Bible Readings for December 11, 2015

Today our passages are Amos 4:1–6:14; Revelation 2:18–3:6; Psalm 130:1-8; and Proverbs 29:19-20. The readings are from the Contemporary English Version. If you find these readings helpful, please consider sending an offering directly to Cove Presbyterian Church, 3404 Main Street, Weirton, West Virginia or through PayPal. 

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Amos 4-6:14 (Contemporary English Version)

Amos 4

The Women of Samaria

The LORD said:

 ¹You women of Samaria    are fat cows! ^[a] You mistreat and abuse
   the poor and needy,
   then you say to your husbands,
   "Bring us more drinks!"
    ²I, the LORD God, have sworn
   by my own name
   that your time is coming.
   Not one of you will be left--
   you will be taken away
   by sharp hooks. ^{[b] 3}You will be dragged through holes
   in your city walls,
   and you will be thrown
   toward Harmon. ^[c] I, the LORD, have spoken!
   
   

Israel Refuses To Obey

The LORD said:

 ⁴Come to Bethel and Gilgal. ^[d] Sin all you want!    Offer sacrifices the next morning
   and bring a tenth of your crops
   on the third day. ^{[e] 5}Bring offerings to show me
   how thankful you are.
   Gladly bring more offerings
   than I have demanded.
   You really love to do this.
   I, the LORD God, have spoken!
   

How the LORD Warned Israel

 ⁶I, the LORD, took away the food    from every town and village,
   but still you rejected me.
    ⁷Three months before harvest,
   I kept back the rain.
   Sometimes I would let it fall
   on one town or field
   but not on another,
   and pastures dried up.
    ⁸People from two or three towns
   would go to a town
   that still had water,
   but it wasn't enough.
   Even then you rejected me.
   I, the LORD, have spoken!
    ⁹I dried up your grain fields;
   your gardens and vineyards
   turned brown.
   Locusts ^[f] ate your fig trees and olive orchards,
   but even then you rejected me.
   I, the LORD, have spoken!
    ¹⁰I did terrible things to you,
   just as I did to Egypt--
   I killed your young men in war;
   I let your horses be stolen,
   and I made your camp stink
   with dead bodies.
   Even then you rejected me.
   I, the LORD, have spoken!
    ¹¹I destroyed many of you,
   just as I did the cities
   of Sodom and Gomorrah.
   You were a burning stick
   I rescued from the fire.
   Even then you rejected me.
   I, the LORD, have spoken!
    ¹²Now, Israel, I myself
   will deal with you.
   Get ready to face your God!
    ¹³I created the mountains
   and the wind.
   I let humans know
   what I am thinking. ^[g] I bring darkness at dawn
   and step over hills.
   I am the LORD God All-Powerful!
   

Amos 5

Turn Back to the LORD

 ¹Listen, nation of Israel,    to my mournful message:
    ²You, dearest Israel, have fallen,
   never to rise again--
   you lie deserted in your own land,
   with no one to help you up.
    ³The LORD God has warned,
   "From every ten soldiers
   only one will be left;
   from a thousand troops,
   only a hundred will survive."
    ⁴The LORD keeps saying,
   "Israel, turn back to me
   and you will live!
    ⁵Don't go to Gilgal or Bethel
   or even to Beersheba. ^[h] Gilgal will be dragged away,
   and Bethel will end up
   as nothing." ^{[i] 6}Turn back to the LORD,
   you descendants of Joseph, ^[j] and you will live.
   If you don't, the LORD
   will attack like fire.
   Bethel will burn to the ground,
   and no one can save it.
    ⁷You people are doomed!
   You twist the truth
   and stomp on justice.
    ⁸But the LORD created the stars
   and put them in place. ^[k] He turns darkness to dawn
   and daylight to darkness;
   he scoops up the ocean
   and empties it on the earth.
    ⁹God destroys mighty soldiers
   and strong fortresses.
   
   

Choose Good Instead of Evil!

The LORD said:

 ¹⁰You people hate judges    and honest witnesses;
    ¹¹you abuse the poor and demand
   heavy taxes from them.
   You have built expensive homes,
   but you won't enjoy them;
   you have planted vineyards,
   but you will get no wine.
    ¹²I am the LORD, and I know
   your terrible sins.
   You cheat honest people
   and take bribes;
   you rob the poor of justice.
    ¹³Times are so evil
   that anyone with good sense
   will keep quiet.
    ¹⁴If you really want to live,
   you must stop doing wrong
   and start doing right.
   I, the LORD God All-Powerful,
   will then be on your side,
   just as you claim I am.
    ¹⁵Choose good instead of evil!
   See that justice is done.
   Maybe I, the LORD All-Powerful,
   will be kind to what's left
   of your people. ^[l]

Judgment Is Coming

 ¹⁶This is what the LORD has sworn:    Noisy crying will be heard
   in every town and street.
   Even farmers will be told
   to mourn for the dead,
   together with those
   who are paid to mourn. ^{[m] 17}Your vineyards will be filled
   with crying and weeping, ^[n] because I will punish you.
   I, the LORD, have spoken!
   

When the LORD Judges

 ¹⁸You look forward to the day    when the LORD comes to judge.
   But you are in for trouble!
   It won't be a time of sunshine;
   all will be darkness.
    ¹⁹You will run from a lion,
   only to meet a bear.
   You will escape to your house,
   rest your hand on the wall,
   and be bitten by a snake.
    ²⁰The day when the LORD judges
   will be dark, very dark,
   without a ray of light.
   

What the LORD Demands

 ²¹I, the LORD, hate and despise    your religious celebrations
   and your times of worship.
    ²²I won't accept your offerings
   or animal sacrifices--
   not even your very best.
    ²³No more of your noisy songs!
   I won't listen
   when you play your harps.
    ²⁴But let justice and fairness
   flow like a river
   that never runs dry.
    ²⁵Israel, for forty years
   you wandered in the desert,
   without bringing offerings
   or sacrifices to me.
    ²⁶Now you will have to carry
   the two idols you made--
   Sakkuth, the one you call king,
   and Kaiwan,
   the one you built
   in the shape of a star. ^{[o] 27}I will force you to march
   as captives beyond Damascus.
   I, the LORD God All-Powerful,
   have spoken! ^[p]

Amos 6

Israel Will Be Punished

 ¹Do you rulers in Jerusalem    and in the city of Samaria
   feel safe and at ease?
   Everyone bows down to you,
   and you think you are better
   than any other nation.
   But you are in for trouble!
    ²Look what happened
   to the cities of Calneh,
   powerful Hamath,
   and Gath ^[q] in Philistia. Are you greater than any
   of those kingdoms?
    ³You are cruel, and you forget
   the coming day of judgment.
    ⁴You rich people lounge around
   on beds with ivory posts,
   while dining on the meat
   of your lambs and calves.
    ⁵You sing foolish songs
   to the music of harps,
   and you make up new tunes,
   just as David used to do.
    ⁶You drink all the wine you want
   and wear expensive perfume,
   but you don't care about
   the ruin of your nation. ^{[r] 7}So you will be the first
   to be dragged off as captives;
   your good times will end.
    ⁸The LORD God All-Powerful
   has sworn by his own name:
   "You descendants of Jacob
   make me angry by your pride,
   and I hate your fortresses.
   And so I will surrender your city
   and possessions
   to your enemies."
    ⁹If only ten of you survive
   by hiding in a house
   you will still die.
    ¹⁰As you carry out a corpse
   to prepare it for burial, ^[s] your relative in the house
   will ask, "Are there others?"
   You will answer, "No!"
   Then your relative will reply,
   "Be quiet!
   Don't dare mention
   the name of the LORD." ^{[t] 11}At the LORD's command,
   houses great and small
   will be smashed to pieces.
    ¹²Horses can't gallop on rocks;
   oceans ^[u] can't be plowed. But you have turned justice
   and fairness
   into bitter poison.
    ¹³You celebrate the defeat
   of Lo-Debar and Karnaim, ^[v] and you boast by saying,
   "We did it on our own."
    ¹⁴But the LORD God All-Powerful
   will send a nation
   to attack
   you people of Israel.
   They will capture Lebo-Hamath
   in the north,
   Arabah Creek ^[w] in the south, and everything in between.
   

Footnotes:

1. Amos 4:1 fat cows: The Hebrew text has "cows of Bashan," a fertile plain famous for its rich pastures and well-fed cattle.
2. Amos 4:2 taken. . . hooks: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
3. Amos 4:3 Harmon: Hebrew; some manuscripts of one ancient translation "Mount Hermon," a mountain in the north of Palestine, on the way to Assyria.
4. Amos 4:4 Bethel and Gilgal: These were two of the most important centers of worship in northern Israel. Amos mentions these together again in 5.5.
5. Amos 4:4 Offer. . . day: Or "Offer sacrifices each morning and bring a tenth of your crops every three days." In verses 4,5 God is condemning the people for meaningless acts of worship.
6. Amos 4:9 Locusts: A type of grasshopper that comes in swarms and causes great damage to plant life.
7. Amos 4:13 I let. . . thinking: Or "No one's secret thoughts are hidden from me."
8. Amos 5:5 Gilgal. . . Bethel. . . Beersheba: These were ancient places of worship, but the LORD had warned his people to stay away from them.
9. Amos 5:5 Gilgal. . . nothing: In Hebrew "Gilgal" and "dragged away" sound something alike. Bethel (meaning "house of God") is sometimes called "house of nothing" or "house of sin" by the prophets (see Hosea 4.15; 5.8; 10.5-8).
10. Amos 5:6 descendants of Joseph: Another name for the people of the northern kingdom of Israel.
11. Amos 5:8 the stars. . . place: The Hebrew text mentions two groups of stars, Pleiades and Orion. Since the LORD is the Creator of the stars, he controls the seasons that are signaled by the different positions of the stars. Moreover, the stars are created objects and should not be worshiped.
12. Amos 5:15 your people: Hebrew "Joseph's descendants" (see the note at verse 6).
13. Amos 5:16 paid to mourn: In ancient times some people were paid to mourn and make loud cries at funerals.
14. Amos 5:17 Your vineyards. . . weeping: Instead of happy celebrations that were often held in vineyards after the harvest.
15. Amos 5:26 star: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 26.
16. Amos 5:27 I, the LORD. . . spoken: Israel did not offer sacrifices and gifts to the LORD during the time they wandered through the desert. But now they have made idols to carry during their ceremonies. So the LORD warns that he will make them "march" away as captives beyond Damascus, where Israel had extended its borders by victories in war (see 2 Kings 14.28).
17. Amos 6:2 Calneh. . . Hamath. . . Gath: City-states captured by the Assyrians: Calneh in 738 B.C., Hamath in 720, and Gath in 711.
18. Amos 6:6 your nation: Hebrew "Joseph's descendants" (see the note at 5.6).
19. Amos 6:10 prepare. . . burial: Or "burn it" or "burn incense for it."
20. Amos 6:10 the name of the LORD: Two relatives seem to be carrying out corpses for burial. One of them warns the other to be careful not even to say "Thank the LORD!" for fear that the mention of his name may cause something worse to happen.
21. Amos 6:12 oceans: Or "rocks."
22. Amos 6:13 Lo-Debar and Karnaim: Two cities east of the Jordan River that were captured by Jeroboam II (see 2 Kings 14.25). In Hebrew "Lo-Debar" can mean "nothing," and "Karnaim" means "two horns (of a bull)." Horns were symbols of strength, and so the people are bragging about their military power (defeat of "two horns"), which Amos says is "nothing" (Lo-Debar).
23. Amos 6:14 Lebo-Hamath. . . Arabah Creek: The northern and southern boundaries of the northern kingdom.

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Revelation 2:18-3:6 (Contemporary English Version)

The Letter to Thyatira

 ¹⁸This is what you must write to the angel of the church in Thyatira:    I am the Son of God! My eyes are like flames of fire, and my feet are like bronze. Listen to what I say.
    ¹⁹I know everything about you, including your love, your faith, your service, and how you have endured. I know that you are doing more now than you have ever done before. ²⁰But I still have something against you because of that woman Jezebel. ^[a] She calls herself a prophet, and you let her teach and mislead my servants to do immoral things and to eat food offered to idols. ²¹I gave her a chance to turn from her sins, but she did not want to stop doing these immoral things. ²²I am going to strike down Jezebel. Everyone who does these immoral things with her will also be punished, if they don't stop. ²³I will even kill her followers. ^[b] Then all the churches will see that I know everyone's thoughts and feelings. I will treat each of you as you deserve. ²⁴Some of you in Thyatira don't follow Jezebel's teaching. You don't know anything about what her followers call the "deep secrets of Satan." So I won't burden you down with any other commands. ²⁵But until I come, you must hold firmly to the teaching you have.
    ²⁶I will give power over the nations to everyone who wins the victory and keeps on obeying me until the end. ^27-28I will give each of them the same power that my Father has given me. They will rule the nations with an iron rod and smash those nations to pieces like clay pots. I will also give them the morning star. ^{[c] 29}If you have ears, listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.
   

Revelation 3

The Letter to Sardis

 ¹This is what you must write to the angel of the church in Sardis:    I have the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. Listen to what I say.
   I know what you are doing. Everyone may think you are alive, but you are dead. ²Wake up! You have only a little strength left, and it is almost gone. So try to become stronger. I have found that you are not completely obeying God. ³Remember the teaching that you were given and that you heard. Hold firmly to it and turn from your sins. If you don't wake up, I will come when you least expect it, just as a thief does.
    ⁴A few of you in Sardis have not dirtied your clothes with sin. You will walk with me in white clothes, because you are worthy. ⁵Everyone who wins the victory will wear white clothes. Their names will not be erased from the book of life, ^[d] and I will tell my Father and his angels that they are my followers. ⁶If you have ears, listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.
   

Footnotes:

1. Revelation 2:20 Jezebel: Nothing else is known about her. This may have been her real name or a name that was given to her because she was like Queen Jezebel, who opposed the Lord (see 1 Kings 19.1,2; 21.1-26).
2. Revelation 2:23 her followers: Or "her children."
3. Revelation 2:27 the morning star: Probably thought of as the star that signals the end of night and the beginning of day. In 22.16 Christ is called the "morning star."
4. Revelation 3:5 book of life: The book in which the names of God's people are written.

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Psalm 130:1-8 (Contemporary English Version)

Psalm 130

(A song for worship.)

Trusting the LORD in Times of Trouble

 ¹From a sea of troubles    I call out to you, LORD.
    ²Won't you please listen
   as I beg for mercy?
    ³If you kept record of our sins,
   no one could last long.
    ⁴But you forgive us,
   and so we will worship you.
    ⁵With all my heart,
   I am waiting, LORD, for you!
   I trust your promises.
    ⁶I wait for you more eagerly
   than a soldier on guard duty
   waits for the dawn.
   Yes, I wait more eagerly
   than a soldier on guard duty
   waits for the dawn.
    ⁷Israel, trust the LORD!
   He is always merciful,
   and he has the power
   to save you.
    ⁸Israel, the LORD will save you
   from all of your sins.

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Proverbs 29:19-20 (Contemporary English Version)

¹⁹Even when servants are smart,
   it takes more than words
   to make them obey.
    ²⁰There is more hope for a fool
   than for someone who speaks
   without thinking.

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Verse of the Day

“But the LORD will still give you proof. A virgin is pregnant; she will have a son and will name him Immanuel.” - Isaiah 7:14

Today's passage is from the Contemporary English Version.

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Thought for the Day

Virginia planter, politician, and a delegate to the U.S. Constitutional Convention of 1787, one of three men who refused to sign, George Mason wrote, “All men are by nature equally free and independent, and have certain inherent rights, of which, when they enter into a state of society, they cannot by any compact deprive or divest their posterity; namely, the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the means of acquiring and possessing property, and pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety.”