Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

A Cry for God to Help Quickly

For the director of music. A song of David. To help people remember.

God Warns Israel to Stop Sinning

1 Amos was one of the shepherds from the town of Tekoa. God showed him this vision about Israel. It was at the time Uzziah was king of Judah and Jeroboam son of Jehoash was king of Israel. This happened two years before the earthquake.

² Amos said,

Israel’s Neighbors Are Punished

The People of Aram

³ This is what the Lord says:

The People of Philistia

⁶ This is what the Lord says:

The People of Phoenicia

⁹ This is what the Lord says:

The People of Edom

¹¹ This is what the Lord says:

The People of Ammon

¹³ This is what the Lord says:

The People of Moab

2 This is what the Lord says:

The People of Judah

⁴ This is what the Lord says:

The Seven Angels and Trumpets

⁶ Then the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to blow them.

⁷ The first angel blew his trumpet. Then hail and fire mixed with blood was poured down on the earth. And a third of the earth and all the green grass and a third of the trees were burned up.

⁸ The second angel blew his trumpet. Then something that looked like a big mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea. And a third of the sea became blood. ⁹ And a third of the living things in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.

¹⁰ The third angel blew his trumpet. Then a large star, burning like a torch, fell from the sky. It fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water. ¹¹ The name of the star is Wormwood.^[a] And a third of all the water became bitter. Many people died from drinking the water that was bitter.

¹² The fourth angel blew his trumpet. Then a third of the sun and a third of the moon and a third of the stars were hit. So a third of them became dark. A third of the day was without light.

¹³ While I watched, I heard an eagle that was flying high in the air. The eagle said with a loud voice, “Trouble! Trouble! Trouble for those who live on the earth! The trouble will begin with the sounds of the trumpets that the other three angels are about to blow.”

9 Then the fifth angel blew his trumpet. And I saw a star fall from the sky to the earth. The star was given the key to the deep hole that leads down to the bottomless pit. ² Then it opened the bottomless pit. Smoke came up from the hole like smoke from a big furnace. The sun and sky became dark because of the smoke from the hole. ³ Then locusts came down to the earth out of the smoke. They were given the power to sting like scorpions.^{[b] 4} They were told not to harm the grass on the earth or any plant or tree. They could harm only the people who did not have the sign of God on their foreheads. ⁵ These locusts were given the power to cause pain to the people for five months. But they were not given the power to kill anyone. And the pain they felt was like the pain that a scorpion gives when it stings a person. ⁶ During those days people will look for a way to die, but they will not find it. They will want to die, but death will run away from them.

⁷ The locusts looked like horses prepared for battle. On their heads they wore things that looked like crowns of gold. Their faces looked like human faces. ⁸ Their hair was like women’s hair, and their teeth were like lions’ teeth. ⁹ Their chests looked like iron breastplates. The sound their wings made was like the noise of many horses and chariots hurrying into battle. ¹⁰ The locusts had tails with stingers like scorpions. The power they had to hurt people for five months was in their tails. ¹¹ The locusts had a king who was the angel of the bottomless pit. His name in the Hebrew language is Abaddon. In the Greek language his name is Apollyon.^[c]

¹² The first great trouble is past. There are still two other great troubles that will come.