Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Prayer for Relief from Adversaries(A)
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David. (B)To bring to remembrance.
70 Make haste, (C)O God, to deliver me!
Make haste to help me, O Lord!
2 (D)Let them be ashamed and confounded
Who seek my life;
Let them be [a]turned back and confused
Who desire my hurt.
3 (E)Let them be turned back because of their shame,
Who say, [b]“Aha, aha!”
4 Let all those who seek You rejoice and be glad in You;
And let those who love Your salvation say continually,
“Let God be magnified!”
Judgments on Israel’s Neighbors
1 The words of Amos, who was among the (A)sheepbreeders of (B)Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of (C)Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of (D)Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel, two years before the (E)earthquake.
2 And he said:
“The Lord (F)roars from Zion,
And utters His voice from Jerusalem;
The pastures of the shepherds mourn,
And the top of (G)Carmel withers.”
Judgment on the Nations
3 Thus says the Lord:
“For three transgressions of (H)Damascus, and for four,
I will not turn away its punishment,
Because they have (I)threshed Gilead with implements of iron.
4 (J)But I will send a fire into the house of Hazael,
Which shall devour the palaces of (K)Ben-Hadad.
5 I will also break the gate (L)bar of Damascus,
And cut off the inhabitant from the Valley of Aven,
And the one who [a]holds the scepter from [b]Beth Eden.
The people of Syria shall go captive to Kir,”
Says the Lord.
6 Thus says the Lord:
“For three transgressions of (M)Gaza, and for four,
I will not turn away its punishment,
Because they took captive the whole captivity
To deliver them up to Edom.
7 (N)But I will send a fire upon the wall of Gaza,
Which shall devour its palaces.
8 I will cut off the inhabitant (O)from Ashdod,
And the one who holds the scepter from Ashkelon;
I will (P)turn My hand against Ekron,
And (Q)the remnant of the Philistines shall perish,”
Says the Lord God.
9 Thus says the Lord:
“For three transgressions of (R)Tyre, and for four,
I will not turn away its punishment,
Because they delivered up the whole captivity to Edom,
And did not remember the covenant of brotherhood.
10 But I will send a fire upon the wall of Tyre,
Which shall devour its palaces.”
11 Thus says the Lord:
“For three transgressions of (S)Edom, and for four,
I will not turn away its punishment,
Because he pursued his (T)brother with the sword,
And cast off all pity;
His anger tore perpetually,
And he kept his wrath forever.
12 But (U)I will send a fire upon Teman,
Which shall devour the palaces of Bozrah.”
13 Thus says the Lord:
“For three transgressions of (V)the people of Ammon, and for four,
I will not turn away its punishment,
Because they ripped open the women with child in Gilead,
That they might enlarge their territory.
14 But I will kindle a fire in the wall of (W)Rabbah,
And it shall devour its palaces,
(X)Amid shouting in the day of battle,
And a tempest in the day of the whirlwind.
15 (Y)Their king shall go into captivity,
He and his princes together,”
Says the Lord.
Judgment on Israel
2 Thus says the Lord:
(Z)“For three transgressions of Moab, and for four,
I will not turn away its punishment,
Because he (AA)burned the bones of the king of Edom to lime.
2 But I will send a fire upon Moab,
And it shall devour the palaces of (AB)Kerioth;
Moab shall die with tumult,
With shouting and trumpet sound.
3 And I will cut off (AC)the judge from its midst,
And slay all its princes with him,”
Says the Lord.
Judgment on Judah
4 Thus says the Lord:
“For three transgressions of (AD)Judah, and for four,
I will not turn away its punishment,
(AE)Because they have despised the law of the Lord,
And have not kept His commandments.
(AF)Their lies lead them astray,
Lies (AG)which their fathers followed.
5 (AH)But I will send a fire upon Judah,
And it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem.”
6 So the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound.
First Trumpet: Vegetation Struck
7 The first angel sounded: (A)And hail and fire followed, mingled with blood, and they were thrown (B)to the [a]earth. And a third (C)of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up.
Second Trumpet: The Seas Struck
8 Then the second angel sounded: (D)And something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea, (E)and a third of the sea (F)became blood. 9 (G)And a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.
Third Trumpet: The Waters Struck
10 Then the third angel sounded: (H)And a great star fell from heaven, burning like a torch, (I)and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water. 11 (J)The name of the star is Wormwood. (K)A third of the waters became wormwood, and many men died from the water, because it was made bitter.
Fourth Trumpet: The Heavens Struck
12 (L)Then the fourth angel sounded: And a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them were darkened. A third of the day [b]did not shine, and likewise the night.
13 And I looked, (M)and I heard an [c]angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, (N)“Woe, woe, woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the remaining blasts of the trumpet of the three angels who are about to sound!”
Fifth Trumpet: The Locusts from the Bottomless Pit
9 Then the fifth angel sounded: (O)And I saw a star fallen from heaven to the earth. To him was given the key to (P)the [d]bottomless pit. 2 And he opened the bottomless pit, and smoke arose out of the pit like the smoke of a great furnace. So the (Q)sun and the air were darkened because of the smoke of the pit. 3 Then out of the smoke locusts came upon the earth. And to them was given power, (R)as the scorpions of the earth have power. 4 They were commanded (S)not to harm (T)the grass of the earth, or any green thing, or any tree, but only those men who do not have (U)the seal of God on their foreheads. 5 And [e]they were not given authority to kill them, (V)but to torment them for five months. Their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it strikes a man. 6 In those days (W)men will seek death and will not find it; they will desire to die, and death will flee from them.
7 (X)The shape of the locusts was like horses prepared for battle. (Y)On their heads were crowns of something like gold, (Z)and their faces were like the faces of men. 8 They had hair like women’s hair, and (AA)their teeth were like lions’ teeth. 9 And they had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was (AB)like the sound of chariots with many horses running into battle. 10 They had tails like scorpions, and there were stings in their tails. Their power was to hurt men five months. 11 And they had as king over them (AC)the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in Hebrew is [f]Abaddon, but in Greek he has the name [g]Apollyon.
12 (AD)One woe is past. Behold, still two more woes are coming after these things.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.