For their mother has committed adultery; she who conceived them has acted shamefully. For she said, "I will seek out my lovers; they are the ones who give me my bread and my water, my wool, my flax, my olive oil, and my wine.

I will destroy her vines and fig trees, about which she said, "These are my wages for prostitution that my lovers gave to me!" I will turn her cultivated vines and fig trees into an uncultivated thicket, so that wild animals will devour them.

The Lord said to me, "Go, show love to your wife again, even though she loves another man and continually commits adultery. Likewise, the Lord loves the Israelites although they turn to other gods and love to offer raisin cakes to idols."

Let the priests, those who serve the Lord, weep from the vestibule all the way back to the altar. Let them say, "Have pity, O Lord, on your people; please do not turn over your inheritance to be mocked, to become a proverb among the nations. Why should it be said among the peoples, "Where is their God?"

Amos said: "The Lord comes roaring out of Zion; from Jerusalem he comes bellowing! The shepherds' pastures wilt; the summit of Carmel withers."

When they had completely consumed the earth's vegetation, I said, "Sovereign Lord, forgive Israel! How can Jacob survive? He is too weak!"

The Lord decided not to do this. "It will not happen," the Lord said.

I said, "Sovereign Lord, stop! How can Jacob survive? He is too weak!"

The Lord decided not to do this. The sovereign Lord said, "This will not happen either."

The Lord said to me, "What do you see, Amos?" I said, "Tin." The sovereign One then said, "Look, I am about to place tin among my people Israel. I will no longer overlook their sin.

Amaziah then said to Amos, "Leave, you visionary! Run away to the land of Judah! Earn your living and prophesy there!

He said, "What do you see, Amos?" I replied, "A basket of summer fruit." Then the Lord said to me, "The end has come for my people Israel! I will no longer overlook their sins.

I saw the sovereign One standing by the altar and he said, "Strike the tops of the support pillars, so the thresholds shake! Knock them down on the heads of all the people, and I will kill the survivors with the sword. No one will be able to run away; no one will be able to escape.

The Lord said to Jonah son of Amittai,

The ship's captain approached him and said, "What are you doing asleep? Get up! Cry out to your god! Perhaps your god might take notice of us so that we might not die!"

The sailors said to one another, "Come on, let's cast lots to find out whose fault it is that this disaster has overtaken us." So they cast lots, and Jonah was singled out.

They said to him, "Tell us, whose fault is it that this disaster has overtaken us? What's your occupation? Where do you come from? What's your country? And who are your people?"

He said to them, "I am a Hebrew! And I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land."

Hearing this, the men became even more afraid and said to him, "What have you done?" (The men said this because they knew that he was trying to escape from the Lord, because he had previously told them.)

Because the storm was growing worse and worse, they said to him, "What should we do to you to make the sea calm down for us?"

He said to them, "Pick me up and throw me into the sea to make the sea quiet down, because I know it's my fault you are in this severe storm."

and said, "I called out to the Lord from my distress, and he answered me; from the belly of Sheol I cried out for help, and you heard my prayer.

The Lord said to Jonah a second time,

So Jonah went immediately to Nineveh, as the Lord had said. (Now Nineveh was an enormous city -- it required three days to walk through it!)

He issued a proclamation and said, "In Nineveh, by the decree of the king and his nobles: No human or animal, cattle or sheep, is to taste anything; they must not eat and they must not drink water.

He prayed to the Lord and said, "Oh, Lord, this is just what I thought would happen when I was in my own country. This is what I tried to prevent by attempting to escape to Tarshish! -- because I knew that you are gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in mercy, and one who relents concerning threatened judgment.

The Lord said, "Are you really so very angry?"

When the sun began to shine, God sent a hot east wind. So the sun beat down on Jonah's head, and he grew faint. So he despaired of life, and said, "I would rather die than live!"

God said to Jonah, "Are you really so very angry about the little plant?" And he said, "I am as angry as I could possibly be!"

The Lord said, "You were upset about this little plant, something for which you have not worked nor did you do anything to make it grow. It grew up overnight and died the next day.

I said, "Listen, you leaders of Jacob, you rulers of the nation of Israel! You ought to know what is just,

The Lord who rules over all says this: "These people have said, 'The time for rebuilding the Lord's temple has not yet come.'"

But have my words and statutes, which I commanded my servants the prophets, not outlived your fathers? Then they paid attention and confessed, 'The Lord who rules over all has indeed done what he said he would do to us, because of our sinful ways.'"

Then I asked one nearby, "What are these, sir?" The angelic messenger who replied to me said, "I will show you what these are."

Then the man standing among the myrtle trees spoke up and said, "These are the ones whom the Lord has sent to walk about on the earth."

Turning to me, the messenger then said, "Cry out that the Lord who rules over all says, 'I am very much moved for Jerusalem and for Zion.

and said to him, "Hurry, speak to this young man as follows: 'Jerusalem will no longer be enclosed by walls because of the multitude of people and animals there.

The Lord said to Satan, "May the Lord rebuke you, Satan! May the Lord, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you! Isn't this man like a burning stick snatched from the fire?"

The angel spoke up to those standing all around, "Remove his filthy clothes." Then he said to Joshua, "I have freely forgiven your iniquity and will dress you in fine clothing."

He replied, "Don't you know what these are?" And I said, "No, sir."

So he said, "These are the two anointed ones who stand by the Lord of the whole earth."

After this the angelic messenger who had been speaking to me went out and said, "Look, see what is leaving."

I asked, "What is it?" And he replied, "It is a basket for measuring grain that is moving away from here." Moreover, he said, "This is their 'eye' throughout all the earth."

He then said, "This woman represents wickedness," and he pushed her down into the basket and placed the lead cover on top.

All these strong ones are scattering; they have sought permission to go and walk about over the earth." The Lord had said, "Go! Walk about over the earth!" So they are doing so.

"The Lord who rules over all said, 'Exercise true judgment and show brotherhood and compassion to each other.

"'It then came about that just as I cried out, but they would not obey, so they will cry out, but I will not listen,' the Lord Lord who rules over all had said.

I then said, "I will not shepherd you. What is to die, let it die, and what is to be eradicated, let it be eradicated. As for those who survive, let them eat each other's flesh!"

Then I said to them, "If it seems good to you, pay me my wages, but if not, forget it." So they weighed out my payment -- thirty pieces of silver.

The Lord then said to me, "Throw to the potter that exorbitant sum at which they valued me!" So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them to the potter at the temple of the Lord.

Again the Lord said to me, "Take up once more the equipment of a foolish shepherd.

You have said, 'It is useless to serve God. How have we been helped by keeping his requirements and going about like mourners before the Lord who rules over all?

When he had contemplated this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.

"In Bethlehem of Judea," they said, "for it is written this way by the prophet:

He sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and look carefully for the child. When you find him, inform me so that I can go and worship him as well."

After they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, "Get up, take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to look for the child to kill him."

But when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, "You offspring of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?

And a voice from heaven said, "This is my one dear Son; in him I take great delight."

The tempter came and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become bread."

and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down. For it is written, 'He will command his angels concerning you' and 'with their hands they will lift you up, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'"

Jesus said to him, "Once again it is written: 'You are not to put the Lord your God to the test.'"

And he said to him, "I will give you all these things if you throw yourself to the ground and worship me."

Then Jesus said to him, "Go away, Satan! For it is written: 'You are to worship the Lord your God and serve only him.'"

He said to them, "Follow me, and I will turn you into fishers of people."

"You have heard that it was said to an older generation, 'Do not murder,' and 'whoever murders will be subjected to judgment.'

"You have heard that it was said, 'Do not commit adultery.'

"It was said, 'Whoever divorces his wife must give her a legal document.'

"Again, you have heard that it was said to an older generation, 'Do not break an oath, but fulfill your vows to the Lord.'

"You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.'

"You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor' and 'hate your enemy.'

Then Jesus said to him, "See that you do not speak to anyone, but go, show yourself to a priest, and bring the offering that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them."

Jesus said to him, "I will come and heal him."

When Jesus heard this he was amazed and said to those who followed him, "I tell you the truth, I have not found such faith in anyone in Israel!

Then Jesus said to the centurion, "Go; just as you believed, it will be done for you." And the servant was healed at that hour.

Then an expert in the law came to him and said, "Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go."

Jesus said to him, "Foxes have dens, and the birds in the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."

Another of the disciples said to him, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father."

But Jesus said to him, "Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead."

But he said to them, "Why are you cowardly, you people of little faith?" Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and it was dead calm.

And the men were amazed and said, "What sort of person is this? Even the winds and the sea obey him!"

And he said, "Go!" So they came out and went into the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep slope into the lake and drowned in the water.

Just then some people brought to him a paralytic lying on a stretcher. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Have courage, son! Your sins are forgiven."

Then some of the experts in the law said to themselves, "This man is blaspheming!"

When Jesus saw their reaction he said, "Why do you respond with evil in your hearts?

But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins" -- then he said to the paralytic -- "Stand up, take your stretcher, and go home."

As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax booth. "Follow me," he said to him. And he got up and followed him.

When the Pharisees saw this they said to his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?"

When Jesus heard this he said, "Those who are healthy don't need a physician, but those who are sick do.

Jesus said to them, "The wedding guests cannot mourn while the bridegroom is with them, can they? But the days are coming when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and then they will fast.

As he was saying these things, a ruler came, bowed low before him, and said, "My daughter has just died, but come and lay your hand on her and she will live."

But when Jesus turned and saw her he said, "Have courage, daughter! Your faith has made you well." And the woman was healed from that hour.

he said, "Go away, for the girl is not dead but asleep." And they began making fun of him.

When he went into the house, the blind men came to him. Jesus said to them, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?" They said to him, "Yes, Lord."

After the demon was cast out, the man who had been mute spoke. The crowds were amazed and said, "Never has anything like this been seen in Israel!"

But the Pharisees said, "By the ruler of demons he casts out demons."

Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.

At that time Jesus said, "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent, and revealed them to little children.

But when the Pharisees saw this they said to him, "Look, your disciples are doing what is against the law to do on the Sabbath."

He said to them, "Haven't you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry --

He said to them, "Would not any one of you, if he had one sheep that fell into a pit on the Sabbath, take hold of it and lift it out?