Amos 7-9

New International Version

Locusts, Fire and a Plumb Line

7 This is what the Sovereign Lord showed me:^(A) He was preparing swarms of locusts^(B) after the king’s share had been harvested and just as the late crops were coming up. ²When they had stripped the land clean,^(C) I cried out, “Sovereign Lord, forgive! How can Jacob survive?^(D) He is so small!^(E)”

³So the Lord relented.^(F)

“This will not happen,” the Lord said.^(G)

⁴This is what the Sovereign Lord showed me: The Sovereign Lord was calling for judgment by fire;^(H) it dried up the great deep and devoured^(I) the land. ⁵Then I cried out, “Sovereign Lord, I beg you, stop! How can Jacob survive? He is so small!^(J)”

⁶So the Lord relented.^(K)

“This will not happen either,” the Sovereign Lord said.^(L)

⁷This is what he showed me: The Lord was standing by a wall that had been built true to plumb,^[a] with a plumb line^[b] in his hand. ⁸And the Lord asked me, “What do you see,^(M) Amos?^(N)”

“A plumb line,^(O)” I replied.

Then the Lord said, “Look, I am setting a plumb line among my people Israel; I will spare them no longer.^(P)

⁹“The high places^(Q) of Isaac will be destroyed
and the sanctuaries^(R) of Israel will be ruined;
with my sword I will rise against the house of Jeroboam.^(S)”

Amos and Amaziah

¹⁰Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel^(T) sent a message to Jeroboam^(U) king of Israel: “Amos is raising a conspiracy^(V) against you in the very heart of Israel. The land cannot bear all his words.^(W) ¹¹For this is what Amos is saying:

“‘Jeroboam will die by the sword,
and Israel will surely go into exile,^(X)
away from their native land.’”^(Y)

¹²Then Amaziah said to Amos, “Get out, you seer!^(Z) Go back to the land of Judah. Earn your bread there and do your prophesying there.^(AA) ¹³Don’t prophesy anymore at Bethel,^(AB) because this is the king’s sanctuary and the temple^(AC) of the kingdom.^(AD)”

¹⁴Amos answered Amaziah, “I was neither a prophet^(AE) nor the son of a prophet, but I was a shepherd, and I also took care of sycamore-fig trees.^(AF) ¹⁵But the Lord took me from tending the flock^(AG) and said to me, ‘Go,^(AH) prophesy^(AI) to my people Israel.’^(AJ) ¹⁶Now then, hear^(AK) the word of the Lord. You say,

“‘Do not prophesy against^(AL) Israel,
and stop preaching against the descendants of Isaac.’

¹⁷“Therefore this is what the Lord says:

“‘Your wife will become a prostitute^(AM) in the city,
    and your sons and daughters will fall by the sword.
Your land will be measured and divided up,
    and you yourself will die in a pagan^[c] country.
And Israel will surely go into exile,^(AN)
    away from their native land.^(AO)’”

A Basket of Ripe Fruit

8 This is what the Sovereign Lord showed me:^(AP) a basket of ripe fruit. ²“What do you see,^(AQ) Amos?^(AR)” he asked.

“A basket^(AS) of ripe fruit,” I answered.

Then the Lord said to me, “The time is ripe for my people Israel; I will spare them no longer.^(AT)

³“In that day,” declares the Sovereign Lord, “the songs in the temple will turn to wailing.^[d]^(AU) Many, many bodies—flung everywhere! Silence!^(AV)”

⁴Hear this, you who trample the needy
and do away with the poor^(AW) of the land,^(AX)

⁵saying,

“When will the New Moon^(AY) be over
    that we may sell grain,
and the Sabbath be ended
    that we may market^(AZ) wheat?”^(BA)—
skimping on the measure,
    boosting the price
    and cheating^(BB) with dishonest scales,^(BC)
⁶buying the poor^(BD) with silver
    and the needy for a pair of sandals,
    selling even the sweepings with the wheat.^(BE)

⁷The Lord has sworn by himself, the Pride of Jacob:^(BF) “I will never forget^(BG) anything they have done.^(BH)

⁸“Will not the land tremble^(BI) for this,
    and all who live in it mourn?
The whole land will rise like the Nile;
    it will be stirred up and then sink
    like the river of Egypt.^(BJ)

⁹“In that day,” declares the Sovereign Lord,

“I will make the sun go down at noon
    and darken the earth in broad daylight.^(BK)
¹⁰I will turn your religious festivals^(BL) into mourning
    and all your singing into weeping.^(BM)
I will make all of you wear sackcloth^(BN)
    and shave^(BO) your heads.
I will make that time like mourning for an only son^(BP)
    and the end of it like a bitter day.^(BQ)

¹¹“The days are coming,”^(BR) declares the Sovereign Lord,
    “when I will send a famine through the land—
not a famine of food or a thirst for water,
    but a famine^(BS) of hearing the words of the Lord.^(BT)
¹²People will stagger from sea to sea
    and wander from north to east,
searching for the word of the Lord,
    but they will not find it.^(BU)

¹³“In that day

“the lovely young women and strong young men^(BV)
    will faint because of thirst.^(BW)
¹⁴Those who swear by the sin of Samaria^(BX)—
    who say, ‘As surely as your god lives, Dan,’^(BY)
    or, ‘As surely as the god^[e] of Beersheba^(BZ) lives’—
    they will fall,^(CA) never to rise again.^(CB)”

Israel to Be Destroyed

9 I saw the Lord standing by the altar, and he said:

“Strike the tops of the pillars
    so that the thresholds shake.
Bring them down on the heads^(CC) of all the people;
    those who are left I will kill with the sword.
Not one will get away,
    none will escape.^(CD)
²Though they dig down to the depths below,^(CE)
    from there my hand will take them.
Though they climb up to the heavens above,^(CF)
    from there I will bring them down.^(CG)
³Though they hide themselves on the top of Carmel,^(CH)
    there I will hunt them down and seize them.^(CI)
Though they hide from my eyes at the bottom of the sea,^(CJ)
    there I will command the serpent^(CK) to bite them.^(CL)
⁴Though they are driven into exile by their enemies,
    there I will command the sword^(CM) to slay them.

“I will keep my eye on them
for harm^(CN) and not for good.^(CO)”^(CP)

⁵The Lord, the Lord Almighty—
he touches the earth and it melts,^(CQ)
    and all who live in it mourn;
the whole land rises like the Nile,
    then sinks like the river of Egypt;^(CR)
⁶he builds his lofty palace^[f]^(CS) in the heavens
    and sets its foundation^[g] on the earth;
he calls for the waters of the sea
    and pours them out over the face of the land—
    the Lord is his name.^(CT)

⁷“Are not you Israelites
    the same to me as the Cushites^[h]?”^(CU)
declares the Lord.
“Did I not bring Israel up from Egypt,
    the Philistines^(CV) from Caphtor^[i]^(CW)
    and the Arameans from Kir?^(CX)

⁸“Surely the eyes of the Sovereign Lord
    are on the sinful kingdom.
I will destroy^(CY) it
    from the face of the earth.
Yet I will not totally destroy
    the descendants of Jacob,”
declares the Lord.^(CZ)
⁹“For I will give the command,
    and I will shake the people of Israel
    among all the nations
as grain^(DA) is shaken in a sieve,^(DB)
    and not a pebble will reach the ground.^(DC)
¹⁰All the sinners among my people
    will die by the sword,^(DD)
all those who say,
    ‘Disaster will not overtake or meet us.’^(DE)

Israel’s Restoration

¹¹“In that day

“I will restore David’s^(DF) fallen shelter^(DG)—
    I will repair its broken walls
    and restore its ruins^(DH)—
    and will rebuild it as it used to be,^(DI)
¹²so that they may possess the remnant of Edom^(DJ)
    and all the nations that bear my name,^[j]^(DK)”
declares the Lord, who will do these things.^(DL)

¹³“The days are coming,”^(DM) declares the Lord,

“when the reaper^(DN) will be overtaken by the plowman^(DO)
    and the planter by the one treading^(DP) grapes.
New wine^(DQ) will drip from the mountains
    and flow from all the hills,^(DR)
¹⁴    and I will bring^(DS) my people Israel back from exile.^[k]^(DT)

“They will rebuild the ruined cities^(DU) and live in them.
    They will plant vineyards^(DV) and drink their wine;
    they will make gardens and eat their fruit.^(DW)
¹⁵I will plant^(DX) Israel in their own land,^(DY)
    never again to be uprooted^(DZ)
    from the land I have given them,”^(EA)

says the Lord your God.^(EB)

Footnotes

Amos 7:7 The meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain.
Amos 7:7 The meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain; also in verse 8.
Amos 7:17 Hebrew an unclean
Amos 8:3 Or “the temple singers will wail
Amos 8:14 Hebrew the way
Amos 9:6 The meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain.
Amos 9:6 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
Amos 9:7 That is, people from the upper Nile region
Amos 9:7 That is, Crete
Amos 9:12 Hebrew; Septuagint so that the remnant of people / and all the nations that bear my name may seek me
Amos 9:14 Or will restore the fortunes of my people Israel

Revelation 8

New International Version

The Seventh Seal and the Golden Censer

8 When he opened the seventh seal,^(A) there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.

²And I saw the seven angels^(B) who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them.^(C)

³Another angel,^(D) who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all God’s people,^(E) on the golden altar^(F) in front of the throne. ⁴The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of God’s people, went up before God^(G) from the angel’s hand. ⁵Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar,^(H) and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder,^(I) rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake.^(J)

The Trumpets

⁶Then the seven angels who had the seven trumpets^(K) prepared to sound them.

⁷The first angel^(L) sounded his trumpet, and there came hail and fire^(M) mixed with blood, and it was hurled down on the earth. A third^(N) of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.^(O)

⁸The second angel sounded his trumpet, and something like a huge mountain,^(P) all ablaze, was thrown into the sea. A third^(Q) of the sea turned into blood,^(R) ⁹a third^(S) of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.

¹⁰The third angel sounded his trumpet, and a great star, blazing like a torch, fell from the sky^(T) on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water^(U)— ¹¹the name of the star is Wormwood.^[a] A third^(V) of the waters turned bitter, and many people died from the waters that had become bitter.^(W)

¹²The fourth angel sounded his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third^(X) of them turned dark.^(Y) A third of the day was without light, and also a third of the night.^(Z)

¹³As I watched, I heard an eagle that was flying in midair^(AA) call out in a loud voice: “Woe! Woe! Woe^(AB) to the inhabitants of the earth,^(AC) because of the trumpet blasts about to be sounded by the other three angels!”