Warning Visions

1 ^aThis is what the Lord God showed me: behold, ^bhe was forming locusts when the latter growth was just beginning to sprout, and behold, it was the latter growth after the king’s mowings. 2 When they had finished eating the grass of the land, I said,

4 ^aThis is what the Lord God showed me: behold, the Lord God was calling ^efor a judgment by fire, and it devoured the great deep and was eating up the land. 5 Then I said,

7 ^aThis is what he showed me: behold, the Lord was standing beside a wall built with ^fa plumb line, with a plumb line in his hand. 8 And the Lord said to me, ^g“Amos, what do you see?” And I said, “A plumb line.” Then the Lord said,

Amos Accused

10 Then Amaziah ^jthe priest of Bethel sent to ^kJeroboam king of Israel, saying, “Amos has ^lconspired against you in the midst of the house of Israel. The land is not able to bear all his words. 11 For thus Amos has said,

12 And Amaziah said to Amos, ⁿ“O seer, go, flee away ^oto the land of Judah, and ^peat bread there, and prophesy there, 13 but ^qnever again prophesy at Bethel, for ^rit is the king’s sanctuary, and it is a temple of the kingdom.”

14 Then Amos answered and said to Amaziah, ^s“I was¹ no prophet, nor a prophet’s son, but ^tI was a herdsman and a dresser of sycamore figs. 15 ^uBut the Lord took me from following the flock, and the Lord said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’ 16 ^vNow therefore hear the word of the Lord.

17 ^yTherefore thus says the Lord:

The Coming Day of Bitter Mourning

1 ^aThis is what the Lord God showed me: behold, a basket of summer fruit. 2 And he said, ^b“Amos, what do you see?” And I said, ^c“A basket of summer fruit.” Then the Lord said to me,

The Destruction of Israel

1 I saw the Lord standing beside⁶ the altar, and he said:

The Restoration of Israel

God Is King over All the Earth

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of ^wthe Sons of Korah.

Jesus Rejected at Nazareth

1 ^bHe went away from there and came to ^chis hometown, and his disciples followed him. 2 And ^don the Sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and ^emany who heard him were astonished, saying, “Where did this man get these things? What is the wisdom given to him? How are such mighty works done by his hands? 3 ^fIs not this ^gthe carpenter,¹ the son of Mary and ^hbrother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?” And ⁱthey took offense at him. 4 And Jesus said to them, ^j“A prophet is not without honor, except in his hometown and among his relatives and in his own household.” 5 And ^khe could do no mighty work there, except that ^lhe laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them. 6 And ^mhe marveled because of their unbelief.

ⁿAnd he went about among the villages teaching.

Jesus Sends Out the Twelve Apostles

7 ^oAnd he called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. 8 He charged them to take nothing for their journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in their belts— 9 but to ^pwear sandals and not put on two tunics.² 10 And he said to them, “Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you depart from there. 11 And if any place will not receive you and they will not listen to you, when you leave, ^qshake off the dust that is on your feet ^ras a testimony against them.” 12 ^sSo they went out and ^tproclaimed ^uthat people should repent. 13 ^tAnd they cast out many demons and ^vanointed with oil many who were sick and healed them.

The Death of John the Baptist

14 ^wKing Herod heard of it, for Jesus’³ name had become known. Some⁴ said, ^x“John the Baptist⁵ has been raised from the dead. That is why these miraculous powers are at work in him.” 15 ^xBut others said, “He is Elijah.” And others said, “He is ^ya prophet, like one of the prophets of old.” 16 But when Herod heard of it, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised.” 17 ^zFor it was Herod who had sent and seized John and ^abound him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, because he had married her. 18 ^zFor John had been saying to Herod, ^b“It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” 19 And Herodias had a grudge against him and wanted to put him to death. But she could not, 20 for Herod ^cfeared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he kept him safe. When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed, and yet he ^dheard him gladly.

21 But an opportunity came when Herod ^eon his birthday ^fgave a banquet for his nobles and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee. 22 For when Herodias’s daughter came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests. And the king said to the girl, “Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it to you.” 23 And he vowed to her, “Whatever you ask me, I will give you, ^gup to half of my kingdom.” 24 And she went out and said to her mother, “For what should I ask?” And she said, “The head of John the Baptist.” 25 And she came in immediately with haste to the king and asked, saying, “I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.” 26 And the king was exceedingly sorry, but because of his oaths and his guests he did not want to break his word to her. 27 And immediately the king sent an executioner with orders to bring John’s⁶ head. He went and beheaded him in the prison 28 and brought his head on a platter and gave it to the girl, and the girl gave it to her mother. 29 When his ^hdisciples heard of it, they came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.

Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand

30 ^ijThe apostles returned to Jesus and told him all that they had done and taught. 31 And he said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and ^kthey had no leisure even to eat. 32 ^lAnd they went away in ^mthe boat to a desolate place by themselves. 33 Now many saw them going and ⁿrecognized them, and they ran there on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. 34 When he went ashore he ^osaw a great crowd, and ^ohe had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things. 35 And when it grew late, his disciples came to him and said, “This is a desolate place, and the hour is now late. 36 ^pSend them away to go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.” 37 But he answered them, ^q“You give them something to eat.” And ^rthey said to him, ^s“Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii⁷ worth of bread and give it to them to eat?” 38 And he said to them, “How many loaves do you have? Go and see.” And when they had found out, they said, ^t“Five, and two fish.” 39 Then he commanded them all to sit down in groups on the green grass. 40 So they sat down in groups, by hundreds and by fifties. 41 And taking the five loaves and the two fish, he ^ulooked up to heaven and ^vsaid a blessing and broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the people. And he divided the two fish among them all. 42 And they all ate and were satisfied. 43 And they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish. 44 And those who ate the loaves were five thousand men.

Jesus Walks on the Water

45 ^wImmediately he ^xmade his disciples get into ^ythe boat and go before him to the other side, ^zto Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. 46 And after he had taken leave of them, ^ahe went up on the mountain to pray. 47 And when ^bevening came, the boat was out on the sea, and he was alone on the land. 48 And he saw that they were making headway painfully, for the wind was against them. And about ^bthe fourth watch of the night⁸ he came to them, walking on the sea. ^cHe meant to pass by them, 49 but when they saw him walking on the sea they thought it was a ghost, and cried out, 50 for they all saw him and ^dwere terrified. But immediately he spoke to them and said, ^e“Take heart; it is I. ^eDo not be afraid.” 51 And he got into the boat with them, and the wind ceased. And they were utterly astounded, 52 for ^fthey did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts ^gwere hardened.

Jesus Heals the Sick in Gennesaret

53 ^hWhen they had crossed over, they came to land at ⁱGennesaret and moored to the shore. 54 And when they got out of the boat, the people immediately ^jrecognized him 55 and ran about the whole region and began to bring ^kthe sick people ^lon their beds to wherever they heard he was. 56 And wherever he came, in villages, cities, or countryside, ^mthey laid the sick in the marketplaces and implored him that they might touch even ⁿthe fringe of his garment. And ^oas many as touched it were made well.

Judgment Against Idolatry

1 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 ^r“Son of man, ^sset your face toward ^tthe mountains of Israel, and ^uprophesy against them, 3 and say, ^vYou mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God! Thus says the Lord God to ^wthe mountains and ^xthe hills, to ^ythe ravines and the valleys: Behold, I, even I, will bring a sword upon you, ^zand I will destroy your high places. 4 ^zYour altars shall become desolate, and your ^aincense altars shall be broken, and I will cast down your slain before your idols. 5 ^zAnd I will lay the dead bodies of the people of Israel before their idols, ^band I will scatter your bones around your altars. 6 Wherever you dwell, ^cthe cities shall be waste and ^dthe high places ruined, so that your altars will be waste and ruined,¹ your idols broken and destroyed, your ^aincense altars cut down, and your works wiped out. 7 And the slain shall fall in your midst, and you shall know that I am the Lord.

8 ^e“Yet I will leave some of you alive. When you have among the nations ^fsome who escape the sword, and when you are scattered through the countries, 9 then those of you who escape ^gwill remember me among the nations where they are carried captive, how ^hI have been broken over their whoring heart that has departed from me and over their eyes ⁱthat go whoring after their idols. ^gAnd they will be loathsome in their own sight for the evils that they have committed, for all their abominations. 10 And they shall know that I am the Lord. ^jI have not said in vain that I would do this evil to them.”

11 Thus says the Lord God: ^k“Clap your hands ^land stamp your foot and say, Alas, because of all the evil abominations of the house of Israel, ^mfor they shall fall by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence. 12 ⁿHe who is far off shall die of pestilence, and he who is near shall fall by the sword, and he who is left and is preserved shall die of famine. ^oThus I will spend my fury upon them. 13 And you shall know that I am the Lord, ^pwhen their slain lie among their idols around their altars, ^qon every high hill, ^ron all the mountaintops, ^sunder every green tree, and under ^tevery leafy oak, wherever ^uthey offered pleasing aroma to all their idols. 14 And ^vI will stretch out my hand against them and ^wmake the land desolate and waste, ^xin all their dwelling places, from the wilderness to ^yRiblah.² Then ^zthey will know that I am the Lord.”

Midian Oppresses Israel

1 ^kThe people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord gave them into the hand of ^lMidian seven years. 2 And the hand of Midian overpowered Israel, and because of Midian the people of Israel made for themselves the dens that are in the mountains and ^mthe caves and the strongholds. 3 For whenever the Israelites planted crops, the Midianites and ⁿthe Amalekites and ^othe people of the East would come up against them. 4 They would encamp against them ^pand devour the produce of the land, as far as Gaza, and leave no sustenance in Israel and no sheep or ox or donkey. 5 For they would come up with their livestock and their tents; they would come ^qlike locusts in number—both they and their camels could not be counted—so that they laid waste the land as they came in. 6 And Israel was brought very low because of Midian. And the people of Israel ^rcried out for help to the Lord.