Revelation 9

¹ The fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth. The star was given the key to the shaft of the Abyss. ² When he opened the Abyss, smoke rose from it like the smoke from a gigantic furnace. The sun and sky were darkened by the smoke from the Abyss. ³ And out of the smoke locusts came down on the earth and were given power like that of scorpions of the earth. ⁴ They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree, but only those people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads. ⁵ They were not allowed to kill them but only to torture them for five months. And the agony they suffered was like that of the sting of a scorpion when it strikes. ⁶ During those days people will seek death but will not find it; they will long to die, but death will elude them.

⁷ The locusts looked like horses prepared for battle. On their heads they wore something like crowns of gold, and their faces resembled human faces. ⁸ Their hair was like women’s hair, and their teeth were like lions’ teeth. ⁹ They had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the thundering of many horses and chariots rushing into battle. ¹⁰ They had tails with stingers, like scorpions, and in their tails they had power to torment people for five months. ¹¹ They had as king over them the angel of the Abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon and in Greek is Apollyon (that is, Destroyer).

¹² The first woe is past; two other woes are yet to come.

¹³ The sixth angel sounded his trumpet, and I heard a voice coming from the four horns of the golden altar that is before God. ¹⁴ It said to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, "Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates." ¹⁵ And the four angels who had been kept ready for this very hour and day and month and year were released to kill a third of mankind. ¹⁶ The number of the mounted troops was twice ten thousand times ten thousand. I heard their number.

¹⁷ The horses and riders I saw in my vision looked like this: Their breastplates were fiery red, dark blue, and yellow as sulfur. The heads of the horses resembled the heads of lions, and out of their mouths came fire, smoke and sulfur. ¹⁸ A third of mankind was killed by the three plagues of fire, smoke and sulfur that came out of their mouths. ¹⁹ The power of the horses was in their mouths and in their tails; for their tails were like snakes, having heads with which they inflict injury.

²⁰ The rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the work of their hands; they did not stop worshiping demons, and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood−idols that cannot see or hear or walk. ²¹ Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality or their thefts.

Amos 1

¹ The words of Amos, one of the shepherds of Tekoa−the vision he saw concerning Israel two years before the earthquake, when Uzziah was king of Judah and Jeroboam son of Jehoash^[a] was king of Israel.

² He said:

"The LORD roars from Zion
and thunders from Jerusalem;
the pastures of the shepherds dry up,
and the top of Carmel withers."

Judgment on Israel’s Neighbors

³ This is what the LORD says:

"For three sins of Damascus,
even for four, I will not relent.
Because she threshed Gilead
with sledges having iron teeth,
⁴ I will send fire on the house of Hazael
that will consume the fortresses of Ben-Hadad.
⁵ I will break down the gate of Damascus;
I will destroy the king who is in^[b] the Valley of Aven^[c]
and the one who holds the scepter in Beth Eden.
The people of Aram will go into exile to Kir,"
says the LORD.

⁶ This is what the LORD says:

"For three sins of Gaza,
even for four, I will not relent.
Because she took captive whole communities
and sold them to Edom,
⁷ I will send fire on the walls of Gaza
that will consume her fortresses.
⁸ I will destroy the king^[d] of Ashdod
and the one who holds the scepter in Ashkelon.
I will turn my hand against Ekron,
till the last of the Philistines are dead,"
says the Sovereign LORD.

⁹ This is what the LORD says:

"For three sins of Tyre,
even for four, I will not relent.
Because she sold whole communities of captives to Edom,
disregarding a treaty of brotherhood,
¹⁰ I will send fire on the walls of Tyre
that will consume her fortresses."

¹¹ This is what the LORD says:

"For three sins of Edom,
even for four, I will not relent.
Because he pursued his brother with a sword
and slaughtered the women of the land,
because his anger raged continually
and his fury flamed unchecked,
¹² I will send fire on Teman
that will consume the fortresses of Bozrah."

¹³ This is what the LORD says:

"For three sins of Ammon,
even for four, I will not relent.
Because he ripped open the pregnant women of Gilead
in order to extend his borders,
¹⁴ I will set fire to the walls of Rabbah
that will consume her fortresses
amid war cries on the day of battle,
amid violent winds on a stormy day.
¹⁵ Her king^[e] will go into exile,
he and his officials together,"
says the LORD.

Amos 2

¹ This is what the LORD says:

"For three sins of Moab,
even for four, I will not relent.
Because he burned to ashes
the bones of Edom’s king,
² I will send fire on Moab
that will consume the fortresses of Kerioth.^[f]
Moab will go down in great tumult
amid war cries and the blast of the trumpet.
³ I will destroy her ruler
and kill all her officials with him,"
says the LORD.

⁴ This is what the LORD says:

"For three sins of Judah,
even for four, I will not relent.
Because they have rejected the law of the LORD
and have not kept his decrees,
because they have been led astray by false gods,^[g]
the gods^[h] their ancestors followed,
⁵ I will send fire on Judah
that will consume the fortresses of Jerusalem."

Judgment on Israel

⁶ This is what the LORD says:

"For three sins of Israel,
even for four, I will not relent.
They sell the innocent for silver,
and the needy for a pair of sandals.
⁷ They trample on the heads of the poor
as on the dust of the ground
and deny justice to the oppressed.
Father and son use the same girl
and so profane my holy name.
⁸ They lie down beside every altar
on garments taken in pledge.
In the house of their god
they drink wine taken as fines.

⁹ "Yet I destroyed the Amorites before them,
though they were tall as the cedars
and strong as the oaks.
I destroyed their fruit above
and their roots below.
¹⁰ I brought you up out of Egypt
and led you forty years in the wilderness
to give you the land of the Amorites.

¹¹ "I also raised up prophets from among your children
and Nazirites from among your youths.
Is this not true, people of Israel?"
declares the LORD.
¹² "But you made the Nazirites drink wine
and commanded the prophets not to prophesy.

¹³ "Now then, I will crush you
as a cart crushes when loaded with grain.
¹⁴ The swift will not escape,
the strong will not muster their strength,
and the warrior will not save his life.
¹⁵ The archer will not stand his ground,
the fleet-footed soldier will not get away,
and the horseman will not save his life.
¹⁶ Even the bravest warriors
will flee naked on that day,"
declares the LORD.

Amos 3

Witnesses Summoned Against Israel

¹ Hear this word, people of Israel, the word the LORD has spoken against you−against the whole family I brought up out of Egypt:

² "You only have I chosen
of all the families of the earth;
therefore I will punish you
for all your sins."

³ Do two walk together
unless they have agreed to do so?
⁴ Does a lion roar in the thicket
when it has no prey?
Does it growl in its den
when it has caught nothing?
⁵ Does a bird swoop down to a trap on the ground
when no bait is there?
Does a trap spring up from the ground
if it has not caught anything?
⁶ When a trumpet sounds in a city,
do not the people tremble?
When disaster comes to a city,
has not the LORD caused it?

⁷ Surely the Sovereign LORD does nothing
without revealing his plan
to his servants the prophets.

⁸ The lion has roared−
who will not fear?
The Sovereign LORD has spoken−
who can but prophesy?

⁹ Proclaim to the fortresses of Ashdod
and to the fortresses of Egypt:
"Assemble yourselves on the mountains of Samaria;
see the great unrest within her
and the oppression among her people."

¹⁰ "They do not know how to do right," declares the LORD,
"who store up in their fortresses
what they have plundered and looted."

¹¹ Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says:

"An enemy will overrun your land,
pull down your strongholds
and plunder your fortresses."

¹² This is what the LORD says:

"As a shepherd rescues from the lion’s mouth
only two leg bones or a piece of an ear,
so will the Israelites living in Samaria be rescued,
with only the head of a bed
and a piece of fabric^[i] from a couch.^[j]"

¹³ "Hear this and testify against the descendants of Jacob," declares the Lord, the LORD God Almighty.

¹⁴ "On the day I punish Israel for her sins,
I will destroy the altars of Bethel;
the horns of the altar will be cut off
and fall to the ground.
¹⁵ I will tear down the winter house
along with the summer house;
the houses adorned with ivory will be destroyed
and the mansions will be demolished,"
declares the LORD.