Amos 3 - 4, Mark 4-5:20, Psalm 26 — Legacy Standard Bible

Yahweh Speaks Against Israel

3Hear this word which Yahweh has spoken against you, sons of Israel, against the entire ¹^,^afamily which ²He brought up from the land of Egypt, saying,

²“^aYou only have I known among all the families of the earth;Therefore I will ¹^,^bpunish you for all your iniquities.”³Do two men walk together unless they have made an ¹appointment?⁴Does a ^alion roar in the forest when it has no prey?Does a young lion give forth its voice from its den unless it has captured something?⁵Does a bird fall into a trap on the ground when there is no ¹bait in it?Does a trap spring up from the earth when it captures nothing at all?⁶If a ^atrumpet is blown in a city will not the people tremble?If a ^bcalamity happens in a city has not Yahweh done it?⁷¹Surely Lord Yahweh does nothingUnless He ^areveals His secret counselTo His slaves the prophets.⁸A ^alion has roared! Who will not fear?^bLord Yahweh has spoken! ^cWho can but prophesy?

⁹Make it heard on the citadels in ^aAshdod and on the citadels in the land of Egypt and say, “Gather yourselves on the ^bmountains of Samaria and see the great confusions within her and the ^coppressions in her midst. ¹⁰“But they ^ado not know how to do what is right,” declares Yahweh, “these who ^bhoard up ¹violence and devastation in their citadels.”

¹¹Therefore, thus says Lord Yahweh, “An ^aadversary, even one surrounding the land,Will pull down your ¹strength from you,And your ^bcitadels will be plundered.”

¹²Thus says Yahweh, “Just as the shepherd ^adelivers from the lion’s mouth a couple of legs or a piece of an ear,So will the sons of Israel inhabiting Samaria be delivered—With the ^bcorner of a bed and the ¹^,^ccover of a couch!

¹³“Hear and ^atestify against the house of Jacob,”Declares Lord Yahweh, the God of hosts.¹⁴“For on the day that I punish Israel’s transgressions,I will also punish the altars of ^aBethel;The horns of the altar will be cut in pieces,And they will fall to the ground.¹⁵“I will also strike the ¹^,^awinter house together with the ^bsummer house;The houses of ²^,^civory will also perish,And the ^dgreat houses will come to an end,”Declares Yahweh.

Yet You Have Not Returned to Me

4Hear this word, you cows of ^aBashan who are on the ^bmountain of Samaria,Who ^coppress the poor, who crush the needy,Who say to their ¹husbands, “Bring now, that we may ^ddrink!”²Lord Yahweh has ^asworn by His ^bholiness that,“Behold, the days are coming upon you,And ¹they will take you away with ^cmeat hooks,And the last of you with ^dfish hooks.³“And you will ^ago out through breaches in the walls,Each one straight before her,And you ¹will be cast to Harmon,” declares Yahweh.⁴“Enter Bethel and transgress;In Gilgal multiply transgression!^aBring your sacrifices every morning,Your tithes every three days.⁵“¹And offer a ^athank offering also from that which is leavened,And call for ^bfreewill offerings; cause them to be heard about.For so you ^clove to do, you sons of Israel,”Declares Lord Yahweh.⁶“But I gave you also ^acleanness of teeth in all your citiesAnd lack of bread in all your places,Yet you have ^bnot returned to Me,” declares Yahweh.⁷“And I also ^awithheld the rain from youWhile there were still three months until harvest.Then I would send rain on one city,And on ^banother city I would not send rain;One portion would be rained on,While the portion not rained on would dry up.⁸“So two or three cities would wander around to another city to drink ^awater,But would ^bnot be satisfied;Yet you have ^cnot returned to Me,” declares Yahweh.⁹“I ^astruck you with scorching wind and mildew;And the ^bgnawing locust was devouringYour many gardens and vineyards, fig trees, and olive trees;Yet you have ^cnot returned to Me,” declares Yahweh.¹⁰“I sent a ^apestilence among you after the manner of Egypt;I ^bkilled your choice men by the sword along with your ^ccaptured horses,And I made the ^dstench of your camp rise up even in your nostrils;Yet you have ^enot returned to Me,” declares Yahweh.¹¹“I overthrew you as ^aGod overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah,And you were like a ^bfirebrand ¹delivered from a blaze;Yet you have ^cnot returned to Me,” declares Yahweh.¹²“Therefore thus I will do to you, O Israel;Because I will do this to you,Prepare to ^ameet your God, O Israel.”¹³For behold, He who ^aforms mountains and ^bcreates the windAnd ^cdeclares to man what are His thoughts,He who ^dmakes dawn into gloomAnd ^etreads on the high places of the earth,^fYahweh God of hosts is His name.

The Parable of the Sower

4^aAnd He began to teach again ^bby the sea. And such a very large crowd gathered to Him that ^cHe got into a boat in the sea and sat down; and the whole crowd was by the sea on the land. ²And He was teaching them many things in ^aparables, and was saying to them in His teaching, ³“Listen to this! Behold, the sower went out to sow; ⁴and it happened that as he was sowing, some seed fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate it up. ⁵“And other seed fell on the rocky ground where it did not have much soil; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of soil. ⁶“And after the sun rose, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away. ⁷“And other seed fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it, and it yielded no ¹crop. ⁸“And other seeds fell into the good soil, and as they grew up and increased, they were yielding a ¹crop and produced thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.” ⁹And He was saying, “^aHe who has ears to hear, ¹let him hear.”

¹⁰And when He was alone, ¹His followers, along with the twelve, began asking Him about the parables. ¹¹And He was saying to them, “To you has been given the mystery of the kingdom of God, but to ^athose who are outside, everything comes ^bin parables, ¹²so that ^awhile seeing, they may see and not perceive, and while hearing, they may hear and not understand, lest they return and be forgiven.”

The Parable of the Sower Explained

¹³^aAnd He *said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How will you understand all the parables? ¹⁴“The sower sows the word. ¹⁵“And these are the ones who are beside the road where the word is sown: when they hear, immediately ^aSatan comes and takes away the word which has been sown in them. ¹⁶“And in a similar way, these are the ones being sown on the rocky places: those who, when hearing the word, immediately receive it with joy; ¹⁷and they have no root in themselves, but are only temporary; then, when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately they ¹fall away. ¹⁸“And others are those being sown among the thorns; these are the ones who have heard the word, ¹⁹but the worries of ^athe ¹world, and the ^bdeceitfulness of riches, and the desires for anything else enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. ²⁰“And those are the ones which were sown on the good soil: they who hear the word and accept it and ^aare bearing fruit, thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.”

²¹And He was saying to them, “^aIs a lamp brought to be put under a ¹basket or under a bed? Is it not to be put on the lampstand? ²²“^aFor nothing is hidden, except to be revealed; nor has anything been secret, but that it would come to light. ²³“^aIf anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.” ²⁴And He was saying to them, “Beware what you listen to. ¹^,^aBy your standard of measure it will be measured to you, and more will be given to you. ²⁵“^aFor whoever has, to him more shall be given; and whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him.”

The Parable of the Seed

²⁶And He was saying, “The kingdom of God is like a man who casts seed upon the soil; ²⁷and he sleeps and rises, night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows—how, he himself does not know. ²⁸“The soil produces crops by itself; first the blade, then the head, then the mature grain in the head. ²⁹“But when the grain ¹is ripe, he immediately ²^,^aputs in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”

The Parable of the Mustard Seed

³⁰^aAnd He was saying, “How shall we ^bcompare the kingdom of God, or by what parable shall we present it? ³¹“It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the soil, though it is ¹smallest of all the seeds that are upon the soil, ³²yet when it is sown, it grows up and becomes ¹largest of all the garden plants and forms large branches; so that ^athe birds of the ²air can nest under its shade.”

³³And with many such parables He was speaking the word to them, as they were able to hear it; ³⁴and He was not speaking to them ^awithout a parable; but He was ^bexplaining everything privately to His own disciples.

Jesus Calms a Storm

³⁵^aAnd on that day, when evening came, He *said to them, “Let us go over to the other side.” ³⁶¹And leaving the crowd, they *took Him along with them ^ain the boat, just as He was; and other boats were with Him. ³⁷And a great windstorm *arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat so that the boat was already filling up. ³⁸And Jesus Himself was in the stern, sleeping on the cushion; and they *got Him up and *said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” ³⁹And He woke up and ^arebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Silence! Be still.” And the wind died down and ¹it became ²perfectly calm. ⁴⁰And He said to them, “Why are you so cowardly? ^aDo you still have no faith?” ⁴¹And they became ¹very afraid and were saying to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?”

Jesus Saves a Man with Many Demons

5^aThen they came to the other side of the sea, into the region of the Gerasenes. ²And when He got out of ^athe boat, immediately a man from the tombs ^bwith an unclean spirit met Him, ³who had his dwelling among the tombs. And no one was able to bind him anymore, even with a chain; ⁴because he had often been bound with shackles and chains, and the chains had been torn apart by him and the shackles broken in pieces, and no one was strong enough to subdue him. ⁵And constantly, night and day, among the tombs and in the mountains, he was crying out and gashing himself with stones. ⁶And seeing Jesus from a distance, he ran up and bowed down before Him; ⁷and crying out with a loud voice, he *said, “¹^,^aWhat do I have to do with You, Jesus, ^bSon of ^cthe Most High God? I implore You by God, do not torment me!” ⁸For He had been saying to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” ⁹And He was asking him, “What is your name?” And he *said to Him, “My name is ^aLegion; for we are many.” ¹⁰And he began pleading with Him earnestly not to send them out of the region. ¹¹Now there was a large herd of swine feeding ¹nearby on the mountain. ¹²And the demons pleaded with Him, saying, “Send us into the swine so that we may enter them.” ¹³And Jesus gave them permission. And coming out, the unclean spirits entered the swine; and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea, about two thousand of them; and they were drowned in the sea.

¹⁴And their herdsmen ran away and reported it in the city and in the countryside. And the people came to see what it was that had happened. ¹⁵And they *came to Jesus and *observed the ^ademon-possessed man sitting down, ^bclothed and ^cin his right mind, the very man who had the “^dlegion”; and they became frightened. ¹⁶And those who had seen it recounted to them how this had happened to the ^ademon-possessed man, and all about the swine. ¹⁷And they began to ^aplead with Him to leave their region. ¹⁸^aAnd as He was getting into the boat, the man who had been ^bdemon-possessed was pleading with Him that he might ¹accompany Him. ¹⁹And He did not let him, but He *said to him, “^aGo home to your people and report to them ¹what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He had mercy on you.” ²⁰And he went away and began to ^apreach in the ^bDecapolis ¹what great things Jesus had done for him; and everyone was marveling.

Give Justice to Me, O Yahweh

Of David.

^aGive justice to me, O Yahweh, for I have ^bwalked in my integrity,And I have ^ctrusted in Yahweh; ^dI will not waver.²^aTest me, O Yahweh, and try me;^bRefine my ¹mind and my heart.³For Your ^alovingkindness is before my eyes,And I have ^bwalked in Your ¹truth.⁴I do not ^asit with worthless men,And I will not go with ¹^,^bpretenders.⁵I ^ahate the assembly of evildoers,And I will not sit with the wicked.⁶I shall ^awash my hands in innocence,So I will go around ^bYour altar, O Yahweh,⁷In order to proclaim with the voice of ^athanksgivingAnd to recount all Your ¹wondrous deeds.⁸O Yahweh, I ^alove the habitation of Your houseAnd the place ¹where Your ^bglory dwells.⁹^aDo not ¹take my soul away along with sinners,Nor my life with ^bmen of bloodshed,¹⁰In whose hands is a ^awicked scheme,And whose right hand is full of ^bbribes.¹¹But as for me, I shall ^awalk in my integrity;^bRedeem me, and be gracious to me.¹²^aMy foot stands on ^blevel ground;In the ^ccongregations I shall bless Yahweh.