Amos 8-9
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 8
The Vision of the Fruit Basket.[a] 1 This is what the Lord God showed me: a basket of ripe fruit. 2 He asked, “What do you see, Amos?” I replied, “A basket of ripe fruit.” Then the Lord said to me:
The time is ripe for my people Israel;
I will never again pardon their offenses.
3 The songs of the temple shall become wailings on that day;
there will be corpses strewn everywhere.
Be silent! Thus says the Lord God.
Listen, You Who Crush the Poor
4 Hear this, you who crush the needy
and trample upon the poor of the land.
5 “When will the new moon be over,” you ask,
“so that we may sell our grain,
and the Sabbath,
so that we may market our wheat?
Then we can make the bushel measure smaller
and increase the shekel-weight
by adjusting the scales fraudulently.
6 We can buy the poor man for silver
and the needy for a pair of sandals;
we can even sell the refuse of the wheat.”
7 The Lord has sworn by the pride of Jacob:
Never will I forget any of their deeds.
8 Will not the land tremble because of this?
Will not everyone mourn who dwells in it?
The whole earth will rise like the Nile,
swelling and then subsiding
like the River of Egypt.
I Will Turn Your Feasts into Mourning
9 On that day, says the Lord God,
I will make the sun go down at noon
and darken the earth in broad daylight.
10 I will turn your feasts into mourning,
and all your songs into lamentation.
I will make you cover your loins with sackcloth
and shave your heads.
I will make it like mourning for an only son
and the end of it like a bitter day.[b]
11 The days are surely coming, says the Lord God,
when I will send a famine upon the land,
not a hunger for bread or a thirst for water,
but for hearing the word of the Lord.
12 People will stagger from sea to sea
and wander from north to east,
in search of the word of the Lord,
but they will not find it.
13 On that day, fair maidens and young men
will faint from thirst.
14 Those who swear by the shameful idol of Samaria
and say, “As your god lives, O Dan,”
and, “By the sacred path to Beer-sheba,”
will all fall and never rise again.[c]
Chapter 9
The Vision of the Destroyed Sanctuary. 1 I saw the Lord standing beside the altar, and he said:
Strike the tops of the pillars until the thresholds shake,
and bring them down on the heads of all the people.
Should any survive,
I will slay them with the sword.
Not one will be able to flee;
not one will escape.
2 Even should they dig down to the netherworld,
from there my hand will take them.
Even though they climb up to heaven,
I will bring them down.
3 Should they hide themselves on the summit of Carmel,
there I will track them down and take them.
Should they hide from my sight at the bottom of the sea,
I will command the serpent there to bite them.
4 If they are led by their enemies into captivity,
there I shall command the sword to slay them.
I will fix my eyes on them
for evil, and not for good.
Psalm of Praise
5 The Lord, the God of hosts,
touches the earth and it melts
so that all who live on it mourn,
while the entire earth rises up like the Nile[d]
and then subsides like the River of Egypt.
6 He builds his upper chambers in the heavens
and establishes his vault of the sky over the earth—
the Lord is his name.
7 The Lord says:
Are you not like the Ethiopians to me,
O people of Israel?
Did I not bring Israel up from the land of Egypt,
and the Philistines from Caphtor,
and the Arameans from Kir?
8 Behold, I, the Lord God,
have my eyes upon this sinful kingdom,
and I will destroy it from the face of the earth.
The Time of Renewal
I Will Raise Up the Hut of David
However, I will not completely destroy the house of Jacob,
says the Lord.
9 For I will give the command
and shake out the house of Israel
from among all the nations,
as one sifts with a sieve
without one pebble falling to the ground.
10 All the sinners among my people shall die by the sword,
those who say, “Evil will not approach or overtake us.”
11 On that day I shall raise up
the fallen hut of David.
I will repair the gaps in its walls,
restore its ruins,
and rebuild it as in the days of old,
12 so that Israel may possess the remnant of Edom
and of all the nations that bear my name;
I, the Lord, will accomplish this.
I Will Reestablish My People Israel
13 The days are surely coming,
says the Lord,
when the plowman shall overtake
the one who reaps,
and the treader of grapes will overtake
the one who sows the seed.
New wine will drip from the mountains,
and every hill will flow with it.
14 I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel;
they will rebuild the ruined cities and inhabit them.
They will plant vineyards and drink their wine,
cultivate gardens and eat their fruit.
15 I will plant them in their own soil,
and they shall never again be uprooted
from the land I have given them.
This is the word of the Lord, your God.
Footnotes
- Amos 8:1 In Hebrew there is a play on words between ripe fruit and “ripe time.”
- Amos 8:10 The wearing of sackcloth and the shaving of the head were rites of mourning; mourning was especially solemn at the death of an only son, since this meant the end of the family line.
- Amos 8:14 A reference to illegitimate or pagan practices, an oath, being also a profession of religious faith.
- Amos 9:5 The Nile was famous for its periodic flooding.
Mark 10
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 10
Marriage and Divorce.[a] 1 After departing from there, Jesus came into the region of Judea beyond the Jordan.[b] Again the crowds gathered around him, and, as was his custom, he began to teach them.
2 Some Pharisees came forward and in order to test him asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” 3 He replied, “What did Moses command you?” 4 They said, “Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of divorce and dismiss her.” 5 But Jesus said to them, “It was because of the hardness of your hearts that he wrote this commandment for you. 6 But from the very beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ 7 ‘That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, 8 and the two become one flesh.’ And so they are no longer two but one flesh. 9 Therefore, what God has joined together, let no one separate.”
10 When they were again in the house, the disciples once more questioned Jesus about this. 11 He said to them, “If a man divorces his wife and marries another, he commits adultery against her. 12 In the same way, if a wife divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”
13 Jesus Receives Little Children.[c] People were bringing little children to him so that he might touch them, and the disciples sternly rebuked them. 14 But when Jesus became aware of this, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the little children come to me; do not hinder them. For it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. 15 Amen, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” 16 And he took them up into his arms, laid his hands on them, and blessed them.
17 The Rich Young Man.[d] As Jesus was starting out on a journey, a man came running up to him, knelt down, and asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 18 Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. 19 You know the commandments: ‘Do not kill. Do not commit adultery. Do not steal. Do not bear false witness. Do not defraud. Honor your father and your mother.’ ”
20 The man said to him, “Teacher, I have observed all these since I was a child.” 21 Looking at him, Jesus was moved with love and said, “You need to do one further thing. Go and sell what you own, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” 22 When he heard these words, the man’s face fell and he went away grieving, for he possessed great wealth.
23 Then Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How difficult it will be for those who are rich to enter the kingdom of God!” 24 The disciples were astounded on hearing his words, but Jesus insisted: “Children, how difficult it is to enter the kingdom of God! 25 It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” 26 The disciples were even more greatly astonished, and they said to one another, “Then who can be saved?” 27 Jesus looked at them and said, “For men it is impossible, but not for God. For God all things are possible.”
28 Reward for Following Jesus.[e] Peter said to him, “We have given up everything to follow you.” 29 Jesus answered, “Amen, I say to you, there is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands for my sake and for the sake of the gospel 30 who will not receive in this age a hundred times more houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and lands—as well as persecutions—and in the age to come, eternal life. 31 But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.”
32 Jesus Predicts His Passion a Third Time.[f] As they were on the road going up to Jerusalem, Jesus walked ahead of them. The disciples were amazed, and those who followed were apprehensive. Once again, he took the Twelve aside and began to tell them what would happen to him. 33 “Behold, we are now going up to Jerusalem,” he said, “and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death. Then they will hand him over to the Gentiles, 34 who will mock him, and spit upon him, and scourge him, and put him to death. And after three days he will rise again.”
35 The Son of Man Has Come To Serve.[g] Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came forward and said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we request.” 36 He asked them, “What is it that you want me to do for you?” 37 They said to him, “Allow us to sit, one at your right hand and the other at your left, in your glory.” 38 Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Can you drink the cup that I drink,[h] or be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” 39 They said to him, “We can.”
Then Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink you shall indeed drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized you shall be baptized. 40 But to sit at my right hand or at my left is not in my power to grant. Those places belong to those for whom they have been prepared.”
41 When the other ten heard this, they began to be indignant at James and John. 42 Therefore, Jesus called them over and said, “You know that those considered to be rulers among the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones make their authority over them felt. 43 But this must not be so with you. Instead, whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever wishes to be first among you must be the servant of all. 45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
46 Jesus Heals a Blind Man.[i] Then they came to Jericho. And as Jesus, his disciples, and a huge crowd were leaving Jericho, a blind man, Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus,[j] was sitting by the roadside asking for alms. 47 When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me!” 48 Many rebuked him and told him to be silent, but he only shouted all the louder, “Son of David, have pity on me!”
49 Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” So they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take heart! Stand up! He is calling you!” 50 Casting aside his cloak, he jumped up and went to Jesus. 51 Then Jesus said to him, “What do you want me to do for you?” The blind man said to him, “Rabbi,[k] let me receive my sight.” 52 Jesus said to him, “Go on your way! Your faith has made you well.” Immediately, he received his sight and followed him along the road.
Footnotes
- Mark 10:1 Divorce was practiced by permission of the Mosaic Law (Deut 24:1). But a permission supposes a weakness; it does not represent the law that gives life. From the beginning, God willed the unity of the couple in marriage (see Gen 1:27 and 2:24). Jesus recalls this requirement and shows, too, that the Scriptures ought to be interpreted in light of the fundamental perspectives of God’s plan and not on the basis of the changeable desires and needs of human beings.
- Mark 10:1 Region of Judea beyond the Jordan: Judea was the southern part of Palestine, which had formerly been the southern kingdom. Jesus went south from Capernaum over the mountains of Samaria into Judea and then east across the Jordan to Perea, the territory of Herod Antipas.
- Mark 10:13 This episode is common to the Synoptics, but Mark alone recounts the human traits of the divine Master, such as his indignation at the disciples’ hindering action and his affectionate attitude in embracing the children.
- Mark 10:17 See note on Mt 19:16-26.
- Mark 10:28 See note on Mt 19:27-30.
- Mark 10:32 See note on Mt 20:17-19. Gentiles, who will . . . put him to death: the predictions of the Passion in Mark’s Gospel do not mention the word “crucified.” However, crucifixion is implied by the fact that he was to be handed over to the Gentiles to be killed, since this was the customary Roman means of executing non-Romans.
- Mark 10:35 What was Christ’s own understanding of his life, of the kingdom, of what it meant to be a disciple? An answer is given in this decisive passage (see vv. 42-45). So important are these verses that Luke points up their essential context by placing them in the account of the Supper (Lk 22:24-27) and John in the explanation of the washing of the feet (Jn 13:12-17). The kingdom of God has nothing to do with ambitions for political or social power; true greatness is found not in prestige or rule but only in service.
- Mark 10:38 Drink the cup that I drink: a Hebraism for sharing someone’s fate. In the Old Testament, the “cup of wine” was a metaphor for God’s wrath against sin and rebellion (Ps 75:9; Isa 51:17-23; Jer 25:15-28; 49:12; 51:7).
Thus, the cup Jesus had to drink refers to the punishment of sins that he bore in place of all human beings (see Mk 10:45; 14:36). Baptism: an image of Jesus’ suffering and death. - Mark 10:46 This healing is the last miracle of Jesus in Mark’s Gospel.
- Mark 10:46 Son of Timaeus is the meaning of Bartimaeus in Aramaic.
- Mark 10:51 Rabbi: means “master” (see Jn 20:16; Mt 23:7).
