Amos 1; Amos 2; Amos 3; Revelation 6

1 These are the words of Amos, one of the shepherds of Tekoa. He perceived these things concerning Israel two years before the earthquake, in the days of Judah's King Uzziah and in the days of Israel's King Jeroboam, Joash's son.

2 He said: The LORD roars from Zion. He shouts from Jerusalem; the pastures of the shepherds wither, and the top of Carmel dries up.

3 The LORD proclaims: For three crimes of Damascus, and for four, I won't hold back the punishment, because they have harvested Gilead with sharp iron tools.

4 I will send down fire on the house of Hazael; it will devour the palaces of Ben-hadad.

5 I will break the fortified gates of Damascus, and eliminate the people from the Aven Valley, including the one who rules from Beth-eden; the people of Aram will be forced to live in Kir,

6 says the LORD. The LORD proclaims: For three crimes of Gaza, and for four, I won't hold back the punishment, because they rounded up entire communities, to hand them over to Edom.

7 I will send down a fire on the wall of Gaza; it will devour Gaza's palaces.

8 I will eliminate the people from Ashdod, the one who rules from Ashkelon. I will turn my hand against Ekron, and the Philistines who remain will perish,

9 says the LORD God. The LORD proclaims: For three crimes of Tyre, and for four, I won't hold back the punishment, because they have delivered up entire communities over to Edom, and neglected their covenantal obligations.

10 So I will send a fire on the wall of Tyre; it will devour their palaces.

11 The LORD proclaims: For three crimes of Edom, and for four, I won't hold back the punishment, because he chased after his brother with the sword, denied all compassion, kept his anger alive, and fueled his wrath forever.

12 So I will send a fire on Teman; it will devour the fortresses of Bozrah.

13 The LORD proclaims: For three crimes of the Ammonites, and for four, I won't hold back the punishment, because they have ripped open pregnant women in Gilead in order to possess more land.

14 So I will start a fire at the wall of Rabbah; the fire will devour its palaces, with a war cry on the day of battle, with strong wind on the day of the storm.

15 Then their king will be taken away, he and his officials together,

1 says the LORD. The LORD proclaims: For three crimes of Moab, and for four, I won't hold back the punishment, because he burned to lime the bones of the king of Edom.

2 So I will send down a fire on Moab; it will devour the palaces of Kerioth. Moab will die in a great uproar, with a war cry, with the sound of the ram's horn.

3 I will remove their judge from them and slay all their officials with him,

4 says the LORD. The LORD proclaims: For three crimes of Judah, and for four, I won't hold back the punishment, because they have rejected the Instruction of the LORD, and haven't kept his laws. They have been led off the right path by the same lies after which their ancestors walked.

5 So I will send a fire on Judah, and it will devour the palaces of Jerusalem.

6 The LORD proclaims: For three crimes of Israel, and for four, I won't hold back the punishment, because they have sold the innocent for silver, and those in need for a pair of sandals.

7 They crush the head of the poor into the dust of the earth, and push the afflicted out of the way. Father and son have intercourse with the same young woman, degrading my holy name.

8 They stretch out beside every altar on garments taken in loan; in the house of their god they drink wine bought with fines they imposed.

9 Yet I destroyed the Amorite before them, whose height was as tall as cedar trees, and whose strength was as strong as oak trees. I destroyed his fruit above and his roots below.

10 Also I brought you up out of the land of Egypt, and led you forty years in the wilderness, to lay claim to the land of the Amorite.

11 I raised up some of your children to be prophets and some of your youth to be nazirites. Isn't this so, people of Israel?

12 says the LORD. But you made the nazirites drink wine, and commanded the prophets, saying, "You won't prophesy."

13 So now I will oppress you, just like a cart is weighed down when it is full of harvested grain.

14 Fast runners will find no refuge; the strong will lose their strength; the mighty will be unable to save their lives.

15 Those who shoot the bow won't survive. Fast runners won't escape; those who ride horses won't save themselves.

16 The bravest warrior will flee away naked in that day,

1 says the LORD. Hear this word that the LORD has spoken against you, people of Israel, against the whole family that I brought out of the land of Egypt:

2 You only have I loved so deeply of all the families of the earth. Therefore, I will punish you for all your wrongdoing.

3 Will two people walk together unless they have agreed to do so?

4 Does a lion roar in the forest when it has no prey? Does a young lion cry out from its den if it has caught nothing?

5 Will a bird fall into a trap on the ground when there is no bait for it? Will a trap spring up from the ground when it has taken nothing?

6 If a ram's horn is blown in a city, won't people tremble? If disaster falls on a city, is it the LORD who has done it?

7 Surely the LORD God does nothing without revealing his secret to his servants the prophets.

8 A lion has roared; who will not fear? The LORD God has spoken; who can but prophesy?

9 Proclaim it to the palaces of Ashdod and to the palaces in the land of Egypt. Say, "Gather yourselves on Mount Samaria, and see the great turmoil in the city, and what violent deeds are inside it."

10 They don't know how to do right, says the LORD— those who store up violence and robbery in their palaces.

11 Therefore, the LORD my God proclaims: An enemy will surround the land; he will bring you down from your protected places, and your palaces will be robbed.

12 The LORD proclaims: Just as the shepherd rescues two legs or the piece of an ear from the mouth of the lion, so will the people of Israel be rescued. Those who live in Samaria will escape with the corner of a bed, and those in Damascus with a piece of a couch.

13 Hear this and speak against the house of Jacob, says the LORD God, the God of heavenly forces:

14 On the day I punish the crimes of Israel, I will also visit the altars of Bethel; the horns of the altar will be cut off and will fall to the ground.

15 I will tear down the winter house as well as the summer house; the houses of ivory will perish; the great houses will be swept away,

1 Then I looked on as the Lamb opened one of the seven seals. I heard one of the four living creatures say in a voice like thunder, "Come!"

2 So I looked, and there was a white horse. Its rider held a bow and was given a crown. And he went forth from victory to victory.

3 When the Lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, "Come!"

4 Out came another horse, fiery red. Its rider was allowed to take peace from the earth so that people would kill each other. He was given a large sword.

5 When he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, "Come!" So I looked, and there was a black horse. Its rider held a balance for weighing in his hand.

6 I heard what sounded like a voice from among the four living creatures. It said, "A quart of wheat for a denarion, and three quarts of barley for a denarion, but don't damage the olive oil and the wine."

7 When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, "Come!"

8 So I looked, and there was a pale green horse. Its rider's name was Death, and the Grave was following right behind. They were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill by sword, famine, disease, and the wild animals of the earth.

9 When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar those who had been slaughtered on account of the word of God and the witness they had given.

10 They cried out with a loud voice, "Holy and true Master, how long will you wait before you pass judgment? How long before you require justice for our blood, which was shed by those who live on earth?"

11 Each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to rest a little longer, until their fellow servants and brothers and sisters—who were about to be killed as they were—were finished.

12 I looked on as he opened the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake. The sun became black as funeral clothing, and the entire moon turned red as blood.

13 The stars of the sky fell to the earth as a fig tree drops its fruit when shaken by a strong wind.

14 The sky disappeared like a scroll being rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved from its place.

15 Then the kings of the earth, the officials and the generals, the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in caves and in the rocks of the mountains.

16 They called to the mountains and the rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of the one seated on the throne and from the Lamb's wrath!

17 The great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?"