1 The words of Amos, awho was among the shepherds1 of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of bUzziah king of Judah and in the days of cJeroboam the son of dJoash, king of Israel, two years2 before the eearthquake.
Judgment on Israel’s Neighbors
2 And he said:
and utters his voice from Jerusalem;
the pastures of the shepherds mourn,
and the top of hCarmel withers.”
3 iThus says the Lord:
“For jthree transgressions of Damascus,
and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,3
because they have threshed Gilead
with threshing sledges of iron.
4 kSo I will send a fire upon the house of lHazael,
and it shall devour the strongholds of mBen-hadad.
5 I will break the gate-bar of Damascus,
and cut off the inhabitants from the Valley of Aven,4
and him who holds the scepter from Beth-eden;
and the people of Syria shall go into exile to nKir,”
says the Lord.
6 oThus says the Lord:
“For three transgressions of pGaza,
and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,
because they carried into exile a whole people
to deliver them up to Edom.
7 So I will send a fire upon the wall of Gaza,
and it shall devour her strongholds.
8 I will cut off the inhabitants from Ashdod,
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.
9 qThus says the Lord:
“For three transgressions of Tyre,
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 Tyre,
and it shall devour her strongholds.”
11 rThus says the Lord:
“For three transgressions of Edom,
and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,
sbecause he pursued his brother with the sword
and cast off all pity,
and his anger tore tperpetually,
and he kept his wrath forever.
12 So I will send a fire upon Teman,
and it shall devour the strongholds of Bozrah.”
13 uThus says the Lord:
“For three transgressions of the Ammonites,
and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,
because they have vripped open pregnant women in Gilead,
that they might enlarge their border.
14 So I will kindle a fire in the wall of Rabbah,
and it shall devour her strongholds,
with shouting on the day of battle,
with a tempest in the day of the whirlwind;
15 and wtheir king shall go into exile,
he and his princes5 together,”
says the Lord.
1 xThus says the Lord:
“For three transgressions of Moab,
and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,6
because he burned to lime
the bones of the king of Edom.
2 So I will send a fire upon Moab,
and it shall devour the strongholds of Kerioth,
and Moab shall die amid uproar,
amid shouting and the sound of the trumpet;
3 I will cut off the ruler from its midst,
and will kill all its princes7 with him,”
says the Lord.
Judgment on Judah
4 Thus says the Lord:
“For three transgressions of Judah,
and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,
because they have yrejected the law of the Lord,
and have not kept his statutes,
but their lies have led them astray,
those after which their fathers walked.
5 So zI will send a fire upon Judah,
and it shall devour the strongholds of Jerusalem.”
Judgment on Israel
6 Thus says the Lord:
“For three transgressions of Israel,
and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,
because they asell the righteous bfor silver,
and the needy for a pair of sandals—
7 those who ctrample the head of the poor into the dust of the earth
and turn aside the way of the afflicted;
a man and his father go in to the same girl,
so that my holy name is profaned;
8 they lay themselves down beside every altar
on garments taken in dpledge,
and in the house of their God they drink
the wine of those who have been fined.
9 “Yet it was I who destroyed the Amorite before them,
ewhose height was like the height of the cedars
and who was as strong as the oaks;
I destroyed his fruit above
fand his roots beneath.
10 Also it was I who brought you up out of the land of Egypt
and led you forty years in the wilderness,
to possess the land of the Amorite.
11 And I raised up some of your sons for prophets,
and some of your young men for gNazirites.
Is it not indeed so, O people of Israel?”
declares the Lord.
12 “But you made the Nazirites drink wine,
and commanded the prophets,
saying, h‘You shall not prophesy.’
13 “Behold, I will press you down in your place,
as a cart full of sheaves presses down.
14 Flight shall perish from the swift,
and the strong shall not retain his strength,
nor shall the mighty save his life;
15 he who handles the bow shall not stand,
and he who is swift of foot shall not save himself,
nor 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
1 Hear this word that the Lord has spoken against you, O people of Israel, against the whole ifamily that I brought up out of the land of Egypt:
2 “You only have I known
jof all the families of the earth;
therefore I will punish you
for all your iniquities.
3 “Do two walk together,
unless they have agreed to meet?
4 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?
5 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?
6 Is a trumpet blown in a city,
and the people are not afraid?
Does disaster come to a city,
unless the Lord has done it?
7 “For the Lord God does nothing
without revealing his secret
to his servants the prophets.
8 kThe lion has roared;
who will not fear?
The Lord God has spoken;
lwho can but prophesy?”
9 Proclaim to the strongholds in Ashdod
and to the strongholds in the land of Egypt,
and say, “Assemble yourselves on the mmountains of Samaria,
and see the great tumults within her,
and the oppressed in her midst.”
10 “They do not know how to do right,” declares the Lord,
“those who store up violence and robbery in their strongholds.”
11 Therefore thus says the Lord God:
n“An adversary shall surround the land
and bring down8 your defenses from you,
and your strongholds shall be plundered.”
12 Thus says the Lord: “As the shepherd rescues from the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear, so shall the people of Israel who dwell in Samaria be rescued, with the corner of a ocouch and part9 of a bed.
13 “Hear, and testify against the house of Jacob,”
declares the Lord God, the God of hosts,
14 “that on the day I punish Israel for his transgressions,
I will punish the paltars of Bethel,
and the horns of the altar shall be cut off
and fall to the ground.
15 I will strike the qwinter house along with the summer house,
and the houses of rivory shall perish,
and the sgreat houses10 shall come to an end,”
declares the Lord.
The Seven Seals
1 Now I watched when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures say with a voice like thunder, “Come!” 2 And I looked, and behold, a vwhite horse! And its rider had a bow, and a crown was given to him, and he came out wconquering, and to conquer.
3 When he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” 4 And out came another horse, xbright red. Its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that people should slay one another, and he was given a great sword.
5 When he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come!” And I looked, and behold, a yblack horse! And its rider had a pair of scales in his hand. 6 And I heard what seemed to be a voice in the midst of the four living creatures, saying, z“A quart1 of wheat for a denarius,2 and three quarts of barley for a denarius, and ado not harm the oil and wine!”
7 When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come!” 8 And I looked, and behold, a bpale horse! And its rider’s name was Death, cand Hades followed him. And they were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill dwith sword and with famine and with pestilence and by wild beasts of the earth.
9 When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the ealtar fthe souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne. 10 They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, gholy and true, how long before you will judge and havenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” 11 Then they were each given a iwhite robe and told to jrest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers3 should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been.
12 When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great kearthquake, and lthe sun became mblack as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood, 13 and nthe stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale. 14 oThe sky vanished like a scroll that is being prolled up, and qevery 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, rhid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, 16 calling to the mountains and rocks, s“Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, 17 for the tgreat day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?”
