Isaiah 1

New International Version

1 The vision^(A) concerning Judah and Jerusalem^(B) that Isaiah son of Amoz saw^(C) during the reigns of Uzziah,^(D) Jotham,^(E) Ahaz^(F) and Hezekiah,^(G) kings of Judah.

A Rebellious Nation

²Hear me, you heavens! Listen, earth!^(H)
    For the Lord has spoken:^(I)
“I reared children^(J) and brought them up,
    but they have rebelled^(K) against me.
³The ox knows^(L) its master,
    the donkey its owner’s manger,^(M)
but Israel does not know,^(N)
    my people do not understand.^(O)”

⁴Woe to the sinful nation,
    a people whose guilt is great,^(P)
a brood of evildoers,^(Q)
    children given to corruption!^(R)
They have forsaken^(S) the Lord;
    they have spurned the Holy One^(T) of Israel
    and turned their backs^(U) on him.

⁵Why should you be beaten^(V) anymore?
    Why do you persist^(W) in rebellion?^(X)
Your whole head is injured,
    your whole heart^(Y) afflicted.^(Z)
⁶From the sole of your foot to the top of your head^(AA)
    there is no soundness^(AB)—
only wounds and welts^(AC)
    and open sores,
not cleansed or bandaged^(AD)
    or soothed with olive oil.^(AE)

⁷Your country is desolate,^(AF)
    your cities burned with fire;^(AG)
your fields are being stripped by foreigners^(AH)
    right before you,
    laid waste as when overthrown by strangers.^(AI)
⁸Daughter Zion^(AJ) is left^(AK)
    like a shelter in a vineyard,
like a hut^(AL) in a cucumber field,
    like a city under siege.
⁹Unless the Lord Almighty
    had left us some survivors,^(AM)
we would have become like Sodom,
    we would have been like Gomorrah.^(AN)

¹⁰Hear the word of the Lord,^(AO)
    you rulers of Sodom;^(AP)
listen to the instruction^(AQ) of our God,
    you people of Gomorrah!^(AR)
¹¹“The multitude of your sacrifices—
    what are they to me?” says the Lord.
“I have more than enough of burnt offerings,
    of rams and the fat of fattened animals;^(AS)
I have no pleasure^(AT)
    in the blood of bulls^(AU) and lambs and goats.^(AV)
¹²When you come to appear before me,
    who has asked this of you,^(AW)
    this trampling of my courts?
¹³Stop bringing meaningless offerings!^(AX)
    Your incense^(AY) is detestable^(AZ) to me.
New Moons,^(BA) Sabbaths and convocations^(BB)—
    I cannot bear your worthless assemblies.
¹⁴Your New Moon^(BC) feasts and your appointed festivals^(BD)
    I hate with all my being.^(BE)
They have become a burden to me;^(BF)
    I am weary^(BG) of bearing them.
¹⁵When you spread out your hands^(BH) in prayer,
    I hide^(BI) my eyes from you;
even when you offer many prayers,
    I am not listening.^(BJ)

Your hands^(BK) are full of blood!^(BL)

¹⁶Wash^(BM) and make yourselves clean.
    Take your evil deeds out of my sight;^(BN)
    stop doing wrong.^(BO)
¹⁷Learn to do right;^(BP) seek justice.^(BQ)
    Defend the oppressed.^[a]^(BR)
Take up the cause of the fatherless;^(BS)
    plead the case of the widow.^(BT)

¹⁸“Come now, let us settle the matter,”^(BU)
    says the Lord.
“Though your sins are like scarlet,
    they shall be as white as snow;^(BV)
though they are red as crimson,
    they shall be like wool.^(BW)
¹⁹If you are willing and obedient,^(BX)
    you will eat the good things of the land;^(BY)
²⁰but if you resist and rebel,^(BZ)
    you will be devoured by the sword.”^(CA)
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.^(CB)

²¹See how the faithful city
    has become a prostitute!^(CC)
She once was full of justice;
    righteousness^(CD) used to dwell in her—
    but now murderers!^(CE)
²²Your silver has become dross,^(CF)
    your choice wine is diluted with water.
²³Your rulers are rebels,^(CG)
    partners with thieves;^(CH)
they all love bribes^(CI)
    and chase after gifts.
They do not defend the cause of the fatherless;
    the widow’s case does not come before them.^(CJ)

²⁴Therefore the Lord, the Lord Almighty,
    the Mighty One^(CK) of Israel, declares:
“Ah! I will vent my wrath on my foes
    and avenge^(CL) myself on my enemies.^(CM)
²⁵I will turn my hand against you;^[b]^(CN)
    I will thoroughly purge^(CO) away your dross^(CP)
    and remove all your impurities.^(CQ)
²⁶I will restore your leaders as in days of old,^(CR)
    your rulers as at the beginning.
Afterward you will be called^(CS)
    the City of Righteousness,^(CT)
    the Faithful City.^(CU)”

²⁷Zion will be delivered with justice,
her penitent^(CV) ones with righteousness.^(CW)
²⁸But rebels and sinners^(CX) will both be broken,
and those who forsake^(CY) the Lord will perish.^(CZ)

²⁹“You will be ashamed^(DA) because of the sacred oaks^(DB)
    in which you have delighted;
you will be disgraced because of the gardens^(DC)
    that you have chosen.
³⁰You will be like an oak with fading leaves,^(DD)
    like a garden without water.
³¹The mighty man will become tinder
    and his work a spark;
both will burn together,
    with no one to quench the fire.^(DE)”

Footnotes

Isaiah 1:17 Or justice. / Correct the oppressor
Isaiah 1:25 That is, against Jerusalem

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

Romans 1:16-32

New International Version

¹⁶For I am not ashamed of the gospel,^(A) because it is the power of God^(B) that brings salvation to everyone who believes:^(C) first to the Jew,^(D) then to the Gentile.^(E) ¹⁷For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed^(F)—a righteousness that is by faith^(G) from first to last,^[a] just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”^[b]^(H)

God’s Wrath Against Sinful Humanity

¹⁸The wrath of God^(I) is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, ¹⁹since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.^(J) ²⁰For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made,^(K) so that people are without excuse.^(L)

²¹For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.^(M) ²²Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools^(N) ²³and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images^(O) made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.

²⁴Therefore God gave them over^(P) in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another.^(Q) ²⁵They exchanged the truth about God for a lie,^(R) and worshiped and served created things^(S) rather than the Creator—who is forever praised.^(T) Amen.^(U)

²⁶Because of this, God gave them over^(V) to shameful lusts.^(W) Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones.^(X) ²⁷In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.^(Y)

²⁸Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over^(Z) to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. ²⁹They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips,^(AA) ³⁰slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents;^(AB) ³¹they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love,^(AC) no mercy. ³²Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death,^(AD) they not only continue to do these very things but also approve^(AE) of those who practice them.