Bible Readings for December 10, 2017

Today our passages are Amos 1:1–3:15; Revelation 2:1-17; Psalm 129:1-8; and Proverbs 29:19-20. The readings are from the Contemporary English Version.  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 Steet, Weirton, West Virginia or through PayPal by using the link below.

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Amos 1-3:15 (Contemporary English Version)

Amos 1

 ¹I am Amos. And I raised sheep near the town of Tekoa ^a] when Uzziah was king of Judah and Jeroboam ^b] son of Jehoash ^c] was king of Israel. Two years before the earthquake, ^d] the LORD gave me several messages ^e] about Israel, ²and I said: When the LORD roars   from Jerusalem,
   pasturelands and Mount Carmel
   dry up and turn brown.
   

Judgment on Syria

 ³The LORD said:   I will punish Syria ^f] for countless crimes,
   and I won't change my mind.
   They dragged logs with spikes ^g] over the people of Gilead.
    ⁴Now I will burn down the palaces
   and fortresses
   of King Hazael
   and of King Benhadad. ^h] 5I will break through
   the gates of Damascus.
   I will destroy the people ^i] of Wicked Valley ^j] and the ruler of Beth-Eden. ^k] Then the Syrians will be dragged
   as prisoners to Kir. ^l] I, the LORD, have spoken!
   

Judgment on Philistia

 ⁶The LORD said:   I will punish Philistia ^m] for countless crimes,
   and I won't change my mind.
   They dragged off my people ^n] from town after town
   to sell them as slaves
   to the Edomites.
    ⁷That's why I will burn down
   the walls and fortresses
   of the city of Gaza.
    ⁸I will destroy the king ^o] of Ashdod and the ruler of Ashkelon.
   I will strike down Ekron, ^p] and that will be the end
   of the Philistines.
   I, the LORD, have spoken!
   

Judgment on Phoenicia

 ⁹The LORD said:   I will punish Phoenicia ^q] for countless crimes,
   and I won't change my mind.
   They broke their treaty
   and dragged off my people ^r] from town after town
   to sell them as slaves
   to the Edomites.
    ¹⁰That's why I will send flames
   to burn down the city of Tyre
   along with its fortresses.
   

Judgment on Edom

 ¹¹The LORD said:   I will punish Edom
   for countless crimes,
   and I won't change my mind.
   They killed their own relatives ^s] and were so terribly furious
   that they showed no mercy.
    ¹²Now I will send fire to wipe out
   the fortresses
   of Teman
   and Bozrah. ^t]

Judgment on Ammon

 ¹³The LORD said:   I will punish Ammon
   for countless crimes,
   and I won't change my mind.
   In Gilead they ripped open
   pregnant women,
   just to take the land.
    ¹⁴Now I will send fire to destroy
   the walls and fortresses
   of Rabbah. ^u] Enemies will shout and attack
   like a whirlwind.
    ¹⁵Ammon's king and leaders
   will be dragged away.
   I, the LORD, have spoken!
   

Amos 2

Judgment on Moab

 ¹The LORD said:   I will punish Moab
   for countless crimes,
   and I won't change my mind.
   They made lime from the bones ^v] of the king of Edom.
    ²Now I will send fire to destroy
   the fortresses of Kerioth. ^w] Battle shouts and trumpet blasts
   will be heard
   as I destroy Moab
    ³with its king and leaders.
   I, the LORD, have spoken!
   

Judgment on Judah

 ⁴The LORD said:   I will punish Judah
   for countless crimes,
   and I won't change my mind.
   They have rejected my teachings
   and refused to obey me.
   They were led astray
   by the same false gods
   their ancestors worshiped.
    ⁵Now I will send fire on Judah
   and destroy the fortresses
   of Jerusalem.
   

Judgment on Israel

 ⁶The LORD said:   I will punish Israel
   for countless crimes,
   and I won't change my mind.
   They sell honest people for money,
   and the needy are sold
   for the price of sandals.
    ⁷They smear the poor in the dirt
   and push aside
   those who are helpless.
   My holy name is dishonored,
   because fathers and sons
   sleep
   with the same young women.
    ⁸They lie down beside altars
   on clothes taken
   as security for loans.
   And they drink wine in my temple,
   wine bought with the money
   they received from fines.
    ⁹Israel, the Amorites ^x] were there when you entered Canaan.
   They were tall as cedars
   and strong as oaks.
   But I wiped them out--
   I destroyed their branches
   and their roots.
    ¹⁰I had rescued you from Egypt,
   and for forty years I had led you
   through the desert.
   Then I gave you the land
   of the Amorites.
    ¹¹I chose some of you
   to be prophets
   and others to be Nazirites. ^y] People of Israel,
   you know this is true.
   I, the LORD, have spoken!
    ¹²But you commanded the prophets
   not to speak their message,
   and you pressured the Nazirites
   into drinking wine.
    ¹³And so I will crush you,
   just as a wagon full of grain
   crushes the ground. ^z] 14No matter how fast you run,
   you won't escape.
   No matter how strong you are,
   you will lose your strength
   and your life.
    ¹⁵Even if you are an expert
   with a bow and arrow,
   you will retreat.
   And you won't get away alive,
   not even if you run fast
   or ride a horse.
    ¹⁶You may be brave and strong,
   but you will run away,
   stripped naked.
   I, the LORD, have spoken!
   

Amos 3

 ¹People of Israel,   I rescued you from Egypt.
   Now listen to my judgment
   against you.
    ²Of all nations on earth,
   you are the only one
   I have chosen.
   That's why I will punish you
   because of your sins.
   

The Work of a Prophet

 ³Can two people walk together   without agreeing to meet?
    ⁴Does a lion roar in the forest
   unless it has caught
   a victim?
   Does it growl in its den
   unless it is eating?
    ⁵How can anyone catch a bird
   without using a net?
   Does a trap spring shut
   unless something is caught?
    ⁶Isn't the whole city frightened
   when the trumpet
   signals an attack?
   Isn't it the LORD who brings
   disaster on a city?
    ⁷Whatever the LORD God
   plans to do,
   he tells his servants,
   the prophets.
    ⁸Everyone is terrified
   when a lion roars--
   and ordinary people
   become prophets
   when the LORD God speaks.
   

Samaria Is Doomed

 ⁹Here is a message   for the leaders
   of Philistia ^aa] and Egypt-- tell everyone to come together
   on the hills of Samaria.
   Let them see the injustice
   and the lawlessness
   in that city.
    ¹⁰The LORD has said
   that they don't even know how
   to do right.
   They have become rich
   from violence and robbery.
    ¹¹And so the LORD God has sworn
   that they will be surrounded.
   Enemies will break through
   their defenses
   and steal their treasures.
    ¹²The LORD has promised
   that only a few from Samaria
   will escape with their lives
   and with some broken pieces
   of their beds and couches. ^ab] It will be like when a shepherd
   rescues two leg bones
   and part of a sheep's ear
   from the jaws of a lion. ^ac]

The Altars at Bethel

 ¹³The LORD God All-Powerful   told me to speak this message
   against Jacob's descendants:
    ¹⁴When I, the LORD, punish Israel
   for their sins,
   I will destroy the altars
   at Bethel.
   Even the corners of the altar ^ad] will be left in the dirt.
    ¹⁵I will tear down winter homes
   and summer homes.
   Houses decorated with ivory
   and all other mansions
   will be gone forever.
   I, the LORD, have spoken!
   

Footnotes:

1. Amos 1:1 Tekoa: In the hill country of Judah about five miles south of Bethlehem.
2. Amos 1:1 Uzziah. . . Jeroboam: Uzziah was king of Judah 781-740 B.C., and Jeroboam II was king of Israel 783-743 B.C.
3. Amos 1:1 Jehoash: The Hebrew text has "Joash," another spelling of the name.
4. Amos 1:1 Two years. . . earthquake: Possibly the earthquake of 760 B.C., which seems to have been especially violent.
5. Amos 1:1 messages: Or "visions."
6. Amos 1:3 Syria: The Hebrew text has "Damascus," the leading city of Syria.
7. Amos 1:3 logs with spikes: These were dragged over grain to thresh it.
8. Amos 1:4 Hazael. . . Benhadad: Two Syrian kings.
9. Amos 1:5 people: Or "king."
10. Amos 1:5 Wicked Valley: The Hebrew text has "Aven Valley," probably the fertile valley between the Lebanon and the anti-Lebanon mountains.
11. Amos 1:5 I will. . . Beth-Eden: Or "I will destroy the people of Wicked Valley and the king who rules from Beth-Eden." Beth-Eden was a city-state on the banks of the Euphrates River.
12. Amos 1:5 Kir: The exact location of this country is not known; in 9.7 Amos refers to Kir as the original home of the Syrians, and so the verse probably means that the Syrians will lose everything they have gained as a people.
13. Amos 1:6 Philistia: The Hebrew text has "Gaza," one of the main Philistine cities.
14. Amos 1:6 my people: The people of Israel.
15. Amos 1:8 king: Or "people."
16. Amos 1:8 Ashdod. . . Ashkelon. . . Ekron: Philistine cities.
17. Amos 1:9 Phoenicia: The Hebrew text has "Tyre," which was one of the two Phoenician cities; the other was Sidon, which is not mentioned by Amos.
18. Amos 1:9 my people: See the note at 1.6.
19. Amos 1:11 their own relatives: The Edomites were descendants of Esau, the brother of Jacob, the ancestor of the Israelites.
20. Amos 1:12 Teman and Bozrah: These stand for all of Edom; Teman may have been a city or a district. Bozrah, the chief city of northern Edom, was thirty miles southeast of the Dead Sea.
21. Amos 1:14 Rabbah: The capital city of Ammon.
22. Amos 2:1 They. . . bones: They dug up the bodies of kings and made lime out of them to use as whitewash on their houses and walls.
23. Amos 2:2 Kerioth: A leading city of Moab and a center for the worship of Chemosh, the chief god of Moab.
24. Amos 2:9 Amorites: This word is used for all the people who lived in Canaan at the time Israel took over the land.
25. Amos 2:11 Nazirites: People who promised the LORD that they would never drink wine or cut their hair or come in contact with a dead body.
26. Amos 2:13 ground: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 13.
27. Amos 3:9 Philistia: The Hebrew text has "Ashdod," one of the leading cities of Philistia.
28. Amos 3:12 some. . . couches: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
29. Amos 3:12 lion: When a wild animal attacked and killed a sheep, the shepherd had to rescue part of the sheep and take it to the owner as proof that it had been killed by an animal. Otherwise, the shepherd had to pay the owner the cost of the sheep.
30. Amos 3:14 altar: Altars were places of worship but also places of protection. People whose lives were in danger could grab hold of the corners of an altar, and no one was allowed to kill them.

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Revelation 2:1-17 (Contemporary English Version)

Revelation 2

The Letter to Ephesus

 ¹This is what you must write to the angel of the church in Ephesus:   I am the one who holds the seven stars in my right hand, and I walk among the seven gold lampstands. Listen to what I say.
    ²I know everything you have done, including your hard work and how you have endured. I know you won't put up with anyone who is evil. When some people pretended to be apostles, you tested them and found out that they were liars. ³You have endured and gone through hard times because of me, and you have not given up.
    ⁴But I do have something against you! And it is this: You don't have as much love as you used to. ⁵Think about where you have fallen from, and then turn back and do as you did at first. If you don't turn back, I will come and take away your lampstand. ⁶But there is one thing you are doing right. You hate what the Nicolaitans ^a] are doing, and so do I. ⁷If you have ears, listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. I will let everyone who wins the victory eat from the life-giving tree in God's wonderful garden.
   

The Letter to Smyrna

 ⁸This is what you must write to the angel of the church in Smyrna:   I am the first and the last. I died, but now I am alive! Listen to what I say.
    ⁹I know how much you suffer and how poor you are, but you are rich. I also know the cruel things being said about you by people who claim to be Jews. But they are not really Jews. They are a group that belongs to Satan.
    ¹⁰Don't worry about what you will suffer. The devil will throw some of you into jail, and you will be tested and made to suffer for ten days. But if you are faithful until you die, I will reward you with a glorious life. ^b] 11If you have ears, listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. Whoever wins the victory will not be hurt by the second death. ^c]

The Letter to Pergamum

 ¹²This is what you must write to the angel of the church in Pergamum:   I am the one who has the sharp double-edged sword! Listen to what I say.
    ¹³I know that you live where Satan has his throne. ^d] But you have kept true to my name. Right there where Satan lives, my faithful witness Antipas ^e] was taken from you and put to death. Even then you did not give up your faith in me. ¹⁴I do have a few things against you. Some of you are following the teaching of Balaam. ^f] Long ago he told Balak to teach the people of Israel to eat food that had been offered to idols and to be immoral. ¹⁵Now some of you are following the teaching of the Nicolaitans. ^g] 16Turn back! If you don't, I will come quickly and fight against these people. And my words will cut like a sword. ¹⁷If you have ears, listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. To everyone who wins the victory, I will give some of the hidden food. ^h] I will also give each one a white stone ^i] with a new name ^j] written on it. No one will know that name except the one who is given the stone.

Footnotes:

1. Revelation 2:6 Nicolaitans: Nothing else is known about these people, though it is possible that they claimed to be followers of Nicolaus from Antioch (see Acts 6.5).
2. Revelation 2:10 a glorious life: The Greek text has "a crown of life." In ancient times an athlete who had won a contest was rewarded with a crown of flowers as a sign of victory.
3. Revelation 2:11 second death: The first death is physical death, and the "second death" is eternal death.
4. Revelation 2:13 where Satan has his throne: The meaning is uncertain, but it may refer to the city as a center of pagan worship or of Emperor worship.
5. Revelation 2:13 Antipas: Nothing else is known about this man, who is mentioned only here in the New Testament.
6. Revelation 2:14 Balaam: According to Numbers 22-24, Balaam refused to disobey the Lord. But in other books of the Old Testament, he is spoken of as evil (see Deuteronomy 23.4,5; Joshua 13.22; 24.9,10; Nehemiah 13.2).
7. Revelation 2:15 Nicolaitans: See the note at 2.6.
8. Revelation 2:17 hidden food: When the people of Israel were going through the desert, the Lord provided a special food for them. Some of this was placed in a jar and stored in the sacred chest (see Exodus 16). According to later Jewish teaching, the prophet Jeremiah rescued the sacred chest when the temple was destroyed by the Babylonians. He hid the chest in a cave, where it would stay until God came to save his people.
9. Revelation 2:17 white stone: The meaning of this is uncertain, though it may be the same as a ticket that lets a person into God's banquet where the "hidden food" is eaten. Or it may be a symbol of victory.
10. Revelation 2:17 a new name: Either the name of Christ or God or the name of the follower who is given the stone.

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Psalm 129:1-8 (Contemporary English Version)

Psalm 129

(A song for worship.)

A Prayer for Protection

 ¹Since the time I was young,   enemies have often attacked!
   Let everyone in Israel say:
    ²"Since the time I was young,
   enemies have often attacked!
   But they have not defeated me,
    ³though my back is like a field
   that has just been plowed."
    ⁴The LORD always does right,
   and he has set me free
   from the ropes
   of those cruel people.
    ⁵I pray that all who hate
   the city of Zion
   will be made ashamed
   and forced to turn and run.
    ⁶May they be like grass
   on the flat roof of a house,
   grass that dries up
   as soon as it sprouts.
    ⁷Don't let them be like wheat
   gathered in bundles.
    ⁸And don't let anyone
   who passes by say to them,
   "The LORD bless you!
   I give you my blessing
   in the name of the LORD."

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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

“Instead, he will choose one of your own people to be a prophet just like me, and you must do what that prophet says.” - Deuteronomy 18:15

Today's passage is from the Contemporary English Version.

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Thought for the Day

English jurist, Frederick Pollock wrote, “But it is strange how many rational beings believe the ultimate truths of the universe to be reducible to patterns on a blackboard.”

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A Joke for Today

The mother and father had just given their teenage daughter family-car privileges. On Saturday night she returned home very late from a party.

The next morning her father went out to the driveway to get the newspaper and came back into the house frowning. At 11:30 AM the girl sleepily walked into the kitchen, and her father asked her, "Sweetheart, what time did you get in last night?"

"Not too late, Dad," she replied nervously.

Dead-panned, her father said, "Then, my precious one, I'll have to talk with the paperboy about putting my paper under the front tire of the car."