So I will set fire to Rabbah's city wall; fire will consume her fortresses. War cries will be heard on the day of battle; a strong gale will blow on the day of the windstorm.

So I will set Moab on fire, and it will consume Kerioth's fortresses. Moab will perish in the heat of battle amid war cries and the blaring of the ram's horn.

So I will set Judah on fire, and it will consume Jerusalem's fortresses."

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.

In that day," says the sovereign Lord, "I will make the sun set at noon, and make the earth dark in the middle of the day.

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.

Even when their enemies drive them into captivity, from there I will command the sword to kill them. I will not let them out of my sight; they will experience disaster, not prosperity."

"You Israelites are just like the Ethiopians in my sight," says the Lord. "Certainly I brought Israel up from the land of Egypt, but I also brought the Philistines from Caphtor and the Arameans from Kir.

All your allies will force you from your homeland! Your treaty partners will deceive you and overpower you. Your trusted friends will set an ambush for you that will take you by surprise!

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.

I thought I had been banished from your sight, that I would never again see your holy temple!

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!)

When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he got up from his throne, took off his royal robe, put on sackcloth, and sat on ashes.

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?"

Jonah left the city and sat down east of it. He made a shelter for himself there and sat down under it in the shade to see what would happen to the city.

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.

Don't spread the news in Gath! Don't shed even a single tear! In Beth Leaphrah sit in the dust!

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

Therefore night will fall, and you will receive no visions; it will grow dark, and you will no longer be able to read the omens. The sun will set on these prophets, and the daylight will turn to darkness over their heads.

Each will sit under his own grapevine or under his own fig tree without any fear. The Lord who commands armies has decreed it.

But now slash yourself, daughter surrounded by soldiers! We are besieged! With a scepter they strike Israel's ruler on the side of his face.

He will give us peace. Should the Assyrians try to invade our land and attempt to set foot in our fortresses, we will send against them seven shepherd-rulers, make that eight commanders.

They will rule the land of Assyria with the sword, the land of Nimrod with a drawn sword. Our king will rescue us from the Assyrians should they attempt to invade our land and try to set foot in our territory.

You implement the regulations of Omri, and all the practices of Ahab's dynasty; you follow their policies. Therefore I will make you an appalling sight, the city's inhabitants will be taunted derisively, and nations will mock all of you."

My enemies, do not gloat over me! Though I have fallen, I will get up. Though I sit in darkness, the Lord will be my light.

The commander orders his officers; they stumble as they advance; they rush to the city wall and they set up the covered siege tower.

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

Then Haggai responded, "'The people of this nation are unclean in my sight,' says the Lord. 'And so is all their effort; everything they offer is also unclean.

The seed is still in the storehouse, isn't it? And the vine, fig tree, pomegranate, and olive tree have not produced. Nevertheless, from today on I will bless you.'"

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."

As for the stone I have set before Joshua -- on the one stone there are seven eyes. I am about to engrave an inscription on it,' says the Lord who rules over all, 'to the effect that I will remove the iniquity of this land in a single day.

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.

Then take some silver and gold to make a crown and set it on the head of Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest.

"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.

For the household gods have spoken wickedness, the soothsayers have seen a lie, and as for the dreamers, they have disclosed emptiness and give comfort in vain. Therefore the people set out like sheep and become scattered because they have no shepherd.

The Lord my God says this: "Shepherd the flock set aside for slaughter.

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.

So on that day I will set out to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem."

All the land will change and become like the Arabah from Geba to Rimmon, south of Jerusalem; and Jerusalem will be raised up and will stay in its own place from the Benjamin Gate to the site of the First Gate and on to the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the royal winepresses.

Every cooking pot in Jerusalem and Judah will become holy in the sight of the Lord who rules over all, so that all who offer sacrifices may come and use some of them to boil their sacrifices in them. On that day there will no longer be a Canaanite in the house of the Lord who rules over all.

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.'"

the people who sit in darkness have seen a great light, and on those who sit in the region and shadow of death a light has dawned."

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

When he saw the crowds, he went up the mountain. After he sat down his disciples came to him.

"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.

Now when Jesus saw a large crowd around him, he gave orders to go to the other side of the lake.