Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A Cry for Justice
A psalm of Asaph.
82 God is in charge of the great meeting;
he judges among the “gods.”
2 He says, “How long will you defend evil people?
How long will you show greater kindness to the wicked? Selah
3 Defend the weak and the orphans;
defend the rights of the poor and suffering.
4 Save the weak and helpless;
free them from the power of the wicked.
5 “You know nothing. You don’t understand.
You walk in the dark,
while the world is falling apart.
6 I said, ‘You are “gods.”
You are all sons of God Most High.’
7 But you will die like any other person;
you will fall like all the leaders.”
8 God, come and judge the earth,
because you own all the nations.
1 These are the words of Amos, one of the shepherds from the town of Tekoa. He saw this vision about Israel two years before the earthquake. It was at the time Uzziah was king of Judah and Jeroboam son of Jehoash was king of Israel.
2 Amos said,
“The Lord will roar from Jerusalem;
he will send his voice from Jerusalem.
The pastures of the shepherds will become dry,
and even the top of Mount Carmel will dry up.”
Israel’s Neighbors Are Punished
The People of Aram
3 This is what the Lord says:
“For the many crimes of Damascus,
I will punish them.
They drove over the people of Gilead
with threshing boards that had iron teeth.
4 So I will send fire upon the house of Hazael
that will destroy the strong towers of Ben-Hadad.
5 I will break down the bar of the gate to Damascus
and destroy the king who is in the Valley of Aven,
as well as the leader of Beth Eden.
The people of Aram will be taken captive to the country of Kir,” says the Lord.
The People of Philistia
6 This is what the Lord says:
“For the many crimes of Gaza,
I will punish them.
They sold all the people of one area
as slaves to Edom.
7 So I will send a fire on the walls of Gaza
that will destroy the city’s strong buildings.
8 I will destroy the king of the city of Ashdod,
as well as the leader of Ashkelon.
Then I will turn against the people of the city of Ekron,
and the last of the Philistines will die,” says the Lord God.
The People of Phoenicia
9 This is what the Lord says:
“For the many crimes of Tyre,
I will punish them.
They sold all the people of one area
as slaves to Edom,
and they forgot the agreement among relatives they had made with Israel.
10 So I will send fire on the walls of Tyre
that will destroy the city’s strong buildings.”
The People of Edom
11 This is what the Lord says:
“For the many crimes of Edom,
I will punish them.
They hunted down their relatives, the Israelites, with the sword,
showing them no mercy.
They were angry all the time
and kept on being very angry.
12 So I will send fire on the city of Teman
that will even destroy the strong buildings of Bozrah.”[a]
The People of Ammon
13 This is what the Lord says:
“For the many crimes of Ammon,
I will punish them.
They ripped open the pregnant women in Gilead
so they could take over that land
and make their own country larger.
14 So I will send fire on the city wall of Rabbah
that will destroy its strong buildings.
It will come during a day of battle,
during a stormy day with strong winds.
15 Then their king and leaders will be taken captive;
they will all be taken away together,” says the Lord.
The People of Moab
2 This is what the Lord says:
“For the many crimes of Moab,
I will punish them.
They burned the bones of the king of Edom into lime.
2 So I will send fire on Moab
that will destroy the strong buildings of the city of Kerioth.
The people of Moab will die in a great noise,
in the middle of the sounds of war and trumpets.
3 So I will bring an end to the king of Moab,
and I will kill all its leaders with him,” says the Lord.
Faith and Good Works
14 My brothers and sisters, if people say they have faith, but do nothing, their faith is worth nothing. Can faith like that save them? 15 A brother or sister in Christ might need clothes or food. 16 If you say to that person, “God be with you! I hope you stay warm and get plenty to eat,” but you do not give what that person needs, your words are worth nothing. 17 In the same way, faith by itself—that does nothing—is dead.
18 Someone might say, “You have faith, but I have deeds.” Show me your faith without doing anything, and I will show you my faith by what I do. 19 You believe there is one God. Good! But the demons believe that, too, and they tremble with fear.
20 You foolish person! Must you be shown that faith that does nothing is worth nothing? 21 Abraham, our ancestor, was made right with God by what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar. 22 So you see that Abraham’s faith and the things he did worked together. His faith was made perfect by what he did. 23 This shows the full meaning of the Scripture that says: “Abraham believed God, and God accepted Abraham’s faith, and that faith made him right with God.”[a] And Abraham was called God’s friend.[b] 24 So you see that people are made right with God by what they do, not by faith only.
25 Another example is Rahab, a prostitute, who was made right with God by something she did. She welcomed the spies into her home and helped them escape by a different road.
26 Just as a person’s body that does not have a spirit is dead, so faith that does nothing is dead!
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.