Amos 9 - Legacy Standard Bible

Amos 9

Sinful Israelites Will Die by the Sword

I saw the Lord standing beside the altar, and He said,

“Strike the capitals so that the thresholds will quake,

And break them on the heads of them all!

Then I will kill the rest of them with the sword;

Not one of them who can flee will flee,

And not one of them who can survive will escape.

Though they dig into Sheol,

From there will My hand take them;

And though they ascend to heaven,

From there will I bring them down.

And though they hide on the top of Carmel,

From there I will search them out and take them;

And though they conceal themselves from My eyes on the floor of the sea,

From there I will command the serpent, and it will bite them.

And though they go into captivity before their enemies,

From there I will command the sword that it kill them,

And I will set My eyes against them for evil and not for good.”

Now Lord Yahweh of hosts,

The One who touches the land so that it melts,

And all those who inhabit it mourn,

And all of it rises up like the Nile

And subsides like the Nile of Egypt;

The One who builds His upper chambers in the heavens

And has founded His vaulted dome over the earth;

The One who calls for the waters of the sea

And pours them out on the face of the earth;

Yahweh is His name.

“Are you not as the sons of Ethiopia to Me,

O sons of Israel?” declares Yahweh.

“Have I not brought up Israel from the land of Egypt,

And the Philistines from Caphtor and the Arameans from Kir?

Behold, the eyes of Lord Yahweh are on the sinful kingdom,

And I will destroy it from the face of the earth;

Nevertheless, I will not totally destroy the house of Jacob,”

Declares Yahweh.

“For behold, I am commanding,

And I will shake the house of Israel among all nations

As grain is shaken in a sieve,

But not a kernel will fall to the ground.

All the sinners of My people will die by the sword,

Those who say, ‘The calamity will not overtake or confront us.’

Yahweh Will Rebuild Israel

“In that day I will raise up the fallen booth of David

And wall up its breaches;

I will also raise up its ruins

And rebuild it as in the ancient days,

That they may possess the remnant of Edom

And all the nations who are called by My name,”

Declares Yahweh who does this.

“Behold, days are coming,” declares Yahweh,

“When the plowman will overtake the reaper

And the treader of grapes him who sows seed;

When the mountains will drip sweet wine

And all the hills will melt.

Also I will restore the captivity of My people Israel,

And they will rebuild the desolated cities and live in them;

They will also plant vineyards and drink their wine

And make gardens and eat their fruit.

I will also plant them on their land,

And they will not again be uprooted from their land

Which I have given them,”

Says Yahweh your God.

Hosea 1 - 2

Hosea’s Wife and Children

The word of Yahweh which came to Hosea the son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel. 2 When Yahweh first spoke through Hosea, Yahweh said to Hosea, “Go, take for yourself a wife of harlotry and have children of harlotry; for the land commits flagrant harlotry, forsaking Yahweh.” 3 So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and gave birth to a son for him. 4 And Yahweh said to him, “Name him Jezreel; for yet a little while, and I will visit the bloodshed of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu, and I will cause the kingdom of the house of Israel to cease. 5 And it will be in that day, that I will break the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezreel.” 6 Then she conceived again and gave birth to a daughter. And Yahweh said to him, “Name her Lo-ruhamah, for I will no longer have compassion on the house of Israel, that I would ever forgive them. 7 But I will have compassion on the house of Judah and save them by Yahweh their God, and I will not save them by bow, sword, battle, horses, or horsemen.” 8 Then she weaned Lo-ruhamah. And she conceived and gave birth to a son. 9 And Yahweh said, “Name him Lo-ammi, for you are not My people, and I am not your God.” 10

Yet the number of the sons of Israel

Will be like the sand of the sea,

Which cannot be measured or numbered;

And it will be that in the place

Where it is said to them,

“You are not My people,”

It will be said to them,

“You are the sons of the living God.”

And the sons of Judah and the sons of Israel will be gathered together,

And they will set for themselves one head,

And they will go up from the land,

For great will be the day of Jezreel.

No Compassion for Children of Harlotry

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

“Contend with your mother, contend,

For she is not my wife, and I am not her husband;

And let her remove her harlotry from her face

And her adultery from between her breasts,

Lest I strip her naked

And set her forth as on the day when she was born

And make her like a wilderness

And make her like dry land

And put her to death with thirst.

Also, I will have no compassion on her children

Because they are children of harlotry.

For their mother has played the harlot;

She who conceived them has acted shamefully.

For she said, ‘I will go after my lovers,

Who give me my bread and my water,

My wool and my flax, my oil and my drink.’

Therefore, behold, I will hedge up her way with thorns,

And I will build a wall against her so that she cannot find her paths.

So she will pursue her lovers, but she will not overtake them;

And she will seek them, but will not find them.

Then she will say, ‘I will go, and I will return to my first husband,

For it was better for me then than now!’

“Now she does not know that it was I who gave her the grain, the new wine, and the oil,

And multiplied silver and gold for her,

Which they used for Baal.

Therefore, I will take back My grain at harvest time

And My new wine in its season.

I will also deliver My wool and My flax from them

Given to cover her nakedness.

So now I will uncover her lewdness

In the sight of her lovers,

And no one will deliver her out of My hand.

I will also cease all her joy,

Her feasts, her new moons, her sabbaths,

And all her appointed times.

And I will make desolate her vines and fig trees,

Of which she said, ‘These are my wages

Which my lovers have given me.’

And I will make them a forest,

And the beasts of the field will devour them.

So I will visit the days of the Baals upon her

When she used to offer offerings in smoke to them

And adorn herself with her earrings and jewelry

And go after her lovers, so that she forgot Me,” declares Yahweh.

Yahweh’s Faithful Betrothal

“Therefore, behold, I will allure her

And bring her into the wilderness

And speak to her heart.

Then I will give her her vineyards from there

And the valley of Achor as a door of hope.

And she will sing there as in the days of her youth,

As in the day when she came up from the land of Egypt.

And it will be in that day,” declares Yahweh,

“That you will call Me Ishi

And will no longer call Me Baali.

So I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth

So that they will be remembered by their names no more.

And in that day I will cut a covenant for them

With the beasts of the field,

The birds of the sky,

And the creeping things of the ground.

And I will break the bow, the sword, and war from the land,

And I will make them lie down in security.

And I will betroth you to Me forever;

Indeed, I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and in justice,

In lovingkindness and in compassion,

And I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness.

Then you will know Yahweh.

“And it will be in that day, that I will answer,” declares Yahweh.

“I will answer the heavens, and they will answer the earth,

And the earth will answer the grain, the new wine, and the oil,

And they will answer Jezreel.

And I will sow her for Myself in the land.

I will also have compassion on her who had not obtained compassion,

And I will say to those who were not My people,

‘You are My people!’

And they will say, ‘You are my God!’”

Mark 9:1 - 10:16

The Transfiguration

And Jesus was saying to them, “Truly 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 And six days later, Jesus *took with Him Peter and James and John, and *brought them up on a high mountain alone by themselves. And He was transfigured before them; 3 and His garments were shining intensely white, as no launderer on earth can whiten them. 4 And Elijah appeared to them along with Moses and they were conversing with Jesus. 5 And Peter answered and *said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three booths, one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” 6 For he did not know what to answer; for they became terrified. 7 Then a cloud formed, overshadowing them, and a voice came out of the cloud, “This is My beloved Son, listen to Him!” 8 And all at once when they looked around, they saw no one with them anymore, except Jesus alone. 9 And as they were coming down from the mountain, He gave them orders not to recount to anyone what they had seen, until the Son of Man rose from the dead. 10 And they seized upon that statement, arguing with one another what rising from the dead meant. 11 And they began asking Him, saying, “Why is it that the scribes say that Elijah must come first?” 12 And He said to them, “Elijah does first come and restore all things. And yet how is it written of the Son of Man that He will suffer many things and be treated with contempt? 13 But I say to you that Elijah has indeed come, and they did to him whatever they wished, just as it is written of him.”

I Believe, Help My Unbelief

14 And when they came back to the disciples, they saw a large crowd around them, and scribes arguing with them. 15 And immediately, when the entire crowd saw Him, they were amazed. And as they ran up, they were greeting Him. 16 And He asked them, “What are you arguing with them?” 17 And one of the crowd answered Him, “Teacher, I brought You my son, possessed with a spirit which makes him mute; 18 and whenever it seizes him, it slams him to the ground and he foams at the mouth, and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid. I told Your disciples to cast it out, and they could not do it.” 19 And 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!” 20 And they brought the 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. 21 And 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!” 23 And Jesus said to him, “‘If You can?’ All things are possible to him who believes.” 24 Immediately the boy’s father cried out and was saying, “I do believe; help my unbelief.” 25 Now when Jesus saw that a crowd was rapidly gathering, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You mute and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him and do not enter him again.” 26 And 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!” 27 But Jesus took him by the hand and raised him; and he stood up. 28 And when He came into the house, His disciples began questioning Him privately, “Why could we not cast it out?” 29 And He said to them, “This kind cannot come out by anything but prayer.”

Jesus Foretells His Death and Resurrection

30 From there they went out and were going through Galilee, and He was not wanting anyone to know about it. 31 For He was teaching His disciples and telling them, “The Son of Man is to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill Him; and when He has been killed, He will rise again three days later.” 32 But they did not understand this statement, and they were afraid to ask Him. 33 And they came to Capernaum; and when He was in the house, He began to question them, “What were you discussing on the way?” 34 But they kept silent, for on the way they had discussed with one another which of them was the greatest. 35 And sitting down, He called the twelve and *said to them, “If anyone wants to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all.” 36 And taking a child, He set him before them. And taking him in His arms, He said to them, 37 “Whoever receives one 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 John said to Him, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and we tried to hinder him because he was not following us.” 39 But 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 For he who is not against us is for us. 41 For whoever 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 “And whoever causes one of these little ones who believe to stumble, it would be better for him if, with a heavy millstone hung around his neck, he had been cast into the sea. 43 And 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 hell, into the unquenchable fire, 44 [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 hell, 46 [and where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.] 47 And 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 hell, 48 where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched. 49 “For everyone will be salted with fire. 50 Salt is good; but if the salt becomes unsalty, with what will you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”

Teaching About Divorce

And standing up, He *went from there to the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan; crowds *gathered around Him again, and, according to His custom, He once more began to teach them. 2 And some Pharisees came up to Jesus, testing Him, and began to question Him whether it was lawful for a man to divorce a wife. 3 And He answered and said to them, “What did Moses command you?” 4 And they said, “Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and send her away.” 5 But Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart he wrote for you this commandment. 6 But from the beginning of creation, God made them male and female. 7 For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother, 8 and 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.” 10 And in the house the disciples began questioning Him about this again. 11 And He *said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her; 12 and if she herself divorces her husband and marries another man, she is committing adultery.”

Jesus Blesses Little Children

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

Psalm 29

The Voice of Yahweh

A Psalm of David.

Ascribe to Yahweh, O sons of the mighty,

Ascribe to Yahweh glory and strength.

Ascribe to Yahweh the glory of His name;

Worship Yahweh in the splendor of holiness.

The voice of Yahweh is upon the waters;

The God of glory thunders,

Yahweh is over many waters.

The voice of Yahweh is powerful,

The voice of Yahweh is full of splendor.

The voice of Yahweh breaks the cedars;

Indeed, Yahweh breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon.

He makes Lebanon skip like a calf,

And Sirion like a young wild ox.

The voice of Yahweh hews out flames of fire.

The voice of Yahweh causes the wilderness to tremble;

Yahweh causes the wilderness of Kadesh to tremble.

The voice of Yahweh makes the deer to calve

And strips the forests bare;

And in His temple everything says, “Glory!”

Yahweh sat enthroned over the flood;

Indeed, Yahweh sits as King forever.

Yahweh will give strength to His people;

Yahweh will bless His people with peace.