Old/New Testament
1 These are the words of Amos, one of the shepherds from the town of Tekoa. He saw this vision about Israel two years before the earthquake. It was at the time Uzziah was king of Judah and Jeroboam son of Jehoash was king of Israel.
2 Amos said,
“The Lord will roar from Jerusalem;
he will send his voice from Jerusalem.
The pastures of the shepherds will become dry,
and even the top of Mount Carmel will dry up.”
Israel’s Neighbors Are Punished
The People of Aram
3 This is what the Lord says:
“For the many crimes of Damascus,
I will punish them.
They drove over the people of Gilead
with threshing boards that had iron teeth.
4 So I will send fire upon the house of Hazael
that will destroy the strong towers of Ben-Hadad.
5 I will break down the bar of the gate to Damascus
and destroy the king who is in the Valley of Aven,
as well as the leader of Beth Eden.
The people of Aram will be taken captive to the country of Kir,” says the Lord.
The People of Philistia
6 This is what the Lord says:
“For the many crimes of Gaza,
I will punish them.
They sold all the people of one area
as slaves to Edom.
7 So I will send a fire on the walls of Gaza
that will destroy the city’s strong buildings.
8 I will destroy the king of the city of Ashdod,
as well as the leader of Ashkelon.
Then I will turn against the people of the city of Ekron,
and the last of the Philistines will die,” says the Lord God.
The People of Phoenicia
9 This is what the Lord says:
“For the many crimes of Tyre,
I will punish them.
They sold all the people of one area
as slaves to Edom,
and they forgot the agreement among relatives they had made with Israel.
10 So I will send fire on the walls of Tyre
that will destroy the city’s strong buildings.”
The People of Edom
11 This is what the Lord says:
“For the many crimes of Edom,
I will punish them.
They hunted down their relatives, the Israelites, with the sword,
showing them no mercy.
They were angry all the time
and kept on being very angry.
12 So I will send fire on the city of Teman
that will even destroy the strong buildings of Bozrah.”[a]
The People of Ammon
13 This is what the Lord says:
“For the many crimes of Ammon,
I will punish them.
They ripped open the pregnant women in Gilead
so they could take over that land
and make their own country larger.
14 So I will send fire on the city wall of Rabbah
that will destroy its strong buildings.
It will come during a day of battle,
during a stormy day with strong winds.
15 Then their king and leaders will be taken captive;
they will all be taken away together,” says the Lord.
The People of Moab
2 This is what the Lord says:
“For the many crimes of Moab,
I will punish them.
They burned the bones of the king of Edom into lime.
2 So I will send fire on Moab
that will destroy the strong buildings of the city of Kerioth.
The people of Moab will die in a great noise,
in the middle of the sounds of war and trumpets.
3 So I will bring an end to the king of Moab,
and I will kill all its leaders with him,” says the Lord.
The People of Judah
4 This is what the Lord says:
“For the many crimes of Judah,
I will punish them.
They rejected the teachings of the Lord
and did not keep his commands;
they followed the same gods
as their ancestors had followed.
5 So I will send fire on Judah,
and it will destroy the strong buildings of Jerusalem.”
Israel Is Punished
6 This is what the Lord says:
“For the many crimes of Israel,
I will punish them.
For silver, they sell people who have done nothing wrong;
they sell the poor to buy a pair of sandals.
7 They walk on poor people as if they were dirt,
and they refuse to be fair to those who are suffering.
Fathers and sons have sexual relations with the same woman,
and so they ruin my holy name.
8 As they worship at their altars,
they lie down on clothes taken from the poor.
They fine people,
and with that money they buy wine to drink in the house of their god.
9 “But it was I who destroyed the Amorites before them,
who were tall like cedar trees and as strong as oaks—
I destroyed them completely.
10 It was I who brought you from the land of Egypt
and led you for forty years through the desert
so I could give you the land of the Amorites.
11 I made some of your children to be prophets
and some of your young people to be Nazirites.
People of Israel, isn’t this true?” says the Lord.
12 “But you made the Nazirites drink wine
and told the prophets not to prophesy.
13 Now I will make you get stuck,
as a wagon loaded with grain gets stuck.
14 No one will escape, not even the fastest runner.
Strong people will not be strong enough;
warriors will not be able to save themselves.
15 Soldiers with bows and arrows will not stand and fight,
and even fast runners will not get away;
soldiers on horses will not escape alive.
16 At that time even the bravest warriors
will run away without their armor,” says the Lord.
Warning to Israel
3 Listen to this word that the Lord has spoken against you, people of Israel, against the whole family he brought out of Egypt.
2 “I have chosen only you
out of all the families of the earth,
so I will punish you
for all your sins.”
3 Two people will not walk together
unless they have agreed to do so.
4 A lion in the forest does not roar
unless it has caught an animal;
it does not growl in its den
when it has caught nothing.
5 A bird will not fall into a trap
where there is no bait;
the trap will not spring shut
if there is nothing to catch.
6 When a trumpet blows a warning in a city,
the people tremble.
When trouble comes to a city,
the Lord has caused it.
7 Before the Lord God does anything,
he tells his plans to his servants the prophets.
8 The lion has roared!
Who wouldn’t be afraid?
The Lord God has spoken.
Who will not prophesy?
9 Announce this to the strong buildings of Ashdod
and to the strong buildings of Egypt:
“Come to the mountains of Samaria,
where you will see great confusion
and people hurting others.”
10 “The people don’t know how to do what is right,” says the Lord.
“Their strong buildings are filled with treasures they took by force from others.”
11 So this is what the Lord God says:
“An enemy will take over the land
and pull down your strongholds;
he will take the treasures out of your strong buildings.”
12 This is what the Lord says:
“A shepherd might save from a lion’s mouth
only two leg bones or a scrap of an ear of his sheep.
In the same way only a few Israelites in Samaria will be saved—
people who now sit on their beds
and on their couches.”
13 “Listen and be witnesses against the family of Jacob,” says the Lord God, the God All-Powerful.
14 “When I punish Israel for their sins,
I will also destroy the altars at Bethel.
The corners of the altar will be cut off,
and they will fall to the ground.
15 I will tear down the winter house,
together with the summer house.
The houses decorated with ivory will be destroyed,
and the great houses will come to an end,” says the Lord.
6 Then I watched while the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals. I heard one of the four living creatures say with a voice like thunder, “Come!” 2 I looked, and there before me was a white horse. The rider on the horse held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he rode out, determined to win the victory.
3 When the Lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” 4 Then another horse came out, a red one. Its rider was given power to take away peace from the earth and to make people kill each other, and he was given a big sword.
5 When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come!” I looked, and there before me was a black horse, and its rider held a pair of scales in his hand. 6 Then I heard something that sounded like a voice coming from the middle of the four living creatures. The voice said, “A quart of wheat for a day’s pay, and three quarts of barley for a day’s pay, and do not damage the olive oil and wine!”
7 When the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come!” 8 I looked, and there before me was a pale horse. Its rider was named death, and Hades[a] was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill people by war, by starvation, by disease, and by the wild animals of the earth.
9 When the Lamb opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been killed because they were faithful to the word of God and to the message they had received. 10 These souls shouted in a loud voice, “Holy and true Lord, how long until you judge the people of the earth and punish them for killing us?” 11 Then each one of them was given a white robe and was told to wait a short time longer. There were still some of their fellow servants and brothers and sisters in the service of Christ who must be killed as they were. They had to wait until all of this was finished.
12 Then I watched while the Lamb opened the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake. The sun became black like rough black cloth, and the whole moon became red like blood. 13 And the stars in the sky fell to the earth like figs falling from a fig tree when the wind blows. 14 The sky disappeared as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved from its place.
15 Then the kings of the earth, the rulers, the generals, the rich people, the powerful people, the slaves, and the free people hid themselves in caves and in the rocks on the mountains. 16 They called to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us. Hide us from the face of the One who sits on the throne and from the anger of the Lamb! 17 The great day for their anger has come, and who can stand against it?”
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.