Amos 7-9

New International Version

Locusts, Fire and a Plumb Line

7 This is what the Sovereign Lord showed me:^(A) He was preparing swarms of locusts^(B) after the king’s share had been harvested and just as the late crops were coming up. ²When they had stripped the land clean,^(C) I cried out, “Sovereign Lord, forgive! How can Jacob survive?^(D) He is so small!^(E)”

³So the Lord relented.^(F)

“This will not happen,” the Lord said.^(G)

⁴This is what the Sovereign Lord showed me: The Sovereign Lord was calling for judgment by fire;^(H) it dried up the great deep and devoured^(I) the land. ⁵Then I cried out, “Sovereign Lord, I beg you, stop! How can Jacob survive? He is so small!^(J)”

⁶So the Lord relented.^(K)

“This will not happen either,” the Sovereign Lord said.^(L)

⁷This is what he showed me: The Lord was standing by a wall that had been built true to plumb,^[a] with a plumb line^[b] in his hand. ⁸And the Lord asked me, “What do you see,^(M) Amos?^(N)”

“A plumb line,^(O)” I replied.

Then the Lord said, “Look, I am setting a plumb line among my people Israel; I will spare them no longer.^(P)

⁹“The high places^(Q) of Isaac will be destroyed
and the sanctuaries^(R) of Israel will be ruined;
with my sword I will rise against the house of Jeroboam.^(S)”

Amos and Amaziah

¹⁰Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel^(T) sent a message to Jeroboam^(U) king of Israel: “Amos is raising a conspiracy^(V) against you in the very heart of Israel. The land cannot bear all his words.^(W) ¹¹For this is what Amos is saying:

“‘Jeroboam will die by the sword,
and Israel will surely go into exile,^(X)
away from their native land.’”^(Y)

¹²Then Amaziah said to Amos, “Get out, you seer!^(Z) Go back to the land of Judah. Earn your bread there and do your prophesying there.^(AA) ¹³Don’t prophesy anymore at Bethel,^(AB) because this is the king’s sanctuary and the temple^(AC) of the kingdom.^(AD)”

¹⁴Amos answered Amaziah, “I was neither a prophet^(AE) nor the son of a prophet, but I was a shepherd, and I also took care of sycamore-fig trees.^(AF) ¹⁵But the Lord took me from tending the flock^(AG) and said to me, ‘Go,^(AH) prophesy^(AI) to my people Israel.’^(AJ) ¹⁶Now then, hear^(AK) the word of the Lord. You say,

“‘Do not prophesy against^(AL) Israel,
and stop preaching against the descendants of Isaac.’

¹⁷“Therefore this is what the Lord says:

“‘Your wife will become a prostitute^(AM) in the city,
    and your sons and daughters will fall by the sword.
Your land will be measured and divided up,
    and you yourself will die in a pagan^[c] country.
And Israel will surely go into exile,^(AN)
    away from their native land.^(AO)’”

A Basket of Ripe Fruit

8 This is what the Sovereign Lord showed me:^(AP) a basket of ripe fruit. ²“What do you see,^(AQ) Amos?^(AR)” he asked.

“A basket^(AS) of ripe fruit,” I answered.

Then the Lord said to me, “The time is ripe for my people Israel; I will spare them no longer.^(AT)

³“In that day,” declares the Sovereign Lord, “the songs in the temple will turn to wailing.^[d]^(AU) Many, many bodies—flung everywhere! Silence!^(AV)”

⁴Hear this, you who trample the needy
and do away with the poor^(AW) of the land,^(AX)

⁵saying,

“When will the New Moon^(AY) be over
    that we may sell grain,
and the Sabbath be ended
    that we may market^(AZ) wheat?”^(BA)—
skimping on the measure,
    boosting the price
    and cheating^(BB) with dishonest scales,^(BC)
⁶buying the poor^(BD) with silver
    and the needy for a pair of sandals,
    selling even the sweepings with the wheat.^(BE)

⁷The Lord has sworn by himself, the Pride of Jacob:^(BF) “I will never forget^(BG) anything they have done.^(BH)

⁸“Will not the land tremble^(BI) for this,
    and all who live in it mourn?
The whole land will rise like the Nile;
    it will be stirred up and then sink
    like the river of Egypt.^(BJ)

⁹“In that day,” declares the Sovereign Lord,

“I will make the sun go down at noon
    and darken the earth in broad daylight.^(BK)
¹⁰I will turn your religious festivals^(BL) into mourning
    and all your singing into weeping.^(BM)
I will make all of you wear sackcloth^(BN)
    and shave^(BO) your heads.
I will make that time like mourning for an only son^(BP)
    and the end of it like a bitter day.^(BQ)

¹¹“The days are coming,”^(BR) declares the Sovereign Lord,
    “when I will send a famine through the land—
not a famine of food or a thirst for water,
    but a famine^(BS) of hearing the words of the Lord.^(BT)
¹²People will stagger from sea to sea
    and wander from north to east,
searching for the word of the Lord,
    but they will not find it.^(BU)

¹³“In that day

“the lovely young women and strong young men^(BV)
    will faint because of thirst.^(BW)
¹⁴Those who swear by the sin of Samaria^(BX)—
    who say, ‘As surely as your god lives, Dan,’^(BY)
    or, ‘As surely as the god^[e] of Beersheba^(BZ) lives’—
    they will fall,^(CA) never to rise again.^(CB)”

Israel to Be Destroyed

9 I saw the Lord standing by the altar, and he said:

“Strike the tops of the pillars
    so that the thresholds shake.
Bring them down on the heads^(CC) of all the people;
    those who are left I will kill with the sword.
Not one will get away,
    none will escape.^(CD)
²Though they dig down to the depths below,^(CE)
    from there my hand will take them.
Though they climb up to the heavens above,^(CF)
    from there I will bring them down.^(CG)
³Though they hide themselves on the top of Carmel,^(CH)
    there I will hunt them down and seize them.^(CI)
Though they hide from my eyes at the bottom of the sea,^(CJ)
    there I will command the serpent^(CK) to bite them.^(CL)
⁴Though they are driven into exile by their enemies,
    there I will command the sword^(CM) to slay them.

“I will keep my eye on them
for harm^(CN) and not for good.^(CO)”^(CP)

⁵The Lord, the Lord Almighty—
he touches the earth and it melts,^(CQ)
    and all who live in it mourn;
the whole land rises like the Nile,
    then sinks like the river of Egypt;^(CR)
⁶he builds his lofty palace^[f]^(CS) in the heavens
    and sets its foundation^[g] on the earth;
he calls for the waters of the sea
    and pours them out over the face of the land—
    the Lord is his name.^(CT)

⁷“Are not you Israelites
    the same to me as the Cushites^[h]?”^(CU)
declares the Lord.
“Did I not bring Israel up from Egypt,
    the Philistines^(CV) from Caphtor^[i]^(CW)
    and the Arameans from Kir?^(CX)

⁸“Surely the eyes of the Sovereign Lord
    are on the sinful kingdom.
I will destroy^(CY) it
    from the face of the earth.
Yet I will not totally destroy
    the descendants of Jacob,”
declares the Lord.^(CZ)
⁹“For I will give the command,
    and I will shake the people of Israel
    among all the nations
as grain^(DA) is shaken in a sieve,^(DB)
    and not a pebble will reach the ground.^(DC)
¹⁰All the sinners among my people
    will die by the sword,^(DD)
all those who say,
    ‘Disaster will not overtake or meet us.’^(DE)

Israel’s Restoration

¹¹“In that day

“I will restore David’s^(DF) fallen shelter^(DG)—
    I will repair its broken walls
    and restore its ruins^(DH)—
    and will rebuild it as it used to be,^(DI)
¹²so that they may possess the remnant of Edom^(DJ)
    and all the nations that bear my name,^[j]^(DK)”
declares the Lord, who will do these things.^(DL)

¹³“The days are coming,”^(DM) declares the Lord,

“when the reaper^(DN) will be overtaken by the plowman^(DO)
    and the planter by the one treading^(DP) grapes.
New wine^(DQ) will drip from the mountains
    and flow from all the hills,^(DR)
¹⁴    and I will bring^(DS) my people Israel back from exile.^[k]^(DT)

“They will rebuild the ruined cities^(DU) and live in them.
    They will plant vineyards^(DV) and drink their wine;
    they will make gardens and eat their fruit.^(DW)
¹⁵I will plant^(DX) Israel in their own land,^(DY)
    never again to be uprooted^(DZ)
    from the land I have given them,”^(EA)

says the Lord your God.^(EB)

Footnotes

Amos 7:7 The meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain.
Amos 7:7 The meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain; also in verse 8.
Amos 7:17 Hebrew an unclean
Amos 8:3 Or “the temple singers will wail
Amos 8:14 Hebrew the way
Amos 9:6 The meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain.
Amos 9:6 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
Amos 9:7 That is, people from the upper Nile region
Amos 9:7 That is, Crete
Amos 9:12 Hebrew; Septuagint so that the remnant of people / and all the nations that bear my name may seek me
Amos 9:14 Or will restore the fortunes of my people Israel

Revelation 7

New International Version

144,000 Sealed

7 After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners^(A) of the earth, holding back the four winds^(B) of the earth to prevent^(C) any wind from blowing on the land or on the sea or on any tree. ²Then I saw another angel coming up from the east, having the seal^(D) of the living God.^(E) He called out in a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm the land and the sea:^(F) ³“Do not harm^(G) the land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads^(H) of the servants of our God.” ⁴Then I heard the number^(I) of those who were sealed: 144,000^(J) from all the tribes of Israel.

⁵From the tribe of Judah 12,000 were sealed,

from the tribe of Reuben 12,000,

from the tribe of Gad 12,000,

⁶from the tribe of Asher 12,000,

from the tribe of Naphtali 12,000,

from the tribe of Manasseh 12,000,

⁷from the tribe of Simeon 12,000,

from the tribe of Levi 12,000,

from the tribe of Issachar 12,000,

⁸from the tribe of Zebulun 12,000,

from the tribe of Joseph 12,000,

from the tribe of Benjamin 12,000.

The Great Multitude in White Robes

⁹After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language,^(K) standing before the throne^(L) and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes^(M) and were holding palm branches in their hands. ¹⁰And they cried out in a loud voice:

“Salvation belongs to our God,^(N)
who sits on the throne,^(O)
and to the Lamb.”

¹¹All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders^(P) and the four living creatures.^(Q) They fell down on their faces^(R) before the throne and worshiped God, ¹²saying:

“Amen!
Praise and glory
and wisdom and thanks and honor
and power and strength
be to our God for ever and ever.
Amen!”^(S)

¹³Then one of the elders asked me, “These in white robes^(T)—who are they, and where did they come from?”

¹⁴I answered, “Sir, you know.”

And he said, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes^(U) and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.^(V) ¹⁵Therefore,

“they are before the throne of God^(W)
    and serve him^(X) day and night in his temple;^(Y)
and he who sits on the throne^(Z)
    will shelter them with his presence.^(AA)
¹⁶‘Never again will they hunger;
    never again will they thirst.^(AB)
The sun will not beat down on them,’^[a]
    nor any scorching heat.^(AC)
¹⁷For the Lamb at the center of the throne
    will be their shepherd;^(AD)
‘he will lead them to springs of living water.’^[b]^(AE)
    ‘And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’^[c]”^(AF)