Today's Readings and Stuff -- Wednesday, 09 December 2020

Late and skimpy, apologies.  Been a not-so-great week, and we're barely halfway through it, with little reason to expect any improvement.  I do not wish to dwell on that, our personal challenges still leave us better than we've often been in the past, and certainly better than all too many are facing this moment.  So we shall give thanks that the Lord has carried us this far, and knows our situations.  He's at work, I am certain of it.  

I did "get" to be out of the house briefly:  our aging car's plates expire on this next Tuesday, so I gathered up our resources and went off to pay tribute to the Great Khan..  OK, the current governor who seems to be having delusions of grandeur, and has troops and functionaries to back him up.  Lots of that going on, all too many latter-day King Ahab types.  But the deed is done.  That's something positive.

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AMOS 1

1The words of Amos, who was one of the sheep breeders   from Tekoa  — what he saw regarding Israel in the days of Uzziah,  king of Judah, and Jeroboam  son of Jehoash, king of Israel, two years before the earthquake. 

2He said:

The Lord roars  from Zion

and raises His voice from Jerusalem;

the pastures of the shepherds mourn,  

and the summit of Carmel  withers.

Judgment on Israel’s Neighbors

3The Lord says:

I will not relent from punishing Damascus 

for three crimes, even four, 

because they threshed Gilead with iron sledges.

4Therefore, I will send fire against Hazael’s palace,

and it will consume Ben-hadad’s  citadels.

5I will break down the gates   of Damascus.

I will cut off the ruler from the Valley of Aven,

and the one who wields the scepter from Beth-eden.

The people of Aram will be exiled to Kir. 

The Lord has spoken.

6The Lord says:

I will not relent from punishing Gaza 

for three crimes, even four,

because they exiled a whole community,

handing them over to Edom.

7Therefore, I will send fire against the walls of Gaza,

and it will consume its citadels.

8I will cut off the ruler from Ashdod, 

and the one who wields the scepter from Ashkelon. 

I will also turn My hand against Ekron,

and the remainder of the Philistines  will perish.

The Lord God has spoken.

9The Lord says:

I will not relent from punishing Tyre 

for three crimes, even four,

because they handed over

a whole community of exiles to Edom

and broke  a treaty of brotherhood. 

10Therefore, I will send fire  against the walls of Tyre,

and it will consume its citadels.

11The Lord says:

I will not relent from punishing Edom 

for three crimes, even four,

because he pursued his brother with the sword. 

He stifled his compassion,

his anger tore at them  continually,

and he harbored his rage incessantly.

12Therefore, I will send fire against Teman, 

and it will consume the citadels of Bozrah.

13The Lord says:

I will not relent from punishing the Ammonites 

for three crimes, even four,

because they ripped open

the pregnant women of Gilead 

in order to enlarge their territory. 

14Therefore, I will set fire to the walls of Rabbah, 

and it will consume its citadels.

There will be shouting on the day of battle 

and a violent wind on the day of the storm. 

15Their king and his princes

will go into exile together. 

The Lord has spoken.

AMOS 2

1The Lord says:

I will not relent from punishing Moab 

for three crimes, even four,

because he burned the bones

of the king of Edom to lime. 

2Therefore, I will send fire against Moab,

and it will consume the citadels of Kerioth. 

Moab will die with a tumult, 

with shouting and the sound of the ram’s horn.

3I will cut off the judge  from the land

and kill all its officials  with him.

The Lord has spoken.

Judgment on Judah

4The Lord says:

I will not relent from punishing Judah 

for three crimes, even four,

because they have rejected the instruction of the Lord 

and have not kept His statutes. 

The lies  that their ancestors followed 

have led them astray.

5Therefore, I will send fire  against Judah,

and it will consume the citadels of Jerusalem.

Judgment on Israel

6The Lord says:

I will not relent from punishing Israel 

for three crimes, even four,

because they sell a righteous person for silver

and a needy person for a pair of sandals. 

7They trample the heads of the poor 

on the dust of the ground

and block the path of the needy. 

A man and his father have sexual relations

with the same girl, 

profaning My holy name. 

8They stretch out beside every altar 

on garments taken as collateral, 

and in the house of their God,

they drink wine obtained through fines. 

9Yet I destroyed the Amorite  as Israel advanced;

his height  was like the cedars,

and he was as sturdy as the oaks;

I destroyed his fruit  above and his roots beneath.

10And I brought you from the land of Egypt 

and led you 40 years in the wilderness 

in order to possess the land of the Amorite. 

11I raised up some of your sons as prophets 

and some of your young men as Nazirites. 

Is this not the case, Israelites?

This is the Lord’s declaration.

12But you made the Nazirites drink wine

and commanded the prophets,

“Do not prophesy.” 

13Look, I am about to crush  you in your place 

as a wagon full of sheaves crushes grain.

14Escape will fail the swift, 

the strong one will not prevail by his strength, 

and the brave will not save his life.

15The archer will not stand his ground, 

the one who is swift of foot

will not save himself,

and the one riding a horse will not save his life. 

16Even the most courageous of the warriors

will flee naked on that day  —

this is the Lord’s declaration.

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REVELATION 8

The Seventh Seal

1When He opened the seventh seal, there was silence  in heaven for about half an hour. 2Then I saw the seven angels who stand in the presence of God;  seven trumpets were given to them.  3Another angel, with a gold incense burner, came and stood at the altar. He was given a large amount of incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the gold altar in front of the throne.  4The smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, went up in the presence of God from the angel’s hand. 5The angel took the incense burner, filled it with fire from the altar,  and hurled it to the earth; there were rumblings of thunder, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake.  6And the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to blow them.

The First Trumpet

7The first angel  blew his trumpet, and hail and fire, mixed with blood, were hurled to the earth.  So a third of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up. 

The Second Trumpet

8The second angel blew his trumpet, and something like a great mountain ablaze with fire was hurled into the sea.  So a third of the sea became blood,  9a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.

The Third Trumpet

10The third angel blew his trumpet, and a great star, blazing like a torch, fell from heaven.  It fell on a third of the rivers and springs of water. 11The name of the star is Wormwood,  and a third of the waters became wormwood. So, many of the people died from the waters, because they had been made bitter.

The Fourth Trumpet

12The fourth angel blew his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them were darkened. A third of the day was without light, and the night as well. 

13I looked again and heard an eagle  flying high overhead, crying out in a loud voice, “Woe!  Woe! Woe to those who live on the earth, because of the remaining trumpet blasts that the three angels are about to sound! ”