The Daily Audio Bible
Prophets find God’s message in every word and turn of phrase. Lo-debar and Karnaim were two cities recaptured by Jeroboam II, king of Israel, after a foreign ruler had annexed them as part of his kingdom (2 Kings 10:32–36). When Jeroboam won back the region, the people celebrated (2 Kings 14:23–29); but Jeroboam was out of step with God, so the joy was short-lived. That’s where the names of the two cities become interesting. In Hebrew Lo-debar means “no thing”; Karnaim means “horns,” and horns are a symbol of strength. In a bit of sarcasm, the prophet quips that those who celebrate the retaking of Lo-debar are celebrating “nothing,” while those who claim the victory at Karnaim have only their horn, their own strength, to thank. God will have none of it.
7 This is what the Eternal Lord showed me: He brought a swarm of locusts when the crops had begun to sprout in late spring (after the king’s portion of the hay had been cut). 2 When I saw the locusts devour everything green in the land that belonged to the farmers, I spoke.
Amos: O Eternal Lord, please forgive us!
How will Jacob’s descendants survive this?
The nation is so small.
3 The Eternal relented and showed mercy.
Eternal One: What you have seen will not be.
4 Then the Eternal Lord showed me this: He called for a rain of fire, and it devoured the deep abyss and began to devour the land itself.
5 Amos: O Eternal Lord, please no! Not this!
How will Jacob’s descendants survive this?
The nation is so small.
6 And the Eternal again relented and showed mercy.
Eternal One: This will not happen either.
7 Then He showed me this: The Lord was standing by a wall built with a plumb line, and in His hand was a plumb line.
Eternal One: 8 What do you see, Amos?
Amos: A plumb line.
Eternal One: Watch what I’m about to do! I am going to put a plumb line
up against My people Israel to see what is straight and true,
And I will not look the other way any longer.
9 The high places of Isaac will be destroyed
and the religious shrines of Israel reduced to ruin,
And with sword in hand, I will bring down the house of Jeroboam the king.
10 Then Amaziah, the priest at the royal shrine in Bethel, sent word to Jeroboam, king of Israel.
Amaziah’s Message: Amos is plotting conspiracy against you in the very heart of the land of Israel. You must act. The land cannot bear any more of his speeches. 11 For this is what Amos is saying:
Amos: Jeroboam is going to die by the sword,
and the people of Israel will be captured and led away into exile far from home.
Amaziah’s Message: 12 I told Amos, “Listen, seer—run for the land of Judah; earn your living and spread your prophesies there, 13 but don’t ever show your face and try to prophesy at Bethel again because it is the king’s sanctuary and a temple for this kingdom.”
14 But Amos persisted.
Amos: I am not a professional prophet, or even the son of one. You shouldn’t be afraid of me; I am just a man who followed my herds and gathered the fruit from the sycamores 15 until the Eternal spoke to me, as I was minding my flock.
Eternal One: Go and speak My words to the people of Israel!
16 So now listen to what the Eternal has to say, you who say,
“Don’t prophesy against Israel,
Or predict the downfall of Isaac’s descendants.”
17 The Eternal One says this:
Eternal One: Your wife will be reduced to selling herself in the streets,
your sons and daughters will die by the sword,
your land will be measured out to others,
You yourself will end your days in an impure land,
and Israel will be sent into exile far from home.
Prophecy has often been described as “speaking truth to power.” Amos predicts the demise of the king, not in some corner somewhere but at the king’s royal shrine at Bethel. The priest in charge, Amaziah, reports the traitorous words to the king and bans the prophet from ever returning to the religious center of Israel, the Northern Kingdom. But Amos has the last word. He will not be silent despite the threats against him. The word of God cannot be suppressed by powerful priests or royal decree. Judgment will surely come to the land because the Lord has decided it!
8 This is what the Eternal Lord showed me: a basket of ripe fruit.
Eternal One: 2 What do you see, Amos?
Amos: I see a basket of ripe fruit.
Eternal One: The time is ripe for the end of My people, Israel.
I will not overlook their wrongdoing any longer.
3 On that day, the joyous songs sung in the temple will turn to wailing and crying,
and dead bodies will be piled up everywhere, scattered here, scattered there.
Silence!
Says the Eternal Lord.
4 Listen to this, you who trample on the needy
and bring the poor to ruin,
5 Who ask, “When will the new moon festival be done
so we can sell our grain?
And when will the Sabbath end
so we can sell our wheat?
Then we can tamper with our scales
and make the bushel measure smaller
And the counterweight heavier to cheat our customers.
6 We can buy the needy for silver
and the poor and their property for the price of a pair of sandals.
We can even sell the chaff we sweep up as grain.”
7 The Eternal has sworn by the pride of Jacob, the very land He gave to them:
Eternal One: I will not forget anything that Israel has done.
8 Won’t the land beneath their feet tremble for this,
and everyone who lives in it mourn?
The ground will rise and fall like the river Nile, which floods and recedes;
it will ripple and roll like the current of Egypt’s Nile.
9 The Eternal Lord says,
Eternal One: On that day, I will make the sun set at noon
and send darkness across the earth when it should be broad daylight.
10 I will turn your celebrations into mourning
and all your singing into wailing.
I will make it so that all wear mourning sackcloth
and every head is shaved out of sadness.
It will be like the grief you feel at the death of an only child,
and it will be a bitter day by the end.
11 The Eternal Lord says,
Eternal One: The days are coming
when I will send a famine on the land—
Not a hunger for food or thirst for water,
but starvation for the words of the Eternal.
12 People will stagger from the Dead Sea to the Mediterranean Sea,
and from the north to the east;
They will run everywhere, desperate to hear the voice of the Eternal One,
but they will not hear it.
13 When that time comes, beautiful young women and strong young men
will fall from thirst.
14 And those who swear by the pagan idols of Samaria—
who say “As your god lives, Dan!”
Or “As your power lives, Beersheba!”—
will all fall, never to rise again.
9 I looked and saw the Lord standing by the altar.
Eternal One: Strike the tops of the pillars so that the foundations shake,
and cut them off so the building crashes down upon the heads of all the people!
I will kill with the sword any who survive.
Not one of them will get away.
Not one of them will escape.
2 If they dig down to the land of the dead,
My hand will find them and pull them back up.
If they try to climb to heaven,
I will bring them back down from there.
3 If they try to hide on the summit and in the dense forests of Mount Carmel,
I will track them down and capture them.
If they try to disappear from sight in the depths of the sea,
I will send a sea monster to bite and devour them.
4 If they are taken captive by their enemies,
I will command that they be killed by the sword in their exile,
And I will fix My gaze upon them,
not for their good, but for their harm.
5 The Eternal Lord, Commander of heavenly armies—
He touches the earth and it cracks and crumbles,
and everyone upon it cries with grief.
He touches the land and it rises and falls,
falls and rises like the Nile in Egypt.
6 He builds His upper chambers in the heavens
and founds His storeroom[a] on the earth.
He calls up the waters of the sea
and pours them out across the land—
Eternal One is His name.
7 Eternal One: To Me, aren’t you like the people of Ethiopia,
overwhelmed by the powers around you,
You people of Israel?
Didn’t I bring the people of Israel from the land of Egypt,
And the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Arameans from Kir?
8 Look! The eyes of the Eternal Lord are fixed upon your sinful kingdom,
and I will wipe it off the face of the earth.
But I will not destroy Jacob’s descendants completely.
So says the Eternal.
9 Eternal One: I will give the order,
and I will shake the nation of Israel among all the nations
The way grain is shaken in a sieve.
All the good kernels will fall to the ground,
But the rocks will stay trapped in the sieve, ready for disposal.
10 I will see all of My people who do wrong,
who say, “Nothing bad will ever happen to us.”
I will see them all fall to the sword.
11 After that happens, on the day I choose, I will rebuild
the dilapidating house of David from its ruins,
Mend the holes in it, rebuild its wreckage,
and restore it just the way it used to be.
12 Then they may possess what remains of Edom,
including every person among the outsiders who have been called by My name.[b]
13 So says the Eternal One who will make this happen.
Eternal One: The day is coming
when one following will overtake one ahead—
When the person plowing the field will overtake
the person still reaping the grain from the last season;
When the person stomping grapes will overtake
the person planting the vineyard.
And in that fertile day, new wine will drip from the mountains,
and the hills will flow with it.
14 I will restore the captives of My people, Israel.
They will rebuild their ruined cities and return to them.
They will plant new vineyards and drink wine from them,
and they will plant new gardens and eat the food they grow.
15 I will plant them in their own soil,
and they will never be uprooted again,
For this is the land I have given them.
So said the Eternal One your God.
Most of Amos’s prophecy announces doom against Israel, Judah, and her neighbors. But in these last verses, the tone of his prophecy changes. He foresees a day when divine judgment will give way to restoration. According to the prophet, David’s dynasty will be reinstated and the divided people of God will once again be united. A glorious age will then arrive when their enemies are defeated, their devastated cities are bustling and thriving again, and their farmers and vintners can’t keep up with the abundance of food and wine. When that day comes, the people will experience the fruit of God’s salvation.
Letter to Philadelphia
7 Write down My words, and send them to the messenger of the church in Philadelphia. “These are the words of the holy One, the true One, and the One who possesses the key of David, which opens the possibilities so that no one can shut them. The One who closes all options so that no one can open:
8 “I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door, which no one can shut. I have done this because you have limited strength, yet you have obeyed My word and have not denied My name. 9 Watch, and I will make those of the congregation of Satan—those who call themselves ‘Jews’ but are not because they lie—come before you penitent, falling at your feet. Then they will know how much I have loved you. 10 Because you have obeyed My instructions to endure and be patient, I will protect you from the time of trial which will come upon the whole earth and put everyone in it to the test. 11 I will soon return. Hold tight to what you have so that no one can take away your victor’s wreath.
12 “As for the one who conquers through faithfulness even unto death, I will plant that person as a pillar in the temple of My God, and that person will never have to leave the presence of God. Moreover, I will inscribe this person with the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, New Jerusalem—which descends out of heaven from My God—and My own new name.
God’s intention for the world is this: “I will be your God, and you will be my people.” This is fulfilled by those who are faithful to Him.
13 “Let the person who is able to hear, listen to and follow what the Spirit proclaims to all the churches.”
Letter to Laodicea
14 Write down My words, and send them to the messenger of the church in Laodicea. “These are the words of the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of God’s creation:
15 “I know your works. You are neither cold with apathy nor hot with passion. It would be better if you were one or the other, but you are neither. 16 So because you are lukewarm, neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth. 17 You claim, ‘I am rich, I have accumulated riches, and I need nothing’; but you do not realize that you are miserable, pathetic, poor, blind, and naked. 18 So here is what I suggest you do: buy true gold from Me (gold refined by fire so that you can be truly rich), white garments (to cover you so that you can keep the shame of your nakedness from showing), and eye ointment (to treat your eyes so that you may see clearly).
19 “Those I love I also correct and discipline. Therefore, be shamelessly committed to Me, and turn back.[a] 20 Now pay attention; I am standing at the door and knocking. If any of you hear My voice and open the door, then I will come in to visit with you and to share a meal at your table, and you will be with Me.
21 “The one who conquers through faithfulness even unto death I will place next to Me on My throne, just as I Myself conquered and took a place of honor with My Father on His throne.
22 “Let the person who is able to hear, listen to and follow what the Spirit proclaims to all the churches.”
Psalm 131
A song of David for those journeying to worship.
1 O Eternal One, my heart is not occupied with proud thoughts;
my eyes do not look down on others;
I don’t even begin to get involved in matters too big, matters of faith, state, business,
or the many things that defy my ability to understand them.
2 Of one thing I am certain: my soul has become calm, quiet, and contented in You.
Like a weaned child resting upon his mother, I am quiet.
My soul is like this weaned child.
3 O Israel, stake your trust completely in the Eternal—
from this very moment and into the vast future.
23 A person’s pride brings him down,
but one of humble spirit has a firm hold on honor and respect.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.