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

Luke 1:1-38

English Standard Version

Dedication to Theophilus

1 Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that ^(A)have been accomplished among us, ²^(B)just as those who ^(C)from the beginning were ^(D)eyewitnesses and ^(E)ministers of ^(F)the word ^(G)have delivered them to us, ³it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write ^(H)an orderly account for you, ^(I)most excellent ^(J)Theophilus, ⁴that you may have ^(K)certainty concerning the things ^(L)you have been taught.

Birth of John the Baptist Foretold

⁵^(M)In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah,^[a] ^(N)of ^(O)the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. ⁶And they were both ^(P)righteous before God, walking ^(Q)blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. ⁷But they had no child, because ^(R)Elizabeth was barren, and ^(S)both were advanced in years.

⁸Now ^(T)while he was serving as priest before God when ^(U)his division was on duty, ⁹according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot ^(V)to enter ^(W)the temple of the Lord and burn incense. ¹⁰And the whole multitude of the people ^(X)were praying ^(Y)outside at the hour of incense. ¹¹And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of ^(Z)the altar of incense. ¹²And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and ^(AA)fear fell upon him. ¹³But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for ^(AB)your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and ^(AC)you shall call his name John. ¹⁴And you will have joy and gladness, and many will ^(AD)rejoice at his birth, ¹⁵for he will be ^(AE)great before the Lord. And ^(AF)he must not drink wine or strong ^(AG)drink, and ^(AH)he will be ^(AI)filled with the Holy Spirit, ^(AJ)even from his mother's womb. ¹⁶And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, ¹⁷and ^(AK)he will go before him ^(AL)in the spirit and power of Elijah, ^(AM)to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and ^(AN)the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, ^(AO)to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.”

¹⁸And Zechariah said to the angel, ^(AP)“How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.” ¹⁹And the angel answered him, “I am ^(AQ)Gabriel. ^(AR)I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. ²⁰And behold, ^(AS)you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.” ²¹And the people were waiting for Zechariah, and they were wondering at his delay in ^(AT)the temple. ²²And when he came out, he was unable to speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in ^(AU)the temple. And ^(AV)he kept making signs to them and remained mute. ²³And ^(AW)when his time of ^(AX)service was ended, he went to his home.

²⁴After these days his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she kept herself hidden, saying, ²⁵“Thus the Lord has done for me in the days when he looked on me, ^(AY)to take away my reproach among people.”

Birth of Jesus Foretold

²⁶In the sixth month the angel ^(AZ)Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named ^(BA)Nazareth, ²⁷^(BB)to a virgin betrothed^[b] to a man whose name was Joseph, ^(BC)of the house of David. And the virgin's name was Mary. ²⁸And he came to her and said, “Greetings, ^(BD)O favored one, ^(BE)the Lord is with you!”^[c] ²⁹But ^(BF)she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. ³⁰And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for ^(BG)you have found favor with God. ³¹And behold, ^(BH)you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and ^(BI)you shall call his name Jesus. ³²He will be great and will be called the Son of ^(BJ)the Most High. And the Lord God ^(BK)will give to him the throne of ^(BL)his father David, ³³and he will reign over the house of Jacob ^(BM)forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

³⁴And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”^[d]

³⁵And the angel answered her, ^(BN)“The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of ^(BO)the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born^[e] will be called ^(BP)holy—^(BQ)the Son of God. ³⁶And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her ^(BR)who was called barren. ³⁷For ^(BS)nothing will be impossible with God.” ³⁸And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant^[f] of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And ^(BT)the angel departed from her.