Bible Reading December 16, 17, 18 (World English Bible)
Joel
1-3
Joe
1:1 The Word of Yahweh that came to Joel, the son of Pethuel.
Joe
1:2 Hear this, you elders, And listen, all you inhabitants of the
land. Has this ever happened in your days, or in the days of your
fathers?
Joe
1:3 Tell your children about it, and have your children tell their
children, and their children, another generation.
Joe
1:4 What the swarming locust has left, the great locust has eaten.
What the great locust has left, the grasshopper has eaten. What the
grasshopper has left, the caterpillar has eaten.
Joe
1:5 Wake up, you drunkards, and weep! Wail, all you drinkers of
wine, because of the sweet wine; for it is cut off from your mouth.
Joe
1:6 For a nation has come up on my land, strong, and without number.
His teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he has the fangs of a lioness.
Joe
1:7 He has laid my vine waste, and stripped my fig tree. He has
stripped its bark, and thrown it away. Its branches are made white.
Joe
1:8 Mourn like a virgin dressed in sackcloth for the husband of her
youth!
Joe
1:9 The meal offering and the drink offering are cut off from
Yahweh's house. The priests, Yahweh's ministers, mourn.
Joe
1:10 The field is laid waste. The land mourns, for the grain is
destroyed, The new wine has dried up, and the oil languishes.
Joe
1:11 Be confounded, you farmers! Wail, you vineyard keepers; for the
wheat and for the barley; for the harvest of the field has perished.
Joe
1:12 The vine has dried up, and the fig tree withered; the
pomegranate tree, the palm tree also, and the apple tree, even all of
the trees of the field are withered; for joy has withered away from
the sons of men.
Joe
1:13 Put on sackcloth and mourn, you priests! Wail, you ministers of
the altar. Come, lie all night in sackcloth, you ministers of my God,
for the meal offering and the drink offering are withheld from your
God's house.
Joe
1:14 Sanctify a fast. Call a solemn assembly. Gather the elders, and
all the inhabitants of the land, to the house of Yahweh, your God,
and cry to Yahweh.
Joe
1:15 Alas for the day! For the day of Yahweh is at hand, and it will
come as destruction from the Almighty.
Joe
1:16 Isn't the food cut off before our eyes; joy and gladness from
the house of our God?
Joe
1:17 The seeds rot under their clods. The granaries are laid
desolate. The barns are broken down, for the grain has withered.
Joe
1:18 How the animals groan! The herds of livestock are perplexed,
because they have no pasture. Yes, the flocks of sheep are made
desolate.
Joe
1:19 Yahweh, I cry to you, For the fire has devoured the pastures of
the wilderness, and the flame has burned all the trees of the field.
Joe
1:20 Yes, the animals of the field pant to you, for the water brooks
have dried up, And the fire has devoured the pastures of the
wilderness.
Joe
2:1 Blow the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy
mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of
Yahweh comes, for it is close at hand:
Joe
2:2 A day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick
darkness. As the dawn spreading on the mountains, a great and strong
people; there has never been the like, neither will there be any more
after them, even to the years of many generations.
Joe
2:3 A fire devours before them, and behind them, a flame burns. The
land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them, a
desolate wilderness. Yes, and no one has escaped them.
Joe
2:4 The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses, and as
horsemen, so do they run.
Joe
2:5 Like the noise of chariots on the tops of the mountains do they
leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devours the stubble, as
a strong people set in battle array.
Joe
2:6 At their presence the peoples are in anguish. All faces have
grown pale.
Joe
2:7 They run like mighty men. They climb the wall like warriors.
They each march in his line, and they don't swerve off course.
Joe
2:8 Neither does one jostle another; they march everyone in his
path, and they burst through the defenses, and don't break ranks.
Joe
2:9 They rush on the city. They run on the wall. They climb up into
the houses. They enter in at the windows like thieves.
Joe
2:10 The earth quakes before them. The heavens tremble. The sun and
the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining.
Joe
2:11 Yahweh thunders his voice before his army; for his forces are
very great; for he is strong who obeys his command; for the day of
Yahweh is great and very awesome, and who can endure it?
Joe
2:12 "Yet even now," says Yahweh, "turn to me with
all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with
mourning."
Joe
2:13 Tear your heart, and not your garments, and turn to Yahweh,
your God; for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and
abundant in loving kindness, and relents from sending calamity.
Joe
2:14 Who knows? He may turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind
him, even a meal offering and a drink offering to Yahweh, your God.
Joe
2:15 Blow the trumpet in Zion! Sanctify a fast. Call a solemn
assembly.
Joe
2:16 Gather the people. Sanctify the assembly. Assemble the elders.
Gather the children, and those who suck the breasts. Let the
bridegroom go forth from his room, and the bride out of her chamber.
Joe
2:17 Let the priests, the ministers of Yahweh, weep between the
porch and the altar, and let them say, "Spare your people,
Yahweh, and don't give your heritage to reproach, that the nations
should rule over them. Why should they say among the peoples, 'Where
is their God?' "
Joe
2:18 Then Yahweh was jealous for his land, And had pity on his
people.
Joe
2:19 Yahweh answered his people, "Behold, I will send you
grain, new wine, and oil, and you will be satisfied with them; and I
will no more make you a reproach among the nations.
Joe
2:20 But I will remove the northern army far away from you, and will
drive it into a barren and desolate land, its front into the eastern
sea, and its back into the western sea; and its stench will come up,
and its bad smell will rise." Surely he has done great things.
Joe
2:21 Land, don't be afraid. Be glad and rejoice, for Yahweh has done
great things.
Joe
2:22 Don't be afraid, you animals of the field; for the pastures of
the wilderness spring up, for the tree bears its fruit. The fig tree
and the vine yield their strength.
Joe
2:23 "Be glad then, you children of Zion, and rejoice in
Yahweh, your God; for he gives you the former rain in just measure,
and he causes the rain to come down for you, the former rain and the
latter rain, as before.
Joe
2:24 The threshing floors will be full of wheat, and the vats will
overflow with new wine and oil.
Joe
2:25 I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has
eaten, the great locust, the grasshopper, and the caterpillar, my
great army, which I sent among you.
Joe
2:26 You will have plenty to eat, and be satisfied, and will praise
the name of Yahweh, your God, who has dealt wondrously with you; and
my people will never again be disappointed.
Joe
2:27 You will know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am
Yahweh, your God, and there is no one else; and my people will never
again be disappointed.
Joe
2:28 "It will happen afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit
on all flesh; and your sons and your daughters will prophesy. Your
old men will dream dreams. Your young men will see visions.
Joe
2:29 And also on the servants and on the handmaids in those days, I
will pour out my Spirit.
Joe
2:30 I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: blood,
fire, and pillars of smoke.
Joe
2:31 The sun will be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood,
before the great and terrible day of Yahweh comes.
Joe
2:32 It will happen that whoever will call on the name of Yahweh
shall be saved; for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be
those who escape, as Yahweh has said, and among the remnant, those
whom Yahweh calls.
Joe
3:1 "For, behold, in those days, and in that time, when I
restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem,
Joe
3:2 I will gather all nations, and will bring them down into the
valley of Jehoshaphat; and I will execute judgment on them there for
my people, and for my heritage, Israel, whom they have scattered
among the nations. They have divided my land,
Joe
3:3 and have cast lots for my people, and have given a boy for a
prostitute, and sold a girl for wine, that they may drink.
Joe
3:4 "Yes, and what are you to me, Tyre, and Sidon, and all the
regions of Philistia? Will you repay me? And if you repay me, I will
swiftly and speedily return your repayment on your own head.
Joe
3:5 Because you have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried
my finest treasures into your temples,
Joe
3:6 and have sold the children of Judah and the children of
Jerusalem to the sons of the Greeks, that you may remove them far
from their border.
Joe
3:7 Behold, I will stir them up out of the place where you have sold
them, and will return your repayment on your own head;
Joe
3:8 and I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hands of
the children of Judah, and they will sell them to the men of Sheba,
to a faraway nation, for Yahweh has spoken it."
Joe
3:9 Proclaim this among the nations: "Prepare for war! Stir up
the mighty men. Let all the warriors draw near. Let them come up.
Joe
3:10 Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning hooks into
spears. Let the weak say, 'I am strong.'
Joe
3:11 Hurry and come, all you surrounding nations, and gather
yourselves together." Cause your mighty ones to come down there,
Yahweh.
Joe
3:12 "Let the nations arouse themselves, and come up to the
valley of Jehoshaphat; for there will I sit to judge all the
surrounding nations.
Joe
3:13 Put in the sickle; for the harvest is ripe. Come, tread, for
the winepress is full, the vats overflow, for their wickedness is
great."
Joe
3:14 Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day
of Yahweh is near, in the valley of decision.
Joe
3:15 The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their
shining.
Joe
3:16 Yahweh will roar from Zion, and thunder from Jerusalem; and the
heavens and the earth will shake; but Yahweh will be a refuge to his
people, and a stronghold to the children of Israel.
Joe
3:17 "So you will know that I am Yahweh, your God, dwelling in
Zion, my holy mountain. Then Jerusalem will be holy, and no strangers
will pass through her any more.
Joe
3:18 It will happen in that day, that the mountains will drop down
sweet wine, the hills will flow with milk, all the brooks of Judah
will flow with waters, and a fountain will come forth from the house
of Yahweh, and will water the valley of Shittim.
Joe
3:19 Egypt will be a desolation, and Edom will be a desolate
wilderness, for the violence done to the children of Judah, because
they have shed innocent blood in their land.
Joe
3:20 But Judah will be inhabited forever, and Jerusalem from
generation to generation.
Joe
3:21 I will cleanse their blood, that I have not cleansed: for
Yahweh dwells in Zion."
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."
Amos
5-9
Amo
5:1 Listen to this word which I take up for a lamentation over you,
O house of Israel.
Amo
5:2 "The virgin of Israel has fallen; She shall rise no more.
She is cast down on her land; there is no one to raise her up."
Amo
5:3 For thus says the Lord Yahweh: "The city that went forth a
thousand shall have a hundred left, and that which went forth one
hundred shall have ten left to the house of Israel."
Amo
5:4 For thus says Yahweh to the house of Israel: "Seek me, and
you will live;
Amo
5:5 but don't seek Bethel, nor enter into Gilgal, and don't pass to
Beersheba: for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, and Bethel
shall come to nothing.
Amo
5:6 Seek Yahweh, and you will live; lest he break out like fire in
the house of Joseph, and it devour, and there be no one to quench it
in Bethel.
Amo
5:7 You who turn justice to wormwood, and cast down righteousness to
the earth:
Amo
5:8 seek him who made the Pleiades and Orion, and turns the shadow
of death into the morning, and makes the day dark with night; who
calls for the waters of the sea, and pours them out on the surface of
the earth, Yahweh is his name,
Amo
5:9 who brings sudden destruction on the strong, so that destruction
comes on the fortress.
Amo
5:10 They hate him who reproves in the gate, and they abhor him who
speaks blamelessly.
Amo
5:11 Forasmuch therefore as you trample on the poor, and take taxes
from him of wheat: You have built houses of cut stone, but you will
not dwell in them. You have planted pleasant vineyards, but you shall
not drink their wine.
Amo
5:12 For I know how many your offenses, and how great are your
sins-- you who afflict the just, who take a bribe, and who turn aside
the needy in the courts.
Amo
5:13 Therefore a prudent person keeps silent in such a time, for it
is an evil time.
Amo
5:14 Seek good, and not evil, that you may live; and so Yahweh, the
God of Armies, will be with you, as you say.
Amo
5:15 Hate evil, love good, and establish justice in the courts. It
may be that Yahweh, the God of Armies, will be gracious to the
remnant of Joseph."
Amo
5:16 Therefore thus says Yahweh, the God of Armies, the Lord:
"Wailing will be in all the broad ways; and they will say in all
the streets, 'Alas! Alas!' and they will call the farmer to mourning,
and those who are skillful in lamentation to wailing.
Amo
5:17 In all vineyards there will be wailing; for I will pass through
the midst of you," says Yahweh.
Amo
5:18 "Woe to you who desire the day of Yahweh! Why do you long
for the day of Yahweh? It is darkness, and not light.
Amo
5:19 As if a man fled from a lion, and a bear met him; Or he went
into the house and leaned his hand on the wall, and a snake bit him.
Amo
5:20 Won't the day of Yahweh be darkness, and not light? Even very
dark, and no brightness in it?
Amo
5:21 I hate, I despise your feasts, and I can't stand your solemn
assemblies.
Amo
5:22 Yes, though you offer me your burnt offerings and meal
offerings, I will not accept them; neither will I regard the peace
offerings of your fat animals.
Amo
5:23 Take away from me the noise of your songs! I will not listen to
the music of your harps.
Amo
5:24 But let justice roll on like rivers, and righteousness like a
mighty stream.
Amo
5:25 "Did you bring to me sacrifices and offerings in the
wilderness forty years, house of Israel?
Amo
5:26 You also carried the tent of your king and the shrine of your
images, the star of your god, which you made for yourselves.
Amo
5:27 Therefore will I cause you to go into captivity beyond
Damascus," says Yahweh, whose name is the God of Armies.
Amo
6:1 Woe to those who are at ease in Zion, and to those who are
secure on the mountain of Samaria, the notable men of the chief of
the nations, to whom the house of Israel come!
Amo
6:2 Go to Calneh, and see; and from there go to Hamath the great;
then go down to Gath of the Philistines. are they better than these
kingdoms? or is their border greater than your border?
Amo
6:3 Those who put far away the evil day, and cause the seat of
violence to come near;
Amo
6:4 Who lie on beds of ivory, and stretch themselves on their
couches, and eat the lambs out of the flock, and the calves out of
the midst of the stall;
Amo
6:5 who strum on the strings of a harp; who invent for themselves
instruments of music, like David;
Amo
6:6 who drink wine in bowls, and anoint themselves with the best
oils; but they are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph.
Amo
6:7 Therefore they will now go captive with the first who go
captive; and the feasting and lounging will end.
Amo
6:8 "The Lord Yahweh has sworn by himself," says Yahweh,
the God of Armies: "I abhor the pride of Jacob, and detest his
fortresses. Therefore I will deliver up the city with all that is in
it.
Amo
6:9 It will happen, if there remain ten men in one house, that they
shall die.
Amo
6:10 "When a man's relative carries him, even he who burns him,
to bring bodies out of the house, and asks him who is in the
innermost parts of the house, 'Is there yet any with you?' And he
says, 'No;' then he will say, 'Hush! Indeed we must not mention the
name of Yahweh.'
Amo
6:11 "For, behold, Yahweh commands, and the great house will be
smashed to pieces, and the little house into bits.
Amo
6:12 Do horses run on the rocky crags? Does one plow there with
oxen? But you have turned justice into poison, and the fruit of
righteousness into bitterness;
Amo
6:13 you who rejoice in a thing of nothing, who say, 'Haven't we
taken for ourselves horns by our own strength?'
Amo
6:14 For, behold, I will raise up against you a nation, house of
Israel," says Yahweh, the God of Armies; "and they will
afflict you from the entrance of Hamath to the brook of the Arabah."
Amo
7:1 Thus the Lord Yahweh showed me: and behold, he formed locusts in
the beginning of the shooting up of the latter growth; and behold, it
was the latter growth after the king's harvest.
Amo
7:2 It happened that, when they made an end of eating the grass of
the land, then I said, "Lord Yahweh, forgive, I beg you! How
could Jacob stand? For he is small."
Amo
7:3 Yahweh relented concerning this. "It shall not be,"
says Yahweh.
Amo
7:4 Thus the Lord Yahweh showed me and behold, the Lord Yahweh
called for judgment by fire; and it dried up the great deep, and
would have devoured the land.
Amo
7:5 Then I said, "Lord Yahweh, stop, I beg you! How could Jacob
stand? For he is small."
Amo
7:6 Yahweh relented concerning this. "This also shall not be,"
says the Lord Yahweh.
Amo
7:7 Thus he showed me and behold, the Lord stood beside a wall made
by a plumb line, with a plumb line in his hand.
Amo
7:8 Yahweh said to me, "Amos, what do you see?" I said, "A
plumb line." Then the Lord said, "Behold, I will set a
plumb line in the midst of my people Israel. I will not again pass by
them any more.
Amo
7:9 The high places of Isaac will be desolate, the sanctuaries of
Israel will be laid waste; and I will rise against the house of
Jeroboam with the sword."
Amo
7:10 Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam king of
Israel, saying, "Amos has conspired against you in the midst of
the house of Israel. The land is not able to bear all his words.
Amo
7:11 For Amos says, 'Jeroboam will die by the sword, and Israel
shall surely be led away captive out of his land.' "
Amo
7:12 Amaziah also said to Amos, "You seer, go, flee away into
the land of Judah, and there eat bread, and prophesy there:
Amo
7:13 but don't prophesy again any more at Bethel; for it is the
king's sanctuary, and it is a royal house!"
Amo
7:14 Then Amos answered Amaziah, "I was no prophet, neither was
I a prophet's son; but I was a herdsman, and a farmer of sycamore
figs;
Amo
7:15 and Yahweh took me from following the flock, and Yahweh said to
me, 'Go, prophesy to my people Israel.'
Amo
7:16 Now therefore listen to the word of Yahweh: 'You say, Don't
prophesy against Israel, and don't preach against the house of
Isaac.'
Amo
7:17 Therefore thus says Yahweh: 'Your wife shall be a prostitute in
the city, and your sons and your daughters shall fall by the sword,
and your land shall be divided by line; and you yourself shall die in
a land that is unclean, and Israel shall surely be led away captive
out of his land.' "
Amo
8:1 Thus the Lord Yahweh showed me: behold, a basket of summer
fruit.
Amo
8:2 He said, "Amos, what do you see?" I said, "A
basket of summer fruit." Then Yahweh said to me, "The end
has come on my people Israel. I will not again pass by them any more.
Amo
8:3 The songs of the temple will be wailings in that day," says
the Lord Yahweh. "The dead bodies will be many. In every place
they will throw them out with silence.
Amo
8:4 Hear this, you who desire to swallow up the needy, and cause the
poor of the land to fail,
Amo
8:5 Saying, 'When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell grain?
And the Sabbath, that we may market wheat, making the ephah small,
and the shekel large, and dealing falsely with balances of deceit;
Amo
8:6 that we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of
shoes, and sell the sweepings with the wheat?' "
Amo
8:7 Yahweh has sworn by the pride of Jacob, "Surely I will
never forget any of their works.
Amo
8:8 Won't the land tremble for this, and everyone mourn who dwells
in it? Yes, it will rise up wholly like the River; and it will be
stirred up and sink again, like the River of Egypt.
Amo
8:9 It will happen in that day," says the Lord Yahweh, "that
I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth
in the clear day.
Amo
8:10 I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into
lamentation; and I will make you wear sackcloth on all your bodies,
and baldness on every head. I will make it like the mourning for an
only son, and its end like a bitter day.
Amo
8:11 Behold, the days come," says the Lord Yahweh, "that I
will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst
for water, but of hearing the words of Yahweh.
Amo
8:12 They will wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to
the east; they will run back and forth to seek the word of Yahweh,
and will not find it.
Amo
8:13 In that day the beautiful virgins and the young men will faint
for thirst.
Amo
8:14 Those who swear by the sin of Samaria, and say, 'As your god,
Dan, lives;' and, 'As the way of Beersheba lives;' they will fall,
and never rise up again."
Amo
9:1 I saw the Lord standing beside the altar, and he said, "Strike
the tops of the pillars, that the thresholds may shake; and break
them in pieces on the head of all of them; and I will kill the last
of them with the sword: there shall not one of them flee away, and
there shall not one of them escape.
Amo
9:2 Though they dig into Sheol, there my hand will take them; and
though they climb up to heaven, there I will bring them down.
Amo
9:3 Though they hide themselves in the top of Carmel, I will search
and take them out there; and though they be hid from my sight in the
bottom of the sea, there I will command the serpent, and it will bite
them.
Amo
9:4 Though they go into captivity before their enemies, there I will
command the sword, and it will kill them. I will set my eyes on them
for evil, and not for good.
Amo
9:5 For the Lord, Yahweh of Armies, is he who touches the land and
it melts, and all who dwell in it will mourn; and it will rise up
wholly like the River, and will sink again, like the River of Egypt.
Amo
9:6 It is he who builds his chambers in the heavens, and has founded
his vault on the earth; he who calls for the waters of the sea, and
pours them out on the surface of the earth; Yahweh is his name.
Amo
9:7 Are you not like the children of the Ethiopians to me, children
of Israel?" says Yahweh. "Haven't I brought up Israel out
of the land of Egypt, and the Philistines from Caphtor, and the
Syrians from Kir?
Amo
9:8 Behold, the eyes of the Lord Yahweh are on the sinful kingdom,
and I will destroy it from off the surface of the earth; except that
I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob," says Yahweh.
Amo
9:9 "For, behold, I will command, and I will sift the house of
Israel among all the nations, as grain is sifted in a sieve, yet not
the least kernel will fall on the earth.
Amo
9:10 All the sinners of my people will die by the sword, who say,
'Evil won't overtake nor meet us.'
Amo
9:11 In that day I will raise up the tent of David who is fallen,
and close up its breaches, and I will raise up its ruins, and I will
build it as in the days of old;
Amo
9:12 that they may possess the remnant of Edom, and all the nations
who are called by my name," says Yahweh who does this.
Amo
9:13 "Behold, the days come," says Yahweh, "that the
plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the one treading grapes him
who sows seed; and sweet wine will drip from the mountains, and flow
from the hills.
Amo
9:14 I will bring my people Israel back from captivity, and they
will rebuild the ruined cities, and inhabit them; and they will plant
vineyards, and drink wine from them. They shall also make gardens,
and eat the fruit of them.
Amo
9:15 I will plant them on their land, and they will no more be
plucked up out of their land which I have given them," says
Yahweh your God.
2 John
2Jn 1:1
The elder, to the chosen lady and her children, whom I love in truth;
and not I only, but also all those who know the truth;
2Jn 1:2
for the truth's sake, which remains in us, and it will be with us
forever:
2Jn 1:3
Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us, from God the Father, and
from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love.
2Jn 1:4 I
rejoice greatly that I have found some of your children walking in
truth, even as we have been commanded by the Father.
2Jn 1:5
Now I beg you, dear lady, not as though I wrote to you a new
commandment, but that which we had from the beginning, that we love
one another.
2Jn 1:6
This is love, that we should walk according to his commandments. This
is the commandment, even as you heard from the beginning, that you
should walk in it.
2Jn 1:7
For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who don't
confess that Jesus Christ came in the flesh. This is the deceiver and
the Antichrist.
2Jn 1:8
Watch yourselves, that we don't lose the things which we have
accomplished, but that we receive a full reward.
2Jn 1:9
Whoever transgresses and doesn't remain in the teaching of Christ,
doesn't have God. He who remains in the teaching, the same has both
the Father and the Son.
2Jn 1:10
If anyone comes to you, and doesn't bring this teaching, don't
receive him into your house, and don't welcome him,
2Jn 1:11
for he who welcomes him participates in his evil works.
2Jn 1:12
Having many things to write to you, I don't want to do so with paper
and ink, but I hope to come to you, and to speak face to face, that
our joy may be made full.
2Jn 1:13
The children of your chosen sister greet you. Amen.
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.
Jude
Jud 1:1
Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to those who
are called, sanctified by God the Father, and kept for Jesus Christ:
Jud 1:2
Mercy to you and peace and love be multiplied.
Jud 1:3
Beloved, while I was very eager to write to you about our common
salvation, I was constrained to write to you exhorting you to contend
earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the
saints.
Jud 1:4
For there are certain men who crept in secretly, even those who were
long ago written about for this condemnation: ungodly men, turning
the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying our only
Master, God, and Lord, Jesus Christ.
Jud 1:5
Now I desire to remind you, though you already know this, that the
Lord, having saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward
destroyed those who didn't believe.
Jud 1:6
Angels who didn't keep their first domain, but deserted their own
dwelling place, he has kept in everlasting bonds under darkness for
the judgment of the great day.
Jud 1:7
Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them, having, in
the same way as these, given themselves over to sexual immorality and
gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the
punishment of eternal fire.
Jud 1:8
Yet in like manner these also in their dreaming defile the flesh,
despise authority, and slander celestial beings.
Jud 1:9
But Michael, the archangel, when contending with the devil and
arguing about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him an
abusive condemnation, but said, "May the Lord rebuke you!"
Jud 1:10
But these speak evil of whatever things they don't know. What they
understand naturally, like the creatures without reason, they are
destroyed in these things.
Jud 1:11
Woe to them! For they went in the way of Cain, and ran riotously in
the error of Balaam for hire, and perished in Korah's rebellion.
Jud 1:12
These are hidden rocky reefs in your love feasts when they feast with
you, shepherds who without fear feed themselves; clouds without
water, carried along by winds; autumn leaves without fruit, twice
dead, plucked up by the roots;
Jud 1:13
wild waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars,
for whom the blackness of darkness has been reserved forever.
Jud 1:14
About these also Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying,
"Behold, the Lord came with ten thousands of his holy ones,
Jud 1:15
to execute judgment on all, and to convict all the ungodly of all
their works of ungodliness which they have done in an ungodly way,
and of all the hard things which ungodly sinners have spoken against
him."
Jud 1:16
These are murmurers and complainers, walking after their lusts (and
their mouth speaks proud things), showing respect of persons to gain
advantage.
Jud 1:17
But you, beloved, remember the words which have been spoken before by
the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Jud 1:18
They said to you that "In the last time there will be mockers,
walking after their own ungodly lusts."
Jud 1:19
These are they who cause divisions, and are sensual, not having the
Spirit.
Jud 1:20
But you, beloved, keep building up yourselves on your most holy
faith, praying in the Holy Spirit.
Jud 1:21
Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord
Jesus Christ to eternal life.
Jud 1:22
On some have compassion, making a distinction,
Jud 1:23
and some save, snatching them out of the fire with fear, hating even
the clothing stained by the flesh.
Jud 1:24
Now to him who is able to keep them from stumbling, and to present
you faultless before the presence of his glory in great joy,
Jud 1:25
to God our Savior, who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion
and power, both now and forever. Amen.
