Amos 9, Hosea 1 - 2, Mark 9-10:16, Psalm 29

Sinful Israelites Will Die by the Sword

9I saw the Lord standing beside the ^aaltar, and He said, “Strike the capitals so that the ^bthresholds will quake,And ^cbreak them on the heads of them all!Then I will ^dkill the rest of them with the sword;^eNot one of them who can flee will flee,And not one of them who can survive will escape.

²“Though they dig into ^aSheol,From there will My hand take them;And though they ^bascend to heaven,From there will I bring them down.³“And though they hide on the ¹top of Carmel,From there I will ^asearch them out and take them;And though they ^bconceal themselves from My eyes on the floor of the sea,From there I will command the ^cserpent, and it will bite them.⁴“And though they go into ^acaptivity before their enemies,From there I will command the sword that it kill them,And I will ^bset My eyes against them for evil and not for good.”⁵Now Lord Yahweh of hosts,The One who ^atouches the land so that it melts,And ^ball those who inhabit it mourn,And all of it rises up like the NileAnd subsides like the Nile of Egypt;⁶The One who builds His ¹^,^aupper chambers in the heavensAnd has founded His vaulted dome over the earth;The One who ^bcalls for the waters of the seaAnd ^cpours them out on the face of the earth;^dYahweh is His name.⁷“Are you not as the sons of ^aEthiopia to Me,O sons of Israel?” declares Yahweh.“Have I not brought up Israel from the land of Egypt,And the ^bPhilistines from Caphtor and the ^cArameans from ^dKir?⁸“Behold, the ^aeyes of Lord Yahweh are on the sinful kingdom,And I will ^bdestroy it from the face of the earth;Nevertheless, I will ^cnot totally destroy the house of Jacob,”Declares Yahweh.⁹“For behold, I am commanding,And I will ^ashake the house of Israel among all nationsAs grain is shaken in a sieve,But not a ¹kernel will fall to the ground.¹⁰“All the ^asinners of My people will die by the sword,Those who say, ‘^bThe calamity will not overtake or confront us.’

Yahweh Will Rebuild Israel

¹¹“In that day I will ^araise up the fallen ¹^,^bbooth of DavidAnd wall up its ^cbreaches;I will also raise up its ruinsAnd rebuild it as in the ^dancient days,¹²^aThat they may possess the remnant of ^bEdomAnd all the ¹nations who are ^ccalled by My name,”Declares Yahweh who does this.¹³“Behold, days are coming,” declares Yahweh,“When the ^aplowman will overtake the reaperAnd the treader of grapes him who sows seed;When the ^bmountains will drip ¹sweet ^cwineAnd all the hills will melt.¹⁴“Also I will ^arestore the ¹captivity of My people Israel,And they will ^brebuild the desolated cities and live in them;They will also ^cplant vineyards and drink their wineAnd make gardens and eat their fruit.¹⁵“I will also plant them on their land,And ^athey will not again be uprooted from their landWhich I have given them,”Says Yahweh your God.

Hosea’s Wife and Children

1The word of ¹Yahweh which came to ^aHosea the son of Beeri, in the days of ^bUzziah, ^cJotham, ^dAhaz, and ^eHezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of ^fJeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel.

²When Yahweh first spoke through Hosea, Yahweh said to Hosea, “^aGo, take for yourself a wife of harlotry and have children of harlotry; for ^bthe land commits flagrant harlotry, ¹forsaking Yahweh.” ³So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and ^agave birth to a son for him. ⁴And Yahweh said to him, “Name him ^aJezreel; for yet a little while, and ^bI will visit the bloodshed of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu, and ^cI will cause the kingdom of the house of Israel to cease. ⁵“And it will be in that day, that I will ^abreak the bow of Israel in the ^bvalley of Jezreel.”

⁶Then she conceived again and gave birth to a daughter. And ¹Yahweh said to him, “Name her ²Lo-ruhamah, for I will no longer ^ahave compassion on the house of Israel, that I would ever forgive them. ⁷“But I will have ^acompassion on the house of Judah and ^bsave them by Yahweh their God, and I will not save them by ^cbow, sword, battle, horses, or horsemen.”

⁸Then she weaned Lo-ruhamah. And she conceived and gave birth to a son. ⁹And ¹Yahweh said, “Name him ²Lo-ammi, for you are not My people, and I am not ³your God.”

¹⁰¹Yet the number of the sons of IsraelWill be like the ^asand of the sea,Which cannot be measured or numbered;And it will be that ^bin the placeWhere it is said to them,“You are ^cnot My people,”It will be said to them,“You are the ^dsons of the living God.”¹¹And the ^asons of Judah and the sons of Israel will be ^bgathered together,And they will set for themselves ^cone head,And they will go up from the land,For great will be the day of Jezreel.

No Compassion for Children of Harlotry

2¹Say to your brothers, “²Ammi,” and to your sisters, “³Ruhamah.”

²“Contend with your mother, ^acontend,For she is ^bnot my wife, and I am not her husband;And let her remove her ^charlotry from her faceAnd her adultery from between her breasts,³Lest I strip her ^anakedAnd set her forth as on the ^bday when she was bornAnd ^cmake her like a wildernessAnd ¹make her like dry landAnd put her to death with ^dthirst.⁴“Also, I will have no compassion on her childrenBecause they are ^achildren of harlotry.⁵“For their mother has ^aplayed the harlot;She who conceived them has acted shamefully.For she said, ‘^bI will go after my lovers,Who ^cgive me my bread and my water,My wool and my flax, my ^doil and my drink.’⁶“Therefore, behold, I will ^ahedge up ¹her way with ^bthorns,And I will build ²a wall against her so that she cannot find her ^cpaths.⁷“So she will ^apursue her lovers, but she will not overtake them;And she will seek them, but will not find them.Then she will say, ‘^bI will go, and I will return to my ^cfirst husband,For it was ^dbetter for me then than now!’⁸“Now she does ^anot know that it was ^bI who gave her the grain, the new wine, and the oil,And multiplied silver and gold for her,Which they ¹used for Baal.⁹“Therefore, I will ^atake back My grain at ¹harvest timeAnd My new wine in its season.I will also deliver My wool and My flax from themGiven to cover her nakedness.¹⁰“So now I will ^auncover her lewdnessIn the sight of her lovers,And no one will deliver her out of My hand.¹¹“I will also ^acease all her joy,Her ^bfeasts, her ^cnew moons, her sabbaths,And all her appointed times.¹²“And I will ^amake desolate her vines and fig trees,Of which she said, ‘These are my wagesWhich my lovers have given me.’And I will ^bmake them a forest,And the ^cbeasts of the field will devour them.¹³“So I will visit the ^adays of the Baals upon herWhen she used to ¹^,^boffer offerings in smoke to themAnd ^cadorn herself with her ²earrings and jewelryAnd go after her lovers, so that she ^dforgot Me,” declares Yahweh.

Yahweh’s Faithful Betrothal

¹⁴“Therefore, behold, I will allure her^aAnd bring her into the wildernessAnd speak to her heart.¹⁵“Then I will give her her ^avineyards from thereAnd ^bthe valley of Achor as a door of hope.And she will ¹^,^csing there as in the days of her youth,As in the ^dday when she came up from the land of Egypt.¹⁶“And it will be in that day,” declares Yahweh,“That you will call Me ¹^,^aIshiAnd will no longer call Me ²Baali.¹⁷“So ^aI will remove the names of the Baals from her mouthSo that they will be remembered by their names no more.¹⁸“And in that day I will cut a covenant for themWith the ^abeasts of the field,The birds of the sky,And the creeping things of the ground.And I will ^bbreak the bow, the sword, and war from the land,And I will make them ^clie down in security.¹⁹“And I will ^abetroth you to Me forever;Indeed, I will betroth you to Me in ^brighteousness and in justice,In lovingkindness and in compassion,²⁰And I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness.Then you will ^aknow Yahweh.²¹“And it will be in that day, that ^aI will answer,” declares Yahweh.“I will answer the heavens, and they will answer the earth,²²And the ^aearth will answer the grain, the new wine, and the oil,And they will answer ¹Jezreel.²³“And I will ^asow her for Myself in the land.^bI will also have compassion on ¹her who had not obtained compassion,And ^cI will say to ²those who were ^dnot My people,‘You are My people!’And ³they will say, ‘You are my God!’”

The Transfiguration

9And Jesus was saying to them, “^aTruly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God having come in power.”

²^aAnd six days later, Jesus *took with Him ^bPeter and James and John, and *brought them up on a high mountain alone by themselves. And He was transfigured before them; ³and ^aHis garments were shining intensely white, as no launderer on earth can whiten them. ⁴And Elijah appeared to them along with Moses and they were conversing with Jesus. ⁵And Peter answered and *said to Jesus, “^aRabbi, it is good for us to be here; ^blet us make three ¹booths, one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” ⁶For he did not know what to answer; for they became terrified. ⁷Then a cloud ¹formed, overshadowing them, and ^aa voice ²came out of the cloud, “^bThis is My beloved Son, ³listen to Him!” ⁸And all at once when they looked around, they saw no one with them anymore, except Jesus alone.

⁹^aAnd as they were coming down from the mountain, He ^bgave them orders not to recount to anyone what they had seen, ¹until the Son of Man rose from the dead. ¹⁰And they ¹seized upon ²that statement, arguing with one another ³what rising from the dead meant. ¹¹And they began asking Him, saying, “Why is it that the scribes say that ^aElijah must come first?” ¹²And He said to them, “Elijah does first come and restore all things. And yet how is it written of ^athe Son of Man that ^bHe will suffer many things and be treated with contempt? ¹³“But I say to you that Elijah has ¹indeed come, and they did to him whatever they wished, just as it is written of him.”

I Believe, Help My Unbelief

¹⁴^aAnd when they came back to the disciples, they saw a large crowd around them, and scribes arguing with them. ¹⁵And immediately, when the entire crowd saw Him, they were ^aamazed. And as they ran up, they were greeting Him. ¹⁶And He asked them, “What are you arguing with them?” ¹⁷And one of the crowd answered Him, “Teacher, I brought You my son, possessed with a spirit which makes him mute; ¹⁸and ¹whenever it seizes him, it ²slams him to the ground and he foams at the mouth, and grinds his teeth and ³becomes rigid. I told Your disciples to cast it out, and they could not do it.” ¹⁹And He *answered them and *said, “O unbelieving generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him to Me!” ²⁰And they brought ¹the boy to Him. When he saw Him, immediately the spirit threw him into a convulsion, and falling to the ground, he began rolling around, foaming at the mouth. ²¹And He asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood. ²²“And it has often thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, take pity on us and help us!” ²³And Jesus said to him, “‘If You can?’ ^aAll things are possible to him who believes.” ²⁴Immediately the boy’s father cried out and was saying, “I do believe; help my unbelief.” ²⁵Now when Jesus saw that ^aa crowd was ¹rapidly gathering, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You mute and deaf spirit, ²I command you, come out of him and do not enter him ³again.” ²⁶And after crying out and throwing him into terrible convulsions, it came out; and the boy became so much like a corpse that most of them said, “He is dead!” ²⁷But Jesus took him by the hand and raised him; and he stood up. ²⁸And when He came ^ainto the house, His disciples began questioning Him privately, “Why could we not cast it out?” ²⁹And He said to them, “This kind cannot come out by anything but prayer.”

Jesus Foretells His Death and Resurrection

³⁰^aFrom there they went out and were going through Galilee, and He was not wanting anyone to know about it. ³¹For He was teaching His disciples and telling them, “^aThe Son of Man is to be ¹delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill Him; and when He has been killed, He will rise again three days later.” ³²But ^athey ¹did not understand this statement, and they were afraid to ask Him.

³³^aAnd they came to Capernaum; and when He ¹was in ^bthe house, He began to question them, “What were you discussing on the way?” ³⁴But they kept silent, for on the way ^athey had discussed with one another which of them was the greatest. ³⁵And sitting down, He called the twelve and *said to them, “^aIf anyone wants to be first, ¹he shall be last of all and servant of all.” ³⁶And taking a child, He set him ¹before them. And taking him in His arms, He said to them, ³⁷“^aWhoever receives ¹one child like this in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me does not receive Me, but Him who sent Me.”

Warnings About Discipleship

³⁸^aJohn said to Him, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and ^bwe tried to hinder him because he was not following us.” ³⁹But Jesus said, “Do not hinder him, for there is no one who will perform a miracle in My name, and be able soon afterward to speak evil of Me. ⁴⁰“^aFor he who is not against us is ¹for us. ⁴¹“For ^awhoever gives you a cup of water to drink in My name because you are of Christ, truly I say to you, he will not lose his reward.

⁴²“^aAnd whoever causes one of these ¹little ones who believe to stumble, it ²would be better for him if, with a heavy millstone hung around his neck, he ³had been cast into the sea. ⁴³“^aAnd if your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life crippled, than, having your two hands, to go into ¹^,^bhell, into the ^cunquenchable fire, ⁴⁴¹[and where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.] ⁴⁵“And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame, than, having your two feet, to be cast into ¹^,^ahell, ⁴⁶¹[and where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.] ⁴⁷“^aAnd if your eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, than, having two eyes, to be cast into ¹^,^bhell, ⁴⁸^awhere their worm does not die, and ^bthe fire is not quenched.

⁴⁹“For everyone will be salted with fire. ⁵⁰“Salt is good; but ^aif the salt becomes unsalty, with what will you ¹make it salty again? ^bHave salt in yourselves, and ^cbe at peace with one another.”

Teaching About Divorce

10^aAnd standing up, He *went from there to the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan; crowds *gathered around Him again, and, ^baccording to His custom, He once more began to teach them.

²And some Pharisees came up to Jesus, testing Him, and began to question Him whether it was lawful for a man to ¹divorce a wife. ³And He answered and said to them, “What did Moses command you?” ⁴And they said, “^aMoses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and ¹send her away.” ⁵But Jesus said to them, “¹^,^aBecause of your hardness of heart he wrote for you this commandment. ⁶“But ^afrom the beginning of creation, God ^bmade them male and female. ⁷“^aFor this reason a man shall leave his father and mother¹, ⁸^aand the two shall become one flesh; so they are no longer two, but one flesh. ⁹“What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.”

¹⁰And in the house the disciples began questioning Him about this again. ¹¹And He *said to them, “^aWhoever ¹divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her; ¹²and ^aif she herself ¹divorces her husband and marries another man, she is committing adultery.”

Jesus Blesses Little Children

¹³^aAnd they were bringing children to Him so that He might touch them; but the disciples rebuked them. ¹⁴But when Jesus saw this, He was indignant and said to them, “Permit the children to come to Me; do not hinder them; ^afor the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. ¹⁵“Truly I say to you, ^awhoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.” ¹⁶And He ^atook them in His arms and began blessing them, laying His hands on them.

The Voice of Yahweh

A Psalm of David.

^aAscribe to Yahweh, O ¹sons of the mighty,Ascribe to Yahweh glory and strength.²Ascribe to Yahweh the glory of His name;Worship Yahweh ^ain the splendor of holiness.³The ^avoice of Yahweh is upon the waters;The God of glory ^bthunders,Yahweh is over ¹^,^cmany waters.⁴The voice of Yahweh is ^apowerful,The voice of Yahweh is full of splendor.⁵The voice of Yahweh breaks the cedars;Indeed, Yahweh breaks in pieces ^athe cedars of Lebanon.⁶He makes Lebanon ^askip like a calf,And ^bSirion like a young wild ox.⁷The voice of Yahweh hews out ¹flames of fire.⁸The voice of Yahweh causes the wilderness to tremble;Yahweh causes the wilderness of ^aKadesh to tremble.⁹The voice of Yahweh makes ^athe deer to calveAnd strips the forests bare;And ^bin His temple everything says, “Glory!”¹⁰Yahweh sat enthroned over the ^aflood;Indeed, Yahweh sits as ^bKing forever.¹¹¹Yahweh will give ^astrength to His people;²Yahweh will bless His people with ^bpeace.