"As for you, son of man, this is what the sovereign Lord says: Tell every kind of bird and every wild beast: 'Assemble and come! Gather from all around to my slaughter which I am going to make for you, a great slaughter on the mountains of Israel! You will eat flesh and drink blood.

"Therefore this is what the sovereign Lord says: Now I will restore the fortunes of Jacob, and I will have mercy on the entire house of Israel. I will be zealous for my holy name.

There were narrow windows and decorative palm trees on either side of the side walls of the porch; this is what the side chambers of the temple and the canopies were like.

Then he said to me: "Son of man, this is what the sovereign Lord says: These are the statutes of the altar: On the day it is built to offer up burnt offerings on it and to sprinkle blood on it,

Say to the rebellious, to the house of Israel, 'This is what the sovereign Lord says: Enough of all your abominable practices, O house of Israel!

This is what the sovereign Lord says: No foreigner, who is uncircumcised in heart and flesh among all the foreigners who are among the people of Israel, will enter into my sanctuary.

"'This is what the sovereign Lord says: Enough, you princes of Israel! Put away violence and destruction, and do what is just and right. Put an end to your evictions of my people, declares the sovereign Lord.

"'This is what the sovereign Lord says: In the first month, on the first day of the month, you must take an unblemished young bull and purify the sanctuary.

This is what you must do on the seventh day of the month for anyone who sins inadvertently or through ignorance; so you will make atonement for the temple.

"'This is what the sovereign Lord says: The gate of the inner court that faces east will be closed six working days, but on the Sabbath day it will be opened and on the day of the new moon it will be opened.

"'This is what the sovereign Lord says: If the prince should give a gift to one of his sons as his inheritance, it will belong to his sons, it is their property by inheritance.

This is what the sovereign Lord says: "Here are the borders you will observe as you allot the land to the twelve tribes of Israel. (Joseph will have two portions.)

But he responded to Daniel, "I fear my master the king. He is the one who has decided your food and drink. What would happen if he saw that you looked malnourished in comparison to the other young men your age? If that happened, you would endanger my life with the king!"

Then compare our appearance with that of the young men who are eating the royal delicacies; deal with us in light of what you see."

The wise men replied to the king: [What follows is in Aramaic] "O king, live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will disclose its interpretation."

What the king is asking is too difficult, and no one exists who can disclose it to the king, except for the gods -- but they don't live among mortals!"

he reveals deep and hidden things. He knows what is in the darkness, and light resides with him.

O God of my fathers, I acknowledge and glorify you, for you have bestowed wisdom and power on me. Now you have enabled me to understand what I requested from you. For you have enabled me to understand the king's dilemma."

However, there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and he has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in the times to come. The dream and the visions you had while lying on your bed are as follows.

"As for you, O king, while you were in your bed your thoughts turned to future things. The revealer of mysteries has made known to you what will take place.

You saw that a stone was cut from a mountain, but not by human hands; it smashed the iron, bronze, clay, silver, and gold into pieces. The great God has made known to the king what will occur in the future. The dream is certain, and its interpretation is reliable."

Therefore, O king, may my advice be pleasing to you. Break away from your sins by doing what is right, and from your iniquities by showing mercy to the poor. Perhaps your prosperity will be prolonged."

All the inhabitants of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as he wishes with the army of heaven and with those who inhabit the earth. No one slaps his hand and says to him, 'What have you done?'

"This is what he told me: 'The fourth beast means that there will be a fourth kingdom on earth that will differ from all the other kingdoms. It will devour all the earth and will trample and crush it.

Then I heard a holy one speaking. Another holy one said to the one who was speaking, "To what period of time does the vision pertain -- this vision concerning the daily sacrifice and the destructive act of rebellion and the giving over of both the sanctuary and army to be trampled?"

Then he said, "I am going to inform you about what will happen in the latter time of wrath, for the vision pertains to the appointed time of the end.

His power will be great, but it will not be by his strength alone. He will cause terrible destruction. He will be successful in what he undertakes. He will destroy powerful people and the people of the holy ones.

we have sinned! We have done what is wrong and wicked; we have rebelled by turning away from your commandments and standards.

He has carried out his threats against us and our rulers who were over us by bringing great calamity on us -- what has happened to Jerusalem has never been equaled under all heaven!

Now I have come to help you understand what will happen to your people in the latter days, for the vision pertains to future days."

However, I will first tell you what is written in a dependable book. (There is no one who strengthens me against these princes, except Michael your prince.

In a time of prosperity for the most productive areas of the province he will come and accomplish what neither his fathers nor their fathers accomplished. He will distribute loot, spoils, and property to his followers, and he will devise plans against fortified cities, but not for long.

"Then the king will do as he pleases. He will exalt and magnify himself above every deity and he will utter presumptuous things against the God of gods. He will succeed until the time of wrath is completed, for what has been decreed must occur.

What he will honor is a god of fortresses -- a god his fathers did not acknowledge he will honor with gold, silver, valuable stones, and treasured commodities.

I heard, but I did not understand. So I said, "Sir, what will happen after these things?"

But you should go your way until the end. You will rest and then at the end of the days you will arise to receive what you have been allotted."

Ephraim will be ruined in the day of judgment! What I am declaring to the tribes of Israel will certainly take place!

What am I going to do with you, O Ephraim? What am I going to do with you, O Judah? For your faithfulness is as fleeting as the morning mist; it disappears as quickly as dawn's dew!

whenever I want to heal Israel, the sin of Ephraim is revealed, and the evil deeds of Samaria are exposed. For they do what is wrong; thieves break into houses, and gangs rob people out in the streets.

Foreigners are consuming what his strenuous labor produced, but he does not recognize it! His head is filled with gray hair, but he does not realize it!

But Israel has rejected what is morally good; so an enemy will pursue him.

So what will you do on the festival day, on the festival days of the Lord?

When I found Israel, it was like finding grapes in the wilderness. I viewed your ancestors like an early fig on a fig tree in its first season. Then they came to Baal-Peor and they dedicated themselves to shame -- they became as detestable as what they loved.

Ephraim will be like a bird; what they value will fly away. They will not bear children -- they will not enjoy pregnancy -- they will not even conceive!

Give them, O Lord -- what will you give them? Give them wombs that miscarry, and breasts that cannot nurse!

Very soon they will say, "We have no king since we did not fear the Lord. But what can a king do for us anyway?"

Assyria cannot save us; we will not ride warhorses. We will never again say, 'Our gods' to what our own hands have made. For only you will show compassion to Orphan Israel!"

What the gazam-locust left the 'arbeh-locust consumed, what the 'arbeh-locust left the yeleq-locust consumed, and what the yeleq-locust left the hasil-locust consumed!

Citizens of Zion, rejoice! Be glad because of what the Lord your God has done! For he has given to you the early rains as vindication. He has sent to you the rains -- both the early and the late rains as formerly.

Why are you doing these things to me, Tyre and Sidon? Are you trying to get even with me, land of Philistia? I will very quickly repay you for what you have done!

Look! I am rousing them from that place to which you sold them. I will repay you for what you have done!

The following is a record of what Amos prophesied. He was one of the herdsmen from Tekoa. These prophecies about Israel were revealed to him during the time of King Uzziah of Judah and King Jeroboam son of Joash of Israel, two years before the earthquake.

This is what the Lord says: "Because Damascus has committed three crimes -- make that four! -- I will not revoke my decree of judgment. They ripped through Gilead like threshing sledges with iron teeth.

This is what the Lord says: "Because Gaza has committed three crimes -- make that four! -- I will not revoke my decree of judgment. They deported a whole community and sold them to Edom.

This is what the Lord says: "Because Tyre has committed three crimes -- make that four! -- I will not revoke my decree of judgment. They sold a whole community to Edom; they failed to observe a treaty of brotherhood.

This is what the Lord says: "Because Edom has committed three crimes -- make that four! -- I will not revoke my decree of judgment. He chased his brother with a sword; he wiped out his allies. In his anger he tore them apart without stopping to rest; in his fury he relentlessly attacked them.

This is what the Lord says: "Because the Ammonites have committed three crimes -- make that four! -- I will not revoke my decree of judgment. They ripped open Gilead's pregnant women so they could expand their territory.

This is what the Lord says: "Because Moab has committed three crimes -- make that four! -- I will not revoke my decree of judgment. They burned the bones of Edom's king into lime.

This is what the Lord says: "Because Judah has committed three covenant transgressions -- make that four! -- I will not revoke my decree of judgment. They rejected the Lord's law; they did not obey his commands. Their false gods, to which their fathers were loyal, led them astray.

This is what the Lord says: "Because Israel has committed three covenant transgressions -- make that four! -- I will not revoke my decree of judgment. They sold the innocent for silver, the needy for a pair of sandals.

"They do not know how to do what is right." (The Lord is speaking.) "They store up the spoils of destructive violence in their fortresses.

This is what the Lord says: "Just as a shepherd salvages from the lion's mouth a couple of leg bones or a piece of an ear, so the Israelites who live in Samaria will be salvaged. They will be left with just a corner of a bed, and a part of a couch."

"Therefore this is what I will do to you, Israel. Because I will do this to you, prepare to meet your God, Israel!

The Israelites turn justice into bitterness; they throw what is fair and right to the ground.

Hate what is wrong, love what is right! Promote justice at the city gate! Maybe the Lord, the God who commands armies, will have mercy on those who are left from Joseph.

Because of Israel's sins this is what the Lord, the God who commands armies, the sovereign One, says: "In all the squares there will be wailing, in all the streets they will mourn the dead. They will tell the field workers to lament and the professional mourners to wail.

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.

"Therefore this is what the Lord says: 'Your wife will become a prostitute in the streets and your sons and daughters will die violently. Your land will be given to others and you will die in a foreign land. Israel will certainly be carried into exile away from its land.'"

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 I will rebuild the collapsing hut of David. I will seal its gaps, repair its ruins, and restore it to what it was like in days gone by.

"For the day of the Lord is approaching for all the nations! Just as you have done, so it will be done to you. You will get exactly what your deeds deserve.

The exiles of this fortress of the people of Israel will take possession of what belongs to the people of Canaan, as far as Zarephath, and the exiles of Jerusalem who are in Sepharad will take possession of the towns of the Negev.

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!"

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?"

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?"

But as for me, I promise to offer a sacrifice to you with a public declaration of praise; I will surely do what I have promised. Salvation belongs to the Lord!"

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.

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.

Residents of Shaphir, pass by in nakedness and humiliation! The residents of Zaanan can't leave their city. Beth Ezel mourns, "He takes from you what he desires."

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

yet you hate what is good, and love what is evil. You flay my people's skin and rip the flesh from their bones.

This is what the Lord says: "The prophets who mislead my people are as good as dead. If someone gives them enough to eat, they offer an oracle of peace. But if someone does not give them food, they are ready to declare war on him.

But they do not know what the Lord is planning; they do not understand his strategy. He has gathered them like stalks of grain to be threshed at the threshing floor.

I will remove your idols and sacred pillars from your midst; you will no longer worship what your own hands made.

Listen to what the Lord says: "Get up! Defend yourself before the mountains! Present your case before the hills!"

With what should I enter the Lord's presence? With what should I bow before the sovereign God? Should I enter his presence with burnt offerings, with year-old calves?

He has told you, O man, what is good, and what the Lord really wants from you: He wants you to promote justice, to be faithful, and to live obediently before your God.

They are determined to be experts at doing evil; government officials and judges take bribes, prominent men make demands, and they all do what is necessary to satisfy them.

The earth will become desolate because of what its inhabitants have done.

This is what the Lord says: "Even though they are powerful -- and what is more, even though their army is numerous -- nevertheless, they will be destroyed and trickle away! Although I afflicted you, I will afflict you no more.

Your destruction is like an incurable wound; your demise is like a fatal injury! All who hear what has happened to you will clap their hands for joy, for no one ever escaped your endless cruelty!

They are frightening and terrifying; they decide for themselves what is right.

I will stand at my watch post; I will remain stationed on the city wall. I will keep watching, so I can see what he says to me and can know how I should answer when he counters my argument.

For the message is a witness to what is decreed; it gives reliable testimony about how matters will turn out. Even if the message is not fulfilled right away, wait patiently; for it will certainly come to pass -- it will not arrive late.

"But all these nations will someday taunt him and ridicule him with proverbial sayings: 'The one who accumulates what does not belong to him is as good as dead (How long will this go on?) -- he who gets rich by extortion!'

What good is an idol? Why would a craftsman make it? What good is a metal image that gives misleading oracles? Why would its creator place his trust in it and make such mute, worthless things?

Lord, I have heard the report of what you did; I am awed, Lord, by what you accomplished. In our time repeat those deeds; in our time reveal them again. But when you cause turmoil, remember to show us mercy!

Seek the Lord's favor, all you humble people of the land who have obeyed his commands! Strive to do what is right! Strive to be humble! Maybe you will be protected on the day of the Lord's angry judgment.

This is how the once-proud city will end up -- the city that was so secure. She thought to herself, "I am unique! No one can compare to me!" What a heap of ruins she has become, a place where wild animals live! Everyone who passes by her taunts her and shakes his fist.