Bible Reading
December 17
The World English Bible
Dec.
17
Amos
1-4
Amo
1:1 The words of Amos, who was among the herdsmen of Tekoa, which he
saw concerning Israel 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.
Amo
1:2 He said: "Yahweh will roar from Zion, and utter his voice
from Jerusalem; and the pastures of the shepherds will mourn, and the
top of Carmel will wither."
Amo
1:3 Thus says Yahweh: "For three transgressions of Damascus,
yes, for four, I will not turn away its punishment; because they have
threshed Gilead with threshing instruments of iron;
Amo
1:4 but I will send a fire into the house of Hazael, and it will
devour the palaces of Ben Hadad.
Amo
1:5 I will break the bar of Damascus, and cut off the inhabitant
from the valley of Aven, and him who holds the scepter from the house
of Eden; and the people of Syria shall go into captivity to Kir,"
says Yahweh.
Amo
1:6 Thus says Yahweh: "For three transgressions of Gaza, yes,
for four, I will not turn away its punishment; because they carried
away captive the whole community, to deliver them up to Edom;
Amo
1:7 but I will send a fire on the wall of Gaza, and it will devour
its palaces.
Amo
1:8 I will cut off the inhabitant from Ashdod, and him who holds the
scepter from Ashkelon; and I will turn my hand against Ekron; and the
remnant of the Philistines will perish," says the Lord Yahweh.
Amo
1:9 Thus says Yahweh: "For three transgressions of Tyre, yes,
for four, I will not turn away its punishment; because they delivered
up the whole community to Edom, and didn't remember the brotherly
covenant;
Amo
1:10 but I will send a fire on the wall of Tyre, and it will devour
its palaces."
Amo
1:11 Thus says Yahweh: "For three transgressions of Edom, yes,
for four, I will not turn away its punishment; because he pursued his
brother with the sword, and cast off all pity, and his anger raged
continually, and he kept his wrath forever;
Amo
1:12 but I will send a fire on Teman, and it will devour the palaces
of Bozrah."
Amo
1:13 Thus says Yahweh: "For three transgressions of the
children of Ammon, yes, for four, I will not turn away its
punishment; because they have ripped open the pregnant women of
Gilead, that they may enlarge their border.
Amo
1:14 But I will kindle a fire in the wall of Rabbah, and it will
devour its palaces, with shouting in the day of battle, with a storm
in the day of the whirlwind;
Amo
1:15 and their king will go into captivity, he and his princes
together," says Yahweh.
Amo
2:1 Thus says Yahweh: "For three transgressions of Moab, yes,
for four, I will not turn away its punishment; because he burned the
bones of the king of Edom into lime;
Amo
2:2 but I will send a fire on Moab, and it will devour the palaces
of Kerioth; and Moab will die with tumult, with shouting, and with
the sound of the trumpet;
Amo
2:3 and I will cut off the judge from their midst, and will kill all
its princes with him," says Yahweh.
Amo
2:4 Thus says Yahweh: "For three transgressions of Judah, yes,
for four, I will not turn away its punishment; because they have
rejected Yahweh's law, and have not kept his statutes, and their lies
have led them astray, after which their fathers walked;
Amo
2:5 But I will send a fire on Judah, and it will devour the palaces
of Jerusalem."
Amo
2:6 Thus says Yahweh: "For three transgressions of Israel, yes,
for four, I will not turn away its punishment; because they have sold
the righteous for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes;
Amo
2:7 They trample on the dust of the earth on the head of the poor,
and deny justice to the oppressed; and a man and his father use the
same maiden, to profane my holy name;
Amo
2:8 and they lay themselves down beside every altar on clothes taken
in pledge; and in the house of their God they drink the wine of those
who have been fined.
Amo
2:9 Yet I destroyed the Amorite before them, whose height was like
the height of the cedars, and he was strong as the oaks; yet I
destroyed his fruit from above, and his roots from beneath.
Amo
2:10 Also I brought you up out of the land of Egypt, and led you
forty years in the wilderness, to possess the land of the Amorite.
Amo
2:11 I raised up some of your sons for prophets, and some of your
young men for Nazirites. Isn't this true, you children of Israel?"
says Yahweh.
Amo
2:12 "But you gave the Nazirites wine to drink, and commanded
the prophets, saying, 'Don't prophesy!'
Amo
2:13 Behold, I will crush you in your place, as a cart crushes that
is full of grain.
Amo
2:14 Flight will perish from the swift; and the strong won't
strengthen his force; neither shall the mighty deliver himself;
Amo
2:15 neither shall he stand who handles the bow; and he who is swift
of foot won't escape; neither shall he who rides the horse deliver
himself;
Amo
2:16 and he who is courageous among the mighty will flee away naked
on that day," says Yahweh.
Amo
3:1 Hear this word that Yahweh has spoken against you, children of
Israel, against the whole family which I brought up out of the land
of Egypt, saying:
Amo
3:2 "You only have I chosen of all the families of the earth.
Therefore I will punish you for all of your sins."
Amo
3:3 Do two walk together, unless they have agreed?
Amo
3:4 Will a lion roar in the thicket, when he has no prey? Does a
young lion cry out of his den, if he has caught nothing?
Amo
3:5 Can a bird fall in a trap on the earth, where no snare is set
for him? Does a snare spring up from the ground, when there is
nothing to catch?
Amo
3:6 Does the trumpet alarm sound in a city, without the people being
afraid? Does evil happen to a city, and Yahweh hasn't done it?
Amo
3:7 Surely the Lord Yahweh will do nothing, unless he reveals his
secret to his servants the prophets.
Amo
3:8 The lion has roared. Who will not fear? The Lord Yahweh has
spoken. Who can but prophesy?
Amo
3:9 Proclaim in the palaces at Ashdod, and in the palaces in the
land of Egypt, and say, "Assemble yourselves on the mountains of
Samaria, and see what unrest is in her, and what oppression is among
them."
Amo
3:10 "Indeed they don't know to do right," says Yahweh,
"Who hoard plunder and loot in their palaces."
Amo
3:11 Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: "An adversary will
overrun the land; and he will pull down your strongholds, and your
fortresses will be plundered."
Amo
3:12 Thus says Yahweh: "As the shepherd rescues out of the
mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear, so shall the
children of Israel be rescued who sit in Samaria on the corner of a
couch, and on the silken cushions of a bed."
Amo
3:13 "Listen, and testify against the house of Jacob,"
says the Lord Yahweh, the God of Armies.
Amo
3:14 "For in the day that I visit the transgressions of Israel
on him, I will also visit the altars of Bethel; and the horns of the
altar will be cut off, and fall to the ground.
Amo
3:15 I will strike the winter house with the summer house; and the
houses of ivory will perish, and the great houses will have an end,"
says Yahweh.
Amo
4:1 Listen to this word, you cows of Bashan, who are on the mountain
of Samaria, who oppress the poor, who crush the needy, who tell their
husbands, "Bring us drinks!"
Amo
4:2 The Lord Yahweh has sworn by his holiness that behold, "The
days shall come on you that they will take you away with hooks, and
the last of you with fish hooks.
Amo
4:3 You will go out at the breaks in the wall, everyone straight
before her; and you will cast yourselves into Harmon," says
Yahweh.
Amo
4:4 "Go to Bethel, and sin; to Gilgal, and sin more. Bring your
sacrifices every morning, your tithes every three days,
Amo
4:5 offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving of that which is leavened, and
proclaim free will offerings and brag about them: for this pleases
you, you children of Israel," says the Lord Yahweh.
Amo
4:6 "I also have given you cleanness of teeth in all your
cities, and lack of bread in every town; yet you haven't returned to
me," says Yahweh.
Amo
4:7 "I also have withheld the rain from you, when there were
yet three months to the harvest; and I caused it to rain on one city,
and caused it not to rain on another city. One place was rained on,
and the piece where it didn't rain withered.
Amo
4:8 So two or three cities staggered to one city to drink water, and
were not satisfied: yet you haven't returned to me," says
Yahweh.
Amo
4:9 "I struck you with blight and mildew many times in your
gardens and your vineyards; and your fig trees and your olive trees
have the swarming locust devoured: yet you haven't returned to me,"
says Yahweh.
Amo
4:10 "I sent plagues among you like I did Egypt. I have slain
your young men with the sword, and have carried away your horses; and
I filled your nostrils with the stench of your camp, yet you haven't
returned to me," says Yahweh.
Amo
4:11 "I have overthrown some of you, as when God overthrew
Sodom and Gomorrah, and you were like a burning stick plucked out of
the fire; yet you haven't returned to me," says Yahweh.
Amo
4:12 "Therefore thus will I do to you, Israel; because I will
do this to you, prepare to meet your God, Israel.
Amo
4:13 For, behold, he who forms the mountains, and creates the wind,
and declares to man what is his thought; who makes the morning
darkness, and treads on the high places of the Earth: Yahweh, the God
of Armies, is his name."
Dec. 17
3 John
3Jn 1:1 The elder to
Gaius the beloved, whom I love in truth.
3Jn 1:2 Beloved, I pray
that you may prosper in all things and be healthy, even as your soul
prospers.
3Jn 1:3 For I rejoiced
greatly, when brothers came and testified about your truth, even as
you walk in truth.
3Jn 1:4 I have no
greater joy than this, to hear about my children walking in truth.
3Jn 1:5 Beloved, you do
a faithful work in whatever you accomplish for those who are brothers
and strangers.
3Jn 1:6 They have
testified about your love before the assembly. You will do well to
send them forward on their journey in a manner worthy of God,
3Jn 1:7 because for the
sake of the Name they went out, taking nothing from the Gentiles.
3Jn 1:8 We therefore
ought to receive such, that we may be fellow workers for the truth.
3Jn 1:9 I wrote to the
assembly, but Diotrephes, who loves to be first among them, doesn't
accept what we say.
3Jn 1:10 Therefore, if
I come, I will call attention to his deeds which he does, unjustly
accusing us with wicked words. Not content with this, neither does he
himself receive the brothers, and those who would, he forbids and
throws out of the assembly.
3Jn 1:11 Beloved, don't
imitate that which is evil, but that which is good. He who does good
is of God. He who does evil hasn't seen God.
3Jn 1:12 Demetrius has
the testimony of all, and of the truth itself; yes, we also testify,
and you know that our testimony is true.
3Jn 1:13 I had many
things to write to you, but I am unwilling to write to you with ink
and pen;
3Jn 1:14 but I hope to
see you soon, and we will speak face to face. Peace be to you. The
friends greet you. Greet the friends by name.
