The Lord's Call to Israel

Warning Visions

7 ^(A)This is what the Lord God showed me: behold, ^(B)he was forming locusts when the latter growth was just beginning to sprout, and behold, it was the latter growth after the king's mowings. ² When they had finished eating the grass of the land, I said,

^4 (E)This is what the Lord God showed me: behold, the Lord God was calling ^(F)for a judgment by fire, and it devoured the great deep and was eating up the land. ⁵ Then I said,

^7 (I)This is what he showed me: behold, the Lord was standing beside a wall built with ^(J)a plumb line, with a plumb line in his hand. ⁸ And the Lord said to me, ^(K)“Amos, what do you see?” And I said, “A plumb line.” Then the Lord said,

Amos Accused

¹⁰ Then Amaziah ^(P)the priest of Bethel sent to ^(Q)Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, “Amos has ^(R)conspired against you in the midst of the house of Israel. The land is not able to bear all his words. ¹¹ For thus Amos has said,

¹² And Amaziah said to Amos, ^(T)“O seer, go, flee away ^(U)to the land of Judah, and ^(V)eat bread there, and prophesy there, ¹³ but ^(W)never again prophesy at Bethel, for ^(X)it is the king's sanctuary, and it is a temple of the kingdom.”

¹⁴ Then Amos answered and said to Amaziah, ^(Y)“I was^[a] no prophet, nor a prophet's son, but ^(Z)I was a herdsman and a dresser of sycamore figs. ^15 (AA)But the Lord took me from following the flock, and the Lord said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’ ^16 (AB)Now therefore hear the word of the Lord.

^17 (AF)Therefore thus says the Lord:

The Mystery of the Gospel Revealed

3 For this reason I, Paul, ^(A)a prisoner of Christ Jesus ^(B)on behalf of you Gentiles— ² assuming that you have heard of ^(C)the stewardship of ^(D)God's grace that was given to me for you, ^3 (E)how the mystery was made known to me ^(F)by revelation, ^(G)as I have written briefly. ^4 (H)When you read this, you can perceive my insight into ^(I)the mystery of Christ, ⁵ which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. ⁶ This mystery is^[a] that the Gentiles are ^(J)fellow heirs, ^(K)members of the same body, and ^(L)partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.

^7 (M)Of this gospel I was made ^(N)a minister according to the gift of ^(O)God's grace, which was given me ^(P)by the working of his power. ⁸ To me, ^(Q)though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, ^(R)to preach to the Gentiles the ^(S)unsearchable ^(T)riches of Christ, ⁹ and ^(U)to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery ^(V)hidden for ages in^[b] God, ^(W)who created all things, ¹⁰ so that through the church the manifold ^(X)wisdom of God ^(Y)might now be made known to ^(Z)the rulers and authorities ^(AA)in the heavenly places. ¹¹ This was ^(AB)according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, ¹² in whom we have ^(AC)boldness and ^(AD)access with ^(AE)confidence through our ^(AF)faith in him. ¹³ So I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering ^(AG)for you, ^(AH)which is your glory.

Prayer for Spiritual Strength

¹⁴ For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, ¹⁵ from whom ^(AI)every family^[c] in heaven and on earth is named, ¹⁶ that according to ^(AJ)the riches of his glory ^(AK)he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit ^(AL)in your inner being, ^17 (AM)so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being ^(AN)rooted and ^(AO)grounded in love, ¹⁸ may have strength to ^(AP)comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and ^(AQ)height and depth, ¹⁹ and to know the love of Christ ^(AR)that surpasses knowledge, that ^(AS)you may be filled with all ^(AT)the fullness of God.

^20 (AU)Now to ^(AV)him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, ^(AW)according to the power at work within us, ^21 (AX)to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

[The earliest manuscripts do not include 7:53–8:11.]^[a]

The Woman Caught in Adultery

⁵³ [[They went each to his own house, 8 ¹ but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. ^2 (A)Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and ^(B)he sat down and taught them. ³ The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst ⁴ they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. ⁵ Now ^(C)in the Law, Moses commanded us ^(D)to stone such women. So what do you say?” ⁶ This they said ^(E)to test him, ^(F)that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. ⁷ And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, ^(G)“Let him who is without sin among you ^(H)be the first to throw a stone at her.” ⁸ And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. ⁹ But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. ¹⁰ Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” ¹¹ She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, ^(I)“Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on ^(J)sin no more.”]]