Amos 9

The Lord’s Judgments

1 I saw the Lord standing by the altar. He gave the command: “Strike the tops of the Temple columns so hard that the foundation will shake. Break them off and let them fall on the heads of the people. I will kill the rest of the people in war. No one will get away; not one will escape.

2 Even if they dig their way down to the world of the dead, I will catch them. Even if they climb up to heaven, I will bring them down.

3 If they hide on the top of Mount Carmel, I will search for them and catch them. If they hide from me at the bottom of the sea, I will command the sea monsterto bite them.

4 If they are taken away into captivity by their enemies, I will order them to be put to death. I am determined to destroy them, not to help them.”

5 The Sovereign Lord Almighty touches the earth,

and it quakes;

all who live there mourn.

The whole world rises and falls like the Nile River.

6 The Lord builds his home in the heavens,

and over the earth he puts the dome of the sky.

He calls for the waters of the sea

and pours them out on the earth.

His name is the Lord!

7 The Lord says, “People of Israel, I think as much of the people of Ethiopiaas I do of you. I brought the Philistines from Crete and the Syrians from Kir, just as I brought you from Egypt.

8 I, the Sovereign Lord, am watching this sinful kingdom of Israel, and I will destroy it from the face of the earth. But I will not destroy all the descendants of Jacob.

9 “I will give the command and shake the people of Israel like grain in a sieve. I will shake them among the nations to remove all who are worthless.

10 The sinners among my people will be killed in war—all those who say, ‘God will not let any harm come near us.’”

The Future Restoration of Israel

11 The Lord says, “A day is coming when I will restore the kingdom of David, which is like a house fallen into ruins. I will repair its walls and restore it. I will rebuild it and make it as it was long ago.

12 And so the people of Israel will conquer what is left of the land of Edom and all the nations that were once mine,” says the Lord, who will cause this to happen.

13 “The days are coming,” says the Lord,

“when grain will grow faster than it can be harvested,

and grapes will grow faster than the wine can be made.

The mountains will drip with sweet wine,

and the hills will flow with it.

14 I will bring my people back to their land.

They will rebuild their ruined cities and live there;

they will plant vineyards and drink the wine;

they will plant gardens and eat what they grow.

15 I will plant my people on the land I gave them,

and they will not be pulled up again.”

The Lord your God has spoken.

—https://cdn-youversionapi.global.ssl.fastly.net/audio-bible-youversionapi/363/32k/AMO/9-406a712092152a97f9fbbefc835c4b05.mp3?version_id=68—

Joel 1

1 This is the Lord’s message to Joel son of Pethuel.

The People Mourn the Destruction of the Crops

2 Pay attention, you older people;

everyone in Judah, listen.

Has anything like this ever happened

in your time or the time of your ancestors?

3 Tell your children about it;

they will tell their children,

who in turn will tell the next generation.

4 Swarm after swarm of locusts settled on the crops;

what one swarm left, the next swarm devoured.

5 Wake up and weep, you drunkards;

cry, you wine-drinkers;

the grapes for making new wine have been destroyed.

6 An army of locusts has attacked our land;

they are powerful and too many to count;

their teeth are as sharp as those of a lion.

7 They have destroyed our grapevines

and chewed up our fig trees.

They have stripped off the bark,

till the branches are white.

8 Cry, you people, like a young woman who mourns the death

of the man she was going to marry.

9 There is no grain or wine to offer in the Temple;

the priests mourn because they have no offerings for the Lord.

10 The fields are bare;

the ground mourns

because the grain is destroyed,

the grapes are dried up,

and the olive trees are withered.

11 Grieve, you farmers;

cry, you that take care of the vineyards,

because the wheat, the barley,

yes all the crops are destroyed.

12 The grapevines and fig trees have withered;

all the fruit trees have wilted and died.

The joy of the people is gone.

13 Put on sackcloth and weep,

you priests who serve at the altar!

Go into the Temple and mourn all night!

There is no grain or wine to offer your God.

14 Give orders for a fast;

call an assembly!

Gather the leaders

and all the people of Judah

into the Temple of the Lord your God

and cry out to him!

15 The day of the Lord is near,

the day when the Almighty brings destruction.

What terror that day will bring!

16 We look on helpless as our crops are destroyed.

There is no joy in the Temple of our God.

17 The seeds die in the dry earth.

There is no grain to be stored,

and so the empty granaries are in ruins.

18 The cattle are bellowing in distress

because there is no pasture for them;

the flocks of sheep also suffer.

19 I cry out to you, Lord,

because the pastures and trees are dried up,

as though a fire had burned them.

20 Even the wild animals cry out to you

because the streams have become dry.

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Joel 2

The Locusts as a Warning of the Day of the Lord

1 Blow the trumpet; sound the alarm

on Zion, God’s sacred hill.

Tremble, people of Judah!

The day of the Lord is coming soon.

2 It will be a dark and gloomy day,

a black and cloudy day.

The great army of locusts advances

like darkness spreading over the mountains.

There has never been anything like it,

and there never will be again.

3 Like fire they eat up the plants.

In front of them the land is like the Garden of Eden,

but behind them it is a barren desert.

Nothing escapes them.

4 They look like horses;

they run like war-horses.

5 As they leap on the tops of the mountains,

they rattle like chariots;

they crackle like dry grass on fire.

They are lined up like a great army ready for battle.

6 As they approach, everyone is terrified;

every face turns pale.

7 They attack like warriors;

they climb the walls like soldiers.

They all keep marching straight ahead

and do not change direction

8 or get in each other’s way.

They swarm through defenses,

and nothing can stop them.

9 They rush against the city;

they run over the walls;

they climb up the houses

and go in through the windows like thieves.

10 The earth shakes as they advance;

the sky trembles.

The sun and the moon grow dark,

and the stars no longer shine.

11 The Lord thunders commands to his army.

The troops that obey him

are many and mighty.

How terrible is the day of the Lord!

Who will survive it?

A Call to Repentance

12 “But even now,” says the Lord,

“repent sincerely and return to me

with fasting and weeping and mourning.

13 Let your broken heart show your sorrow;

tearing your clothes is not enough.”

Come back to the Lord your God.

He is kind and full of mercy;

he is patient and keeps his promise;

he is always ready to forgive and not punish.

14 Perhaps the Lord your God will change his mind

and bless you with abundant crops.

Then you can offer him grain and wine.

15 Blow the trumpet on Mount Zion;

give orders for a fast and call an assembly!

16 Gather the people together;

prepare them for a sacred meeting;

bring the old people;

gather the children

and the babies too.

Even newly married couples

must leave their homes and come.

17 The priests, serving the Lord

between the altar and the entrance of the Temple,

must weep and pray:

“Have pity on your people, Lord.

Do not let other nations despise us and mock us

by saying, ‘Where is your God?’”

God Restores Fertility to the Land

18 Then the Lord showed concern for his land;

he had mercy on his people.

19 He answered them:

“Now I am going to give you

grain and wine and olive oil,

and you will be satisfied.

Other nations will no longer despise you.

20 I will remove the locust army that came from the north

and will drive some of them into the desert.

Their front ranks will be driven into the Dead Sea,

their rear ranks into the Mediterranean.

Their dead bodies will stink.

I will destroy them because of all they have done to you.

21 “Fields, don’t be afraid,

but be joyful and glad

because of all the Lord has done for you.

22 Animals, don’t be afraid.

The pastures are green;

the trees bear their fruit,

and there are plenty of figs and grapes.

23 “Be glad, people of Zion,

rejoice at what the Lord your God has done for you.

He has given you the right amount of autumn rain;

he has poured down the winter rain for you

and the spring rain as before.

24 The threshing places will be full of grain;

the pits beside the presses will overflow with wine and olive oil.

25 I will give you back what you lost

in the years when swarms of locusts ate your crops.

It was I who sent this army against you.

26 Now you will have plenty to eat, and be satisfied.

You will praise the Lord your God,

who has done wonderful things for you.

My people will never be despised again.

27 Then, Israel, you will know that I am among you

and that I, the Lord, am your God

and there is no other.

My people will never be despised again.

The Day of the Lord

28 “Afterward I will pour out my Spirit on everyone:

your sons and daughters will proclaim my message;

your old people will have dreams,

and your young people will see visions.

29 At that time I will pour out my Spirit

even on servants, both men and women.

30 “I will give warnings of that day

in the sky and on the earth;

there will be bloodshed, fire, and clouds of smoke.

31 The sun will be darkened,

and the moon will turn red as blood

before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes.

32 But all who ask the Lord for help will be saved.

As the Lord has said,

‘Some in Jerusalem will escape;

those whom I choose will survive.’”

—https://cdn-youversionapi.global.ssl.fastly.net/audio-bible-youversionapi/363/32k/JOL/2-eebc057bdc8d09b11761733904454775.mp3?version_id=68—

Joel 3

God Will Judge the Nations

1 The Lord says,

“At that time I will restore

the prosperity of Judah and Jerusalem.

2 I will gather all the nations

and bring them to the Valley of Judgment.

There I will judge them

for all they have done to my people.

They have scattered the Israelites in foreign countries

and divided Israel, my land.

3 They threw dice to decide

who would get the captives.

They sold boys and girls into slavery

to pay for prostitutes and wine.

4 “What are you trying to do to me, Tyre, Sidon, and all of Philistia? Are you trying to pay me back for something? If you are, I will quickly pay you back!

5 You have taken my silver and gold and carried my rich treasures into your temples.

6 You have taken the people of Judah and Jerusalem far from their own country and sold them to the Greeks.

7 Now I am going to bring them out of the places to which you have sold them. I will do to you what you have done to them.

8 I will let your sons and daughters be sold to the people of Judah; they will sell them to the far-off Sabeans. I, the Lord, have spoken.

9 “Make this announcement among the nations:

‘Prepare for war;

call your warriors;

gather all your soldiers and march!

10 Hammer the points of your plows into swords

and your pruning knives into spears.

Even the weak must fight.

11 Hurryand come,

all you surrounding nations,

and gather in the valley.’”

Send down, O Lord, your army to attack them!

12 “The nations must get ready

and come to the Valley of Judgment.

There I, the Lord, will sit to judge

all the surrounding nations.

13 They are very wicked;

cut them down like grain

at harvest time;

crush them as grapes are crushed

in a full wine press

until the wine runs over.”

14 Thousands and thousands

are in the Valley of Judgment.

It is there that the day of the Lord

will soon come.

15 The sun and the moon grow dark,

and the stars no longer shine.

God Will Bless His People

16 The Lord roars from Mount Zion;

his voice thunders from Jerusalem;

earth and sky tremble.

But he will defend his people.

17 “Then, Israel, you will know that I am the Lord your God.

I live on Zion, my sacred hill.

Jerusalem will be a sacred city;

foreigners will never conquer it again.

18 At that time the mountains will be covered with vineyards,

and cattle will be found on every hill;

there will be plenty of water for all of Judah.

A stream will flow from the Temple of the Lord,

and it will water Acacia Valley.

19 “Egypt will become a desert,

and Edom a ruined waste,

because they attacked the land of Judah

and killed its innocent people.

20-21 I will avengethose who were killed;

I will not spare the guilty.

But Judah and Jerusalem will be inhabited forever,

and I, the Lord, will live on Mount Zion.”

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Hosea 1

1 This is the message which the Lord gave Hosea son of Beeri during the time that Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah were kings of Judah, and Jeroboam son of Jehoash was king of Israel.

Hosea’s Wife and Children

2 When the Lord first spoke to Israel through Hosea, he said to Hosea, “Go and get married; your wife will be unfaithful, and your children will be just like her.In the same way my people have left me and become unfaithful.”

3 So Hosea married a woman named Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim. After the birth of their first child, a son,

4 the Lord said to Hosea, “Name him ‘Jezreel,’ because it will not be long before I punish the king of Israel for the murders that his ancestor Jehu committed at Jezreel.I am going to put an end to Jehu’s dynasty.

5 And in Jezreel Valley I will at that time destroy Israel’s military power.”

6 Gomer had a second child—this time it was a daughter. The Lord said to Hosea, “Name her ‘Unloved,’ because I will no longer show love to the people of Israel or forgive them.

7 But to the people of Judah I will show love. I, the Lord their God, will save them, but I will not do it by war—with swords or bows and arrows or with horses and horsemen.”

8 After Gomer had weaned her daughter, she became pregnant again and had another son.

9 The Lord said to Hosea, “Name him ‘Not-My-People,’ because the people of Israel are not my people, and I am not their God.”

Israel Is to Be Restored

10 The people of Israel will become like the sand of the sea, more than can be counted or measured. Now God says to them, “You are not my people,” but the day is coming when he will say to them, “You are the children of the living God!”

11 The people of Judah and the people of Israel will be reunited. They will choose for themselves a single leader, and once again they will grow and prosper in their land. Yes, the day of Jezreelwill be a great day!

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Hosea 2

1 So call your fellow Israelites “God’s People” and “Loved-by-the-Lord.”

Unfaithful Gomer—Unfaithful Israel

2 My children, plead with your mother—though she is no longer a wife to me, and I am no longer her husband. Plead with her to stop her adultery and prostitution.

3 If she does not, I will strip her as naked as she was on the day she was born. I will make her like a dry and barren land, and she will die of thirst.

4-5 I will not show mercy to her children; they are the children of a shameless prostitute.She herself said, “I will go to my lovers—they give me food and water, wool and linen, olive oil and wine.”

6 So I am going to fence her in with thorn bushes and build a wall to block her way.

7 She will run after her lovers but will not catch them. She will look for them but will not find them. Then she will say, “I am going back to my first husband—I was better off then than I am now.”

8 She would never acknowledge that I am the one who gave her the grain, the wine, the olive oil, and all the silver and gold that she used in the worship of Baal.

9 So at harvest time I will take back my gifts of grain and wine, and will take away the wool and the linen I gave her for clothing.

10 I will strip her naked in front of her lovers, and no one will be able to save her from my power.

11 I will put an end to all her festivities—her annual and monthly festivals and her Sabbath celebrations—all her religious meetings.

12 I will destroy her grapevines and her fig trees, which she said her lovers gave her for serving them. I will turn her vineyards and orchards into a wilderness; wild animals will destroy them.

13 I will punish her for the times that she forgot me, when she burned incense to Baal and put on her jewelry to go chasing after her lovers. The Lord has spoken.

The Lord’s Love for His People

14 So I am going to take her into the desert again; there I will win her back with words of love.

15 I will give back to her the vineyards she had and make Trouble Valley a door of hope. She will respond to me there as she did when she was young, when she came from Egypt.

16 Then once again she will call me her husband—she will no longer call me her Baal.

17 I will never let her speak the name of Baal again.

18 At that time I will make a covenant with all the wild animals and birds, so that they will not harm my people. I will also remove all weapons of war from the land, all swords and bows, and will let my people live in peace and safety.

19 Israel, I will make you my wife;

I will be true and faithful;

I will show you constant love and mercy

and make you mine forever.

20 I will keep my promise and make you mine,

and you will acknowledge me as Lord.

21-22 At that time I will answer the prayers of my people Israel.

I will make rain fall on the earth,

and the earth will produce grain and grapes and olives.

23 I will establish my people in the land and make them prosper.

I will show love to those who were called “Unloved,”

and to those who were called “Not-My-People”

I will say, “You are my people,”

and they will answer, “You are our God.”

—https://cdn-youversionapi.global.ssl.fastly.net/audio-bible-youversionapi/363/32k/HOS/2-b2dbbaea9dbcb6df72576b7fc1fc051f.mp3?version_id=68—

Hosea 3

Hosea and the Unfaithful Woman

1 The Lord said to me, “Go againand show your love for a woman who is committing adultery with a lover. You must love her just as I still love the people of Israel, even though they turn to other gods and like to take offerings of raisins to idols.”

2 So I paid fifteen pieces of silver and seven bushels of barley to buy her.

3 I told her that for a long time she would have to wait for me without being a prostitute or committing adultery; and during this time I would wait for her.

4 In just this way the people of Israel will have to live for a long time without kings or leaders, without sacrifices or sacred stone pillars, without idols or images to use for divination.

5 But the time will come when the people of Israel will once again turn to the Lord their God and to a descendant of David their king. Then they will fear the Lord and will receive his good gifts.

—https://cdn-youversionapi.global.ssl.fastly.net/audio-bible-youversionapi/363/32k/HOS/3-43eaca6566c19bba92f246c6a1d41fe6.mp3?version_id=68—

Hosea 4

The Lord’s Accusation against Israel

1 The Lord has an accusation to bring against the people who live in this land. Listen, Israel, to what he says: “There is no faithfulness or love in the land, and the people do not acknowledge me as God.

2 They make promises and break them; they lie, murder, steal, and commit adultery. Crimes increase, and there is one murder after another.

3 And so the land will dry up, and everything that lives on it will die. All the animals and birds, and even the fish, will die.”

The Lord Accuses the Priests

4 The Lord says, “Let no one accuse the people or reprimand them—my complaint is against you priests.

5 Night and day you blunder on, and the prophets do no better than you. I am going to destroy Israel, your mother.

6 My people are doomed because they do not acknowledge me. You priests have refused to acknowledge me and have rejected my teaching, and so I reject you and will not acknowledge your sons as my priests.

7 “The more of you priests there are, the more you sin against me, and so I will turn your honor into disgrace.

8 You grow rich from the sins of my people, and so you want them to sin more and more.

9 You will suffer the same punishment as the people! I will punish you and make you pay for the evil you do.

10 You will eat your share of the sacrifices, but still be hungry. You will worship the fertility gods, but still have no children, because you have turned away from me to follow other gods.”

The Lord Condemns Pagan Worship

11 The Lord says, “Wine, both old and new, is robbing my people of their senses!

12 They ask for revelations from a piece of wood! A stick tells them what they want to know! They have left me. Like a woman who becomes a prostitute, they have given themselves to other gods.

13 At sacred places on the mountaintops they offer sacrifices, and on the hills they burn incense under tall, spreading trees, because the shade is so pleasant!

“As a result, your daughters serve as prostitutes, and your daughters-in-law commit adultery.

14 Yet I will not punish them for this, because you yourselves go off with temple prostitutes,and together with them you offer pagan sacrifices. As the proverb says, ‘A people without sense will be ruined.’

15 “Even though you people of Israel are unfaithful to me, may Judah not be guilty of the same thing. Don’t worship at Gilgal or Bethaven,or make promises there in the name of the living Lord.

16 The people of Israel are as stubborn as mules. How can I feed them like lambs in a meadow?

17 The people of Israel are under the spell of idols. Let them go their own way.

18 After drinking much wine, they delight in their prostitution, preferring disgrace to honor.

19 They will be carried away as by the wind, and they will be ashamed of their pagan sacrifices.

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Hosea 5

1 “Listen to this, you priests! Pay attention, people of Israel! Listen, you that belong to the royal family! You are supposed to judge with justice—so judgment will fall on you! You have become a trap at Mizpah, a net spread on Mount Tabor,

2 a deep pit at Acacia City,and I will punish all of you.

3 I know what Israel is like—she cannot hide from me. She has been unfaithful, and her people are unfit to worship me.”

Hosea Warns against Idolatry

4 The evil that the people have done keeps them from returning to their God. Idolatry has a powerful hold on them, and they do not acknowledge the Lord.

5 The arrogance of the people of Israel cries out against them. Their sins make them stumble and fall, and the people of Judah fall with them.

6 They take their sheep and cattle to offer as sacrifices to the Lord, but it does them no good. They cannot find him, for he has left them.

7 They have been unfaithful to the Lord; their children do not belong to him. So now they and their lands will soon be destroyed.

War between Judah and Israel

8 Blow the war trumpets in Gibeah! Sound the alarm in Ramah! Raise the war cry at Bethaven!Into battle, men of Benjamin!

9 The day of punishment is coming, and Israel will be ruined. People of Israel, this will surely happen!

10 The Lord says, “I am angry because the leaders of Judah have invaded Israel and stolen land from her. So I will pour out punishment on them like a flood.

11 Israel is suffering oppression; she has lost land that was rightfully hers, because she insisted on going for help to those who had none to give.

12 I will bring destruction on Israel and ruin on the people of Judah.

13 “When Israel saw how sick she was and when Judah saw her own wounds, then Israel went to Assyria to ask the great emperor for help, but he could not cure them or heal their wounds.

14 I will attack the people of Israel and Judah like a lion. I myself will tear them to pieces and then leave them. When I drag them off, no one will be able to save them.

15 “I will abandon my people until they have suffered enough for their sins and come looking for me. Perhaps in their suffering they will try to find me.”

—https://cdn-youversionapi.global.ssl.fastly.net/audio-bible-youversionapi/363/32k/HOS/5-be73adcd201d8c43336505f2a1f28115.mp3?version_id=68—

Hosea 6

The People’s Insincere Repentance

1 The people say, “Let’s return to the Lord! He has hurt us, but he will be sure to heal us; he has wounded us, but he will bandage our wounds, won’t he?

2 In two or three days he will revive us, and we will live in his presence.

3 Let us try to know the Lord. He will come to us as surely as the day dawns, as surely as the spring rains fall upon the earth.”

4 But the Lord says, “Israel and Judah, what am I going to do with you? Your love for me disappears as quickly as morning mist; it is like dew, that vanishes early in the day.

5 That is why I have sent my prophets to you with my message of judgment and destruction. What I want from you is plain and clear:

6 I want your constant love, not your animal sacrifices. I would rather have my people know me than burn offerings to me.

7 “But as soon as they entered the land at Adam,they broke the covenant I had made with them.

8 Gilead is a city full of evil people and murderers.

9 The priests are like a gang of robbers who wait in ambush for someone. Even on the road to the holy place at Shechem they commit murder. And they do all this evil deliberately!

10 I have seen a horrible thing in Israel: my people have defiled themselves by worshiping idols.

11 “And as for you, people of Judah, I have set a time to punish you also for what you are doing.

—https://cdn-youversionapi.global.ssl.fastly.net/audio-bible-youversionapi/363/32k/HOS/6-f465b996836591f16388322f652f8c94.mp3?version_id=68—