Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
God the Supreme Ruler[a]
82 God presides in the heavenly council;
in the assembly of the gods he gives his decision:
2 “You must stop judging unjustly;
you must no longer be partial to the wicked!
3 Defend the rights of the poor and the orphans;
be fair to the needy and the helpless.
4 Rescue them from the power of evil people.
5 “How ignorant you are! How stupid!
You are completely corrupt,
and justice has disappeared from the world.
6 (A)‘You are gods,’ I said;
‘all of you are children of the Most High.’
7 But you will die like mortals;
your life will end like that of any prince.”
8 Come, O God, and rule the world;
all the nations are yours.
1 (A)These are the words of Amos, a shepherd from the town of Tekoa. Two years before the earthquake, when Uzziah was king of Judah and Jeroboam son of Jehoash was king of Israel, God revealed to Amos all these things about Israel.
2 (B)Amos said,
“The Lord roars from Mount Zion;
his voice thunders from Jerusalem.
The pastures dry up,
and the grass on Mount Carmel turns brown.”
God's Judgment on Israel's Neighbors
Syria
3 (C)The Lord says, “The people of Damascus have sinned again and again, and for this I will certainly punish them. They treated the people of Gilead with savage cruelty. 4 So I will send fire upon the palace built by King Hazael and I will burn down the fortresses of King Benhadad. 5 I will smash the city gates of Damascus and remove the inhabitants of Aven Valley and the ruler of Betheden. The people of Syria will be taken away as prisoners to the land of Kir.”
Philistia
6 (D)The Lord says, “The people of Gaza have sinned again and again, and for this I will certainly punish them. They carried off a whole nation and sold them as slaves to the people of Edom. 7 So I will send fire upon the city walls of Gaza and burn down its fortresses. 8 I will remove the rulers of the cities of Ashdod and Ashkelon. I will punish the city of Ekron, and all the Philistines who are left will die.”
Tyre
9 (E)The Lord says, “The people of Tyre have sinned again and again, and for this I will certainly punish them. They carried off a whole nation into exile in the land of Edom, and did not keep the treaty of friendship they had made. 10 So I will send fire upon the city walls of Tyre and burn down its fortresses.”
Edom
11 (F)The Lord says, “The people of Edom have sinned again and again, and for this I will certainly punish them. They hunted down their relatives,[a] the Israelites, and showed them no mercy. Their anger had no limits, and they never let it die. 12 So I will send fire upon the city of Teman and burn down the fortresses of Bozrah.”
Ammon
13 (G)The Lord says, “The people of Ammon have sinned again and again, and for this I will certainly punish them. In their wars for more territory they even ripped open pregnant women in Gilead. 14 So I will send fire upon the city walls of Rabbah and burn down its fortresses. Then there will be shouts on the day of battle, and the fighting will rage like a storm. 15 Their king and his officers will go into exile.”
Moab
2 (H)The Lord says, “The people of Moab have sinned again and again, and for this I will certainly punish them. They dishonored the bones of the king of Edom by burning them to ashes. 2 I will send fire upon the land of Moab and burn down the fortresses of Kerioth. The people of Moab will die in the noise of battle while soldiers are shouting and trumpets are sounding. 3 I will kill the ruler of Moab and all the leaders of the land.”
Faith and Actions
14 My friends, what good is it for one of you to say that you have faith if your actions do not prove it? Can that faith save you? 15 Suppose there are brothers or sisters who need clothes and don't have enough to eat. 16 What good is there in your saying to them, “God bless you! Keep warm and eat well!”—if you don't give them the necessities of life? 17 So it is with faith: if it is alone and includes no actions, then it is dead.
18 But someone will say, “One person has faith, another has actions.” My answer is, “Show me how anyone can have faith without actions. I will show you my faith by my actions.” 19 Do you believe that there is only one God? Good! The demons also believe—and tremble with fear. 20 You fool! Do you want to be shown that faith without actions is useless?[a] 21 (A)How was our ancestor Abraham put right with God? It was through his actions, when he offered his son Isaac on the altar. 22 Can't you see? His faith and his actions worked together; his faith was made perfect through his actions. 23 (B)And the scripture came true that said, “Abraham believed God, and because of his faith God accepted him as righteous.” And so Abraham was called God's friend. 24 You see, then, that it is by our actions that we are put right with God, and not by our faith alone.
25 (C)It was the same with the prostitute Rahab. She was put right with God through her actions, by welcoming the Israelite spies and helping them to escape by a different road.
26 So then, as the body without the spirit is dead, also faith without actions is dead.
Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.