The Daily Audio Bible
1 (A) I am Amos. And I raised sheep near the town of Tekoa[a] when Uzziah was king of Judah and Jeroboam[b] son of Jehoash[c] was king of Israel.
Two years before the earthquake,[d] the Lord gave me several messages[e] about Israel, 2 (B) and I said:
When the Lord roars
from Jerusalem,
pasturelands and Mount Carmel
dry up and turn brown.
Judgment on Syria
3 (C) The Lord said:
I will punish Syria[f]
for countless crimes,
and I won't change my mind.
They dragged logs with spikes[g]
over the people of Gilead.
4 Now I will burn down the palaces
and fortresses of King Hazael
and of King Benhadad.[h]
5 I will break through
the gates of Damascus.
I will destroy the people[i]
of Wicked Valley[j]
and the ruler of Beth-Eden.[k]
Then the Syrians will be dragged
as prisoners to Kir.[l]
I, the Lord, have spoken!
Judgment on Philistia
6 (D) The Lord said:
I will punish Philistia[m]
for countless crimes,
and I won't change my mind.
They dragged off my people[n]
from town after town
to sell them as slaves
to the Edomites.
7 That's why I will burn down
the walls and fortresses
of the city of Gaza.
8 I will destroy the king[o] of Ashdod
and the ruler of Ashkelon.
I will strike down Ekron,[p]
and that will be the end
of the Philistines.
I, the Lord, have spoken!
Judgment on Phoenicia
9 (E) The Lord said:
I will punish Phoenicia[q]
for countless crimes,
and I won't change my mind.
They broke their treaty
and dragged off my people[r]
from town after town
to sell them as slaves
to the Edomites.
10 That's why I will send flames
to burn down the city of Tyre
along with its fortresses.
Judgment on Edom
11 (F) The Lord said:
I will punish Edom
for countless crimes,
and I won't change my mind.
They killed their own relatives[s]
and were so terribly furious
that they showed no mercy.
12 Now I will send fire to wipe out
the fortresses of Teman
and Bozrah.[t]
Judgment on Ammon
13 (G) The Lord said:
I will punish Ammon
for countless crimes,
and I won't change my mind.
In Gilead they ripped open
pregnant women,
just to take the land.
14 Now I will send fire to destroy
the walls and fortresses
of Rabbah.[u]
Enemies will shout and attack
like a whirlwind.
15 Ammon's king and leaders
will be dragged away.
I, the Lord, have spoken!
Judgment on Moab
2 (H) The Lord said:
I will punish Moab
for countless crimes,
and I won't change my mind.
They made lime from the bones[v]
of the king of Edom.
2 Now I will send fire to destroy
the fortresses of Kerioth.[w]
Battle shouts and trumpet blasts
will be heard as I destroy Moab
3 with its king and leaders.
I, the Lord, have spoken!
Judgment on Judah
4 The Lord said:
I will punish Judah
for countless crimes,
and I won't change my mind.
They have rejected my teachings
and refused to obey me.
They were led astray
by the same false gods
their ancestors worshiped.
5 Now I will send fire on Judah
and destroy the fortresses
of Jerusalem.
Judgment on Israel
6 The Lord said:
I will punish Israel
for countless crimes,
and I won't change my mind.
They sell honest people for money,
and the needy are sold
for the price of sandals.
7 They smear the poor in the dirt
and push aside
those who are helpless.
My holy name is dishonored,
because fathers and sons sleep
with the same young women.
8 They lie down beside altars
on clothes taken
as security for loans.
And they drink wine in my temple,
wine bought with the money
they received from fines.
9 (I) Israel, the Amorites[x] were there
when you entered Canaan.
They were tall as cedars
and strong as oaks.
But I wiped them out—
I destroyed their branches
and their roots.
10 I had rescued you from Egypt,
and for forty years I had led you
through the desert.
Then I gave you the land
of the Amorites.
11 (J) I chose some of you
to be prophets
and others to be Nazirites.[y]
People of Israel,
you know this is true.
I, the Lord, have spoken!
12 But you commanded the prophets
not to speak their message,
and you pressured the Nazirites
into drinking wine.
13 And so I will crush you,
just as a wagon full of grain
crushes the ground.[z]
14 No matter how fast you run,
you won't escape.
No matter how strong you are,
you will lose your strength
and your life.
15 Even if you are an expert
with a bow and arrow,
you will retreat.
And you won't get away alive,
not even if you run fast
or ride a horse.
16 You may be brave and strong,
but you will run away,
stripped naked.
I, the Lord, have spoken!
3 People of Israel,
I rescued you from Egypt.
Now listen to my judgment
against you.
2 Of all nations on earth,
you are the only one
I have chosen.
That's why I will punish you
because of your sins.
The Work of a Prophet
3 Can two people walk together
without agreeing to meet?
4 Does a lion roar in the forest
unless it has caught
a victim?
Does it growl in its den
unless it is eating?
5 How can anyone catch a bird
without using a net?
Does a trap spring shut
unless something is caught?
6 Isn't the whole city frightened
when the trumpet
signals an attack?
Isn't the Lord the one who brings
disaster on a city?
7 Whatever the Lord God
plans to do,
he tells his servants,
the prophets.
8 Everyone is terrified
when a lion roars—
and ordinary people
become prophets
when the Lord God speaks.
Samaria Is Doomed
9 Here is a message
for the leaders
of Philistia[aa] and Egypt—
tell everyone to come together
on the hills of Samaria.
Let them see the injustice
and the lawlessness
in that city.
10 The Lord has said
that they don't even know how
to do right.
They have become rich
from violence and robbery.
11 And so the Lord God has sworn
that they will be surrounded.
Enemies will break through
their defenses
and steal their treasures.
12 The Lord has promised
that only a few from Samaria
will escape with their lives
and with some broken pieces
of their beds and couches.[ab]
It will be like when a shepherd
rescues two leg bones
and part of a sheep's ear
from the jaws of a lion.[ac]
The Altars at Bethel
13 The Lord God All-Powerful
told me to speak this message
against Jacob's descendants:
14 (K) When I, the Lord, punish Israel
for their sins,
I will destroy the altars
at Bethel.
Even the corners of the altar[ad]
will be left in the dirt.
15 I will tear down winter homes
and summer homes.
Houses decorated with ivory
and all other mansions
will be gone forever.
I, the Lord, have spoken!
The Letter to Ephesus
2 This is what you must write to the angel of the church in Ephesus:
I am the one who holds the seven stars in my right hand, and I walk among the seven gold lampstands. Listen to what I say.
2 I know everything you have done, including your hard work and how you have endured. I know you won't put up with anyone who is evil. When some people pretended to be apostles, you tested them and found out they were liars. 3 You have endured and gone through hard times because of me, yet you have not given up.
4 But I do have something against you! And it is this: You don't have as much love as you used to. 5 Think about where you have fallen from, and then turn back and do as you did at first. If you don't turn back, I will come and take away your lampstand. 6 But there is one thing you are doing right. You hate what the Nicolaitans[a] are doing, and so do I.
7 (A) If you have ears, listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. I will let everyone who wins the victory eat from the life-giving tree in God's wonderful garden.
The Letter to Smyrna
8 (B) This is what you must write to the angel of the church in Smyrna:
I am the first and the last. I died, but now I am alive! Listen to what I say.
9 I know how much you suffer and how poor you are, but you are rich. I also know the cruel things being said about you by people who claim to be God's people. But they are not really God's people. They are a group that belongs to Satan.
10 Don't worry about what you will suffer. The devil will throw some of you into jail, and you will be tested and made to suffer for ten days. But if you are faithful until you die, I will reward you with a glorious life.[b]
11 (C) If you have ears, listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. Whoever wins the victory will not be hurt by the second death.[c]
The Letter to Pergamum
12 This is what you must write to the angel of the church in Pergamum:
I am the one who has the sharp double-edged sword! Listen to what I say.
13 I know you live where Satan has his throne.[d] But you have kept true to my name. Right there where Satan lives, my faithful witness Antipas[e] was taken from you and put to death. Even then you did not give up your faith in me.
14 (D) I do have a few things against you. Some of you are following the teaching of Balaam.[f] Long ago he told Balak to teach the people of Israel to eat food that had been offered to idols and to be immoral. 15 Now some of you are following the teaching of the Nicolaitans.[g] 16 Turn back! If you don't, I will come quickly and fight against these people. And my words will cut like a sword.
17 (E) If you have ears, listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. To everyone who wins the victory, I will give some of the hidden food.[h] I will also give each one a white stone[i] with a new name[j] written on it. No one will know that name except the one who is given the stone.
(A song for worship.)
A Prayer for Protection
1 Since the time I was young,
enemies have often attacked!
Let everyone in Israel say:
2 “Since the time I was young,
enemies have often attacked!
But they have not defeated me,
3 though my back is like a field
that has just been plowed.”
4 The Lord always does right,
and he has set me free
from the ropes
of those cruel people.
5 I pray that all who hate
the city of Zion
will be made ashamed
and forced to turn and run.
6 May they be like grass
on the flat roof of a house,
grass that dries up
as soon as it sprouts.
7 Don't let them be like wheat
gathered in bundles.
8 And don't let anyone
who passes by say to them,
“The Lord bless you!
I give you my blessing
in the name of the Lord.”
19 (A) Even when servants are smart,
it takes more than words
to make them obey.
20 There is more hope for a fool
than for someone who speaks
without thinking.
Copyright © 1995 by American Bible Society For more information about CEV, visit www.bibles.com and www.cev.bible.