And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age,^(V) was enabled to bear children^(W) because she^[b] considered him faithful^(X) who had made the promise. ¹²And so from this one man, and he as good as dead,^(Y) came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.^(Z)

¹³All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised;^(AA) they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance,^(AB) admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth.^(AC) ¹⁴People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. ¹⁵If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return.^(AD) ¹⁶Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one.^(AE) Therefore God is not ashamed^(AF) to be called their God,^(AG) for he has prepared a city^(AH) for them.

¹⁷By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice.^(AI) He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, ¹⁸even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.”^[c]^(AJ) ¹⁹Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead,^(AK) and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death.

²⁰By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future.^(AL)

²¹By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons,^(AM) and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff.

²²By faith Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and gave instructions concerning the burial of his bones.^(AN)

²³By faith Moses’ parents hid him for three months after he was born,^(AO) because they saw he was no ordinary child, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict.^(AP)

²⁴By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter.^(AQ) ²⁵He chose to be mistreated^(AR) along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. ²⁶He regarded disgrace^(AS) for the sake of Christ^(AT) as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward.^(AU) ²⁷By faith he left Egypt,^(AV) not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible. ²⁸By faith he kept the Passover and the application of blood, so that the destroyer^(AW) of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel.^(AX)

²⁹By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned.^(AY)

³⁰By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the army had marched around them for seven days.^(AZ)

³¹By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.^[d]^(BA)

³²And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon,^(BB) Barak,^(BC) Samson^(BD) and Jephthah,^(BE) about David^(BF) and Samuel^(BG) and the prophets, ³³who through faith conquered kingdoms,^(BH) administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions,^(BI) ³⁴quenched the fury of the flames,^(BJ) and escaped the edge of the sword;^(BK) whose weakness was turned to strength;^(BL) and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies.^(BM) ³⁵Women received back their dead, raised to life again.^(BN) There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. ³⁶Some faced jeers and flogging,^(BO) and even chains and imprisonment.^(BP) ³⁷They were put to death by stoning;^[e]^(BQ) they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword.^(BR) They went about in sheepskins and goatskins,^(BS) destitute, persecuted and mistreated— ³⁸the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves^(BT) and in holes in the ground.

³⁹These were all commended^(BU) for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised,^(BV) ⁴⁰since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us^(BW) would they be made perfect.^(BX)

Footnotes

Hebrews 11:5 Gen. 5:24
Hebrews 11:11 Or By faith Abraham, even though he was too old to have children—and Sarah herself was not able to conceive—was enabled to become a father because he
Hebrews 11:18 Gen. 21:12
Hebrews 11:31 Or unbelieving
Hebrews 11:37 Some early manuscripts stoning; they were put to the test;