the Week of Christ the King / Proper 29 / Ordinary 34
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Bible Reading Plan
Daily Bible Reading
July 15 - Old & New Testament
csb
Amos 7,8,9
First Vision: Locusts
1 The Lord God showed me this: He was forming a swarm of locusts(a) at the time the spring crop first began to sprout—after the cutting of the king's hay. 2 When the locusts finished eating the vegetation of the land,(b) I said, "Lord God , please forgive!(c) How will Jacob survive since he is so small?"(d)
3 The Lord relented concerning this.(e) "It will not happen," He said.
Second Vision: Fire
4 The Lord God showed me this: The Lord God was calling for a judgment by fire.(f) It consumed the great deep and devoured the land. 5 Then I said, "Lord God , please stop!(g) How will Jacob survive since he is so small?"
6 The Lord relented concerning this.(h) "This will not happen either," said the Lord God .
Third Vision: A Plumb Line
7 He showed me this: The Lord was standing there by a vertical wall with a plumb line in His hand. 8 The Lord asked me, "What do you see, Amos?"(i)
I replied, "A plumb line."
Then the Lord said, "I am setting a plumb line among My people Israel;(j) I will no longer spare them:(k)
9 Isaac's high places(l) will be deserted,
and Israel's sanctuaries will be in ruins;(m)
I will rise up against the house of Jeroboam
with a sword."
Amaziah's Opposition
10 Amaziah the priest(n) of Bethel sent word to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, "Amos has conspired against you(o) right here in the house of Israel. The land cannot endure all his words, 11 for Amos has said this: ‘Jeroboam will die by the sword, and Israel will certainly go into exile from its homeland.'"(p)
12 Then Amaziah said to Amos, "Go away, you seer!(q) Flee to the land of Judah. Earn your living[a] and give your prophecies there, 13 but don't ever prophesy(r) at Bethel again, for it is the king's sanctuary(s) and a royal temple."
14 So Amos answered Amaziah, "I was[b] not a prophet or the son of a prophet;[c](t) rather, I was[d] a herdsman,(u) and I took care of sycamore figs. 15 But the Lord took me from following the flock(v) and said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to My people Israel.'"(w)
16 Now hear the word of the Lord . You say:
Do not prophesy(x) against Israel;
do not preach(y) against the house of Isaac.
17 Therefore, this is what the Lord says:
Your wife will be a prostitute in the city,(z)
your sons and daughters will fall by the sword,(aa)
and your land will be divided up
with a measuring line.
You yourself will die on pagan[e] soil,(ab)
and Israel will certainly go into exile(ac)
from its homeland.
Fourth Vision: A Basket of Summer Fruit
1 The Lord God showed me this: A basket of summer fruit. 2 He asked me, "What do you see, Amos?"(a)
I replied, "A basket of summer fruit."(b)
The Lord said to me, "The end has come for My people Israel;(c) I will no longer spare them.(d) 3 In that day the temple[a] songs(e) will become wailing"(f)—this is the Lord God 's declaration. "Many dead bodies, thrown everywhere!(g) Silence!"(h)
4 Hear this, you who trample on the needy(i)
and do away with the poor of the land,(j)
5 asking, "When will the New Moon be over
so we may sell grain,(k)
and the Sabbath,
so we may market wheat?(l)
We can reduce the measure
while increasing the price[b]
and cheat with dishonest scales.(m)
6 We can buy the poor with silver
and the needy for a pair of sandals(n)
and even sell the chaff!"
7 The Lord has sworn(o) by the Pride of Jacob:[c](p)
I will never forget all their deeds.(q)
8 Because of this, won't the land quake(r)
and all who dwell in it mourn?(s)
All of it will rise like the Nile;(t)
it will surge and then subside
like the Nile in Egypt.(u)
9 And in that day—
this is the declaration of the Lord
God
—
I will make the sun go down at noon;(v)
I will darken the land in the daytime.(w)
10 I will turn your feasts into mourning(x)
and all your songs into lamentation;(y)
I will cause everyone[d] to wear sackcloth(z)
and every head to be shaved.(aa)
I will make that grief
like mourning for an only son(ab)
and its outcome like a bitter day.
11 Hear this! The days are coming—
this is the declaration of the Lord
God
—
when I will send a famine through the land:
not a famine of bread or a thirst for water,
but of hearing the words of the
Lord
.(ac)
12 People will stagger from sea to sea
and roam from north to east,
seeking the word of the
Lord
,(ad)
but they will not find it.
13 In that day the beautiful young women,(ae)
the young men also, will faint from thirst.(af)
14 Those who swear by the guilt of Samaria(ag)
and say, "As your god lives, Dan,"(ah)
or "As the way[e][f] of Beer-sheba lives"(ai)—
they will fall, never to rise again.(aj)
Fifth Vision: The Lord beside the Altar
1 I saw the Lord standing beside the altar,(a) and He said:
Strike the capitals of the pillars(b)
so that the thresholds shake;
knock them down on the heads of all the people.
Then I will kill the rest of them with the sword.(c)
None of those who flee will get away;(d)
none of the fugitives will escape.
2 If they dig down to Sheol,(e)
from there My hand will take them;
if they climb up to heaven,(f)
from there I will bring them down.
3 If they hide themselves
on the top of Carmel,
from there I will track them down(g)
and seize them;
if they conceal themselves
from My sight on the sea floor,(h)
from there I will command
the sea serpent to bite them.(i)
4 And if they are driven
by their enemies into captivity,(j)
from there I will command
the sword to kill them.(k)
I will fix My eyes on them
for harm and not for good.(l)
5 The Lord, the
God
of Hosts—
He touches the earth;(m)
it melts, and all who dwell in it mourn;
all of it rises like the Nile
and subsides like the Nile of Egypt.(n)
6 He builds His upper chambers
in the heavens(o)
and lays the foundation of His vault
on the earth.(p)
He summons the waters of the sea
and pours them out on the face of the earth.(q)
Yahweh is His name.(r)
Announcement of Judgment
7 Israelites, are you not like the Cushites to Me?(s)
This is the
Lord
's declaration.
Didn't I bring Israel from the land of Egypt,
the Philistines from Caphtor,[a](t)
and the Arameans from Kir?(u)
8 Look, the eyes of the Lord
God
are on the sinful kingdom,(v)
and I will destroy it
from the face of the earth.(w)
However, I will not totally destroy
the house of Jacob(x)—
this is the
Lord
's declaration—
9 for I am about to give the command,
and I will shake the house of Israel(y)
among all the nations,
as one shakes a sieve,
but not a pebble will fall to the ground.
10 All the sinners among My people(z)
who say: "Disaster will never overtake[b]
or confront us,"(aa)
will die by the sword.
Announcement of Restoration
11 In that day
I will restore the fallen booth(ab) of David:(ac)
I will repair its gaps,
restore its ruins,(ad)
and rebuild it as in the days of old,(ae)
12 so that they may possess
the remnant of Edom(af)
and all the nations
that are called by My name[c](ag)—
this is the
Lord
's declaration—
He will do this.
13 Hear this! The days are coming—
this is the
Lord
's declaration—
when the plowman will overtake the reaper(ah)
and the one who treads grapes,
the sower of seed.
The mountains will drip with sweet wine,
and all the hills will flow with it.(ai)
14 I will restore the fortunes of My people Israel.[d](aj)
They will rebuild and occupy ruined cities,(ak)
plant vineyards and drink their wine,
make gardens and eat their produce.(al)
15 I will plant them on their land,
and they will never again be uprooted
from the land I have given them.(am)
Yahweh your God has spoken.
Galatians 2
Chapter 2
Paul Defends His Gospel at Jerusalem
1 Then after 14 years I went up again(a) to Jerusalem with Barnabas,(b) taking Titus(c) along also. 2 I went up according to a revelation(d) and presented to them the gospel I preach among the Gentiles—but privately to those recognized as leaders—so that I might not be running, or have run the race, in vain. 3 But not even Titus who was with me, though he was a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised. 4 This issue arose because of false brothers(e) smuggled in, who came in secretly to spy on the freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, in order to enslave us. 5 But we did not give up and submit to these people for even an hour, so that the truth(f) of the gospel would be preserved for you.
6 Now from those recognized as important (what they really were makes no difference to me; God does not show favoritism[a](g))—they added nothing to me. 7 On the contrary, they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel for the uncircumcised,(h) just as Peter(i) was for the circumcised, 8 since the One at work in Peter for an apostleship to the circumcised was also at work in me for the Gentiles. 9 When James,(j) Cephas,(k) and John,(l) recognized as pillars,(m) acknowledged the grace that had been given to me, they gave the right hand of fellowship to me and Barnabas, agreeing that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. 10 They asked only that we would remember the poor,(n) which I made every effort to do.
Freedom from the Law
11 But when Cephas[b] came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face because he stood condemned.[c] 12 For he regularly ate with the Gentiles before certain men came from James. However, when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, because he feared those from the circumcision party. 13 Then the rest of the Jews(o) joined his hypocrisy,(p) so that even Barnabas was carried away by their hypocrisy. 14 But when I saw that they were deviating from the truth of the gospel, I told Cephas[d] in front of everyone, "If you, who are a Jew, live like a Gentile(q) and not like a Jew,(r) how can you compel Gentiles to live(s) like Jews?"[e]
15 We who are Jews by birth and not "Gentile sinners" 16 know that no one is justified by the works of the law(t) but by faith in Jesus Christ.[f] And we have believed in Christ Jesus so that we might be justified by faith in Christ[g] and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no human being will[h] be justified. 17 But if we ourselves are also found to be "sinners" while seeking to be justified by Christ,(u) is Christ then a promoter[i](v) of sin? Absolutely not!(w) 18 If I rebuild(x) the system[j] I tore down, I show myself to be a lawbreaker.(y) 19 For through the law I have died to the law,(z) so that I might live for God.(aa) I have been crucified with Christ[k] 20 and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.(ab) The life I now live in the body,[l] I live by faith in the Son of God,(ac) who loved(ad) me(ae) and gave Himself(af) for me.(ag) 21 I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the law,(ah) then Christ died(ai) for nothing.
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