Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
The Vision of Ripe Fruit
8 This is what the Lord God showed me: [L look; T behold] a basket of summer fruit. 2 He said to me, “Amos, what do you see?”
I said, “A basket of summer fruit.”
Then the Lord said to me, “An end [C the Hebrew word for “end” sounds like the word for “summer fruit”] has come for my people Israel, because I will not ·overlook their sins [L pass by them] anymore.
3 “On that day the ·palace [or temple] songs will become ·funeral songs [L wailing],” says the Lord God. “·There will be dead bodies [L Many bodies/corpses] thrown everywhere! ·Silence! [or …and carried out in silence.]”
4 Listen to me, you who ·walk on helpless people [trample the needy],
you who are trying to ·destroy [do away with] the poor people of this country, saying,
5 “When will the New Moon festival be over
so we can sell grain?
When will the Sabbath be over
so we can bring out wheat to sell?
We can ·give them less [L make the ephah small; C a unit of dry measure]
and ·charge them more [L the shekel great; C a unit of money],
and we can change the scales to cheat the people.
6 We will buy poor people for silver,
and needy people for a pair of sandals [2:6].
We will even sell the ·wheat that was swept up from the floor [L chaff of the wheat].”
7 The Lord has sworn by ·his name, the Pride of Jacob [or the arrogance of Jacob], “I will never forget everything that these people did.
8 The whole ·land [or earth] will shake because of it,
and everyone who lives in the land will ·cry for those who died [mourn].
The whole land will rise like the Nile;
it will be ·shaken [stirred/heaved up], and then it will ·fall [sink; subside]
like the Nile River in Egypt [C the Nile flooded its banks each year].”
9 The Lord God says:
“·At that time [L In that day] I will cause the sun to go down at noon
and make the earth dark ·on a bright day [in broad daylight].
10 I will change your festivals into ·days of crying for the dead [mourning],
and all your songs will become ·songs of sadness [dirges; lamentation; weeping].
I will ·make all of you wear rough cloth to show your sadness [L put sackcloth on every waist];
·I will make you shave your heads as well [L …and baldness on every head].
I will make it like ·a time of crying [mourning] for the death of an only son,
and its end like the end of an ·awful [bitter] day.”
11 The Lord God says: “[L Look; T Behold] The days are coming
when I will ·cause a time of hunger in [send a famine throughout] the land.
·The people will not be hungry for bread or thirsty for water [L … not a famine of food or a thirst for water],
but ·they will be hungry for words from [L for hearing the words of] the Lord.
12 They will ·wander [or stagger] from the ·Mediterranean Sea to the Dead Sea [L sea to sea; C across the whole land],
from the north to the east.
They will ·search for [run to and fro seeking] the word of the Lord,
but they won’t find it.
God Will Punish the Proud
For the director of music. A ·maskil [skillful psalm; meditation] of David. When Doeg the Edomite came to Saul and ·said [reported] to him, “David ·is in [L has come to/entered] Ahimelech’s house [1 Sam. 21:7; 22:7–23].”
52 Mighty warrior, why do you ·brag [boast] about the evil you do?
God’s ·love [loyalty] will continue ·forever [L everyday; all day].
2 You think up ·evil plans [L destruction].
Your tongue is like a sharp razor [Prov. 18:21],
making up ·lies [deception].
3 You love ·wrong [evil] more than ·right [good]
and ·lies [falsehood] more than speaking the truth. ·
4 You love words that ·bite [destroy; L swallow up]
and ·tongues that lie [deceptive tongues; James 3:1–12].
5 But God will ·ruin you [L break you down] forever.
He will grab you and ·throw [tear] you out of your tent;
he will ·tear you away [uproot you] from the land of the living. ·
6 Those who ·do right [are righteous] will see this and ·fear God [L fear; Prov. 1:7].
They will laugh at you and say,
7 “·Look what happened to [T Behold] the man
who did not ·depend on God [L make God his refuge]
but ·depended on [trusted/put his confidence in] ·his money [L the abundance of his wealth].
He grew strong by his ·evil [destructive] plans.”
8 But I am like ·an olive tree
growing [L a green olive tree] in God’s ·Temple [L house; 1:3; 92:12–13; Jer. 11:16].
I ·trust [have confidence in] God’s ·love [loyalty]
forever and ever.
9 God, I will ·thank [praise] you forever for what you have done.
With ·those who worship you [his loyal ones/saints], I will ·trust [put my confidence in] you because you are good.
The Importance of Christ
15 The Son [L …who] is ·the image of [exactly like; the visible representation of] the invisible God [John 1:18; Heb. 1:3]. He ·ranks higher than [L is the firstborn of/over] ·everything that has been made [all creation; Prov. 8:22–30]. 16 ·Through his power [L In him; or By him] all things were created [John 1:3; Heb. 1:2]—things in heaven and on earth, things seen and unseen, all ·powers [or heavenly authorities; L thrones], ·authorities [dominions; kingdoms], ·lords [rulers], and ·rulers [authorities; C these four may refer to angelic hierarchies, or to earthly and heavenly rulers]. All things were created through Christ and for Christ. 17 He ·was there before anything was made [L is before all things], and all things ·continue [endure; or hold together; unite] ·because of [or in] him. 18 He is the head of the body, which is the church. He is the beginning [C meaning (1) the source of the church; (2) the creator of all things; or (3) the beginning/initiator of the end-time resurrection]. He is the ·first one who was raised [L firstborn] from the dead. So in all things Jesus has ·first place [supremacy]. 19 God was pleased for all ·of himself [that he is; L of his fullness] to live in ·Christ [or the Son; L him]. 20 And through ·Christ [L him], God has ·brought all things back to himself again [L reconciled all things to himself]—things on earth and things in heaven. ·God made [L …by making] peace through the blood of ·Christ’s death on the cross [L his cross].
21 At one time you were ·separated [alienated; estranged] from God. You were his enemies in your minds, ·and the evil things you did were against God [or because of your evil deeds]. 22 But now God has ·made you his friends again [reconciled you] through Christ’s death in ·the body [his physical body; L the body of his flesh], so that he might bring you into God’s presence as people who are holy, ·with no wrong [without blemish; C as were sacrificial animals], and ·with nothing of which God can judge you guilty [blameless; innocent; free of accusation]. 23 This will happen if you continue ·strong [grounded; established] and ·sure [firm; steadfast] in your faith. You must not ·be moved [shift; drift] away from the hope ·brought to you by [or found in; L of] the ·Good News [the Gospel] that you heard. That same ·Good News [Gospel] has been ·told [preached; proclaimed] to ·everyone [L every creature; or in all creation] ·in the world [L under heaven], and I, Paul, ·help in preaching [L am a servant/minister of] it.
Paul’s Work for the Church
24 [L Now] I ·am happy [rejoice] in my sufferings for you. And I ·accept [fill up; complete] in my ·body [flesh] what ·Christ must still suffer [or is lacking in the suffering of Christ] ·through [or on behalf of] his body, the church. [C By suffering while spreading the Gospel, Paul both participates in Christ’s death and helps complete God’s plan.] 25 I became a ·servant [minister] of the church because God gave me a ·special work to do [stewardship; commission] ·that helps you [L for you], and that work is to ·tell fully [or complete; or preach everywhere; L fulfill] the ·message [word] of God. 26 This message is the ·secret [mystery; C something God had not previously disclosed; Eph. 1:9] that was hidden from ·everyone since the beginning of time [L ages and generations], but now it is made known to ·God’s holy people [T the saints]. 27 God ·decided [chose; willed] to let his people know this rich and glorious ·secret [mystery; 1:26] which he has for ·all people [the nations/Gentiles]. This ·secret [mystery] is ·that Christ lives in you. He is our only hope for glory [L Christ in you, the hope of glory]. 28 So we continue to ·preach [proclaim; announce] Christ to each person, using all wisdom to ·warn [instruct; admonish] and to teach everyone, in order to bring each one into God’s presence as a mature person in Christ.
Mary and Martha
38 While ·Jesus and his followers [L they] were traveling, Jesus went into a ·town [village]. A woman named Martha ·let Jesus stay at her house [L welcomed/received him]. 39 Martha had a sister named Mary, who was sitting at the Lord’s feet and listening to ·him teach [what he said; L his word/message; C sitting at a teacher’s feet indicates the position of a disciple; see Acts 22:3]. 40 But Martha was ·busy [worried; distracted] with ·all the work to be done [the many preparations]. She went in and said, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me alone to ·do all the work [serve; prepare the meal]? [Please; L Therefore] Tell her to help me.”
41 But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are ·worried [anxious] and upset about many things. 42 Only one thing is ·important [necessary; needed]. Mary has chosen the better thing, and it will never be taken away from her.”
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