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Bible Reading Plan
Daily Bible Reading
September 30 - Straight Thru the Bible
niv
Amos 5-9
Chapter 5
A Lament and Call to Repentance
1 Hear this word, Israel, this lament(a) I take up concerning you:
2 "Fallen is Virgin(b) Israel,
never to rise again,
deserted in her own land,
with no one to lift her up.(c)"
3 This is what the Sovereign Lord says to Israel:
"Your city that marches out a thousand strong
will have only a hundred left;
your town that marches out a hundred strong
will have only ten left.(d)"
4 This is what the Lord says to Israel:
"Seek(e) me and live;(f)
5
do not seek Bethel,
do not go to Gilgal,(g)
do not journey to Beersheba.(h)
For Gilgal will surely go into exile,
and Bethel will be reduced to nothing.[a](i)"
6 Seek(j) the
Lord
and live,(k)
or he will sweep through the tribes of Joseph like a fire;(l)
it will devour them,
and Bethel(m) will have no one to quench it.(n)
7 There are those who turn justice into bitterness(o)
and cast righteousness(p) to the ground.(q)
8 He who made the Pleiades and Orion,(r)
who turns midnight into dawn(s)
and darkens day into night,(t)
who calls for the waters of the sea
and pours them out over the face of the land—
the
Lord
is his name.(u)
9 With a blinding flash he destroys the stronghold
and brings the fortified city to ruin.(v)
10 There are those who hate the one who upholds justice in court(w)
and detest the one who tells the truth.(x)
11 You levy a straw tax on the poor(y)
and impose a tax on their grain.
Therefore, though you have built stone mansions,(z)
you will not live in them;(aa)
though you have planted lush vineyards,
you will not drink their wine.(ab)
12 For I know how many are your offenses
and how great your sins.(ac)
There are those who oppress the innocent and take bribes(ad)
and deprive the poor(ae) of justice in the courts.(af)
13 Therefore the prudent keep quiet(ag) in such times,
for the times are evil.(ah)
14 Seek good, not evil,
that you may live.(ai)
Then the
Lord
God Almighty will be with you,
just as you say he is.
15 Hate evil,(aj) love good;(ak)
maintain justice in the courts.(al)
Perhaps(am) the
Lord
God Almighty will have mercy(an)
on the remnant(ao) of Joseph.
16 Therefore this is what the Lord, the Lord God Almighty, says:
"There will be wailing(ap) in all the streets(aq)
and cries of anguish in every public square.
The farmers(ar) will be summoned to weep
and the mourners to wail.
17 There will be wailing(as) in all the vineyards,
for I will pass through(at) your midst,"
says the
Lord
.(au)
The Day of the Lord
18 Woe to you who long
for the day of the
Lord
!(av)
Why do you long for the day of the
Lord
?(aw)
That day will be darkness,(ax) not light.(ay)
19 It will be as though a man fled from a lion
only to meet a bear,(az)
as though he entered his house
and rested his hand on the wall
only to have a snake bite him.(ba)
20 Will not the day of the
Lord
be darkness,(bb) not light—
pitch-dark, without a ray of brightness?(bc)
21 "I hate,(bd) I despise your religious festivals;(be)
your assemblies(bf) are a stench to me.
22 Even though you bring me burnt offerings(bg) and grain offerings,
I will not accept them.(bh)
Though you bring choice fellowship offerings,
I will have no regard for them.(bi)
23 Away with the noise of your songs!
I will not listen to the music of your harps.(bj)
24 But let justice(bk) roll on like a river,
righteousness(bl) like a never-failing stream!(bm)
25 "Did you bring me sacrifices(bn) and offerings
forty years(bo) in the wilderness, people of Israel?
26 You have lifted up the shrine of your king,
the pedestal of your idols,(bp)
the star of your god[b]—
which you made for yourselves.
27 Therefore I will send you into exile(bq) beyond Damascus,"
says the
Lord
, whose name is God Almighty.(br)
Chapter 6
Woe to the Complacent
1 Woe to you(a) who are complacent(b) in Zion,
and to you who feel secure(c) on Mount Samaria,(d)
you notable men of the foremost nation,
to whom the people of Israel come!(e)
2 Go to Kalneh(f) and look at it;
go from there to great Hamath,(g)
and then go down to Gath(h) in Philistia.
Are they better off than(i) your two kingdoms?
Is their land larger than yours?
3 You put off the day of disaster
and bring near a reign of terror.(j)
4 You lie on beds adorned with ivory
and lounge on your couches.(k)
You dine on choice lambs
and fattened calves.(l)
5 You strum away on your harps(m) like David
and improvise on musical instruments.(n)
6 You drink wine(o) by the bowlful
and use the finest lotions,
but you do not grieve(p) over the ruin of Joseph.(q)
7 Therefore you will be among the first to go into exile;(r)
your feasting and lounging will end.(s)
The Lord Abhors the Pride of Israel
8 The Sovereign Lord has sworn by himself(t)—the Lord God Almighty declares:
"I abhor(u) the pride of Jacob(v)
and detest his fortresses;(w)
I will deliver up(x) the city
and everything in it.(y)"
9 If ten(z) people are left in one house, they too will die. 10 And if the relative who comes to carry the bodies out of the house to burn them[a](aa) asks anyone who might be hiding there, "Is anyone else with you?" and he says, "No," then he will go on to say, "Hush!(ab) We must not mention the name of the Lord ."
11 For the
Lord
has given the command,
and he will smash(ac) the great house(ad) into pieces
and the small house into bits.(ae)
12 Do horses run on the rocky crags?
Does one plow the sea[b] with oxen?
But you have turned justice into poison(af)
and the fruit of righteousness(ag) into bitterness(ah)—
13 you who rejoice in the conquest of Lo Debar[c]
and say, "Did we not take Karnaim[d] by our own strength?(ai)"
14 For the
Lord
God Almighty declares,
"I will stir up a nation(aj) against you, Israel,
that will oppress you all the way
from Lebo Hamath(ak) to the valley of the Arabah.(al)"
Chapter 7
Locusts, Fire and a Plumb Line
1 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. 2 When they had stripped the land clean,(c) I cried out, "Sovereign Lord , forgive! How can Jacob survive?(d) He is so small!(e)"
3 So the Lord relented.(f)
"This will not happen," the Lord said.(g)
4 This 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. 5 Then I cried out, "Sovereign Lord , I beg you, stop! How can Jacob survive? He is so small!(j)"
6 So the Lord relented.(k)
"This will not happen either," the Sovereign Lord said.(l)
7 This 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. 8 And 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
10 Then 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) 11 For 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)
12 Then 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) 13 Don't prophesy anymore at Bethel,(ab) because this is the king's sanctuary and the temple(ac) of the kingdom.(ad)"
14 Amos 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) 15 But the Lord took me from tending the flock(ag) and said to me, ‘Go,(ah) prophesy(ai) to my people Israel.'(aj) 16 Now 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)'"
Chapter 8
A Basket of Ripe Fruit
1 This is what the Sovereign Lord showed me:(a) a basket of ripe fruit. 2 "What do you see,(b) Amos?(c)" he asked.
"A basket(d) 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.(e)
3 "In that day," declares the Sovereign Lord , "the songs in the temple will turn to wailing.[a](f) Many, many bodies—flung everywhere! Silence!(g)"
4 Hear this, you who trample the needy
and do away with the poor(h) of the land,(i)
5 saying,
"When will the New Moon(j) be over
that we may sell grain,
and the Sabbath be ended
that we may market(k) wheat?"(l)—
skimping on the measure,
boosting the price
and cheating(m) with dishonest scales,(n)
6 buying the poor(o) with silver
and the needy for a pair of sandals,
selling even the sweepings with the wheat.(p)
7 The Lord has sworn by himself, the Pride of Jacob:(q) "I will never forget(r) anything they have done.(s)
8 "Will not the land tremble(t) 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.(u)
9 "In that day," declares the Sovereign Lord ,
"I will make the sun go down at noon
and darken the earth in broad daylight.(v)
10 I will turn your religious festivals(w) into mourning
and all your singing into weeping.(x)
I will make all of you wear sackcloth(y)
and shave(z) your heads.
I will make that time like mourning for an only son(aa)
and the end of it like a bitter day.(ab)
11 "The days are coming,"(ac) 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(ad) of hearing the words of the
Lord
.(ae)
12 People 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.(af)
13 "In that day
"the lovely young women and strong young men(ag)
will faint because of thirst.(ah)
14 Those who swear by the sin of Samaria(ai)—
who say, ‘As surely as your god lives, Dan,'(aj)
or, ‘As surely as the god[b] of Beersheba(ak) lives'—
they will fall,(al) never to rise again.(am)"
Chapter 9
Israel to Be Destroyed
1 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(a) of all the people;
those who are left I will kill with the sword.
Not one will get away,
none will escape.(b)
2 Though they dig down to the depths below,(c)
from there my hand will take them.
Though they climb up to the heavens above,(d)
from there I will bring them down.(e)
3 Though they hide themselves on the top of Carmel,(f)
there I will hunt them down and seize them.(g)
Though they hide from my eyes at the bottom of the sea,(h)
there I will command the serpent(i) to bite them.(j)
4 Though they are driven into exile by their enemies,
there I will command the sword(k) to slay them.
"I will keep my eye on them
for harm(l) and not for good.(m)"(n)
5 The Lord, the
Lord
Almighty—
he touches the earth and it melts,(o)
and all who live in it mourn;
the whole land rises like the Nile,
then sinks like the river of Egypt;(p)
6 he builds his lofty palace[a](q) in the heavens
and sets its foundation[b] 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.(r)
7 "Are not you Israelites
the same to me as the Cushites[c]?"(s)
declares the
Lord
.
"Did I not bring Israel up from Egypt,
the Philistines(t) from Caphtor[d](u)
and the Arameans from Kir?(v)
8 "Surely the eyes of the Sovereign
Lord
are on the sinful kingdom.
I will destroy(w) it
from the face of the earth.
Yet I will not totally destroy
the descendants of Jacob,"
declares the
Lord
.(x)
9 "For I will give the command,
and I will shake the people of Israel
among all the nations
as grain(y) is shaken in a sieve,(z)
and not a pebble will reach the ground.(aa)
10 All the sinners among my people
will die by the sword,(ab)
all those who say,
‘Disaster will not overtake or meet us.'(ac)
Israel's Restoration
11 "In that day
"I will restore David's(ad) fallen shelter(ae)—
I will repair its broken walls
and restore its ruins(af)—
and will rebuild it as it used to be,(ag)
12 so that they may possess the remnant of Edom(ah)
and all the nations that bear my name,[e](ai)"
declares the
Lord
, who will do these things.(aj)
13 "The days are coming,"(ak) declares the Lord ,
"when the reaper(al) will be overtaken by the plowman(am)
and the planter by the one treading(an) grapes.
New wine(ao) will drip from the mountains
and flow from all the hills,(ap)
14
and I will bring(aq) my people Israel back from exile.[f](ar)
"They will rebuild the ruined cities(as) and live in them.
They will plant vineyards(at) and drink their wine;
they will make gardens and eat their fruit.(au)
15 I will plant(av) Israel in their own land,(aw)
never again to be uprooted(ax)
from the land I have given them,"(ay)
says the Lord your God.(az)
Obadiah 1:1-9
Chapter 1
Obadiah's Vision(a)(b)
1 The vision(c) of Obadiah.
This is what the Sovereign Lord says about Edom(d)—
We have heard a message from the
Lord
:
An envoy(e) was sent to the nations to say,
"Rise, let us go against her for battle"(f)—
2 "See, I will make you small(g) among the nations;
you will be utterly despised.
3 The pride(h) of your heart has deceived you,
you who live in the clefts of the rocks[a](i)
and make your home on the heights,
you who say to yourself,
‘Who can bring me down to the ground?'(j)
4 Though you soar like the eagle
and make your nest(k) among the stars,
from there I will bring you down,"(l)
declares the
Lord
.(m)
5 "If thieves came to you,
if robbers in the night—
oh, what a disaster awaits you!—
would they not steal only as much as they wanted?
If grape pickers came to you,
would they not leave a few grapes?(n)
6 But how Esau will be ransacked,
his hidden treasures pillaged!
7 All your allies(o) will force you to the border;
your friends will deceive and overpower you;
those who eat your bread(p) will set a trap for you,[b]
but you will not detect it.
8 "In that day," declares the
Lord
,
"will I not destroy(q) the wise men of Edom,
those of understanding in the mountains of Esau?
9 Your warriors, Teman,(r) will be terrified,
and everyone in Esau's mountains
will be cut down in the slaughter.
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