Amos 1–3; Revelation 6

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Amos 1–3

The words of Amos, who was among the ashepherds1 of bTekoa, which he saw concerning Israel cin the days of dUzziah king of Judah and in the days of eJeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel, two years2 before fthe earthquake.

Judgment on Israel’s Neighbors

And he said:

gThe Lord roars from Zion

and utters his voice from Jerusalem;

hthe pastures of the shepherds mourn,

and the itop of jCarmel withers.

Thus says the Lord:

kFor three transgressions of lDamascus,

and for four, lI will not revoke the punishment,3

because they have threshed mGilead

with threshing sledges of iron.

nSo I will send a fire upon the house of oHazael,

and it shall devour the strongholds of oBen-hadad.

I will pbreak the gate-bar of lDamascus,

and cut off the inhabitants from the Valley of qAven,4

and him who holds the scepter from rBeth-eden;

and the people of sSyria shall go into exile to tKir,

says the Lord.

Thus says the Lord:

kFor three transgressions of uGaza,

and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,

because vthey carried into exile a whole people

to deliver them up to Edom.

So I will send a fire upon the wall of uGaza,

and it shall devour her strongholds.

I will cut off the inhabitants from wAshdod,

and him who holds the scepter from Ashkelon;

I will turn my hand against Ekron,

and the remnant of the Philistines shall perish,

says the Lord God.

Thus says the Lord:

kFor three transgressions of xTyre,

and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,

because they delivered up a whole people to Edom,

and did not remember the covenant of brotherhood.

10  So I will send a fire upon the wall of xTyre,

and it shall devour her strongholds.

11 Thus says the Lord:

kFor three transgressions of yEdom,

and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,

ybecause he pursued his brother with the sword

zand cast off all pity,

aand his anger tore perpetually,

aand he kept his wrath forever.

12  So I will send a fire upon bTeman,

and it shall devour the strongholds of cBozrah.

13 Thus says the Lord:

kFor three transgressions of the dAmmonites,

and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,

because ethey have ripped open pregnant women in fGilead,

that they might enlarge their border.

14  So I will kindle a fire in the wall of gRabbah,

hand it shall devour her strongholds,

with shouting on the day of battle,

hwith a tempest in the day of the whirlwind;

15  and itheir king shall go into exile,

he and his princes5 together,

says the Lord.

Thus says the Lord:

kFor three transgressions of jMoab,

and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,6

because khe burned to lime

the bones of the king of Edom.

So I will send a fire upon Moab,

and it shall devour the strongholds of lKerioth,

and Moab shall die amid uproar,

amid shouting and the sound of the trumpet;

mI will cut off the ruler from its midst,

and will kill mall its princes7 with him,

says the Lord.

Judgment on Judah

Thus says the Lord:

nFor three transgressions of Judah,

and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,

because othey have rejected the law of the Lord,

and have not kept his statutes,

but ptheir lies have led them astray,

those after which their fathers walked.

So qI will send a fire upon Judah,

and it shall devour the strongholds of Jerusalem.

Judgment on Israel

Thus says the Lord:

nFor three transgressions of Israel,

and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,

because rthey sell the righteous for ssilver,

and the needy for a pair of sandals

those who trample the head of the poor tinto the dust of the earth

and uturn aside the way of the afflicted;

va man and his father go in to the same girl,

so that my holy name is profaned;

they lay themselves down beside every altar

on garments wtaken in pledge,

and in the house of their God they drink

the wine of those who have been fined.

Yet xit was I who destroyed the Amorite before them,

ywhose height was like the height of the cedars

and who was as strong as the oaks;

zI destroyed his fruit above

and his roots beneath.

10  aAlso it was I who brought you up out of the land of Egypt

band led you forty years in the wilderness,

xto possess the land of the Amorite.

11  And I raised up some of your sons for prophets,

and some of your young men for cNazirites.

Is it not indeed so, O people of Israel?

declares the Lord.

12  But you made the Nazirites ddrink wine,

and commanded the prophets,

saying, eYou shall not prophesy.

13  Behold, I will press you down in your place,

as a cart full of sheaves presses down.

14  fFlight shall perish from the swift,

fand the strong shall not retain his strength,

gnor shall the mighty save his life;

15  he who handles the bow shall not stand,

and he who is hswift of foot shall not save himself,

inor shall he who rides the horse save his life;

16  and he who is stout of heart among the mighty

shall flee away naked in that day,

declares the Lord.

Israel’s Guilt and Punishment

jHear this word that the Lord has spoken against you, O people of Israel, against the whole family that I brought up out of the land of Egypt:

kYou only have I known

of all the families of the earth;

ltherefore I will punish you

for all your iniquities.

Do two walk together,

unless they have agreed to meet?

Does a lion roar in the forest,

when he has no prey?

Does a young lion cry out from his den,

if he has taken nothing?

Does a bird fall in a snare on the earth,

when there is no trap for it?

Does a snare spring up from the ground,

when it has taken nothing?

mIs a trumpet blown in a city,

and the people are not afraid?

nDoes disaster come to a city,

unless the Lord has done it?

For the Lord God does nothing

owithout revealing his secret

to his servants the prophets.

The lion has roared;

who will not fear?

pThe Lord God has spoken;

who can but prophesy?

Proclaim to the strongholds in qAshdod

and to the strongholds in the land of Egypt,

and say, Assemble yourselves on rthe mountains of Samaria,

and see the great tumults within her,

and sthe oppressed in her midst.

10  They do not know how to do right, declares the Lord,

tthose who store up violence and robbery in their strongholds.

11 Therefore thus says the Lord God:

uAn adversary shall surround the land

and bring down8 your defenses from you,

and vyour strongholds shall be plundered.

12 Thus says the Lord: wAs the shepherd rescues from the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear, xso shall the people of Israel ywho dwell in Samaria be rescued, with the corner of a couch and part9 of a bed.

13  Hear, zand testify against the house of Jacob,

declares the Lord God, athe God of hosts,

14  that on the day I punish Israel for his transgressions,

bI will punish the altars of Bethel,

and cthe horns of the altar shall be cut off

and fall to the ground.

15  dI will strike ethe winter house along with fthe summer house,

and gthe houses of ivory shall perish,

and the great houses10 shall come to an end,

declares the Lord.


Revelation 6

The Seven Seals

Now I watched when the Lamb opened one of ethe seven seals, and I heard fone of the four living creatures say gwith a voice like thunder, hCome! And I looked, and behold, ia white horse! And jits rider had a bow, and ka crown was given to him, and he came out lconquering, and to conquer.

When he opened the second seal, I heard mthe second living creature say, Come! And out came another horse, nbright red. Its rider was permitted oto take peace from the earth, so that people should slay one another, and he was given a great sword.

When he opened the third seal, I heard the mthird living creature say, Come! And I looked, and behold, pa black horse! And its rider had a pair of scales in his hand. And I heard what seemed to be a voice in the midst of the four living creatures, saying, qA quart1 of wheat for a denarius,2 and three quarts of barley for a denarius, and rdo not harm the oil and wine!

When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of mthe fourth living creature say, Come! And I looked, and behold, sa pale horse! And its rider’s name was Death, and Hades followed him. And they were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill twith sword and with famine and with pestilence and uby wild beasts of the earth.

When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under vthe altar wthe souls of those who had been slain xfor the word of God and for ythe witness they had borne. 10 They cried out with a loud voice, O Sovereign Lord, zholy and true, ahow long bbefore you will judge and cavenge our blood on dthose who dwell on the earth? 11 Then they were each given ea white robe and ftold to rest a little longer, guntil the number of their fellow servants and their brothers3 hshould be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been.

12 When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, ithere was a great earthquake, and jthe sun became black as ksackcloth, the full moon became like blood, 13 and lthe stars of the sky fell to the earth mas the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale. 14 nThe sky vanished mlike a scroll that is being rolled up, and oevery mountain and island was removed from its place. 15 Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave4 and free, phid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, 16 qcalling to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us and hide us from the face of rhim who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, 17 for sthe great day of their wrath has come, and twho can stand?