Study Desk

"O Ephraim, what have I to do with false gods? It is I Who answer and take care of you. I am like a green cypress tree. Your fruit comes from Me."

The Lord will say to His people, "I am going to send you grain, new wine, and oil, and you will be filled with them. I will never again put you to shame among the nations.

You will know that I am in Israel. You will know that I am the Lord your God, and that there is no other. And My people will never be put to shame.

So I am going to move them from the place where you have sold them, and do to you what you have done to them.

Beat your plows into swords, and your vine hooks into spears. Let the weak say, "I am a powerful soldier."

"Then you will know that I am the Lord your God, living in Zion My holy mountain. Jerusalem will be holy, and strangers will never pass through it again.

"I hate your special suppers. I will have nothing to do with them. And I am not pleased with your religious meetings.

The Lord God of All says, "I am going to raise up a nation against you, O people of Israel. And they will bring much suffering upon you from the gate of Hamath to the river of the Arabah."

The Lord said to me, "What do you see, Amos?" And I said, "A string." Then the Lord said, "See, I am about to put a straight string among my people Israel. I will not change My mind again about punishing them.

Amos answered Amaziah, saying, "I am not a man who tells what is going to happen in the future, or the son of such a man. I take care of sheep and cattle, and grow fig trees.

Jonah said to them, "I am a Hebrew, and I worship the Lord God of heaven Who made the sea and the dry land."

"Get up and go to the large city of Nineveh, and tell the people there the news which I am going to tell you."

So the Lord says, "I am planning trouble against this family, from which you cannot save yourselves. You will no longer walk in pride, for it will be a time of much trouble.

But as for me, I am filled with power, with the Spirit of the Lord, with what is fair, and with strength. I am able to make known to Jacob his wrong-doing, and to Israel his sin.

It is bad for me! For I am like those who pick fruit and gather grapes. There are no grapes to eat, or any of the early figs that I want so much.

Do not have joy over me, you who hate me. When I fall, I will rise. Even though I am in darkness, the Lord will be my light.

"I am against you," says the Lord of All. "I will burn up your war-wagons in smoke. A sword will destroy your young lions. I will cut off your food from the land. And the voice of your men who came with news will never be heard again."

"I am against you," says the Lord of All. "I will lift up your clothing over your face and let the nations see your body. The nations will see your shame.

"Look among the nations, and see! Be surprised and full of wonder! For I am doing something in your days that you would not believe if you were told.

I am bringing the Babylonians to power. They are people filled with anger who go across the whole earth to take homes that are not theirs.