1 The words of Amos, who was among the shepherds of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of King Uzziah of Judah and in the days of King Jeroboam son of Joash of Israel, two years[a] before the earthquake.
Judgment on Israel’s Neighbors
2 And he said:
The Lord roars from Zion,
and utters his voice from Jerusalem;
the pastures of the shepherds wither,
and the top of Carmel dries up.
3
Thus says the Lord:
For three transgressions of Damascus,
and for four, I will not revoke the punishment;[b]
because they have threshed Gilead
with threshing sledges of iron.
4
So I will send a fire on the house of Hazael,
and it shall devour the strongholds of Ben-hadad.
5
I will break the gate bars of Damascus,
and cut off the inhabitants from the Valley of Aven,
and the one who holds the scepter from Beth-eden;
and the people of Aram shall go into exile to Kir,
says the Lord.
6
Thus says the Lord:
For three transgressions of Gaza,
and for four, I will not revoke the punishment;[c]
because they carried into exile entire communities,
to hand them over to Edom.
7
So I will send a fire on the wall of Gaza,
fire that shall devour its strongholds.
8
I will cut off the inhabitants from Ashdod,
and the one who holds the scepter from Ashkelon;
I will turn my hand against Ekron,
and the remnant of the Philistines shall perish,
says the Lord God.
9
Thus says the Lord:
For three transgressions of Tyre,
and for four, I will not revoke the punishment;[d]
because they delivered entire communities over to Edom,
and did not remember the covenant of kinship.
10
So I will send a fire on the wall of Tyre,
fire that shall devour its strongholds.
11
Thus says the Lord:
For three transgressions of Edom,
and for four, I will not revoke the punishment;[e]
because he pursued his brother with the sword
and cast off all pity;
he maintained his anger perpetually,[f]
and kept his wrath[g] forever.
12
So I will send a fire on Teman,
and it shall devour the strongholds of Bozrah.
13
Thus says the Lord:
For three transgressions of the Ammonites,
and for four, I will not revoke the punishment;[h]
because they have ripped open pregnant women in Gilead
in order to enlarge their territory.
14
So I will kindle a fire against the wall of Rabbah,
fire that shall devour its strongholds,
with shouting on the day of battle,
with a storm on the day of the whirlwind;
15
then their king shall go into exile,
he and his officials together,
says the Lord.
2 Thus says the Lord:
For three transgressions of Moab,
and for four, I will not revoke the punishment;[i]
because he burned to lime
the bones of the king of Edom.
2
So I will send a fire on Moab,
and it shall devour the strongholds of Kerioth,
and Moab shall die amid uproar,
amid shouting and the sound of the trumpet;
3
I will cut off the ruler from its midst,
and will kill all its officials with him,
says the Lord.
Judgment on Judah
4
Thus says the Lord:
For three transgressions of Judah,
and for four, I will not revoke the punishment;[j]
because they have rejected the law of the Lord,
and have not kept his statutes,
but they have been led astray by the same lies
after which their ancestors walked.
5
So I will send a fire on Judah,
and it shall devour the strongholds of Jerusalem.
Judgment on Israel
6
Thus says the Lord:
For three transgressions of Israel,
and for four, I will not revoke the punishment;[k]
because they sell the righteous for silver,
and the needy for a pair of sandals—
7
they who trample the head of the poor into the dust of the earth,
and push the afflicted out of the way;
father and son go in to the same girl,
so that my holy name is profaned;
8
they lay themselves down beside every altar
on garments taken in pledge;
and in the house of their God they drink
wine bought with fines they imposed.
9
Yet I destroyed the Amorite before them,
whose height was like the height of cedars,
and who was as strong as oaks;
I destroyed his fruit above,
and his roots beneath.
10
Also I brought you up out of the land of Egypt,
and led you forty years in the wilderness,
to possess the land of the Amorite.
11
And I raised up some of your children to be prophets
and some of your youths to be nazirites.[l]
Is it not indeed so, O people of Israel?
says the Lord.
12
But you made the nazirites[m] drink wine,
and commanded the prophets,
saying, “You shall not prophesy.”
13
So, I will press you down in your place,
just as a cart presses down
when it is full of sheaves.[n]
14
Flight shall perish from the swift,
and the strong shall not retain their strength,
nor shall the mighty save their lives;
15
those who handle the bow shall not stand,
and those who are swift of foot shall not save themselves,
nor shall those who ride horses save their lives;
16
and those who are stout of heart among the mighty
shall flee away naked in that day,
says the Lord.
Israel’s Guilt and Punishment
3 Hear this word that the Lord has spoken against you, O people of Israel, against the whole family that I brought up out of the land of Egypt:
2
You only have I known
of all the families of the earth;
therefore I will punish you
for all your iniquities.
3
Do two walk together
unless they have made an appointment?
4
Does a lion roar in the forest,
when it has no prey?
Does a young lion cry out from its den,
if it has caught nothing?
5
Does a bird fall into a snare on the earth,
when there is no trap for it?
Does a snare spring up from the ground,
when it has taken nothing?
6
Is a trumpet blown in a city,
and the people are not afraid?
Does disaster befall a city,
unless the Lord has done it?
7
Surely the Lord God does nothing,
without revealing his secret
to his servants the prophets.
8
The lion has roared;
who will not fear?
The Lord God has spoken;
who can but prophesy?
9
Proclaim to the strongholds in Ashdod,
and to the strongholds in the land of Egypt,
and say, “Assemble yourselves on Mount[o] Samaria,
and see what great tumults are within it,
and what oppressions are in its midst.”
10
They do not know how to do right, says the Lord,
those who store up violence and robbery in their strongholds.
11
Therefore thus says the Lord God:
An adversary shall surround the land,
and strip you of your defense;
and your strongholds shall be plundered.
12 Thus says the Lord: As the shepherd rescues from the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear, so shall the people of Israel who live in Samaria be rescued, with the corner of a couch and part[p] of a bed.
13
Hear, and testify against the house of Jacob,
says the Lord God, the God of hosts:
14
On the day I punish Israel for its transgressions,
I will punish the altars of Bethel,
and the horns of the altar shall be cut off
and fall to the ground.
15
I will tear down the winter house as well as the summer house;
and the houses of ivory shall perish,
and the great houses[q] shall come to an end,
says the Lord.
4 Hear this word, you cows of Bashan
who are on Mount Samaria,
who oppress the poor, who crush the needy,
who say to their husbands, “Bring something to drink!”
2
The Lord God has sworn by his holiness:
The time is surely coming upon you,
when they shall take you away with hooks,
even the last of you with fishhooks.
3
Through breaches in the wall you shall leave,
each one straight ahead;
and you shall be flung out into Harmon,[r]
says the Lord.
4
Come to Bethel—and transgress;
to Gilgal—and multiply transgression;
bring your sacrifices every morning,
your tithes every three days;
5
bring a thank offering of leavened bread,
and proclaim freewill offerings, publish them;
for so you love to do, O people of Israel!
says the Lord God.
Israel Rejects Correction
6
I gave you cleanness of teeth in all your cities,
and lack of bread in all your places,
yet you did not return to me,
says the Lord.
7
And I also withheld the rain from you
when there were still three months to the harvest;
I would send rain on one city,
and send no rain on another city;
one field would be rained upon,
and the field on which it did not rain withered;
8
so two or three towns wandered to one town
to drink water, and were not satisfied;
yet you did not return to me,
says the Lord.
9
I struck you with blight and mildew;
I laid waste[s] your gardens and your vineyards;
the locust devoured your fig trees and your olive trees;
yet you did not return to me,
says the Lord.
10
I sent among you a pestilence after the manner of Egypt;
I killed your young men with the sword;
I carried away your horses;[t]
and I made the stench of your camp go up into your nostrils;
yet you did not return to me,
says the Lord.
11
I overthrew some of you,
as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah,
and you were like a brand snatched from the fire;
yet you did not return to me,
says the Lord.
12
Therefore thus I will do to you, O Israel;
because I will do this to you,
prepare to meet your God, O Israel!
13
For lo, the one who forms the mountains, creates the wind,
reveals his thoughts to mortals,
makes the morning darkness,
and treads on the heights of the earth—
the Lord, the God of hosts, is his name!
12
Their descendants stand by the covenants;
their children also, for their sake.
13
Their offspring will continue forever,
and their glory will never be blotted out.
14
Their bodies are buried in peace,
but their name lives on generation after generation.
15
The assembly declares[a] their wisdom,
and the congregation proclaims their praise.
Enoch
16
Enoch pleased the Lord and was taken up,
an example of repentance to all generations.
Noah
17
Noah was found perfect and righteous;
in the time of wrath he kept the race alive;[b]
therefore a remnant was left on the earth
when the flood came.
18
Everlasting covenants were made with him
that all flesh should never again be blotted out by a flood.
Abraham
19
Abraham was the great father of a multitude of nations,
and no one has been found like him in glory.
20
He kept the law of the Most High,
and entered into a covenant with him;
he certified the covenant in his flesh,
and when he was tested he proved faithful.
21
Therefore the Lord[c] assured him with an oath
that the nations would be blessed through his offspring;
that he would make him as numerous as the dust of the earth,
and exalt his offspring like the stars,
and give them an inheritance from sea to sea
and from the Euphrates[d] to the ends of the earth.
Isaac and Jacob
22
To Isaac also he gave the same assurance
for the sake of his father Abraham.
The blessing of all people and the covenant
23
he made to rest on the head of Jacob;
he acknowledged him with his blessings,
and gave him his inheritance;
he divided his portions,
and distributed them among twelve tribes.
Moses
From his descendants the Lord[e] brought forth a godly man,
who found favor in the sight of all
The New Heaven and the New Earth
21 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,
“See, the home[a] of God is among mortals.
He will dwell[b] with them;
they will be his peoples,[c]
and God himself will be with them;[d]
4
he will wipe every tear from their eyes.
Death will be no more;
mourning and crying and pain will be no more,
for the first things have passed away.”
5 And the one who was seated on the throne said, “See, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true.” 6 Then he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give water as a gift from the spring of the water of life. 7 Those who conquer will inherit these things, and I will be their God and they will be my children. 8 But as for the cowardly, the faithless,[e] the polluted, the murderers, the fornicators, the sorcerers, the idolaters, and all liars, their place will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”
Vision of the New Jerusalem
9 Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.” 10 And in the spirit[f] he carried me away to a great, high mountain and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God. 11 It has the glory of God and a radiance like a very rare jewel, like jasper, clear as crystal. 12 It has a great, high wall with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates are inscribed the names of the twelve tribes of the Israelites; 13 on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. 14 And the wall of the city has twelve foundations, and on them are the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
15 The angel[g] who talked to me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city and its gates and walls. 16 The city lies foursquare, its length the same as its width; and he measured the city with his rod, fifteen hundred miles;[h] its length and width and height are equal. 17 He also measured its wall, one hundred forty-four cubits[i] by human measurement, which the angel was using. 18 The wall is built of jasper, while the city is pure gold, clear as glass. 19 The foundations of the wall of the city are adorned with every jewel; the first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, 20 the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst. 21 And the twelve gates are twelve pearls, each of the gates is a single pearl, and the street of the city is pure gold, transparent as glass.
22 I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. 23 And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb. 24 The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. 25 Its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there. 26 People will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. 27 But nothing unclean will enter it, nor anyone who practices abomination or falsehood, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.