To The Word – Day 131

₁How terrible it will be for you that have such an easy life in Zion and for you that feel safe in Samaria — you great leaders of this great nation Israel, you to whom the people go for help! ₂Go and look at the city of Calneh. Then go on to the great city of Hamath and on down to the Philistine city of Gath. Were they any better than the kingdoms of Judah and Israel? Was their territory larger than yours? ₃You refuse to admit that a day of disaster is coming, but what you do only brings that day closer. ₄How terrible it will be for you that stretch out on your luxurious couches, feasting on veal and lamb! ₅You like to compose songs, as David did, and play them on harps. ₆You drink wine by the bowlful and use the finest perfumes, but you do not mourn over the ruin of Israel. ₇So you will be the first to go into exile. Your feasts and banquets will come to an end.

₈The Sovereign LORD Almighty has given this solemn warning: “I hate the pride of the people of Israel; I despise their luxurious mansions. I will give their capital city and everything in it to the enemy.”

₉If there are ten men left in a family, they will die. ₁₀The dead man's relative, the one in charge of the funeral, will take the body out of the house. The relative will call to whoever is still left in the house, “Is anyone else there with you?”

A voice will answer, “No!”

Then the relative will say, “Be quiet! We must be careful not even to mention the LORD's name.”

₁₁When the LORD gives the command, houses large and small will be smashed to pieces. ₁₂Do horses gallop on rocks? Does anyone plough the sea with oxen? Yet you have turned justice into poison, and right into wrong.

₁₃You boast about capturing the town of Lodebar. You boast, “We were strong enough to take Karnaim.”

₁₄The LORD God Almighty himself says, “People of Israel, I am going to send a foreign army to occupy your country. It will oppress you from Hamath Pass in the north to the brook of the Arabah in the south.”

₁I had a vision from the Sovereign LORD. In it I saw him create a swarm of locusts just after the king's share of the hay had been cut and the grass was starting to grow again. ₂In my vision I saw the locusts eat up every green thing in the land, and then I said, “Sovereign LORD, forgive your people! How can they survive? They are so small and weak!”

₃The LORD changed his mind and said, “What you saw will not take place.”

₄I had another vision from the Sovereign LORD. In it I saw him preparing to punish his people with fire. The fire burnt up the great ocean under the earth, and started to burn up the land. ₅Then I said, “Stop, Sovereign LORD! How can your people survive? They are so small and weak!”

₆The LORD changed his mind again and said, “This will not take place either.”

₇I had another vision from the Lord. In it I saw him standing beside a wall that had been built with the help of a plumb line, and there was a plumb line in his hand. ₈He asked me, “Amos, what do you see?”

“A plumb line,” I answered.

Then he said, “I am using it to show that my people are like a wall that is out of line. I will not change my mind again about punishing them. ₉The places where Isaac's descendants worship will be destroyed. The holy places of Israel will be left in ruins. I will bring the dynasty of King Jeroboam to an end.”

₁₀Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, then sent a report to King Jeroboam of Israel: “Amos is plotting against you among the people. His speeches will destroy the country. ₁₁This is what he says: ‘Jeroboam will die in battle, and the people of Israel will be taken away from their land into exile.’ ”

₁₂Amaziah then said to Amos, “That's enough, prophet! Go on back to Judah and do your preaching there. Let them pay you for it. ₁₃Don't prophesy here at Bethel any more. This is the king's place of worship, the national temple.”

₁₄Amos answered, “I am not the kind of prophet who prophesies for pay. I am a herdsman, and I take care of fig trees. ₁₅But the LORD took me from my work as a shepherd and ordered me to come and prophesy to his people Israel. ₁₆So now listen to what the LORD says. You tell me to stop prophesying, to stop raving against the people of Israel. ₁₇And so, Amaziah, the LORD says to you, ‘Your wife will become a prostitute on the streets, and your children will be killed in war. Your land will be divided up and given to others, and you yourself will die in a heathen country. And the people of Israel will certainly be taken away from their own land into exile.’ ”

₁I had another vision from the Sovereign LORD. In it I saw a basket of fruit. ₂The LORD asked, “Amos, what do you see?”

“A basket of fruit,” I answered.

The LORD said to me, “The end has come for my people Israel. I will not change my mind again about punishing them. ₃On that day the songs in the palace will become cries of mourning. There will be dead bodies everywhere. They will be thrown out in silence.”

₄Listen to this, you that trample on the needy and try to destroy the poor of the country. ₅You say to yourselves, “We can hardly wait for the holy days to be over so that we can sell our corn. When will the Sabbath end, so that we can start selling again? Then we can overcharge, use false measures, and tamper with the scales to cheat our customers. ₆We can sell worthless wheat at a high price. We'll find a poor person who can't pay his debts, not even the price of a pair of sandals, and we'll buy him as a slave.”

₇The LORD, the God of Israel, has sworn, “I will never forget their evil deeds. ₈And so the earth will quake, and everyone in the land will be in distress. The whole country will be shaken; it will rise and fall like the River Nile. ₉The time is coming when I will make the sun go down at noon and the earth grow dark in daytime. I, the Sovereign LORD, have spoken. ₁₀I will turn your festivals into funerals and change your glad songs into cries of grief. I will make you shave your heads and wear sackcloth, and you will be like parents mourning for their only child. That day will be bitter to the end.

₁₁“The time is coming when I will send famine on the land. People will be hungry, but not for bread; they will be thirsty, but not for water. They will hunger and thirst for a message from the LORD. I, the Sovereign LORD, have spoken. ₁₂People will wander from the Dead Sea to the Mediterranean and then on from the north to the east. They will look everywhere for a message from the LORD, but they will not find it. ₁₃On that day even healthy young men and women will collapse from thirst. ₁₄Those who swear by the idols of Samaria, who say, ‘By the god of Dan,’ or, ‘By the god of Beersheba’ — those people will fall and not rise again.”

₁I saw the Lord standing by the altar. He gave the command: “Strike the tops of the temple columns so hard that the whole porch will shake. Break them off and let them fall on the heads of the people. I will kill the rest of the people in war. No one will get away; not one will escape. ₂Even if they dig their way down to the world of the dead, I will catch them. Even if they climb up to heaven, I will bring them down. ₃If they hide on the top of Mount Carmel, I will search for them and catch them. If they hide from me at the bottom of the sea, I will command the sea monster to bite them. ₄If they are taken away into captivity by their enemies, I will order them to be put to death. I am determined to destroy them, not to help them.”

₇The LORD says, “People of Israel, I think as much of the people of Ethiopia as I do of you. I brought the Philistines from Crete and the Syrians from Kir, just as I brought you from Egypt. ₈I, the Sovereign LORD, am watching this sinful kingdom of Israel, and I will destroy it from the face of the earth. But I will not destroy all the descendants of Jacob.

₉“I will give the command and shake the people of Israel like corn in a sieve. I will shake them among the nations to remove all who are worthless. ₁₀The sinners among my people will be killed in war — all those who say, ‘God will not let any harm come near us.’ ”

₁₁The LORD says, “A day is coming when I will restore the kingdom of David, which is like a house fallen into ruins. I will repair its walls and restore it. I will rebuild it and make it as it was long ago. ₁₂And so the people of Israel will conquer what is left of the land of Edom and all the nations that were once mine,” says the LORD, who will cause this to happen.

₁This is the prophecy of Obadiah — what the Sovereign LORD said about the nation of Edom.

₁These are Solomon's proverbs:

Wise children make their fathers proud of them; foolish ones bring their mothers grief.

₂Wealth that you get by dishonesty will do you no good, but honesty can save your life.

₃The LORD will not let good people go hungry, but he will keep the wicked from getting what they want.

₄Being lazy will make you poor, but hard work will make you rich.

₅A sensible person gathers the crops when they are ready; it is a disgrace to sleep through the time of harvest.

₆Good people will receive blessings. The words of the wicked hide a violent nature.

₇Good people will be remembered as a blessing, but the wicked will soon be forgotten.

₈Sensible people accept good advice. People who talk foolishly will come to ruin.

₉Honest people are safe and secure, but the dishonest will be caught.

₁₀Someone who holds back the truth causes trouble, but one who openly criticizes works for peace.

₁₁A good person's words are a fountain of life, but a wicked person's words hide a violent nature.

₁₂Hate stirs up trouble, but love overlooks all offences.

₁₃Intelligent people talk sense, but stupid people need to be punished.

₁₄The wise get all the knowledge they can, but when fools speak, trouble is not far off.

₁₅Wealth protects the rich; poverty destroys the poor.

₁₆The reward for doing good is life, but sin leads only to more sin.

₁₇People who listen when they are corrected will live, but those who will not admit that they are wrong are in danger.

₁₈Anyone who hides hatred is a liar. Anyone who spreads gossip is a fool.

₁₉The more you talk, the more likely you are to sin. If you are wise, you will keep quiet.

₂₀A good person's words are like pure silver; a wicked person's ideas are worthless.

₂₁A good person's words will benefit many people, but you can kill yourself with stupidity.

₂₂It is the LORD's blessing that makes you wealthy. Hard work can make you no richer.

₂₃It is foolish to enjoy doing wrong. Intelligent people take pleasure in wisdom.

₂₄The righteous get what they want, but the wicked will get what they fear most.

₂₅Storms come, and the wicked are blown away, but honest people are always safe.

₂₆Never get a lazy person to do something for you; he will be as irritating as vinegar on your teeth or smoke in your eyes.

₂₇Obey the LORD, and you will live longer. The wicked die before their time.

₂₈The hopes of good people lead to joy, but wicked people can look forward to nothing.

₂₉The LORD protects honest people, but destroys those who do wrong.

₃₀Righteous people will always have security, but the wicked will not survive in the land.

₃₁Righteous people speak wisdom, but the tongue that speaks evil will be stopped.

₃₂Righteous people know the kind thing to say, but the wicked are always saying things that hurt.