Daniel distinguished himself among all the administrators and regional authorities, because he was of an extraordinary spirit. Therefore the king planned to appoint him over the whole kingdom.

Because of this, the administrators and regional authorities tried to bring allegations of dereliction of duty in government affairs against Daniel, but they were unable to find any charges of corruption. Daniel was trustworthy, and no evidence of negligence or corruption could be found against him.

When the king heard this, he was greatly upset, because he was determined to make every effort to save Daniel before the sun set.

The king was ecstatic, so he gave orders for Daniel to be released from the pit. Daniel was taken up from the pit, and no injury was found to have been inflicted on him, because he had believed in his God.

"I continued watching because of the audacious words that the horn was speaking. I kept observing until the animal was killed and its body destroyed and given over to burning fire.

Because of the transgression, the Heavenly Army will be given over, along with the regular burnt offering, and in that rebellion truth will be cast to the ground, while he continues to prosper and to act."

"Pay attention! I'm going to brief you about what will happen at the end of the period of wrath, because its end is appointed. The ram that you saw with a pair of horns are the kings of Media and Persia.

The vision about the twilights and dawnings that has been related is trustworthy, but keep its vision secret, because it pertains to the distant future.'

"To you, Lord, belongs righteousness, but to us, open humiliation even to this day, to the men of Judah, the residents of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, both those who are nearby and those who are far away in all the lands to which you drove them because of their unfaithful acts that they committed against you.

"Open humiliation belongs to us, LORD, to our kings, our officials, and our ancestors, because we've sinned against you.

And all Israel flouted your Law, turning aside from it and not obeying your voice. Because we've sinned against him, the curse has been poured upon us, along with the oath written in the Law of Moses the servant of God.

"He has confirmed his accusation that he spoke against us and against our rulers who governed us by bringing upon us great calamity, because nowhere in the universe has anything been done like what has been done to Jerusalem.

So the LORD watched for the right time to bring the calamity upon us, because the LORD our God is righteous regarding everything he does, but we have not obeyed his voice.

Lord, in view of all your righteous acts, please turn your anger and wrath away from your city Jerusalem, your holy mountain. Because of our sins and the iniquities of our ancestors, Jerusalem and your people have become an embarrassment to all of those around us.

Turn your ear and listen, O God. Open your eyes and look at our desolation and at the city that is called by your name. We're not presenting our requests before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great compassion.

"Lord, listen! "Lord, forgive! "Lord, take note and take action! "For your own sake, don't delay, my God, because your city and your people are called by your name.'"

"Daniel, I've now come to give you insight and understanding. Because you're highly regarded, the answer was issued when you began your prayer, and I've come to tell you. Pay attention to my message and you'll understand the vision.

He told me, "Daniel, man highly regarded, understand the message that I'm about to relate to you. Stand up, because I've been sent to you.' When he spoke this statement to me, I stood there trembling.

""Don't be afraid, Daniel,' he told me, "because from the first day that you committed yourself to understand and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard. I've come in answer to your prayers.

Now I've come to help you understand what will happen to your people in the days to come, because the vision pertains to those days.'

However, after he has come to power, his kingdom will be broken and parceled out in all directions. It won't go to his succeeding descendants, nor will its power match how he ruled, because his sovereignty will be uprooted and given to successors besides them.

He'll encourage himself against the southern king by raising a large army. As a result, the southern king will mobilize for war with a large and powerful army, but he won't succeed because they will devise elaborate schemes against him.

Now as for the two kings, their intentions will be evil, and they'll promote deception at their dinner table, but none of this will succeed, because the end won't have come yet.

because ships will come against him from the Mediterranean islands. Disheartened, he'll return, incited to vehemence against the holy covenant, and he'll take action. As he returns, he'll show deference to those who abandon the holy covenant.

""The king will do as he pleases. He'll exalt and magnify himself above every god, speaking amazing things against the God of Gods. He'll succeed until the indignation is completed, because what has been determined must be carried out.

He'll recognize neither the gods of his ancestors nor those desired by women he won't recognize any god, because he'll exalt himself above everything.

"He answered, "Go on your way, Daniel, because these matters are wrapped up and sealed until the time of the end.

When a message from the LORD came to Hosea, the LORD told him, "Go marry a prostitute and have children with her, because the land is prostituting itself by departing from the LORD."

The LORD told Hosea, "Name the child "Jezreel,' because in a little while I'll avenge the blood that was shed by Jehu's dynasty at Jezreel. I'll put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel.

Gomer conceived again and gave birth to a daughter, so the LORD told Hosea, "Name her "Lo-ruhamah,' because I will no longer be showing mercy to the house of Israel, nor will I forgive them.

so the LORD told Hosea, "Name him "Lo-ammi,' because you are not my people, and I will not be your God.

She will pursue her lovers, but she won't catch up with them. She will seek them, but she won't find them. Then she will say, "I'll go back and return to my first husband, because it was better for me then than now.'

I will make you my wife because of my faithfulness, and you will know the LORD.

My people are destroyed because they lack knowledge of me. Because you rejected that knowledge, I will reject you as a priest for me. Since you forget the Law of your God, I will also forget your children.

They will eat, but will not be satisfied. They will engage in prostitution, but they won't increase, because they have stopped listening to the LORD.

However, I'm not going to punish your daughters when they commit prostitution, nor your daughters-in-law when they commit adultery, because their men are themselves immoral they offer sacrifices with prostitutes. These people who aren't discerning will stumble.

"Hear this, priests, pay attention, house of Israel, listen, royal family! For judgment is coming your way, because you have been a trap to Mizpah, a snare spread out on Mount Tabor.

"Their actions hinder them from turning to their God, because a spirit of fornication is in their midst, and the LORD they do not know.

Ephraim is crushed, broken by judgment, because he willingly pursued idols.

Woe to them because they have run away from me. Ruin to them because they have sinned against me. Even though I redeemed them, they spread lies against me.

They return but not to the Most High. They are like a defective weapon. Their princes will fall by the sword because of their raging tongue, and they will be a laughingstock in the land of Egypt."

"Sound the ram's horn! Like a vulture the enemy will come against the Temple of the LORD, because Israel violated my covenant, transgressing my Law.

Because from Israel it was fashioned by craftsmen, it is not God; therefore Samaria's calf will be broken in pieces.

"Because they sow the wind, they will reap the wind storm. The plant has no stalk and its bud yields no grain. Even if there's a harvest, foreigners will gobble it up.

"Because they went over to Assyria, they are like a wild donkey alone by itself. Ephraim has hired some lovers.

"Don't celebrate, Israel, like other nations would rejoice, because you left your God by committing fornication, loving the profit you gained on all of the threshing floors.

Look! They have gone away because of the destruction Egypt will gather them up, and Memphis will bury them. Weeds will overgrow their inheritance, and thorns will grow in their tents.

The time for your judgment has now come; payday is here and Israel knows it. The prophet is a fool, and the spiritual man is insane. Because of your great sin, the hatred against you is great.

"All of their wickedness started in Gilgal, because I began to hate them there. Because of the wickedness of their behavior, I will drive them from my Temple. I will not love them anymore; all their leaders are rebels.

"My God will reject them, because they did not obey him, and they will become wanderers among the nations."

From now on they will say, "We have no king, because we did not fear the LORD and what would a king do for us?'

"The residents of Samaria will be terrified because of the cows of Beth-aven. Its people will mourn over Beth-aven, along with the priests who will mourn its glory, because that glory has departed.

You have plowed evil; you have reaped unrighteousness; you have eaten the fruit of hypocrisy; because you trusted in your own direction, and in the number of your mighty forces.

The same will happen to you, Bethel, because of your great evil early one morning the king of Israel will be totally silenced."

"They will not return to the land of Egypt; instead, the Assyrian will be their king, because they kept refusing to repent.

Ephraim claims, "I have become rich, I have made a fortune! Because of all my wealth, no one will find any iniquity or sin in me.'

"I am the LORD your God from the land of Egypt, and you have known no god except for me, because except for me there is no savior.

Samaria will be held guilty, because she has rebelled against her God. By the sword they will fall with their infants dashed to pieces, and their pregnant women torn open."

"Wake up, you drunkards! Cry aloud and howl, you wine drinkers, because your supply of new wine has been snatched from you.

Be dismayed, you farmers! Cry aloud, you vintners, for the wheat and barley, because the harvest in your fields has been lost.

"Put on your mourning clothes, you priests; and cry aloud, you ministering servants at the altar! Come! Stay the night in mourner's clothes, you ministers of my God, because the grain offering and the wine offering is held back from the Temple of your God.

Seeds shrivel within their furrows, the storehouses lie empty, and granaries stand in ruins because the grain has withered.

Oh, how the livestock groan! The herds of cattle wander about because they have no pasture. Even flocks of sheep suffer!

To you, LORD, I cry out, because fire has devoured the open pastures, and has set all the cultivated trees ablaze.

The livestock also cries out to you, because their water sources have evaporated and because fire has consumed the open pastures.

"Sound the ram's horn in Zion! Sound an alarm on my holy mountain! Tremble, all of you inhabitants of the land, because the Day of the LORD is coming. Oh, how near it is!

The LORD will shout in the presence of his forces, because his encampment is very great; for powerful is he who carries out his message. Truly the Day of the LORD is great, and very terrifying. Who will be able to survive it?"

"I will remove the northerners from you, driving them to a barren and desolate land the front toward the Dead Sea and the back toward the Mediterranean. Their stench will rise, and their stinking odor will ascend, because they have done great things."

"Stop being afraid, land! Rejoice and be glad, because the LORD will do great things.

Stop being afraid, beasts of the field, because the desert pastures will bloom, the trees will bear their fruit, and the fig tree and vine will deliver their wealth.

And so be glad, children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God, because he has given you the right amount of early rain, and he will cause the rain to fall for you, both the early rain and the later rain as before.

"Let the nations be awakened and come to the Valley of Jehoshaphat; because I will sit to judge all the surrounding nations.

Put in the sickle, because the harvest is ripe. Come and go down, because the winepress is full. The wine vats are overflowing, because their evil is great!

Egypt will be desolate, and Edom will be a desert, because of violence against the people of Judah since they shed innocent blood in their land.

This is what the LORD says: "For three transgressions of Damascus and now for a fourth I will not turn away; because they have trampled down Gilead with ironclad threshing sleds.

This is what the LORD says: "For three transgressions of Gaza and now for a fourth I will not turn away; because they exiled the entire population, delivering them to Edom.

This is what the LORD says: "For three transgressions of Tyre and now for a fourth I will not turn away; because they delivered the entire population to Edom, and did not remember their covenant with their relatives.

This is what the LORD says: "For three transgressions of Edom and now for a fourth I will not turn away; because he pursued his brother with a sword, refusing to be compassionate. His anger was raging continuously; he kept up his unending wrath.

This is what the LORD says: "For three transgressions of the Ammonites and now for a fourth I will not turn away; because they ripped open the pregnant women of Gilead in order to enlarge their national borders.

This is what the LORD says: "For three transgressions of Moab because they cremated the bones of the king of Edom, burning them to lime.

This is what the LORD says: "For three transgressions of Judah and now for a fourth I will not turn away; because they rejected the Law of the LORD and did not keep his statutes. Their own lies made them wander off, following along the same path their ancestors walked.

This is what the LORD says: "For three transgressions of Israel and now for a fourth I will not turn away; because they sold the righteous for money, and the poor for sandals,

Because they do not know how to act right," declares the LORD, "they are filling their strongholds with treasures that they took from others by violence into their fortified citadels."

"because on that day I will lay out the charges against Israel. I will also bring judgment upon the altars of Bethel; the horns of the altar will be cut off and will fall to the ground.

While you're at it, present a thank offering with leaven, and publicize your freewill offerings, letting everyone hear about it, because this is what you really love to do, you Israelis," declares the Lord GOD.

"Therefore this is what I will do to you, Israel. Because I am about to do this, prepare to be summoned to your God, Israel!"

but don't seek Bethel. Don't go to Gilgal, and don't pass over to Beer-sheba. Because Gilgal will surely go into captivity, and Bethel will come to nothing.

and because I know that your transgressions are many, and your sins are numerous as you oppose the righteous, taking bribes as a ransom, and turning away the poor in court

One's relative will pick up the corpse to carry them from the house for burning, saying to whomever remains inside the house, "Is there anyone still with you?' And he will say, "No.' He will respond, "Be quiet, because we do not mention the name "LORD".'

because Amos is saying this: "By the sword will Jeroboam die, and Israel will surely go into exile far from her homeland.'"

Don't prophesy anymore at Bethel, because it's the king's sanctuary and a temple of the kingdom."

Surely the land will tremble because of this, won't it? And all who live in it will mourn, won't they? The entire land will swell up like a flooded river. It will be stirred up and then will sink like the river of Egypt.

"Shame will overwhelm you because of the violence you inflicted on your brother Jacob, and you will be excluded forever.

"Get up and go to Nineveh, that great city! Then cry out in protest against it, because their evil has come to my attention."

In mounting terror, the men asked him, "What have you done?" The men were aware that he was fleeing from the LORD, because he had admitted this to them.

Because the sea was growing more and more stormy, they asked him, "What do we have to do to you so the sea will calm down for us?"

Jonah told them, "Pick me up and toss me into the sea. Then the sea will calm down for you, because I know that it's my fault that this mighty storm has come upon you."

Even so, the crewmen rowed hard to bring the ship toward dry land, but they were unsuccessful, because the sea was growing more and more stormy.

At last they cried out to the LORD, "Please, LORD, do not let us perish because of this man's life, and do not hold us responsible for innocent blood, because you, LORD, have done what pleased you."

God took note of what they did that they turned from their evil ways. Because God relented concerning the trouble about which he had warned them, he did not carry it out.