Old/New Testament
1 The words of Amos, who was among the sheep breeders[a] from Tekoa. He saw a vision concerning Israel during the days of Uzziah king of Judah and during the days of Jeroboam son of Joash, king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.
2 He said:
The Lord roars from Zion.
From Jerusalem he sends out his voice.
The pastures of the shepherds dry up,[b]
and the top of Mount Carmel withers.
Judgment Against Aram
3 This is what the Lord says:
Because of three sins[c] of Damascus,
because of four, I will not hold back judgment,
because they cut up Gilead with iron threshing boards.[d]
4 So I will send fire against the house of Hazael,
and it will consume the fortresses of Ben Hadad.
5 I will break the bars of the gates of Damascus,
and I will cut off the one seated in the Valley of Aven,
and the one who holds a scepter in Beth Eden.[e]
So the people of Aram will go into exile toward Kir.[f]
The Lord has spoken.
Judgment Against Philistia
6 This is what the Lord says:
Because of three sins of Gaza,
because of four, I will not hold back judgment,
because they sold an entire population into exile,
handing them over to Edom.
7 So I will send fire against the city wall of Gaza,
and it will consume her citadels.
8 I will cut off the one seated in Ashdod,
and the one who holds a scepter in Ashkelon.
I will also turn my hand against Ekron,
and what is left of the Philistines will perish.
The Lord God has spoken.
Judgment Against Canaan
9 This is what the Lord says:
Because of three sins of Tyre,
because of four, I will not hold back judgment,
because they delivered over an entire population and exiled them to Edom,
and they did not remember a treaty of brotherhood.
10 So I will send fire against the city wall of Tyre,
and it will consume her citadels.
Judgment Against Edom
11 This is what the Lord says:
Because of three sins of Edom,
because of four, I will not hold back judgment,
because he[g] pursued his brother with a sword,
and he had no compassion.[h]
His anger kept tearing Israel apart,
and his fury raged without stopping.
12 So I will send fire against Teman,
and it will consume the citadels of Bozrah.
Judgment Against Ammon
13 This is what the Lord says:
Because of three sins of the Ammonites,
because of four, I will not hold back judgment,
because they ripped open the pregnant women of Gilead in order to enlarge their own territory.
14 So I will ignite a fire against the city wall of Rabbah,
and it will consume her citadels
with a battle cry on the day of war,
with a strong wind on the day of the storm.
15 Then their king will go into exile,
he and his officials together.
The Lord has spoken.
Judgment Against Moab
2 This is what the Lord says:
Because of three sins of Moab,
because of four, I will not hold back judgment,
because they burned the bones of the king of Edom to make lime.
2 So I will send fire against Moab,
and it will consume the citadels of Kerioth.
Moab will die in an uproar,
with a battle cry, with a blast of a ram’s horn.
3 I will cut off the judge[i] from her midst,
and I will kill all her officials with him.
The Lord has spoken.
Judgment Against Judah
4 This is what the Lord says:
Because of three sins of Judah,
because of four, I will not hold back judgment,
because they rejected the law of the Lord,
and they did not keep his statutes.
Their lying idols led them astray,
the idols that their fathers followed.
5 So I will send fire against Judah,
and it will consume the citadels of Jerusalem.
Judgment Against Israel
6 This is what the Lord says:
Because of three sins of Israel,
because of four, I will not hold back judgment,
because they sell the righteous for silver
and the needy for a pair of sandals.
7 They trample the heads of the poor into the dust of the earth,
and they turn aside the claims of the oppressed.
A man and his father go to the same young woman.
In this way they profane my holy name.
8 They stretch themselves out beside every altar
on pieces of clothing they seized as collateral.
In the temple of their gods they drink wine obtained through fines.
9 I was the one who destroyed the Amorites in front of them,
the Amorites, who were as tall as cedars,
who were as strong as oaks.
I destroyed their fruit above and their roots below.
10 I myself brought you up from the land of Egypt,
and I led you in the wilderness for forty years,
so that you would take possession of the land of the Amorites.
11 I raised up some of your sons to be prophets,
and some of your best young men to be Nazirites.
Is this not so, you people of Israel? declares the Lord.
12 But you made the Nazirites drink wine,
and you commanded the prophets, “You must not prophesy!”
13 Look, I am weighed down under you,
just as a cart is weighed down when it is loaded with sheaves of grain.[j]
14 There will be no escape for the swift runner.
The powerful man will not be able to exert his strength,
and the strong warrior will not be able to save his own life.
15 The archer will not stand his ground.
The swift runner will not save himself,
and the horseman will not save his own life.
16 The most courageous among the warriors will flee naked on that day,
declares the Lord.
Why Amos Must Prophesy
3 People of Israel, listen to this word that the Lord has spoken concerning you, concerning the entire family of clans that I brought up from the land of Egypt:
2 You alone have I chosen[k] from all the clans of the earth.
Therefore I will inflict punishment on you for all your guilt.
3 Can two people walk together without agreeing to do so?
4 Does a lion roar in the forest if it does not have prey?
Does a young lion growl from its den if it has not caught anything?
5 Does a bird fall into a trap on the ground if there is no bait?
Does a trap spring up from the ground when nothing has tripped it?
6 If a ram’s horn is sounded in a city, the people become alarmed, don’t they?
If a disaster takes place in a city, is it not the Lord who has done it?
7 Certainly the Lord God does not do anything
without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets.
8 A lion has roared! Who can avoid being terrified?
The Lord God has spoken! Who can hold back from prophesying?
Judgment Against Samaria
9 Make this known to the citadels in Ashdod
and to the citadels in the land of Egypt.
Tell them, “Gather yourselves together on the mountains of Samaria.
See the great confusion[l] there
and the oppression in her midst.”
10 They do not know how to do what is right, declares the Lord.
They are storing up violence and destruction in their citadels.
11 Therefore, this is what the Lord God says:
An enemy is all over the land.
He will strip your strength from you,
and your citadels will be plundered.
12 This is what the Lord says:
Just as a shepherd rescues two legs or a tip of an ear
from the mouth of a lion,
so the Israelites who live in Samaria will be rescued
with only a corner of a bed or a piece of cloth[m] from a couch.
13 Listen and testify against the house of Jacob,
declares the Lord God, the God of Armies.
14 Indeed, on the day when I punish the rebellious deeds of Israel,
I will punish the altars of Bethel.
The horns of the altar will be cut off,
and they will fall to the ground.
15 I will strike the winter house
along with the summer house.
The houses decorated with ivory will be destroyed,
and the great houses will come to an end,
declares the Lord.
The Vision of the Seven Seals: The First Four Seals
6 And I watched when the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals. And I heard one of the four living creatures say with a voice like thunder, “Come.”[a]
2 And I looked, and there was a white horse, and its rider held a bow. A crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer.
3 When the Lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come.”[b] 4 And another horse, a fiery red one, went out. Its rider was given power to take peace away from the earth so that people would slaughter one another. And a great sword was given to him.
5 When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come.”[c] And I looked, and there was a black horse. Its rider had a scale in his hand. 6 And I heard something like a voice from among the four living creatures say, “A quart[d] of wheat for a denarius,[e] and three quarts[f] of barley for a denarius. And do not dilute[g] the oil and the wine.”
7 When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come.”[h] 8 And I looked, and there was a pale green horse. And its rider was named Death, and the Grave[i] followed closely behind him. They were given power over a quarter of the earth, to kill people with the sword, with famine, with death, and by the wild animals of the earth.
The Fifth Seal: The Souls Under the Altar
9 When the Lamb opened the fifth seal, under the incense altar I saw the souls of those who had been slaughtered because of the word of God and because of the testimony they had maintained. 10 And they called out with a loud voice, saying, “O Lord, holy and true, how long until you judge and exact justice for our blood from those who live on the earth?” 11 A white robe was given to each one of them. And they were told to rest a little longer until their number would be complete, when their fellow servants and their brothers[j] would be put to death as they were.
The Sixth Seal: The Last Judgment
12 And I watched when the Lamb opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun became as black as sackcloth made of hair. The entire moon became like blood. 13 The stars of the sky fell to the earth as a fig tree drops its unripe figs when it is shaken by a strong wind. 14 The sky was removed like a scroll being rolled up. Every mountain and island was moved from its place.
15 The kings of the earth, the nobles, the military leaders, the rich, the powerful, and everyone—slave or free—hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. 16 And they kept saying to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb, 17 for the great day of their[k] wrath has come. Who is able to stand?”
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.