Amos 4; Amos 5; Amos 6; Revelation 7

1 Listen to the LORD's message, you women who live on the hill of Samaria. You treat poor people badly. You crush those who are in need. You say to your husbands, "Bring us some drinks!" But you are already as fat as the cows in Bashan.

2 The LORD and King has taken an oath in his own holy name. He says, "You can be sure that the time will come when your enemies will put hooks in your faces. They will lead every one of you away with fishhooks.

3 Each of you will go straight out through a gap in the wall. You will be thrown out of the city on the hill where you crush others," announces the Lord.

4 "People of Samaria, go to Bethel and sin! Go to Gilgal! Sin there even more! Bring your sacrifices every morning. Every third year, bring a tenth of everything you produce.

5 Bake some bread with yeast. Burn it as a thank offering. Brag about the offerings you freely give. That is what you Israelites love to do," announces the LORD and King.

6 "I made sure your stomachs were empty in every city. You did not have enough bread in any of your towns. In spite of that, you still have not returned to me," announces the Lord.

7 "I also held rain back from you. The time to harvest crops was still three months away. I sent rain on one town. But I held it back from another. One field had rain. Another did not. So it dried up.

8 People wandered from town to town to look for water. But they did not get enough to drink. In spite of that, you still have not returned to me," announces the Lord.

9 "Many times I struck your gardens and vineyards. I sent hot winds to dry them up completely. Locusts ate up your fig and olive trees. In spite of that, you still have not returned to me," announces the Lord.

10 "I sent plagues on you, just as I did on Egypt. I killed your young men with swords. I also let the horses you had captured be killed. I filled your noses with the bad smell of your camps. In spite of that, you still have not returned to me," announces the Lord.

11 "I destroyed some of you, just as I did Sodom and Gomorrah. You were like a burning stick that was pulled out of the fire. In spite of that, you still have not returned to me," announces the Lord.

12 "People of Israel, I will punish you. Because I will do that to you, prepare to meet your God!"

13 The LORD forms the mountains. He creates the wind. He makes his thoughts known to human beings. He turns sunrise into darkness. He rules over the highest places on earth. His name is The LORD God Who Rules Over All.

1 People of Israel, listen to the LORD's message. Hear my song of sadness about you. I say,

2 "The people of Israel have fallen. They will never get up again. They are deserted in their own land. No one can lift them up."

3 The LORD and King says, "A thousand soldiers will march out from a city in Israel. But only a hundred will return. A hundred soldiers will march out from a town. But only ten will come back."

4 The LORD speaks to the people of Israel. He says, "Look to me and live.

5 Do not look to Bethel. Do not go to Gilgal. Do not travel to Beersheba. The people of Gilgal will be taken away as prisoners. Nothing will be left of Bethel."

6 Israel, look to the LORD and live. If you don't, he will sweep through the people of Joseph like a fire. It will burn everything up. And Bethel won't have anyone to put it out.

7 You turn what is fair into something bitter. What is right you throw down to the ground.

8 The LORD made the Pleiades and Orion. He turns darkness into sunrise. He makes the day fade into night. He sends for the waters in the clouds. Then he pours them out on the surface of the land. His name is The Lord.

9 He destroys places of safety. He tears down cities that have high walls around them.

10 Israel, you hate those who do what is right in court. You can't stand those who tell the truth.

11 You walk all over poor people. You make them give you grain. You have built stone houses. But you won't live in them. You have planted fruitful vineyards. But you won't drink the wine they produce.

12 I know how many crimes you have committed. You have sinned far too much. You crush those who do what is right. You accept money from people who want special favors. You take away the rights of poor people in the courts.

13 So those who are wise keep quiet in times like these. That's because the times are evil.

14 Look to what is good, not to what is evil. Then you will live. And the LORD God who rules over all will be with you, just as you say he is.

15 Hate what is evil. Love what is good. Do what is fair in the courts. Perhaps the LORD God who rules over all will show you his favor. After all, you are the only ones left in the family line of Joseph.

16 The LORD God rules over all. The Lord says, "People will sob in all of the streets. They will be very sad in every market place. Even farmers will be told to cry loudly. People will sob over the dead.

17 Workers will cry in all of the vineyards. That is because I will punish you," says the Lord.

18 How terrible it will be for you who long for the day of the Lord! Why do you want it to come? That day will be dark, not light.

19 It will be like a man running away from a lion only to meet a bear. He enters his house and rests his hand on a wall only to be bitten by a snake.

20 The day of the LORD will be dark, not light. It will be very black. There won't be a ray of sunlight anywhere.

21 The LORD says, "I hate your holy feasts. I can't stand them. I hate it when you gather together.

22 You bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings. But I will not accept them. You bring your best friendship offerings. But I will not even look at them.

23 Take the noise of your songs away! I will not listen to the music of your harps.

24 I want you to treat others fairly. So let fair treatment roll on just as a river does! Always do what is right. Let right living flow along like a stream that never runs dry!

25 "People of Israel, did you bring me sacrifices and offerings for 40 years in the desert?

26 Yes. But you have honored the place where your king worshiped other gods. You have carried the stands the statues of your gods were on. You have lifted up the banners of the stars you worship as gods. You made all of those things for yourselves.

27 So I will send you away as prisoners beyond Damascus," says the Lord. His name is God Who Rules Over All.

1 How terrible it will be for you men who are so contented on Mount Zion! How terrible for you who feel secure on the hill of Samaria! You are famous men from the greatest nation. The people of Israel come to you for help and advice.

2 Go to the city of Calneh. Look at it. Go from there to the great city of Hamath. Then go down to Gath in Philistia. Are those places better off than your two kingdoms? Is their land larger than yours?

3 You are trying to avoid the time when trouble will come. But you are only bringing closer the Assyrian rule of terror.

4 You lie down on beds that are decorated with ivory. You rest on your couches. You eat the best lambs and the fattest calves.

5 You pluck away on your harps as David did. You play new songs on musical instruments.

6 You drink wine by the bowlful. You use the finest lotions. But Joseph's people will soon be destroyed. And you aren't even sad about it.

7 So you will be among the first to be taken away as prisoners. You won't be able to enjoy good food. You won't lie around on couches anymore.

8 The LORD and King has taken an oath in his own name. He is the LORD God who rules over all. He announces, "I hate the pride of Jacob's people. I can't stand their forts. I will hand the city of Samaria and everything in it over to their enemies."

9 Ten men might be left in one house. If they are, they will die there.

10 Relatives might come to burn the dead bodies. If they do, they'll have to carry them out of the house first. They might ask someone still hiding there, "Is anyone here with you?" If the answer is no, the relatives will say, "Be quiet! We must not pray in the LORD's name."

11 The LORD has already given an order. He will smash large houses to pieces. He will crush small houses to bits.

12 Horses don't run on rocky ground. People don't plow there with oxen. But you have turned fair treatment into poison. You have turned the fruit of right living into bitterness.

13 You are happy because you captured the town of Lo Debar. You say, "We were strong enough to take Karnaim too."

14 But the LORD God rules over all. He announces, "People of Israel, I will stir up a nation against you. They will crush you from Lebo Hamath all the way down to the Arabah Valley."

1 After this I saw four angels. They were standing at the four corners of the earth. They were holding back the four winds of the earth. This kept the winds from blowing on the land or on the sea or on any tree.

2 Then I saw another angel coming up from the east. He had the seal of the living God. He called out in a loud voice to the four angels who had been allowed to harm the land and the sea.

3 "Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees," he said. "Wait until we mark with a seal the foreheads of those who serve our God."

4 Then I heard how many people were sealed. There were 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel.

5 From the tribe of Judah, 12,000 were sealed. From the tribe of Reuben, 12,000. From the tribe of Gad, 12,000.

6 From the tribe of Asher, 12,000. From the tribe of Naphtali, 12,000. From the tribe of Manasseh, 12,000.

7 From the tribe of Simeon, 12,000. From the tribe of Levi, 12,000. From the tribe of Issachar, 12,000.

8 From the tribe of Zebulun, 12,000. From the tribe of Joseph, 12,000. From the tribe of Benjamin, 12,000.

9 After this I looked, and there in front of me was a huge crowd of people. They stood in front of the throne and in front of the Lamb. There were so many that no one could count them. They came from every nation, tribe, people and language. They were wearing white robes. In their hands they were holding palm branches.

10 They cried out in a loud voice, "Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne. Salvation also belongs to the Lamb."

11 All the angels were standing around the throne. They were standing around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces in front of the throne and worshiped God.

12 They said, "Amen! May praise and glory and wisdom be given to our God for ever and ever. Give him thanks and honor and power and strength. Amen!"

13 Then one of the elders spoke to me. "Who are these people dressed in white robes?" he asked. "Where did they come from?"

14 I answered, "Sir, you know." He said, "They are the ones who have come out of the time of terrible suffering. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

15 So "they are in front of the throne of God. They serve him day and night in his temple. The One who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them.

16 Never again will they be hungry. Never again will they be thirsty. The sun will not beat down on them. The heat of the desert will not harm them.

17 The Lamb, who is at the center of the area around the throne, will be their shepherd. He will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."