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Scripture: Amos 8-9
8 The Lord God showed me this: a basket of summer fruit. 2 He asked me, “What do you see, Amos?” (A)
I replied, “A basket of summer fruit.”[a](B)
The Lord said to me, “The end has come for my people Israel;(C) I will no longer spare them.(D) 3 In that day the temple[b] songs(E) will become wailing”(F)—this is the Lord God’s declaration. “Many dead bodies, thrown everywhere!(G) Silence!” (H)
4 Hear this, you who trample on the needy(I)
and do away with the poor of the land,(J)
5 asking, “When will the New Moon be over
so we may sell grain,(K)
and the Sabbath,
so we may market wheat?(L)
We can reduce the measure
while increasing the price[c]
and cheat with dishonest scales.(M)
6 We can buy the poor with silver
and the needy for a pair of sandals(N)
and even sell the chaff!”
7 The Lord has sworn(O) by the Pride of Jacob:[d](P)
I will never forget all their deeds.(Q)
8 Because of this, won’t the land quake(R)
and all who dwell in it mourn?(S)
All of it will rise like the Nile;(T)
it will surge and then subside
like the Nile in Egypt.(U)
9 And in that day—
this is the declaration of the Lord God—
I will make the sun go down at noon;(V)
I will darken the land in the daytime.(W)
10 I will turn your feasts into mourning(X)
and all your songs into lamentation;(Y)
I will cause everyone[e] to wear sackcloth(Z)
and every head to be shaved.(AA)
I will make that grief
like mourning for an only son(AB)
and its outcome like a bitter day.
11 Look, the days are coming—
this is the declaration of the Lord God—
when I will send a famine through the land:
not a famine of bread or a thirst for water,
but of hearing the words of the Lord.(AC)
12 People will stagger from sea to sea
and roam from north to east
seeking the word of the Lord,(AD)
but they will not find it.
13 In that day the beautiful young women,(AE)
the young men also, will faint from thirst.(AF)
14 Those who swear by the guilt of Samaria(AG)
and say, “As your god lives, Dan,”(AH)
or, “As the way[f][g] of Beer-sheba lives”(AI)—
they will fall, never to rise again.(AJ)
9 I saw the Lord standing beside the altar,(AK) and he said:
Strike the capitals of the pillars(AL)
so that the thresholds shake;
knock them down on the heads of all the people.
Then I will kill the rest of them with the sword.(AM)
None of those who flee will get away;(AN)
none of the fugitives will escape.
2 If they dig down to Sheol,(AO)
from there my hand will take them;
if they climb up to heaven,(AP)
from there I will bring them down.
3 If they hide
on the top of Carmel,
from there I will track them down(AQ)
and seize them;
if they conceal themselves
from my sight on the sea floor,(AR)
from there I will command
the sea serpent to bite them.(AS)
4 And if they are driven
by their enemies into captivity,(AT)
from there I will command
the sword to kill them.(AU)
I will keep my eye on them
for harm and not for good.(AV)
5 The Lord, the God of Armies—
he touches the earth;(AW)
it melts, and all who dwell in it mourn;
all of it rises like the Nile
and subsides like the Nile of Egypt.(AX)
6 He builds his upper chambers
in the heavens(AY)
and lays the foundation of his vault
on the earth.(AZ)
He summons the water of the sea
and pours it out over the surface of the earth.(BA)
The Lord is his name.(BB)
7 Israelites, are you not like the Cushites to me?(BC)
This is the Lord’s declaration.
Didn’t I bring Israel from the land of Egypt,
the Philistines from Caphtor,[h](BD)
and the Arameans from Kir?(BE)
8 Look, the eyes of the Lord God
are on the sinful kingdom,(BF)
and I will obliterate it
from the face of the earth.(BG)
However, I will not totally destroy
the house of Jacob(BH)—
this is the Lord’s declaration—
9 for I am about to give the command,
and I will shake the house of Israel(BI)
among all the nations,
as one shakes a sieve,
but not a pebble will fall to the ground.
10 All the sinners among my people(BJ)
who say, “Disaster will never overtake[i]
or confront us,”(BK)
will die by the sword.
11 In that day
I will restore the fallen shelter(BL) of David:(BM)
I will repair its gaps,
restore its ruins,(BN)
and rebuild it as in the days of old,(BO)
12 so that they may possess
the remnant of Edom(BP)
and all the nations
that bear my name[j](BQ)—
this is the declaration of the Lord; he will do this.
13 Look, the days are coming—
this is the Lord’s declaration—
when the plowman will overtake the reaper(BR)
and the one who treads grapes,
the sower of seed.
The mountains will drip with sweet wine,
and all the hills will flow with it.(BS)
14 I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel.[k](BT)
They will rebuild and occupy ruined cities,(BU)
plant vineyards and drink their wine,
make gardens and eat their produce.(BV)
15 I will plant them on their land,
and they will never again be uprooted
from the land I have given them.(BW)
The Lord your God has spoken.