The words of Amos, who was among the shepherds of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.

  And he said:

    “The LORD roars from Zion
        and utters his voice from Jerusalem;
    the pastures of the shepherds mourn,
        and the top of Carmel withers.”
    
    
      Thus says the LORD:

    “For three transgressions of Damascus,
        and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,
    because they have threshed Gilead
        with threshing sledges of iron.
    So I will send a fire upon the house of Hazael,
        and it shall devour the strongholds of Ben-hadad.
    I will break the gate-bar of Damascus,
        and cut off the inhabitants from the Valley of Aven,
    and him who holds the scepter from Beth-eden;
        and the people of Syria shall go into exile to Kir,”
                                            says the LORD.
    
    
      Thus says the LORD:

    “For three transgressions of Gaza,
        and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,
    because they carried into exile a whole people
        to deliver them up to Edom.
    So I will send a fire upon the wall of Gaza,
        and it shall devour her strongholds.
    I will cut off the inhabitants from Ashdod,
        and him who holds the scepter from Ashkelon;
    I will turn my hand against Ekron,
        and the remnant of the Philistines shall perish,”
                                            says the Lord GOD.
    
    
      Thus says the LORD:

    “For three transgressions of Tyre,
        and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,
    because they delivered up a whole people to Edom,
        and did not remember the covenant of brotherhood.
    So I will send a fire upon the wall of Tyre,
        and it shall devour her strongholds.”
    
    
      Thus says the LORD:

    “For three transgressions of Edom,
        and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,
    because he pursued his brother with the sword
        and cast off all pity,
    and his anger tore perpetually,
        and he kept his wrath forever.
    So I will send a fire upon Teman,
        and it shall devour the strongholds of Bozrah.”
    
    
      Thus says the LORD:

    “For three transgressions of the Ammonites,
        and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,
    because they have ripped open pregnant women in Gilead,
        that they might enlarge their border.
    So I will kindle a fire in the wall of Rabbah,
        and it shall devour her strongholds,
    with shouting on the day of battle,
        with a tempest in the day of the whirlwind;
    and their king shall go into exile,
        he and his princes together,”
                                            says the LORD.
    
    
      Thus says the LORD:

    “For three transgressions of Moab,
        and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,
    because he burned to lime
        the bones of the king of Edom.
    So I will send a fire upon Moab,
        and it shall devour the strongholds of Kerioth,
    and Moab shall die amid uproar,
        amid shouting and the sound of the trumpet;
    I will cut off the ruler from its midst,
        and will kill all its princes with him,”
                                            says the LORD.
    
    
      Thus says the LORD:

    “For three transgressions of Judah,
        and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,
    because they have rejected the law of the LORD,
        and have not kept his statutes,
    but their lies have led them astray,
        those after which their fathers walked.
    So I will send a fire upon Judah,
        and it shall devour the strongholds of Jerusalem.”
    
    
      Thus says the LORD:

    “For three transgressions of Israel,
        and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,
    because they sell the righteous for silver,
        and the needy for a pair of sandals—
    those who trample the head of the poor into the dust of the earth
        and turn aside the way of the afflicted;
    a man and his father go in to the same girl,
        so that my holy name is profaned;
    they lay themselves down beside every altar
        on garments taken in pledge,
    and in the house of their God they drink
        the wine of those who have been fined.
    
    
    “Yet it was I who destroyed the Amorite before them,
        whose height was like the height of the cedars
        and who was as strong as the oaks;
    I destroyed his fruit above
        and his roots beneath.
    Also it was I who brought you up out of the land of Egypt
        and led you forty years in the wilderness,
        to possess the land of the Amorite.
    And I raised up some of your sons for prophets,
        and some of your young men for Nazirites.
        Is it not indeed so, O people of Israel?”
                                            declares the LORD.
    
    
    “But you made the Nazirites drink wine,
        and commanded the prophets,
        saying, ‘You shall not prophesy.’
    
    
    “Behold, I will press you down in your place,
        as a cart full of sheaves presses down.
    Flight shall perish from the swift,
        and the strong shall not retain his strength,
        nor shall the mighty save his life;
    he who handles the bow shall not stand,
        and he who is swift of foot shall not save himself,
        nor shall he who rides the horse save his life;
    and he who is stout of heart among the mighty
        shall flee away naked in that day,”
                                            declares the LORD.
    
    
      Hear this word that the LORD has spoken against you, O people of Israel, against the whole family that I brought up out of the land of Egypt:

    “You only have I known
        of all the families of the earth;
    therefore I will punish you
        for all your iniquities.
    
    
    “Do two walk together,
        unless they have agreed to meet?
    Does a lion roar in the forest,
        when he has no prey?
    Does a young lion cry out from his den,
        if he has taken nothing?
    Does a bird fall in a snare on the earth,
        when there is no trap for it?
    Does a snare spring up from the ground,
        when it has taken nothing?
    Is a trumpet blown in a city,
        and the people are not afraid?
    Does disaster come to a city,
        unless the LORD has done it?
    
    
    “For the Lord GOD does nothing
        without revealing his secret
        to his servants the prophets.
    The lion has roared;
        who will not fear?
    The Lord GOD has spoken;
        who can but prophesy?”
    
    
    Proclaim to the strongholds in Ashdod
        and to the strongholds in the land of Egypt,
    and say, “Assemble yourselves on the mountains of Samaria,
        and see the great tumults within her,
        and the oppressed in her midst.”
    “They do not know how to do right,” declares the LORD,
        “those who store up violence and robbery in their strongholds.”
    
    
      Therefore thus says the Lord GOD:

    “An adversary shall surround the land
        and bring down your defenses from you,
        and your strongholds shall be plundered.”
    
    
      Thus says the LORD: “As the shepherd rescues from the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear, so shall the people of Israel who dwell in Samaria be rescued, with the corner of a couch and part of a bed.

    “Hear, and testify against the house of Jacob,”
        declares the Lord GOD, the God of hosts,
    “that on the day I punish Israel for his transgressions,
        I will punish the altars of Bethel,
    and the horns of the altar shall be cut off
        and fall to the ground.
    I will strike the winter house along with the summer house,
        and the houses of ivory shall perish,
    and the great houses shall come to an end,”
                                            declares the LORD. (ESV)

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

  For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

  Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come.

  But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. And the free gift is not like the result of that one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.

  Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous. Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (ESV)