Warning Through Visions

1Thus the Lord God showed me, and behold, He was forming a locust-swarm when the spring crop began to sprout. And behold, the spring crop was after the king’s mowing. 2And it came about, when it had finished eating the vegetation of the land, that I said,

“Lord God, please pardon!

How can Jacob stand,

For he is small?”

3The Lord changed His mind about this.

“It shall not be,” said the Lord.

4Thus the Lord God showed me, and behold, the Lord God was calling to contend with them by fire, and it consumed the great deep and began to consume the farm land. 5Then I said,

“Lord God, please stop!

How can Jacob stand, for he is small?”

6The Lord changed His mind about this.

“This too shall not be,” said the Lord God.

7Thus He showed me, and behold, the Lord was standing by a vertical wall with a plumb line in His hand. 8The Lord said to me, “What do you see, Amos?” And I said, “A plumb line.” Then the Lord said,

“Behold I am about to put a plumb line

In the midst of My people Israel.

I will spare them no longer.

9The high places of Isaac will be desolated

And the sanctuaries of Israel laid waste.

Then I will rise up against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.”

Amos Accused, Answers

10Then Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, sent word to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, “Amos has conspired against you in the midst of the house of Israel; the land is unable to endure all his words. 11For thus Amos says, ‘Jeroboam will die by the sword and Israel will certainly go from its land into exile.’ ” 12Then Amaziah said to Amos, “Go, you seer, flee away to the land of Judah and there eat bread and there do your prophesying! 13But no longer prophesy at Bethel, for it is a sanctuary of the king and a royal residence.”

14Then Amos replied to Amaziah, “I am not a prophet, nor am I the son of a prophet; for I am a herdsman and a grower of sycamore figs. 15But the Lord took me from following the flock and the Lord said to me, ‘Go prophesy to My people Israel.’ 16Now hear the word of the Lord: you are saying, ‘You shall not prophesy against Israel nor shall you speak against the house of Isaac.’ 17Therefore, thus says the Lord, ‘Your wife will become a harlot in the city, your sons and your daughters will fall by the sword, your land will be parceled up by a measuring line and you yourself will die upon unclean soil. Moreover, Israel will certainly go from its land into exile.’ ”

Basket of Fruit and Israel’s Captivity

1Thus the Lord God showed me, and behold, there was a basket of summer fruit. 2He said, “What do you see, Amos?” And I said, “A basket of summer fruit.” Then the Lord said to me, “The end has come for My people Israel. I will spare them no longer. 3The songs of the palace will turn to wailing in that day,” declares the Lord God. “Many will be the corpses; in every place they will cast them forth in silence.”

4Hear this, you who trample the needy, to do away with the humble of the land, 5saying,

“When will the new moon be over,

So that we may sell grain,

And the sabbath, that we may open the wheat market,

To make the bushel smaller and the shekel bigger,

And to cheat with dishonest scales,

6So as to buy the helpless for money

And the needy for a pair of sandals,

And that we may sell the refuse of the wheat?”

7The Lord has sworn by the pride of Jacob,

“Indeed, I will never forget any of their deeds.

8Because of this will not the land quake

And everyone who dwells in it mourn?

Indeed, all of it will rise up like the Nile,

And it will be tossed about

And subside like the Nile of Egypt.

9It will come about in that day,” declares the Lord God,

“That I will make the sun go down at noon

And make the earth dark in broad daylight.

10Then I will turn your festivals into mourning

And all your songs into lamentation;

And I will bring sackcloth on everyone’s loins

And baldness on every head.

And I will make it like a time of mourning for an only son,

And the end of it will be like a bitter day.

11“Behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord God,

“When I will send a famine on the land,

Not a famine for bread or a thirst for water,

But rather for hearing the words of the Lord.

12People will stagger from sea to sea

And from the north even to the east;

They will go to and fro to seek the word of the Lord,

But they will not find it.

13In that day the beautiful virgins

And the young men will faint from thirst.

14As for those who swear by the guilt of Samaria,

Who say, ‘As your god lives, O Dan,’

And, ‘As the way of Beersheba lives,’

They will fall and not rise again.”

God’s Judgment Unavoidable

1I saw the Lord standing beside the altar, and He said,

“Smite the capitals so that the thresholds will shake,

And break them on the heads of them all!

Then I will slay the rest of them with the sword;

They will not have a fugitive who will flee,

Or a refugee who will escape.

2Though they dig into Sheol,

From there will My hand take them;

And though they ascend to heaven,

From there will I bring them down.

3Though they hide on the summit of Carmel,

I will search them out and take them from there;

And though they conceal themselves from My sight on the floor of the sea,

From there I will command the serpent and it will bite them.

4And though they go into captivity before their enemies,

From there I will command the sword that it slay them,

And I will set My eyes against them for evil and not for good.”

5The Lord God of hosts,

The One who touches the land so that it melts,

And all those who dwell in it mourn,

And all of it rises up like the Nile

And subsides like the Nile of Egypt;

6The One who builds His upper chambers in the heavens

And has founded His vaulted dome over the earth,

He who calls for the waters of the sea

And pours them out on the face of the earth,

The Lord is His name.

7“Are you not as the sons of Ethiopia to Me,

O sons of Israel?” declares the Lord.

“Have I not brought up Israel from the land of Egypt,

And the Philistines from Caphtor and the Arameans from Kir?

8Behold, the eyes of the Lord God are on the sinful kingdom,

And I will destroy it from the face of the earth;

Nevertheless, I will not totally destroy the house of Jacob,”

Declares the Lord.

9“For behold, I am commanding,

And I will shake the house of Israel among all nations

As grain is shaken in a sieve,

But not a kernel will fall to the ground.

10All the sinners of My people will die by the sword,

Those who say, ‘The calamity will not overtake or confront us.’

The Restoration of Israel

11“In that day I will raise up the fallen booth of David,

And wall up its breaches;

I will also raise up its ruins

And rebuild it as in the days of old;

12That they may possess the remnant of Edom

And all the nations who are called by My name,”

Declares the Lord who does this.

13“Behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord,

“When the plowman will overtake the reaper

And the treader of grapes him who sows seed;

When the mountains will drip sweet wine

And all the hills will be dissolved.

14Also I will restore the captivity of My people Israel,

And they will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them;

They will also plant vineyards and drink their wine,

And make gardens and eat their fruit.

15I will also plant them on their land,

And they will not again be rooted out from their land

Which I have given them,”

Says the Lord your God.

Message to Philadelphia

7“And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write:

He who is holy, who is true, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, and who shuts and no one opens, says this:

8‘I know your deeds. Behold, I have put before you an open door which no one can shut, because you have a little power, and have kept My word, and have not denied My name. 9Behold, I will cause those of the synagogue of Satan, who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie—I will make them come and bow down at your feet, and make them know that I have loved you. 10Because you have kept the word of My perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth. 11I am coming quickly; hold fast what you have, so that no one will take your crown. 12He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will not go out from it anymore; and I will write on him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God, and My new name. 13He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’

Message to Laodicea

14“To the angel of the church in Laodicea write:

The Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God, says this:

15‘I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot. 16So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth. 17Because you say, “I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,” and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked, 18I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see. 19Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent. 20Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me. 21He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. 22He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’ ”

PSALM 131

Childlike Trust in the Lord.

A Song of Ascents, of David.

1O Lord, my heart is not proud, nor my eyes haughty;

Nor do I involve myself in great matters,

Or in things too difficult for me.

2Surely I have composed and quieted my soul;

Like a weaned child rests against his mother,

My soul is like a weaned child within me.

3O Israel, hope in the Lord

From this time forth and forever.

23A man’s pride will bring him low,

But a humble spirit will obtain honor.