Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

The Vision of the Plumb Line

⁷ This is what the Lord showed me: He stood by a wall with a plumb line^[a] in his hand. (The wall had been marked with a plumb line.) ⁸ The Lord said to me, “Amos, what do you see?”

I said, “A plumb line.”

Then the Lord said to me, “See, I will put a plumb line among my people Israel. I will not let their ‘crooked ways’ pass inspection anymore. ⁹ Isaac’s high places will be destroyed. Israel’s holy places will be made into a pile of rocks. I will attack and kill Jeroboam’s^[b] family with swords.”

Amaziah Tries to Stop Amos

¹⁰ Amaziah, a priest at Bethel,^[c] sent this message to Jeroboam, the king of Israel: “Amos is making plans against you. He is trying to make the people of Israel fight against you. He has been speaking so much that this country cannot hold all his words. ¹¹ Amos has said, ‘Jeroboam will die by the sword, and the people of Israel will be taken as prisoners out of their country.’”

¹² Amaziah also said to Amos, “You seer, go down to Judah and eat there.^[d] Do your prophesying there. ¹³ But don’t prophesy anymore here at Bethel. This is Jeroboam’s holy place. This is Israel’s temple.”

¹⁴ Then Amos answered Amaziah, “I am not a professional prophet, and I am not from a prophet’s family. I raise cattle and take care of sycamore trees. ¹⁵ I was a shepherd and the Lord took me from following the sheep. The Lord said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’

Spiritual Blessings in Christ

³ Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. In Christ, God has given us every spiritual blessing in heaven. ⁴ In Christ, he chose us before the world was made. He chose us in love to be his holy people—people who could stand before him without any fault. ⁵ And before the world was made, God decided to make us his own children through Jesus Christ. This was what God wanted, and it pleased him to do it. ⁶ And this brings praise to God because of his wonderful grace. God gave that grace to us freely. He gave us that grace in Christ, the one he loves.

⁷ In Christ we are made free by his blood sacrifice. We have forgiveness of sins because of God’s rich grace. ⁸ God gave us that grace fully and freely. With full wisdom and understanding ⁹ he let us know his secret plan. This was what God wanted, and he planned to do it through Christ. ¹⁰ God’s goal was to finish his plan when the right time came. He planned that all things in heaven and on earth be joined together with Christ as the head.

¹¹ In Christ we were chosen to be God’s people. God had already planned for us to be his people, because that is what he wanted. And he is the one who makes everything agree with what he decides and wants. ¹² We Jews were the first to hope in Christ. And we were chosen so that we would bring praise to God in all his glory. ¹³ It is the same with you. You heard the true message, the Good News about the way God saves you. When you heard that Good News, you believed in Christ. And in Christ, God put his special mark on you by giving you the Holy Spirit that he promised. ¹⁴ The Spirit is the first payment that guarantees we will get all that God has for us. Then we will enjoy complete freedom as people who belong to him. The goal for all of us is the praise of God in all his glory.

Herod Thinks Jesus Is John the Baptizer^(A)

¹⁴ King Herod heard about Jesus, because Jesus was now famous. Some people said, “He is John the Baptizer. He must have risen from death, and that is why he can do these miracles.”

¹⁵ Other people said, “He is Elijah.”

And others said, “He is a prophet. He is like the prophets who lived long ago.”

¹⁶ Herod heard these things about Jesus. He said, “I killed John by cutting off his head. Now he has been raised from death!”

How John the Baptizer Was Killed

¹⁷ Herod himself had ordered his soldiers to arrest John and put him in prison. Herod did this to please his wife Herodias. She had been married to Herod’s brother Philip, but then Herod married her. ¹⁸ John told Herod, “It is not right for you to be married to your brother’s wife.” ¹⁹ So Herodias hated John. She wanted him dead, but she was not able to persuade Herod to kill him. ²⁰ Herod was afraid to kill John, because he knew that he was a good and holy man. So he protected him. He liked listening to John, although what John said left him with so many questions.

²¹ Then the right time came for Herodias to cause John’s death. It happened on Herod’s birthday. Herod gave a dinner party for the most important government leaders, the commanders of his army, and the most important people in Galilee. ²² The daughter of Herodias came to the party and danced. When she danced, Herod and the people eating with him were very pleased.

So King Herod said to the girl, “I will give you anything you want.” ²³ He promised her, “Anything you ask for I will give to you—even half of my kingdom.”

²⁴ The girl went to her mother and asked, “What should I ask King Herod to give me?”

Her mother answered, “Ask for the head of John the Baptizer.”

²⁵ So right then the girl went back in to the king. She said to him, “Please give me the head of John the Baptizer. Bring it to me now on a plate.”

²⁶ King Herod was very sad, but he didn’t want to break the promise he had made to her in front of his guests. ²⁷ So he sent a soldier to cut off John’s head and bring it to him. The soldier went and cut off John’s head in the prison. ²⁸ He brought the head back on a plate and gave it to the girl, and the girl gave it to her mother. ²⁹ John’s followers heard about what happened, so they came and got John’s body and put it in a tomb.