Amos 1:1-5:3
1 The words of Amos, who was among the shepherds of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.
2 And he said, “The Lord proclaims out of Zion, and out of Jerusalem He gives a shout. The pastures of the shepherds mourn, and the top of Carmel is dried up.”
3 Thus says the Lord: “For three sins of Damascus and for four, I shall not turn away from it; for they sawed open the pregnant wives of the men of Gilead with a saw made of iron. 4 So I shall send fire into the house of Hazael, and it will consume the foundations of the son of Hadad. 5 And I shall shatter the bars of the gate of Damascus into pieces. I will put to death those dwelling in the plains of Aven, and I will cut in pieces the people of Charran. The notable people of Syria will be led away captive,” says the Lord.
6 Thus says the Lord: “For three sins of Gaza and for four, I shall not turn away its punishment, for they took prisoner the whole captivity of Solomon and held them as slaves in Edom. 7 And I shall send a fire upon the wall of Gaza, and it will consume its foundations. 8 I shall put to death those dwelling in Ashdod and remove the people of Ekron, and the remnant of the Philistines shall perish,” says the Lord.
9 Thus says the Lord: “For three sins of Tyre and for four, I shall not turn away its punishment, for they imprisoned the captivity of Solomon to Edom, and did not remember the covenant of brotherhood. 10 And I shall send a fire upon the wall of Tyre, and it will consume its foundations.”
11 Thus says the Lord: “For three sins of Edom and for four, I shall not turn away its punishment, because Edom pursued his brother with a sword and ravaged the womb on the earth. And as a testimony he took captive those shuddering in fear, and he sustained his violence in battle. 12 Therefore I shall send a fire upon Teman that will consume the foundations of its walls.”
13 Thus says the Lord: “For three acts of ungodliness by the sons of Ammon and for four, I shall not turn away its punishment, for they ripped open women with child in Gilead so as to expand their territory. 14 Therefore, I shall kindle a fire in the wall of Rabbah. It shall consume her foundations with shouting in the day of war, and she shall be shaken in the days of her destruction. Their kings shall go into captivity, their priests and their princes together,” says the Lord.
1 Thus says the Lord: “For three sins of Moab and for four, I shall not turn away its punishment, for he burned the bones of the king of Edom to ashes. 2 Therefore I shall send a fire against Moab, and it will consume the foundations of their cities, and in helplessness Moab shall die with shouting and with the sound of a trumpet. 3 And I shall put to death the judge from her midst and slay all her princes with him,” says the Lord.
Judgment against Israel and Judah
4 Thus says the Lord: “For three sins of the sons of Judah and for four, I shall not turn away its punishment, for they rejected the law of the Lord and did not keep His ordinances. And the vain idols made by their fathers led them astray. These were lies their fathers followed. 5 So I shall send a fire upon Judah, and it shall devour the foundations of Jerusalem.”
6 Thus says the Lord: “For three sins of Israel and for four, I shall not turn away its punishment, for they sold the righteous for silver and the poor for a pair of sandals. 7 They trample the heads of the poor into the dust of the earth, and turn away the afflicted and pervert the way of the humble. A son and his father go in to the same handmaiden in order to profane the name of their God. 8 And having bound their clothes with cords, they made curtains by the altar, and they drank wine gained through false accusations in the house of their God.
9 “Yet it was I who destroyed the Amorite before them, whose height was like the height of the cedars and who was as strong as an oak tree. It was I who dried up his fruit from above and his roots beneath the ground. 10 And it was I who brought you up out of the land of Egypt and led you forty years through the wilderness, that you would inherit the land of the Amorite. 11 I took some of your sons as prophets and some of your young men to be consecrated. Is this not so, O you children of Israel?” says the Lord. 12 “But you gave the consecrated ones wine to drink and commanded the prophets, saying, ‘Do not prophesy!’ 13 Behold, for this reason, I weigh you down, just as a wagon being filled with sheaves is weighed down. 14 Therefore, escape will be totally lost to the swift, and the strong will certainly lose his strength, and the warrior will in no way be able to save his life. 15 The archer will not stand his ground, and the swift foot will not escape danger, and the horseman will be completely unable to save his life. 16 The strong will find no confidence in their strength; the naked will flee away in that day,” says the Lord.
The Lord’s Case against Israel
1 O house of Israel, hear this word the Lord has spoken against you, against the whole family which I brought up from the land of Egypt, saying, 2 “Out of all the families of the earth, I have especially known you. Therefore I shall exact vengeance upon you for all your sins. 3 If two people walk together, will each one not come to know the other? 4 Will a lion roar from his lair in the forest if he has no prey? Will a lion’s whelp cry out from his den if he has nothing? 5 Will a bird fall to the earth without a fowler? Will a snare be sprung if it has caught nothing? 6 If a trumpet is sounded in a city, will not the people be alarmed? If evil should be in a city, has not the Lord brought it? 7 For the Lord God does nothing unless He reveals instruction to His servants the prophets. 8 A lion shall roar, and who will not fear? The Lord God speaks, and who will not prophesy?
9 “Proclaim it in the regions among the Assyrians and to the lands of Egypt, and say, ‘Gather yourself to the mountains of Samaria, and behold the many remarkable things in her midst and the oppression that is within her. 10 She does not know the things that will come against her,’ says the Lord, ‘she stores up injustice and misery in her lands.’ ” 11 Therefore thus says the Lord God: “O Tyre, your land round about you shall be made desolate, and your strength shall be sapped from you, and your lands shall be plundered.” 12 Thus says the Lord: “As when a shepherd takes two legs or a piece of an ear out of the mouth of a lion, so shall the sons of Israel be taken out who dwell in Samaria in the presence of a foreign people, and in Damascus.
13 “Hear, O priests, and testify against the house of Jacob,” says the Lord God Almighty, 14 “for in the day I exact vengeance against Israel for their sins, I shall also visit destruction on the altars of Bethel and tear down the horns of the altar, and they will fall to the ground. 15 I will demolish and knock down the turreted house upon the summer house, and I shall destroy the ivory houses along with many other houses as well,” says the Lord.
Israel’s Boundless Sin
1 Hear this word, O heifers of Bashan who are on the mountain of Samaria, who oppress the poor, who trample the needy, and who say to their lords, “Bring us wine that we may drink!” 2 The Lord swears by His holiness: “Behold, the days shall come upon you, for they will seize you with weapons and cast you and those with you into boiling cauldrons. 3 You shall be brought out naked before one another and be cast out on Mount Hermon,” says the Lord God.
4 “You come to Bethel and act lawlessly and multiply your transgressions in Gilgal. You bring your sacrifice in the morning and your tithes every three days. 5 Moreover, outside they read things of the Law and call for professions. Proclaim that the children of Israel love these things,” says the Lord God. 6 “And in all your cities I gave you cleanness of teeth, and in all your places a lack of bread. Yet you did not return to Me,” says the Lord. 7 “And also, I withheld rain from you for the three months before the harvest. I caused it to rain upon one city while I withheld rain from another. On one field it rained, but where it did not rain, the crops withered. 8 So two or three cities wandered to another city to drink water, but they were not satisfied. Yet,” says the Lord, “you did not return to Me.”
The Lord Smites Israel for Her Sin
9 “I struck you with a parching and blight. When you multiplied your gardens, your vineyards, your fig trees, and your olive trees, the caterpillar devoured them. Yet you did not turn back to Me,” says the Lord. 10 “I sent forth death against you by way of Egypt, and I killed your young men with a sword, together with your captured horses. And in My wrath I brought fire upon your army camps. Yet you did not return to Me,” says the Lord. 11 “I overthrew you as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and you became like a torch that burns out after being plucked out of the fire. Yet even after all this you did not return to Me,” says the Lord.
12 “Therefore, O Israel, thus shall I do to you, and because I will do thus to you, make yourself ready to call upon your God, O Israel! 13 For behold, I am the One who strengthens the thunder, and creates the wind, and proclaims His Anointed One to mankind, making the daybreak and the darkness, while treading upon the high places of the earth. The Lord God Almighty is His name!”
A Lamentation for Israel
1 O house of Israel, hear this word of the Lord, a lamentation which I take up against you. 2 The virgin of Israel has fallen; she will rise no more; she tripped over her land, and there is no one who shall raise her up.
3 For thus says the Lord God: “From the city where a thousand went out, in this group there will yet remain a hundred. And in that from which a hundred went out, ten will be left to the house of Israel.”
Psalm 88:1–19
1 Concerning understanding; for Ethan the Israelite.
2 O Lord, I will sing of Your mercies forever;
I will proclaim Your truth with my mouth from generation to generation;
3 For You said, “Mercy shall be built up forever;
Your truth shall be prepared in the heavens.
4 I made a covenant with My chosen ones;
I swore to David My servant,
5 I shall prepare your seed forever,
And I shall build your throne from generation to generation.”
(Pause)
6 The heavens shall confess Your wonders, O Lord,
And Your truth in the church of the saints.
7 For who in the clouds shall be compared to the Lord,
And who among the sons of God shall be compared to the Lord?
8 God is glorified in the counsel of saints;
He is great and fearful toward all round about Him.
9 O Lord God of hosts, who is like You?
You are powerful, O Lord, and Your truth is around You.
10 You are master of the sea’s strength,
And You calm the surging of its waves.
11 You humbled the arrogant man as though he were wounded,
And with the arm of Your power You scattered Your enemies.
12 The heavens belong to You, and the earth is Yours;
You founded the world and all its fullness.
13 You created the north wind and the seas;
Tabor and Hermon shall greatly rejoice in Your name.
14 Your arm rules with power;
Let Your hand be strengthened; let Your right hand be exalted.
15 The foundation of Your throne is righteousness and judgment;
Mercy and truth shall go before Your face.
16 Blessed are the people who know glad shouting;
O Lord, they shall walk in the light of Your face,
17 And shall greatly rejoice in Your name the whole day long;
And they shall be exalted in Your righteousness.
18 For You are the boast of their power,
And in Your good pleasure our horn shall be exalted.
19 For our defense is from the Lord
And from the Holy One of Israel, our King.
Proverbs 18:18–23
18 An allotment of land ends controversies,
And it determines the boundary between princes.
19 A brother aided by his brother is like a strong and fortified city,
And he is strong like a well-founded palace.
20 From the fruits of his mouth a man fills his stomach,
And from the fruits of his lips he will fill himself to the full.
21 Life and death are in the hand of a tongue,
And those who rule over it will eat the fruits thereof.
22 He who finds a good wife finds benefits
And receives cheerfulness from God.
23 He who casts out a good wife casts out good things,
And he who keeps adulteresses is without discernment and is ungodly.
1 Thessalonians 1
1 Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy,
To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Their Good Example
2 We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers,
3 remembering without ceasing your work of faith, labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of our God and Father,
4 knowing, beloved brethren, your election by God.
5 For our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit and in much assurance, as you know what kind of men we were among you for your sake.
6 And you became followers of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Spirit,
7 so that you became examples to all in Macedonia and Achaia who believe.
8 For from you the word of the Lord has sounded forth, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place. Your faith toward God has gone out, so that we do not need to say anything.
9 For they themselves declare concerning us what manner of entry we had to you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God,
10 and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.