Amos 7; Amos 8; Amos 9; Revelation 8

1 This is what the Almighty LORD showed me: He was preparing swarms of locusts when the second crop was being harvested. It was the harvest that followed the harvest for the king.

2 When the locusts had finished eating every plant in the land, I said, "Almighty LORD, please forgive us! How can [the descendants of] Jacob survive? There are so few of them."

3 The LORD changed his plans about this. "This won't happen," the LORD said.

4 This is what the Almighty LORD showed me: The Almighty LORD was calling for judgment by fire. The fire dried up the ocean and burned up the land.

5 Then I said, "Almighty LORD, please stop! How can [the descendants of] Jacob survive? There are so few of them."

6 The LORD changed his plans about this. "This won't happen either," the Almighty LORD said.

7 This is what he showed me: The Lord was standing by a wall built with the use of a plumb line, and he had a plumb line in his hand.

8 He asked me, "What do you see, Amos?" I answered, "A plumb line." Then the Lord said, "I'm going to hold a plumb line in the middle of my people Israel. I will no longer overlook what they have done.

9 The worship sites of Isaac will be destroyed, and the holy places of Israel will be in ruins. I will attack Jeroboam's heirs with my sword."

10 Then Amaziah, the priest at Bethel, sent a message to King Jeroboam of Israel. It read, "Amos is plotting against you among the people of Israel. The country isn't able to endure everything he is saying.

11 Amos says that Jeroboam will be killed with a sword and that Israel cannot avoid being taken from its land into exile."

12 Then Amaziah said to Amos, "You seer, run away to Judah! Eat there, and prophesy there!

13 But don't [ever] prophesy again in Bethel, because this is the king's holy place and the king's palace."

14 Amos responded, "I'm not a prophet, and I'm not a disciple of the prophets. I am a rancher and a grower of figs.

15 But the LORD took me away from herding the flock and said to me, 'Prophesy to my people Israel.'

16 "Now listen to the word of the LORD: You said, 'Stop prophesying against Israel, and stop preaching against the descendants of Isaac.'

17 "However, this is what the LORD says: Your wife will become a prostitute in the city, and your sons and daughters will be killed with swords. Your land will be surveyed and divided up, and you will die in an unclean land. Israel cannot avoid being taken from its land into exile."

1 This is what the Almighty LORD showed me: a basket of ripe summer fruit.

2 He asked, "What do you see, Amos?" "A basket of ripe summer fruit," I answered. Then the LORD said to me, "My people Israel are now ripe. I will no longer overlook what they have done.

3 On that day the songs of the temple will become loud cries," declares the Almighty LORD. "There will be dead bodies scattered everywhere. Hush!"

4 Listen to this, those who trample on the needy and ruin those who are oppressed in the world.

5 You say to yourselves, "When will the New Moon Festival be over so that we can sell more grain? When will the day of worship be over so that we can sell more wheat? We can shrink the size of the bushel baskets, increase the cost, and cheat with dishonest scales.

6 We can buy the poor with money and the needy for a pair of sandals. We can sell the husks mixed in with the wheat."

7 The LORD has sworn an oath by Jacob's pride: "I will never forget anything that they have done."

8 The land will tremble because of this. Everyone who lives in it will mourn. The entire land will rise like the Nile, be tossed about, and then sink like Egypt's river.

9 On that day, declares the Almighty LORD, I will make the sun go down at noon and darken the earth in broad daylight.

10 I will turn your festivals into funerals and all your songs into funeral songs. I will put sackcloth around everyone's waist and shave everyone's head. I will make that day seem like a funeral for an only child, and its end will be bitter.

11 The days are going to come, declares the Almighty LORD, when I will send a famine throughout the land. It won't be an ordinary famine or drought. Instead, there will be a famine of hearing the words of the LORD.

12 People will wander from sea to sea and roam from the north to the east, searching for the word of the LORD. But they won't find it.

13 On that day beautiful young women and strong young men will faint because of their thirst.

14 [How horrible it will be for] those who swear by Ashimah, the idol of Samaria, and say, "I solemnly swear, Dan, as your god lives...." "I solemnly swear as long as there is a road to Beersheba...." Those who say this will fall and never get up again.

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.

1 When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.

2 Then I saw the seven angels who stand in God's presence, and they were given seven trumpets.

3 Another angel came with a gold incense burner and stood at the altar. He was given a lot of incense to offer on the gold altar in front of the throne. He offered it with the prayers of all of God's people.

4 The smoke from the incense went up from the angel's hand to God along with the prayers of God's people.

5 The angel took the incense burner, filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it on the earth. Then there was thunder, noise, lightning, and an earthquake.

6 The seven angels who had the seven trumpets got ready to blow them.

7 When the first angel blew his trumpet, hail and fire were mixed with blood, and were thrown on the earth. One-third of the earth was burned up, one-third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.

8 When the second angel blew his trumpet, something like a huge mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea. One-third of the sea turned into blood,

9 one-third of the creatures that were living in the sea died, and one-third of the ships were destroyed.

10 When the third angel blew his trumpet, a huge star flaming like a torch fell from the sky. It fell on one-third of the rivers and on the springs.

11 That star was named Wormwood. One-third of the water turned into wormwood, and many people died from this water because it had turned bitter.

12 When the fourth angel blew his trumpet, one-third of the sun, one-third of the moon, and one-third of the stars were struck so that one-third of them turned dark. There was no light for one-third of the day and one-third of the night.

13 I saw an eagle flying overhead, and I heard it say in a loud voice, "Catastrophe, catastrophe, catastrophe for those living on earth, because of the remaining trumpet blasts which the three angels are about to blow."