Psalm 141:5-10

New International Version

⁵Let a righteous man strike me—that is a kindness;
let him rebuke me^(A)—that is oil on my head.^(B)
My head will not refuse it,
for my prayer will still be against the deeds of evildoers.

⁶Their rulers will be thrown down from the cliffs,^(C)
and the wicked will learn that my words were well spoken.
⁷They will say, “As one plows^(D) and breaks up the earth,^(E)
so our bones have been scattered at the mouth^(F) of the grave.”

⁸But my eyes are fixed^(G) on you, Sovereign Lord;
    in you I take refuge^(H)—do not give me over to death.
⁹Keep me safe^(I) from the traps set by evildoers,^(J)
    from the snares^(K) they have laid for me.
¹⁰Let the wicked fall^(L) into their own nets,
    while I pass by in safety.^(M)

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Proverbs 29:26

New International Version

²⁶Many seek an audience with a ruler,^(A)
but it is from the Lord that one gets justice.^(B)

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Proverbs 29:26 in all English translations

Revelation 4

New International Version

The Throne in Heaven

4 After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open^(A) in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet^(B) said, “Come up here,^(C) and I will show you what must take place after this.”^(D) ²At once I was in the Spirit,^(E) and there before me was a throne in heaven^(F) with someone sitting on it. ³And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper^(G) and ruby.^(H) A rainbow^(I) that shone like an emerald^(J) encircled the throne. ⁴Surrounding the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and seated on them were twenty-four elders.^(K) They were dressed in white^(L) and had crowns of gold on their heads. ⁵From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder.^(M) In front of the throne, seven lamps^(N) were blazing. These are the seven spirits^[a]^(O) of God. ⁶Also in front of the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass,^(P) clear as crystal.

In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures,^(Q) and they were covered with eyes, in front and in back.^(R) ⁷The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle.^(S) ⁸Each of the four living creatures^(T) had six wings^(U) and was covered with eyes all around,^(V) even under its wings. Day and night^(W) they never stop saying:

“‘Holy, holy, holy

is the Lord God Almighty,’^[b]^(X)

who was, and is, and is to come.”^(Y)

⁹Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne^(Z) and who lives for ever and ever,^(AA) ¹⁰the twenty-four elders^(AB) fall down before him^(AC) who sits on the throne^(AD) and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say:

¹¹“You are worthy, our Lord and God,
    to receive glory and honor and power,^(AE)
for you created all things,
    and by your will they were created
    and have their being.”^(AF)

Footnotes

Revelation 4:5 That is, the sevenfold Spirit
Revelation 4:8 Isaiah 6:3

Amos 4-5

New International Version

Israel Has Not Returned to God

4 Hear this word, you cows of Bashan^(A) on Mount Samaria,^(B)
    you women who oppress the poor^(C) and crush the needy^(D)
    and say to your husbands,^(E) “Bring us some drinks!^(F)”
²The Sovereign Lord has sworn by his holiness:
    “The time^(G) will surely come
when you will be taken away^(H) with hooks,^(I)
    the last of you with fishhooks.^[a]
³You will each go straight out
    through breaches in the wall,^(J)
    and you will be cast out toward Harmon,^[b]”
declares the Lord.
⁴“Go to Bethel^(K) and sin;
    go to Gilgal^(L) and sin yet more.
Bring your sacrifices every morning,^(M)
    your tithes^(N) every three years.^[c]^(O)
⁵Burn leavened bread^(P) as a thank offering
    and brag about your freewill offerings^(Q)—
boast about them, you Israelites,
    for this is what you love to do,”
declares the Sovereign Lord.

⁶“I gave you empty stomachs in every city
and lack of bread in every town,
yet you have not returned to me,”
declares the Lord.^(R)

⁷“I also withheld^(S) rain from you
    when the harvest was still three months away.
I sent rain on one town,
    but withheld it from another.^(T)
One field had rain;
    another had none and dried up.
⁸People staggered from town to town for water^(U)
    but did not get enough^(V) to drink,
    yet you have not returned^(W) to me,”
declares the Lord.^(X)

⁹“Many times I struck your gardens and vineyards,
destroying them with blight and mildew.^(Y)
Locusts^(Z) devoured your fig and olive trees,^(AA)
yet you have not returned^(AB) to me,”
declares the Lord.

¹⁰“I sent plagues^(AC) among you
    as I did to Egypt.^(AD)
I killed your young men^(AE) with the sword,
    along with your captured horses.
I filled your nostrils with the stench^(AF) of your camps,
    yet you have not returned to me,”^(AG)
declares the Lord.^(AH)

¹¹“I overthrew some of you
as I overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.^(AI)
You were like a burning stick^(AJ) snatched from the fire,
yet you have not returned to me,”
declares the Lord.^(AK)

¹²“Therefore this is what I will do to you, Israel,
and because I will do this to you, Israel,
prepare to meet your God.”

¹³He who forms the mountains,^(AL)
    who creates the wind,^(AM)
    and who reveals his thoughts^(AN) to mankind,
who turns dawn to darkness,
    and treads on the heights of the earth^(AO)—
    the Lord God Almighty is his name.^(AP)

A Lament and Call to Repentance

5 Hear this word, Israel, this lament^(AQ) I take up concerning you:

²“Fallen is Virgin^(AR) Israel,
never to rise again,
deserted in her own land,
with no one to lift her up.^(AS)”

³This is what the Sovereign Lord says to Israel:

“Your city that marches out a thousand strong
will have only a hundred left;
your town that marches out a hundred strong
will have only ten left.^(AT)”

⁴This is what the Lord says to Israel:

“Seek^(AU) me and live;^(AV)
⁵    do not seek Bethel,
do not go to Gilgal,^(AW)
    do not journey to Beersheba.^(AX)
For Gilgal will surely go into exile,
    and Bethel will be reduced to nothing.^[d]^(AY)”
⁶Seek^(AZ) the Lord and live,^(BA)
    or he will sweep through the tribes of Joseph like a fire;^(BB)
it will devour them,
    and Bethel^(BC) will have no one to quench it.^(BD)

⁷There are those who turn justice into bitterness^(BE)
and cast righteousness^(BF) to the ground.^(BG)

⁸He who made the Pleiades and Orion,^(BH)
    who turns midnight into dawn^(BI)
    and darkens day into night,^(BJ)
who calls for the waters of the sea
    and pours them out over the face of the land—
    the Lord is his name.^(BK)
⁹With a blinding flash he destroys the stronghold
    and brings the fortified city to ruin.^(BL)

¹⁰There are those who hate the one who upholds justice in court^(BM)
and detest the one who tells the truth.^(BN)

¹¹You levy a straw tax on the poor^(BO)
    and impose a tax on their grain.
Therefore, though you have built stone mansions,^(BP)
    you will not live in them;^(BQ)
though you have planted lush vineyards,
    you will not drink their wine.^(BR)
¹²For I know how many are your offenses
    and how great your sins.^(BS)

There are those who oppress the innocent and take bribes^(BT)
and deprive the poor^(BU) of justice in the courts.^(BV)
¹³Therefore the prudent keep quiet^(BW) in such times,
for the times are evil.^(BX)

¹⁴Seek good, not evil,
    that you may live.^(BY)
Then the Lord God Almighty will be with you,
    just as you say he is.
¹⁵Hate evil,^(BZ) love good;^(CA)
    maintain justice in the courts.^(CB)
Perhaps^(CC) the Lord God Almighty will have mercy^(CD)
    on the remnant^(CE) of Joseph.

¹⁶Therefore this is what the Lord, the Lord God Almighty, says:

“There will be wailing^(CF) in all the streets^(CG)
    and cries of anguish in every public square.
The farmers^(CH) will be summoned to weep
    and the mourners to wail.
¹⁷There will be wailing^(CI) in all the vineyards,
    for I will pass through^(CJ) your midst,”
says the Lord.^(CK)

The Day of the Lord

¹⁸Woe to you who long
    for the day of the Lord!^(CL)
Why do you long for the day of the Lord?^(CM)
    That day will be darkness,^(CN) not light.^(CO)
¹⁹It will be as though a man fled from a lion
    only to meet a bear,^(CP)
as though he entered his house
    and rested his hand on the wall
    only to have a snake bite him.^(CQ)
²⁰Will not the day of the Lord be darkness,^(CR) not light—
    pitch-dark, without a ray of brightness?^(CS)

²¹“I hate,^(CT) I despise your religious festivals;^(CU)
    your assemblies^(CV) are a stench to me.
²²Even though you bring me burnt offerings^(CW) and grain offerings,
    I will not accept them.^(CX)
Though you bring choice fellowship offerings,
    I will have no regard for them.^(CY)
²³Away with the noise of your songs!
    I will not listen to the music of your harps.^(CZ)
²⁴But let justice^(DA) roll on like a river,
    righteousness^(DB) like a never-failing stream!^(DC)

²⁵“Did you bring me sacrifices^(DD) and offerings
    forty years^(DE) in the wilderness, people of Israel?
²⁶You have lifted up the shrine of your king,
    the pedestal of your idols,^(DF)
    the star of your god^[e]—
    which you made for yourselves.
²⁷Therefore I will send you into exile^(DG) beyond Damascus,”
    says the Lord, whose name is God Almighty.^(DH)

Footnotes

Amos 4:2 Or away in baskets, / the last of you in fish baskets
Amos 4:3 Masoretic Text; with a different word division of the Hebrew (see Septuagint) out, you mountain of oppression
Amos 4:4 Or days
Amos 5:5 Hebrew aven, a reference to Beth Aven (a derogatory name for Bethel); see Hosea 4:15.
Amos 5:26 Or lifted up Sakkuth your king / and Kaiwan your idols, / your star-gods; Septuagint lifted up the shrine of Molek / and the star of your god Rephan, / their idols