Amos 9; Obadiah 1; James 2; James 3

Amos 9

1 I saw the Lord standing by the altar, and he said: Strike the tops of the pillars so that the foundations shake. Cut off everyone's head. I will kill with a sword all who are left. None of them will be able to get away. None of them will be able to escape.

2 Even if they dig their way into Sheol, my hand will take them from there. Even if they go up to heaven, I will bring them down from there.

3 Even if they hide on top of Mount Carmel, I will look for them and take them from there. Even if they hide from me at the bottom of the sea, I will command a sea snake to bite them.

4 Even if they go into exile ahead of their enemies, I will command a sword to kill them. I will keep my eyes on them so that I can bring disaster on them and not help them.

5 The Almighty LORD of Armies touches the earth. It quakes, and all who live on it mourn. All of it rises like the Nile and sinks like Egypt's river.

6 The one who builds stairs up to heaven and sets their foundation on the earth, the one who calls for the water in the sea and pours it over the face of the earth-- His name is the LORD.

7 You people of Israel are like the people from Sudan, says the LORD. Didn't I bring Israel from Egypt? Didn't I bring the Philistines from Crete and the Arameans from Kir?

8 I, the Almighty LORD, have my eyes on this sinful kingdom. I will wipe it off the face of the earth. But I won't totally destroy the descendants of Jacob, declares the LORD.

9 I'm going to give the order. I will sift the nation of Israel out of all the nations as if I were using a sieve. Not one pebble will fall to the ground.

10 All the sinners among my people are thinking, "Destruction will not catch up to us or run into us." In spite of this, they will be killed with swords.

11 On that day I will set up David's fallen tent. I will repair the holes in it. I will restore its ruined places. I will rebuild them as they were a long time ago.

12 They will capture the few survivors of Edom and all the other nations that were under my authority, declares the LORD, who will do these things.

13 The days are going to come, declares the LORD, when the one who plows will catch up to the one who harvests, and the one who stomps on grapes will catch up to the one who plants. New wine will drip from the mountains and flow from all the hills.

14 I will restore my people Israel. They will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them. They will plant vineyards and drink the wine from them. They will plant gardens and eat their fruit.

15 I will plant the people of Israel in their land, and they won't be uprooted again from the land that I gave them, says the LORD your God.

Obadiah 1

1 This is the vision of Obadiah. This is what the Almighty LORD says about Edom: We have heard a message from the LORD. A messenger was sent among the nations to say, "Get ready! Let's go to war against Edom."

2 "Edom, I will make you the smallest of nations. Others will despise you.

3 Your arrogance has deceived you. You live on rocky cliffs. You make your home up high. You say to yourself, 'No one can bring me down to earth.'

4 Even though you fly high like an eagle and build your nest among the stars, I will bring you down from there," declares the LORD.

5 "If thieves or looters come to you during the night, won't they steal only until they've had enough? You will be ruined! If people come to pick your grapes, won't they leave a few grapes behind?

6 But you, Esau, will lose everything. Even your hidden treasures will be looted.

7 All your allies will force you to leave your land. The people who are at peace with you will deceive you. Those who eat food with you will set traps for you, and you won't even know about it.

8 "On that day I will destroy the wise people in Edom and take wisdom away from Esau's mountain," declares the LORD.

9 "Teman, your warriors will be terrified. Everyone on Esau's mountain will be slaughtered.

10 "Because of the violence you did to Jacob, your relative, you will be covered with shame. You will be destroyed forever.

11 While you stood there doing nothing, strangers carried off Jacob's wealth. Foreigners entered his gates and threw dice for Jerusalem. You acted like one of them.

12 Don't gloat over your relative's misfortune or be happy when the people of Judah are destroyed. Don't brag so much when they're in distress.

13 Don't march through the gates of my people when disaster strikes or gloat over their misery when disaster strikes. Don't take their wealth when disaster strikes.

14 Don't stand at the crossroads to kill their refugees. Don't hand over their survivors when they're in distress.

15 "The day of the LORD is near for all nations. Edom, you will be treated as you have treated others. You will get back what you have given.

16 As you, Israel, drank on my holy mountain, so all nations will drink in turn. They will drink and guzzle down everything in it. They will be like those who have never existed.

17 "But refugees will live on Mount Zion. It will be holy. The descendants of Jacob will get back their possessions.

18 The descendants of Jacob will be like a fire. The descendants of Joseph will be like a flame. But the descendants of Esau will be like straw. They will be burned and destroyed. There will be no one left among the descendants of Esau." The LORD has spoken.

19 "People from the Negev will take possession of Esau's mountain. People from the foothills will take possession of Philistia. They will take possession of the lands of Ephraim and Samaria, and [the descendants of] Benjamin will take possession of Gilead.

20 Exiles from Israel will take possession of Canaan. They will possess land as far as Zarephath. Exiles from Jerusalem who are in Sepharad will take possession of the cities in the Negev.

21 Those who are victorious will come from Mount Zion to rule Esau's mountain. The kingdom will belong to the LORD."

James 2

1 My brothers and sisters, practice your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ by not favoring one person over another.

2 For example, two men come to your worship service. One man is wearing gold rings and fine clothes; the other man, who is poor, is wearing shabby clothes.

3 Suppose you give special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say to him, "Please have a seat." But you say to the poor man, "Stand over there," or "Sit on the floor at my feet."

4 Aren't you discriminating against people and using a corrupt standard to make judgments?

5 Listen, my dear brothers and sisters! Didn't God choose poor people in the world to become rich in faith and to receive the kingdom that he promised to those who love him?

6 Yet, you show no respect to poor people. Don't rich people oppress you and drag you into court?

7 Don't they curse the good name [of Jesus], the name that was used to bless you?

8 You are doing right if you obey this law from the highest authority: "Love your neighbor as you love yourself."

9 If you favor one person over another, you're sinning, and this law convicts you of being disobedient.

10 If someone obeys all of God's laws except one, that person is guilty of breaking all of them.

11 After all, the one who said, "Never commit adultery," is the same one who said, "Never murder." If you do not commit adultery but you murder, you become a person who disobeys God's laws.

12 Talk and act as people who are going to be judged by laws that bring freedom.

13 No mercy will be shown to those who show no mercy to others. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

14 My brothers and sisters, what good does it do if someone claims to have faith but doesn't do any good things? Can this kind of faith save him?

15 Suppose a believer, whether a man or a woman, needs clothes or food

16 and one of you tells that person, "God be with you! Stay warm, and make sure you eat enough." If you don't provide for that person's physical needs, what good does it do?

17 In the same way, faith by itself is dead if it doesn't cause you to do any good things.

18 Another person might say, "You have faith, but I do good things." Show me your faith apart from the good things you do. I will show you my faith by the good things I do.

19 You believe that there is one God. That's fine! The demons also believe that, and they tremble with fear.

20 You fool! Do you have to be shown that faith which does nothing is useless?

21 Didn't our ancestor Abraham receive God's approval as a result of what he did when he offered his son Isaac as a sacrifice on the altar?

22 You see that Abraham's faith and what he did worked together. His faith was shown to be genuine by what he did.

23 The Scripture passage came true. It says, "Abraham believed God, and that faith was regarded by God to be his approval of Abraham." So Abraham was called God's friend.

24 You see that a person receives God's approval because of what he does, not only because of what he believes.

25 The same is true of the prostitute Rahab who welcomed the spies and sent them away on another road. She received God's approval because of what she did.

26 A body that doesn't breathe is dead. In the same way faith that does nothing is dead.

James 3

1 Brothers and sisters, not many of you should become teachers. You know that we who teach will be judged more severely.

2 All of us make a lot of mistakes. If someone doesn't make any mistakes when he speaks, he would be perfect. He would be able to control everything he does.

3 We put bits in the mouths of horses to make them obey us, and we have control over everything they do.

4 The same thing is true for ships. They are very big and are driven by strong winds. Yet, by using small rudders, pilots steer ships wherever they want them to go.

5 In the same way the tongue is a small part of the body, but it can brag about doing important things. A large forest can be set on fire by a little flame.

6 The tongue is that kind of flame. It is a world of evil among the parts of our bodies, and it completely contaminates our bodies. The tongue sets our lives on fire, and is itself set on fire from hell.

7 People have tamed all kinds of animals, birds, reptiles, and sea creatures.

8 Yet, no one can tame the tongue. It is an uncontrollable evil filled with deadly poison.

9 With our tongues we praise our Lord and Father. Yet, with the same tongues we curse people, who were created in God's likeness.

10 Praise and curses come from the same mouth. My brothers and sisters, this should not happen!

11 Do clean and polluted water flow out of the same spring?

12 My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree produce olives? Can a grapevine produce figs? In the same way, a pool of salt water can't produce fresh water.

13 Do any of you have wisdom and insight? Show this by living the right way with the humility that comes from wisdom.

14 But if you are bitterly jealous and filled with self-centered ambition, don't brag. Don't say that you are wise when it isn't true.

15 That kind of wisdom doesn't come from above. It belongs to this world. It is self-centered and demonic.

16 Wherever there is jealousy and rivalry, there is disorder and every kind of evil.

17 However, the wisdom that comes from above is first of all pure. Then it is peaceful, gentle, obedient, filled with mercy and good deeds, impartial, and sincere.

18 A harvest that has God's approval comes from the peace planted by peacemakers.