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Symbolic Visions of Judgment
7 The Sovereign Lord showed me this: I saw[a] him making locusts just as the crops planted late[b] were beginning to sprout. (The crops planted late sprout after the royal harvest.[c]) 2 When they had completely consumed the earth’s vegetation, I said,
3 The Lord decided not to do this.[g] “It will not happen,” the Lord said.
4 The Sovereign Lord showed me this: I saw[h] the Sovereign Lord summoning a shower of fire.[i] It consumed the great deep and devoured the fields. 5 I said,
6 The Lord decided not to do this.[l] The Sovereign Lord said, “This will not happen either.”
7 He showed me this: I saw[m] the Lord[n] standing by a tin[o] wall holding tin in his hand. 8 The Lord said to me, “What do you see, Amos?” I said, “Tin.” The Lord then said,
“Look, I am about to place tin[p] among my people Israel.
I will no longer overlook their sin.[q]
9 Isaac’s centers of worship[r] will become desolate;
Israel’s holy places will be in ruins.
I will attack Jeroboam’s dynasty with the sword.”[s]
Amos Confronts a Priest
10 Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent this message[t] to King Jeroboam of Israel: “Amos is conspiring against you in the very heart of the kingdom of Israel![u] The land cannot endure all his prophecies.[v] 11 As a matter of fact,[w] Amos is saying this: ‘Jeroboam will die by the sword and Israel will certainly be carried into exile[x] away from its land.’”
12 Amaziah then said to Amos, “Leave, you visionary![y] Run away to the land of Judah. Earn your living[z] and prophesy there! 13 Don’t prophesy at Bethel any longer, for a royal temple and palace are here.”[aa]
14 Amos replied[ab] to Amaziah, “I was not a prophet by profession.[ac] No,[ad] I was a herdsman who also took care of[ae] sycamore fig trees.[af] 15 Then the Lord took me from tending[ag] flocks and gave me this commission,[ah] ‘Go! Prophesy to my people Israel.’ 16 So now listen to the Lord’s message! You say, ‘Don’t prophesy against Israel! Don’t preach[ai] against the family of Isaac!’
17 “Therefore this is what the Lord says:
‘Your wife will become a prostitute in the streets[aj]
and your sons and daughters will die violently.[ak]
Your land will be given to others[al]
and you will die in a foreign[am] land.
Israel will certainly be carried into exile[an] away from its land.’”
More Visions and Messages of Judgment
8 The Sovereign Lord showed me this: I saw[ao] a basket of summer fruit.[ap] 2 He said, “What do you see, Amos?” I replied, “A basket of summer fruit.” Then the Lord said to me, “The end[aq] has come for my people Israel! I will no longer overlook their sins.[ar]
3 The women singing in the temple[as] will wail in that day.”
The Sovereign Lord is speaking.
“There will be many corpses littered everywhere![at] Be quiet!”
4 Listen to this, you who trample[au] the needy
and do away with[av] the destitute in the land.
5 You say,
“When will the new moon festival[aw] be over,[ax] so we can sell grain?
When will the Sabbath end,[ay] so we can open up the grain bins?[az]
We’re eager[ba] to sell less for a higher price,[bb]
and to cheat the buyer with rigged scales![bc]
6 We’re eager to trade silver for the poor,[bd]
a pair of sandals[be] for the needy.
We want to mix in some chaff with the grain!”[bf]
7 The Lord confirms this oath[bg] by the arrogance of Jacob:[bh]
“I swear[bi] I will never forget all you have done![bj]
8 Because of this the earth[bk] will quake,[bl]
and all who live in it will mourn.
The whole earth[bm] will rise like the Nile River,[bn]
it will surge upward[bo] and then grow calm,[bp] like the Nile in Egypt.[bq]
9 In that day,” says the Sovereign Lord, “I will make the sun set at noon
and make the earth dark in the middle of the day.[br]
10 I will turn your festivals into funerals[bs]
and all your songs into funeral dirges.
I will make everyone wear funeral clothes[bt]
and cause every head to be shaved bald.[bu]
I will make you mourn as if you had lost your only son;[bv]
when it ends it will indeed have been a bitter day.[bw]
11 Be certain of this,[bx] the time is[by] coming,” says the Sovereign Lord,
“when I will send a famine through the land—
not a shortage of food or water
but an end to divine revelation.[bz]
12 People[ca] will stagger from sea to sea,[cb]
and from the north around to the east.
They will wander about looking for a message from the Lord,
but they will not find any.[cc]
13 In that day your[cd] beautiful young women[ce] and your[cf] young men will faint from thirst.[cg]
14 These are the ones who now take oaths[ch] in the name of the sinful idol goddess[ci] of Samaria.
They vow,[cj] ‘As surely as your god[ck] lives, O Dan,’ or, ‘As surely as your beloved one[cl] lives, O Beer Sheba!’
But they will fall down and not get up again.”
9 I saw the Lord[cm] standing by the altar[cn] and he said,
“Strike the tops of the support pillars,[co] so the thresholds shake!
Knock them down on the heads of all the people,[cp]
and I will kill the survivors[cq] with the sword.
No one will be able to run away;[cr]
no one will be able to escape.[cs]
2 Even if they could dig down into the netherworld,[ct]
my hand would pull them up from there.
Even if they could climb up to heaven,
I would drag them down from there.
3 Even if they were to hide on the top of Mount Carmel,
I would hunt them down and take them from there.
Even if they tried to hide from me[cu] at the bottom of the sea,
from there[cv] I would command the Sea Serpent[cw] to bite them.
4 Even when their enemies drive them into captivity,[cx]
from there[cy] I will command the sword to kill them.
I will not let them out of my sight;
they will experience disaster, not prosperity.”[cz]
5 The Sovereign Lord of Heaven’s Armies will do this.[da]
He touches the earth and it dissolves;[db]
all who live on it mourn.
The whole earth[dc] rises like the Nile River,[dd]
and then grows calm[de] like the Nile in Egypt.[df]
6 He builds the upper rooms of his palace[dg] in heaven
and sets its foundation supports[dh] on the earth.[di]
He summons the water of the sea
and pours it out on the earth’s surface.
The Lord is his name.
7 “You Israelites are just like the Ethiopians in my sight,”[dj] says the Lord.
“Certainly I brought Israel up from the land of Egypt,
but I also brought the Philistines from Caphtor[dk] and the Arameans from Kir.[dl]
8 Look, the Sovereign Lord is watching[dm] the sinful nation,[dn]
and I will destroy it from the face of the earth.
But I will not completely destroy the family[do] of Jacob,” says the Lord.
9 “For look, I am giving a command
and I will shake the family of Israel together with all the nations.
It will resemble a sieve being shaken,
when not even a pebble falls to the ground.[dp]
10 All the sinners among my people will die by the sword—
the ones who say, ‘Disaster will not come near, it will not confront us.’
The Restoration of the Davidic Dynasty
11 “In that day I will rebuild the collapsing hut[dq] of David.
I will seal its[dr] gaps,
repair its[ds] ruins,
and restore it to what it was like in days gone by.[dt]
12 As a result they[du] will conquer those left in Edom[dv]
and all the nations subject to my rule.”[dw]
The Lord, who is about to do this, is speaking.
13 “Be sure of this,[dx] the time is[dy] coming,” says the Lord,
“when the plowman will catch up to the reaper,[dz]
and the one who stomps the grapes[ea] will overtake[eb] the planter.[ec]
Juice will run down the slopes;[ed]
it will flow down all the hillsides.[ee]
14 I will bring back my people, Israel;[ef]
they will rebuild the cities lying in rubble[eg] and settle down.[eh]
They will plant vineyards and drink the wine they produce;[ei]
they will grow orchards[ej] and eat the fruit they produce.[ek]
15 I will plant them on their land,
and they will never again be uprooted from the[el] land I have given them,”
says the Lord your God.
To the Church in Philadelphia
7 “To[a] the angel of the church in Philadelphia write the following:[b]
“This is the solemn pronouncement of[c] the Holy One, the True One, who holds the key of David, who opens doors[d] no one can shut, and shuts doors[e] no one can open: 8 ‘I know your deeds. (Look! I have put[f] in front of you an open door that no one can shut.)[g] I know[h] that you have little strength,[i] but[j] you have obeyed[k] my word and have not denied my name. 9 Listen![l] I am going to make those people from the synagogue[m] of Satan—who say they are Jews yet[n] are not, but are lying—Look, I will make[o] them come and bow down[p] at your feet and acknowledge[q] that I have loved you. 10 Because you have kept[r] my admonition[s] to endure steadfastly,[t] I will also keep you from the hour of testing that is about to come on the whole world to test those who live on the earth. 11 I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have so that no one can take away[u] your crown.[v] 12 The one who conquers[w] I will make[x] a pillar in the temple of my God, and he will never depart from it. I[y] will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God (the new Jerusalem that comes down out of heaven from my God),[z] and my new name as well. 13 The one who has an ear had better hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’
To the Church in Laodicea
14 “To[aa] the angel of the church in Laodicea write the following:[ab]
“This is the solemn pronouncement of[ac] the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the originator[ad] of God’s creation: 15 ‘I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot.[ae] I wish you were either cold or hot! 16 So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I am going[af] to vomit[ag] you out of my mouth! 17 Because you say, “I am rich and have acquired great wealth,[ah] and need nothing,” but[ai] do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful,[aj] poor, blind, and naked, 18 take my advice[ak] and buy gold from me refined by fire so you can become rich! Buy from me[al] white clothing so you can be clothed and your shameful nakedness[am] will not be exposed, and buy eye salve[an] to put on your eyes so you can see! 19 All those[ao] I love, I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent! 20 Listen![ap] I am standing at the door and knocking! If anyone hears my voice and opens the door I will come into his home[aq] and share a meal with him, and he with me. 21 I will grant the one[ar] who conquers[as] permission[at] to sit with me on my throne, just as I too conquered[au] and sat down with my Father on his throne. 22 The one who has an ear had better hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’”
Psalm 131[a]
A song of ascents,[b] by David.
131 O Lord, my heart is not proud,
nor do I have a haughty look.[c]
I do not have great aspirations,
or concern myself with things that are beyond me.[d]
2 Indeed,[e] I have calmed and quieted myself[f]
like a weaned child with its mother;[g]
I am content like a young child.[h]
3 O Israel, hope in the Lord
now and forevermore!
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