Amos 8-9

New King James Version

Vision of the Summer Fruit

8 Thus the Lord God showed me: Behold, a basket of summer fruit. ²And He said, “Amos, what do you see?”

So I said, “A basket of summer fruit.”

Then the Lord said to me:

^(A)“The end has come upon My people Israel;
^(B)I will not pass by them anymore.
³And ^(C)the songs of the temple
Shall be wailing in that day,”
Says the Lord God—
“Many dead bodies everywhere,
^(D)They shall be thrown out in silence.”

⁴Hear this, you who ^[a]swallow up the needy,
And make the poor of the land fail,

⁵Saying:

“When will the New Moon be past,
That we may sell grain?
And ^(E)the Sabbath,
That we may ^[b]trade wheat?
^(F)Making the ephah small and the shekel large,
Falsifying the scales by ^(G)deceit,
⁶That we may buy the poor for ^(H)silver,
And the needy for a pair of sandals—
Even sell the bad wheat?”

⁷The Lord has sworn by ^(I)the pride of Jacob:
“Surely ^(J)I will never forget any of their works.
⁸^(K)Shall the land not tremble for this,
And everyone mourn who dwells in it?
All of it shall swell like ^[c]the River,
Heave and subside
^(L)Like the River of Egypt.

⁹“And it shall come to pass in that day,” says the Lord God,
^(M)“That I will make the sun go down at noon,
And I will darken the earth in ^[d]broad daylight;
¹⁰I will turn your feasts into ^(N)mourning,
^(O)And all your songs into lamentation;
^(P)I will bring sackcloth on every waist,
And baldness on every head;
I will make it like mourning for an only son,
And its end like a bitter day.

¹¹“Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord God,
“That I will send a famine on the land,
Not a famine of bread,
Nor a thirst for water,
But ^(Q)of hearing the words of the Lord.
¹²They shall wander from sea to sea,
And from north to east;
They shall run to and fro, seeking the word of the Lord,
But shall ^(R)not find it.

¹³“In that day the fair virgins
And strong young men
Shall faint from thirst.
¹⁴Those who ^(S)swear by ^(T)the ^[e]sin of Samaria,
Who say,
‘As your god lives, O Dan!’
And, ‘As the way of ^(U)Beersheba lives!’
They shall fall and never rise again.”

The Destruction of Israel

9 I saw the Lord standing by the altar, and He said:

“Strike the ^[f]doorposts, that the thresholds may shake,
And ^(V)break them on the heads of them all.
I will slay the last of them with the sword.
^(W)He who flees from them shall not get away,
And he who escapes from them shall not be delivered.

²“Though^(X) they dig into ^[g]hell,
From there My hand shall take them;
^(Y)Though they climb up to heaven,
From there I will bring them down;
³And though they ^(Z)hide themselves on top of Carmel,
From there I will search and take them;
Though they hide from My sight at the bottom of the sea,
From there I will command the serpent, and it shall bite them;
⁴Though they go into captivity before their enemies,
From there ^(AA)I will command the sword,
And it shall slay them.
^(AB)I will set My eyes on them for harm and not for good.”

⁵The Lord God of hosts,
He who touches the earth and it ^(AC)melts,
^(AD)And all who dwell there mourn;
All of it shall swell like ^[h]the River,
And subside like the River of Egypt.
⁶He who builds His ^(AE)layers^[i] in the sky,
And has founded His strata in the earth;
Who ^(AF)calls for the waters of the sea,
And pours them out on the face of the earth—
^(AG)The Lord is His name.

⁷“Are you not like the ^[j]people of Ethiopia to Me,
O children of Israel?” says the Lord.
“Did I not bring up Israel from the land of Egypt,
The ^(AH)Philistines from ^(AI)Caphtor,^[k]
And the Syrians from ^(AJ)Kir?

⁸“Behold, ^(AK)the eyes of the Lord God are on the sinful kingdom,
And I ^(AL)will destroy it from the face of the earth;
Yet I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob,”
Says the Lord.

⁹“For surely I will command,
And will ^[l]sift the house of Israel among all nations,
As grain is sifted in a sieve;
^(AM)Yet not the smallest ^[m]grain shall fall to the ground.
¹⁰All the sinners of My people shall die by the sword,
^(AN)Who say, ‘The calamity shall not overtake nor confront us.’

Israel Will Be Restored

¹¹“On^(AO) that day I will raise up
The ^[n]tabernacle of David, which has fallen down,
And ^[o]repair its damages;
I will raise up its ruins,
And rebuild it as in the days of old;
¹²^(AP)That they may possess the remnant of ^(AQ)Edom,^[p]
And all the Gentiles who are called by My name,”
Says the Lord who does this thing.

¹³“Behold, ^(AR)the days are coming,” says the Lord,
“When the plowman shall overtake the reaper,
And the treader of grapes him who sows seed;
^(AS)The mountains shall drip with sweet wine,
And all the hills shall flow with it.
¹⁴^(AT)I will bring back the captives of My people Israel;
^(AU)They shall build the waste cities and inhabit them;
They shall plant vineyards and drink wine from them;
They shall also make gardens and eat fruit from them.
¹⁵I will plant them in their land,
^(AV)And no longer shall they be pulled up
From the land I have given them,”
Says the Lord your God.

Footnotes

Amos 8:4 Or trample on, Amos 2:7
Amos 8:5 Lit. open
Amos 8:8 The Nile; some Heb. mss., LXX, Tg., Syr., Vg. River (cf. 9:5); MT the light
Amos 8:9 Lit. a day of light
Amos 8:14 Or Ashima, a Syrian goddess
Amos 9:1 Capitals of the pillars
Amos 9:2 Or Sheol
Amos 9:5 The Nile
Amos 9:6 Or stairs
Amos 9:7 Lit. sons of the Ethiopians
Amos 9:7 Crete
Amos 9:9 shake
Amos 9:9 Lit. pebble
Amos 9:11 Lit. booth; a figure of a deposed dynasty
Amos 9:11 Lit. wall up its breaches
Amos 9:12 LXX mankind

1 Peter 1

New King James Version

Greeting to the Elect Pilgrims

1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,

To the ^[a]pilgrims ^(A)of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, ²^(B)elect ^(C)according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, ^(D)in sanctification of the Spirit, for ^(E)obedience and ^(F)sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ:

^(G)Grace to you and peace be multiplied.

A Heavenly Inheritance

³^(H)Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who ^(I)according to His abundant mercy ^(J)has begotten us again to a living hope ^(K)through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴to an inheritance ^[b]incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, ^(L)reserved in heaven for you, ⁵^(M)who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

⁶^(N)In this you greatly rejoice, though now ^(O)for a little while, if need be, ^(P)you have been ^[c]grieved by various trials, ⁷that ^(Q)the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though ^(R)it is tested by fire, ^(S)may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, ⁸^(T)whom having not ^[d]seen you love. ^(U)Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, ⁹receiving the end of your faith—the salvation of your souls.

¹⁰Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you, ¹¹searching what, or what manner of time, ^(V)the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. ¹²To them it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to ^[e]us they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things which ^(W)angels desire to look into.

Living Before God Our Father

¹³Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; ¹⁴as obedient children, not ^(X)conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; ¹⁵^(Y)but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, ¹⁶because it is written, ^(Z)“Be holy, for I am holy.”

¹⁷And if you call on the Father, who ^(AA)without partiality judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your ^[f]stay here in fear; ¹⁸knowing that you were not redeemed with ^[g]corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, ¹⁹but ^(AB)with the precious blood of Christ, ^(AC)as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. ²⁰^(AD)He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was ^[h]manifest ^(AE)in these last times for you ²¹who through Him believe in God, ^(AF)who raised Him from the dead and ^(AG)gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

The Enduring Word

²²Since you ^(AH)have purified your souls in obeying the truth ^[i]through the Spirit in ^[j]sincere ^(AI)love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, ²³^(AJ)having been born again, not of ^[k]corruptible seed but ^[l]incorruptible, ^(AK)through the word of God which lives and abides ^[m]forever, ²⁴because

^(AL)“All flesh is as grass,
And all ^[n]the glory of man as the flower of the grass.
The grass withers,
And its flower falls away,
²⁵^(AM)But the ^[o]word of the Lord endures forever.”

^(AN)Now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you.

Footnotes

1 Peter 1:1 sojourners, temporary residents
1 Peter 1:4 imperishable
1 Peter 1:6 distressed
1 Peter 1:8 M known
1 Peter 1:12 NU, M you
1 Peter 1:17 sojourning, dwelling as resident aliens
1 Peter 1:18 perishable
1 Peter 1:20 revealed
1 Peter 1:22 NU omits through the Spirit
1 Peter 1:22 Lit. unhypocritical
1 Peter 1:23 perishable
1 Peter 1:23 imperishable
1 Peter 1:23 NU omits forever
1 Peter 1:24 NU its glory as
1 Peter 1:25 spoken word

1 Peter 2:1-3

New King James Version

Our Inheritance Through Christ’s Blood

2 Therefore, ^(A)laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, ²^(B)as newborn babes, desire the pure ^(C)milk of the word, that you may grow ^[a]thereby, ³if indeed you have ^(D)tasted that the Lord is gracious.