Revelation 11

The Two Witnesses

¹ I was given a reed like a measuring rod and was told, "Go and measure the temple of God and the altar, with its worshipers. ² But exclude the outer court; do not measure it, because it has been given to the Gentiles. They will trample on the holy city for 42 months. ³ And I will appoint my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth." ⁴ They are "the two olive trees" and the two lampstands, and "they stand before the Lord of the earth."^{[a] 5} If anyone tries to harm them, fire comes from their mouths and devours their enemies. This is how anyone who wants to harm them must die. ⁶ They have power to shut up the heavens so that it will not rain during the time they are prophesying; and they have power to turn the waters into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they want.

⁷ Now when they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up from the Abyss will attack them, and overpower and kill them. ⁸ Their bodies will lie in the public square of the great city−which is figuratively called Sodom and Egypt−where also their Lord was crucified. ⁹ For three and a half days some from every people, tribe, language and nation will gaze on their bodies and refuse them burial. ¹⁰ The inhabitants of the earth will gloat over them and will celebrate by sending each other gifts, because these two prophets had tormented those who live on the earth.

¹¹ But after the three and a half days the breath^[b] of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and terror struck those who saw them. ¹² Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, "Come up here." And they went up to heaven in a cloud, while their enemies looked on.

¹³ At that very hour there was a severe earthquake and a tenth of the city collapsed. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the survivors were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.

¹⁴ The second woe has passed; the third woe is coming soon.

The Seventh Trumpet

¹⁵ The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said:

"The kingdom of the world has become
the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah,
and he will reign for ever and ever."

¹⁶ And the twenty-four elders, who were seated on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshiped God, ¹⁷ saying:

"We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty,
the One who is and who was,
because you have taken your great power
and have begun to reign.
¹⁸ The nations were angry,
and your wrath has come.
The time has come for judging the dead,
and for rewarding your servants the prophets
and your people who revere your name,
both great and small−
and for destroying those who destroy the earth."

¹⁹ Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and within his temple was seen the ark of his covenant. And there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake and a severe hailstorm.

Amos 7

Locusts, Fire and a Plumb Line

¹ This is what the Sovereign LORD showed me: He was preparing swarms of locusts 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, I cried out, "Sovereign LORD, forgive! How can Jacob survive? He is so small!"

³ So the LORD relented.

"This will not happen," the LORD said.

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

⁶ So the LORD relented.

"This will not happen either," the Sovereign LORD said.

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, Amos?"

"A plumb line," I replied.

Then the Lord said, "Look, I am setting a plumb line among my people Israel; I will spare them no longer.

⁹ "The high places of Isaac will be destroyed
and the sanctuaries of Israel will be ruined;
with my sword I will rise against the house of Jeroboam."

Amos and Amaziah

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

"’Jeroboam will die by the sword,
and Israel will surely go into exile,
away from their native land.’"

¹² Then Amaziah said to Amos, "Get out, you seer! Go back to the land of Judah. Earn your bread there and do your prophesying there. ¹³ Don’t prophesy anymore at Bethel, because this is the king’s sanctuary and the temple of the kingdom."

¹⁴ Amos answered Amaziah, "I was neither a prophet nor the son of a prophet, but I was a shepherd, and I also took care of sycamore-fig trees. ¹⁵ But the LORD took me from tending the flock and said to me, ’Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’ ¹⁶ Now then, hear the word of the LORD. You say,

"’Do not prophesy against Israel,
and stop preaching against the descendants of Isaac.’

¹⁷ "Therefore this is what the LORD says:

"’Your wife will become a prostitute 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,
away from their native land.’"

Amos 8

A Basket of Ripe Fruit

¹ This is what the Sovereign LORD showed me: a basket of ripe fruit. ² "What do you see, Amos?" he asked.

"A basket 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.

³ "In that day," declares the Sovereign LORD, "the songs in the temple will turn to wailing.^[d] Many, many bodies−flung everywhere! Silence!"

⁴ Hear this, you who trample the needy
and do away with the poor of the land,

⁵ saying,

"When will the New Moon be over
that we may sell grain,
and the Sabbath be ended
that we may market wheat?"−
skimping on the measure,
boosting the price
and cheating with dishonest scales,
⁶ buying the poor with silver
and the needy for a pair of sandals,
selling even the sweepings with the wheat.

⁷ The LORD has sworn by himself, the Pride of Jacob: "I will never forget anything they have done.

⁸ "Will not the land tremble 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.

⁹ "In that day," declares the Sovereign LORD,

"I will make the sun go down at noon
and darken the earth in broad daylight.
¹⁰ I will turn your religious festivals into mourning
and all your singing into weeping.
I will make all of you wear sackcloth
and shave your heads.
I will make that time like mourning for an only son
and the end of it like a bitter day.

¹¹ "The days are coming," 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 of hearing the words of the LORD.
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.

¹³ "In that day

"the lovely young women and strong young men
will faint because of thirst.
¹⁴ Those who swear by the sin of Samaria−
who say, ’As surely as your god lives, Dan,’
or, ’As surely as the god^[e] of Beersheba lives’−
they will fall, never to rise again."

Amos 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 of all the people;
those who are left I will kill with the sword.
Not one will get away,
none will escape.
² Though they dig down to the depths below,
from there my hand will take them.
Though they climb up to the heavens above,
from there I will bring them down.
³ Though they hide themselves on the top of Carmel,
there I will hunt them down and seize them.
Though they hide from my eyes at the bottom of the sea,
there I will command the serpent to bite them.
⁴ Though they are driven into exile by their enemies,
there I will command the sword to slay them.

"I will keep my eye on them
for harm and not for good."

⁵ The Lord, the LORD Almighty−
he touches the earth and it melts,
and all who live in it mourn;
the whole land rises like the Nile,
then sinks like the river of Egypt;
⁶ he builds his lofty palace^[f] 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.

⁷ "Are not you Israelites
the same to me as the Cushites^[h]?"
declares the LORD.
"Did I not bring Israel up from Egypt,
the Philistines from Caphtor^[i]
and the Arameans from Kir?

⁸ "Surely the eyes of the Sovereign LORD
are on the sinful kingdom.
I will destroy it
from the face of the earth.
Yet I will not totally destroy
the descendants of Jacob,"
declares the LORD.
⁹ "For I will give the command,
and I will shake the people of Israel
among all the nations
as grain is shaken in a sieve,
and not a pebble will reach the ground.
¹⁰ All the sinners among my people
will die by the sword,
all those who say,
’Disaster will not overtake or meet us.’

Israel’s Restoration

¹¹ "In that day

"I will restore David’s fallen shelter−
I will repair its broken walls
and restore its ruins−
and will rebuild it as it used to be,
¹² so that they may possess the remnant of Edom
and all the nations that bear my name,^[j]"
declares the LORD, who will do these things.

¹³ "The days are coming," declares the LORD,

"when the reaper will be overtaken by the plowman
and the planter by the one treading grapes.
New wine will drip from the mountains
and flow from all the hills,
¹⁴ and I will bring my people Israel back from exile.^[k]

"They will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them.
They will plant vineyards and drink their wine;
they will make gardens and eat their fruit.
¹⁵ I will plant Israel in their own land,
never again to be uprooted
from the land I have given them,"

says the LORD your God.