WELS Through my Bible in Three Years

By WELSReligion & Spirituality Christianity

WELS Through my Bible in Three Years episodes

August 03Through My Bible Yr 03 – August 03
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Through My Bible Yr 03 – August 03
Amos 8:4 – 9:15
Amos 8
Fraud and Hypocrisy on Holy Days
4 Listen to this, you who trample on the needy
        to wipe out the oppressed from the land,
5 who say, “When will the New Moon be over so that we can sell grain?
    When will the Sabbath end so that we can open the grain bins?
    Then we will make the bushel [1] smaller and make the shekel weight heavier. [2]
    We will cheat with dishonest scales.
6 We will buy the poor for silver
    and the needy for a pair of sandals.
    We will sell the chaff with the grain.”
A Famine of the Lord’s Word
7 The Lord swears by the Pride of Jacob,
    “I will never forget any of their deeds!”
8 Because of this, the land will shake,
    and everyone living in it will mourn.
    The whole land will rise up like the Nile.
    It will surge and sink down again like the Nile of Egypt.
9 Here is what will happen on that day, declares the Lord God:
    I will make the sun set at noon,
    and I will bring darkness on the earth when it should be light.
10 I will turn your festivals into mourning
    and all of your songs into a lamentation.
    I will put sackcloth on all your waists
    and baldness on every head.
    I will make that day like the mourning for an only son,
    and it will end like a bitter day.
11 Look, the days are coming, declares the Lord God,
    when I will send a famine into the land—
    not a famine of bread
    nor a thirst for water,
    but rather a famine of hearing the words of the Lord.
12 People will stumble from sea to sea
    and from north to east.
    They will roam back and forth seeking the word of the Lord,
    but they will not find it.
13 On that day the beautiful virgins will faint,
    and the young men will grow weak from thirst.
14 Those who swear by the shameful guilt [3] of Samaria,
    those who say, “As your god lives, Dan,”
    or, “The way of Beersheba lives”—
    they will fall, and they will never rise again.
The Fifth Vision: The Lord Topples the Temple
Amos 9
1 I saw the Lord standing by the altar, and he said:
    Strike the capitals on top of the pillars so that the thresholds shake.
    Cut them off so that they fall on the heads of all the people,
    and those who survive I will kill with the sword.
    No one who flees from there will get away,
    and not a single fugitive from among them will escape.
2 Even if they dig down to hell, [4]
    from there my hand will seize them.
    And even if they ascend to heaven,
    from there I will bring them down.
3 Even if they hide themselves on the top of Mount Carmel,
    from there I will search for them, and I will seize them.
    Even if they hide themselves from my sight at the bottom of the sea,
    from there I will command the serpent, and it will bite them.
4 Even if they go into captivity in the presence of their enemies,
    from there I will command the sword, and it will kill them.
    And I will set my eye upon them for disaster and not for good.
The Lord Shakes the Earth
5 The Lord God of Armies is the one who touches the earth, so that it melts.
    All who dwell on it mourn.
    All of it rises like the Nile,
    and like the Nile of Egypt it sinks down again.
6 He is the one who builds his upper chambers in heaven.
    He set the foundation for his vault upon the earth.
    He is the one who summons the waters of the sea
    and pours them out over the face of the earth—
    the Lord is his name.
The Final Judgment
7 Are you not like Cushites [5] to me, you children of Israel?
    declares the Lord.
    Did I not bring Israel up from the land of Egypt
    and the Philistines from Caphtor [6]
    and the Arameans from Kir? [7]
8 Look, the eyes of the Lord God are on the sinful kingdom,
    and I will destroy it from the face of the earth.
    But I will never completely destroy the house of Jacob,
    declares the Lord.
9 Listen! I am giving a command,
    and among all the nations I will shake the house of Israel
        as the contents of a sieve are shaken,
    and not even one pebble [8] will fall out to the ground. [9]
10 By a sword, all the sinners among my people will die,
    those who are saying, “Disaster will not overtake us. It will not confront us.”
The Restoration of David’s Fallen Shelter
11 In that day I will raise up the fallen shelter of David.
I will repair the broken parts of its walls,
and I will raise up its ruins.
I will rebuild it as in days of old,
12 so that they will possess what remains of Edom,
that is, all the nations who are called by my name,
declares the Lord, who is doing this.
13 Look, days are coming, declares the Lord,
when the plowman will catch up with the reaper,
and the one who tramples grapes will catch up with the one sowing the seed.
The mountains will drip sweet wine, [10]
and all the hills will wave with grain. [11]
14 I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel,
and they will rebuild the desolate cities and dwell in them.
They will plant vineyards and drink their wine,
and they will make gardens and eat their fruit.
15 I will plant them in their soil,
and they will never again be uprooted from the soil
that I have given to them,
says the Lord your God.
Footnotes
Amos 8:5 Literally the ephah
Amos 8:5 Merchants cheated by measuring out the grain they were selling with an undersized bushel and weighing the silver they received with an overweight shekel.
Amos 8:14 Possibly a distortion of the name of the goddess Ashima/Asherah
Amos 9:2 Hebrew sheol
Amos 9:7 Cushites are black Africans from south of Egypt, from the territory that today is Sudan.
Amos 9:7 That is, Crete or some other location in the Mediterranean
Amos 9:7 The location of Kir is unknown. It is probably far to the north.
Amos 9:9 Or kernel of grain
Amos 9:9 The people of Israel are being sorted through a sieve. It is not clear whether those kept in the sieve are the pebbles that cannot escape judgment or the grains that are being separated from the chaff, which will be burned. The judgment is the same in either case.
Amos 9:13 Sweet wine refers to wine that is still sweet because it has not yet been soured by continued fermentation.
Amos 9:13 Or flow with wine

The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.
6 min
August 02Through My Bible Yr 03 – August 02
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Through My Bible Yr 03 – August 02
Amos 7:1 – 8:3
The First Vision: The Locusts
Amos 7
1 This is what the Lord God showed me: I saw that he was forming a locust swarm at the time when the late crops [1] were beginning to sprout—the crops that were planted after the cuttings of hay for the king.
2 When the swarm had finished consuming the vegetation of the land, I said, “Lord God, please forgive! How can Jacob stand? Look, he is so small!”
3 The Lord changed his decree about this. “It will not happen,” said the Lord.
The Second Vision: The Fire
4 This is what the Lord God showed me: I saw the Lord God calling for a trial by fire, which devoured the great deep and started to consume the land.
5 I said, “Lord God, please stop! How can Jacob stand? Look, he is so small!”
6 The Lord changed his decree about this. “This will not happen,” said the Lord God.
The Third Vision: The Plumb Line
7 This is what he showed me: I saw the Lord standing by a wall that had been constructed with a plumb line. He had a plumb line in his hand.
8 The Lord said to me, “What do you see, Amos?”
I said, “A plumb line.”
Then the Lord said:
    Look, I am about to set up a plumb line next to my people Israel.
    I will no longer overlook their sin.
9 The high places of Isaac will be desolate,
    and the sanctuaries of Israel will be ruined.
    I will rise up against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.
Amos and Amaziah
10 Then Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, sent a message to Jeroboam king of Israel: [2]
Amos has conspired against you in the midst of the house of Israel. The land is not able to endure all of his words. 11 This is what Amos says: “Jeroboam will die by the sword, and Israel will certainly go into exile away from its own soil.”
12 Then Amaziah said to Amos, “You seer, get out of here! Flee to the land of Judah. You may eat food and prophesy there. 13 But you must never again prophesy at Bethel, for it is the sanctuary of the king and the national temple.”
14 Then Amos responded to Amaziah:
I was not a prophet, nor was I a son of a prophet. Rather, I was a sheep breeder and I took care of sycamore fig trees. 15 But the Lord took me from tending flocks, and the Lord said to me, “Go, prophesy to my people Israel.”
16 But now, hear the word of the Lord, you who are saying, “Do not prophesy against Israel” and “Do not preach [3] against the house of Isaac.”
17 This is what the Lord says: “Your wife will be a prostitute in the city, and your sons and your daughters will fall by the sword. Your land will be parceled out with a measuring line, and as for you, you will die upon unclean soil. And Israel will certainly go into exile far away from its own soil.”
The Fourth Vision: The Basket of Summer Fruit
Amos 8
1 This is what the Lord God showed me: I saw a basket of ripe summer fruit. 2 Then he asked, “What do you see, Amos?”
I said, “A basket of ripe summer fruit.”
Then the Lord said to me, “The end is coming upon my people Israel. [4] I will no longer overlook their sin. 3 The singing women of the palace [5] will wail on that day, declares the Lord God. Many corpses—all over! Silence!”
Footnotes
Amos 7:1 The late crops are the crops that grow at the time of the last spring rain, as the rainy season is coming to an end. Since the king has already collected all the taxes for the whole year from the first cuttings, if the spring rain fails, it is the people who will come up short.
Amos 7:10 Jeroboam II ruled from about 793 to 753 bc. This encounter was probably near the end of his reign.
Amos 7:16 Literally drip
Amos 8:2 The Hebrew words for summer fruit and end sound alike. Just as the summer fruit is ripe, Israel is ripe for judgment.
Amos 8:3 Or the songs of the temple

The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.
4 min
August 01Through My Bible Yr 03 – August 01
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Through My Bible Yr 03 – August 01
Amos 6
Judgment Against Complacency
1 Woe to [1] you who are complacent in Zion,
you who feel secure on Mount Samaria,
    you distinguished people of the leading nation,
    to whom the house of Israel comes.
2 Travel to Kalneh and look.
    Go from there to Hamath Rabbah,
    and go down to Gath of the Philistines.
    Are you better than those kingdoms?
    Are their territories greater than your territory? [2]
3 You who are trying to put off the evil day,
    you bring near the session for violence!
4 Those who lie on ivory beds,
    sprawling upon their couches,
    eating lambs from the flock
    and calves straight from the stall,
5 improvising tunes on the lyre,
    composing music for themselves on musical instruments like David,
6 drinking large bowls of wine—
    they slather [3] themselves with the most expensive perfumed oils,
    but they do not grieve over the ruin of Joseph.
7 That is why they will go into exile as the first of the exiles.
    Those who sprawl out at their feasts for the dead will depart.
Certain Destruction for Proud Israel
8 The Lord God swears by himself,
    declares the Lord, the God of Armies:
    I detest the pride of Jacob,
    and I hate his citadels,
    so I will hand over the city and everything in it.
9 If ten men happen to survive in one house, they will die. 10 When a relative who burns the bodies [4] comes to take away the bones from the house, he will say to whoever remains in the recesses of the house, “Is there anyone else still with you?” And they will say, “No one.” And he will say, “Silence! For you must not invoke the name of the Lord!” [5]
11 Look, the Lord is indeed giving a command, and he will smash the largest house into fragments and the smallest house into splinters.
12 Do horses run on a rocky cliff?
    Does anyone plow the sea with an ox? [6]
    Yet you turn justice into poison
    and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood.
13 You are rejoicing over Lo Debar.
    You are saying, “Was it not by our strength that we captured Karnaim for ourselves?”
14 Indeed, I am about to raise up a nation against you, O house of Israel,
    declares the Lord, the God of Armies.
    They will oppress you from Lebo Hamath to the Canyon of the Arabah. [7]
Footnotes
Amos 6:1 Or how terrible it will be for
Amos 6:2 The line of thought is difficult to follow here. The context seems to require that the two lines of the verse be parallel statements, each of which requires the answer “no.” The context therefore seems to call for reversing the second comparison, but there is no manuscript evidence to support such a switch.
Amos 6:6 Literally anoint, but the reference is not to anointing to office.
Amos 6:10 Or who prepares bodies for burial
Amos 6:10 Verses 9 and 10 are difficult. Translations vary greatly.
Amos 6:12 The translation follows a re-division of a word of the Hebrew text. The main Hebrew text reads does one plow with oxen, a reading which calls for the answer “yes,” but which does not fit the context. Another solution is to repeat the object rocky cliff from the first half of the verse: does one plow a rocky cliff with oxen?
Amos 6:14 Lebo Hamath is far to the north in Syria. The Arabah is the rift between the mountains of Edom and the mountains of Sinai, south of Israel.

The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.
4 min
July 31Through My Bible Yr 03 – July 31
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Through My Bible Yr 03 – July 31
Amos 5
Mourning for Fallen Israel
1 Listen to this word that I am raising against you as a lament, [1] O house of Israel:
2 Virgin Israel has fallen, and she will not rise again.
    She is abandoned on her own soil.
    There is no one to lift her up.
3 For this is what the Lord God says:
    A city that marches out with a thousand will have a hundred left.
    A city that marches out with a hundred will have ten left for the house of Israel.
Seek the Lord and Live!
4 Listen, this is what the Lord says to the house of Israel:
    Seek me and live!
5 But do not seek Bethel.
    Do not go to Gilgal.
    Do not travel to Beersheba,
    because Gilgal surely will go into exile,
    and Bethel will become nothing.
6 Seek the Lord and live,
    or he will rush upon the house of Joseph like fire.
    The fire will consume, and no one will extinguish it for Bethel.
7 There are some who turn justice into wormwood, [2]
    who throw righteousness to the ground.
8 There is one who made the Pleiades and Orion,
    who turns the shadow of death into morning,
    who darkens day into night,
    who summons the waters of the seas,
    who pours them out upon the face of the earth—
    the Lord is his name.
9 He causes destruction to flash against a stronghold,
    and destruction comes upon a fortress.
10 There are those who hate an arbitrator [3] in the city gate. [4]
    They despise anyone who speaks honestly.
11 That is why you trample on the poor,
    and you collect taxes on their grain.
    You have built houses of cut stones,
    but you will not live in them.
    You have planted choice vineyards,
    but you will not drink their wine.
12 For I know that your rebellious deeds are many,
    and your sins are numerous,
    you who are enemies of a righteous man,
    you who take bribes.
    They thrust away needy people in the city gate.
13 That is why a prudent man will be silent in that time,
    because it is an evil time.
14 Seek good and not evil, so that you may live,
    and then it will be like this for you:
    The Lord, the God of Armies, will be with you, as you claim.
15 Hate evil and love good.
    Establish justice in the city gate.
    Perhaps the Lord, the God of Armies,
        will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.
16 Therefore, this is what the Lord says,
    the God of Armies, who is the Lord:
    In the city squares there will be grief,
    and in the streets they will say, “Woe, woe!”
    They will summon the farmer to mourn
    and the professional mourners to sing laments.
17 In all the vineyards there will be grief,
    because I will pass through your midst, says the Lord.
The Day of the Lord Brings Darkness
18 Woe to those who long for the Day of the Lord!
    What good will the Day of the Lord be for you?
    It will be darkness and not light.
19 It will be as if a man flees from a lion,
    but a bear meets him,
    or he enters a house and rests his hand on a wall,
    but a snake bites him.
20 Will not the Day of the Lord be darkness and not light,
    gloom without a trace of brightness?
The Lord Hates Faithless Worship
21 I hate, I reject, your festivals!
    I do not delight in the aroma of the sacrifices at your sacred convocations.
22 Even if you offer up to me your whole burnt offerings and your grain offerings,
    I will not accept them.
    I will not pay any attention to your fellowship offerings of fattened calves.
23 Get the noise of your songs away from me!
    I will not listen to the music of your harps.
24 But let justice roll like the waters,
    and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
25 Did you bring me sacrifices and grain offerings in the wilderness for forty years, O house of Israel?
26 You lifted up images of Sakkuth, your king,
    and of Kiyyun, your star god, which you made for yourselves. [5]
27 So I will exile you beyond Damascus,
    says the Lord, whose name is the God of Armies.
Footnotes
Amos 5:1 Or sad song
Amos 5:7 Wormwood is a toxic, bitter-tasting substance (absinthe).
Amos 5:10 Or a mediator
Amos 5:10 The city gate served as the courthouse.
Amos 5:26 The form and meaning of several of the terms and names referring to gods in verse 26 are uncertain. The terms seem to refer to astral deities, most likely including Saturn.

The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.
5 min
July 30Through My Bible Yr 03 – July 30
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Through My Bible Yr 03 – July 30
Amos 3 – 4
Why Amos Must Prophesy
Amos 3
1 People of Israel, listen to this word that the Lord has spoken concerning you, concerning the entire family of clans that I brought up from the land of Egypt:
2 You alone have I chosen [1] from all the clans of the earth.
    Therefore I will inflict punishment on you for all your guilt.
3 Can two people walk together without agreeing to do so?
4 Does a lion roar in the forest if it does not have prey?
    Does a young lion growl from its den if it has not caught anything?
5 Does a bird fall into a trap on the ground if there is no bait?
    Does a trap spring up from the ground when nothing has tripped it?
6 If a ram’s horn is sounded in a city, the people become alarmed, don’t they?
    If a disaster takes place in a city, is it not the Lord who has done it?
7 Certainly the Lord God does not do anything
        without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets.
8 A lion has roared! Who can avoid being terrified?
    The Lord God has spoken! Who can hold back from prophesying?
Judgment Against Samaria
9 Make this known to the citadels in Ashdod
    and to the citadels in the land of Egypt.
    Tell them, “Gather yourselves together on the mountains of Samaria.
    See the great confusion [2] there
    and the oppression in her midst.”
10 They do not know how to do what is right, declares the Lord.
    They are storing up violence and destruction in their citadels.
11 Therefore, this is what the Lord God says:
    An enemy is all over the land.
    He will strip your strength from you,
    and your citadels will be plundered.
12 This is what the Lord says:
    Just as a shepherd rescues two legs or a tip of an ear
    from the mouth of a lion,
    so the Israelites who live in Samaria will be rescued
    with only a corner of a bed or a piece of cloth [3] from a couch.
13 Listen and testify against the house of Jacob,
    declares the Lord God, the God of Armies.
14 Indeed, on the day when I punish the rebellious deeds of Israel,
    I will punish the altars of Bethel.
    The horns of the altar will be cut off,
    and they will fall to the ground.
15 I will strike the winter house
    along with the summer house.
    The houses decorated with ivory will be destroyed,
    and the great houses will come to an end,
    declares the Lord.
Amos 4
1 Listen to this, you cows of Bashan,
who are on the mountain of Samaria,
    you women who are oppressing the poor,
    who are crushing the needy,
    who say to your husbands, “Bring us more drinks!”
2 The Lord God swears by his holiness:
    The days are surely coming against you,
    when they will drag you away with hooks,
    every last one of you with fishhooks.
3 You will go out through the broken-down walls.
    Each woman will go straight ahead,
    and you will be thrown out [4] toward Harmon, [5]
    declares the Lord.
4 Go to Bethel and rebel.
    Rebel even more at Gilgal.
    Bring your sacrifices every morning,
    your tithes every third day.
5 Burn some leavened bread as a thank offering,
    and proclaim voluntary offerings—announce them!
    For you love to do this, you people of Israel,
    says the Lord God.
Warnings Produce No Repentance
6 I am the one who gave to you clean teeth [6] in all of your cities,
    and lack of food in all your places,
    but you did not return to me,
    declares the Lord.
7 I am the one who withheld the rain from you
    while there were still three months before the harvest.
    I would send rain on one city,
    but on another city I would not send rain.
    One plot of ground would receive rain,
    but another plot, on which it did not rain, would dry up.
8 Whenever people from two or three cities staggered to another city to get water to drink,
    they would not have enough,
    but you did not return to me,
    declares the Lord.
9 I struck you with blight and mildew.
    Your many gardens, your vineyards, your fig trees,
    and your olive trees were devoured by locusts,
    but you did not return to me,
    declares the Lord.
10 I sent plagues against you like the plagues in Egypt.
    I killed your best soldiers with the sword,
    together with your captured horses.
    I made the stench of your camp rise up into your nostrils,
    but you did not return to me,
    declares the Lord.
11 I overthrew some of you,
    just as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah,
    and you became like a burning stick snatched from the fire,
    but you did not return to me,
    declares the Lord.
12 Therefore, this is what I will do to you, Israel.
    Yes, this is what I will do to you:
    Prepare to meet your God, O Israel!
13 Indeed, he who forms mountains and who creates wind,
    who declares his thoughts to mankind,
    who turns dawn into darkness,
    and who treads down the high places of the earth,
    the Lord, the God of Armies, is his name.
Footnotes
Amos 3:2 Literally known
Amos 3:9 Or turmoil
Amos 3:12 The meaning of this word is uncertain.
Amos 4:3 In the Hebrew text the verb is active, you will throw. The translation follows the Greek text.
Amos 4:3 The meaning of the word Harmon is uncertain. It may be a place name or mean something like garbage dump.
Amos 4:6 A striking description of people who have no food to chew

The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.
6 min
July 29Through My Bible Yr 03 – July 29
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Through My Bible Yr 03 – July 29
Amos 1 – 2
Amos 1
1 The words of Amos, who was among the sheep breeders [1] from Tekoa. He saw a vision concerning Israel during the days of Uzziah king of Judah and during the days of Jeroboam son of Joash, king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.
2 He said:
    The Lord roars from Zion.
    From Jerusalem he sends out his voice.
    The pastures of the shepherds dry up, [2]
    and the top of Mount Carmel withers.
Judgment Against Aram
3 This is what the Lord says:
    Because of three sins [3] of Damascus,
    because of four, I will not hold back judgment,
    because they cut up Gilead with iron threshing boards. [4]
4 So I will send fire against the house of Hazael,
    and it will consume the fortresses of Ben Hadad.
5 I will break the bars of the gates of Damascus,
    and I will cut off the one seated in the Valley of Aven,
    and the one who holds a scepter in Beth Eden. [5]
    So the people of Aram will go into exile toward Kir. [6]
    The Lord has spoken.
Judgment Against Philistia
6 This is what the Lord says:
    Because of three sins of Gaza,
    because of four, I will not hold back judgment,
    because they sold an entire population into exile,
    handing them over to Edom.
7 So I will send fire against the city wall of Gaza,
    and it will consume her citadels.
8 I will cut off the one seated in Ashdod,
    and the one who holds a scepter in Ashkelon.
    I will also turn my hand against Ekron,
    and what is left of the Philistines will perish.
    The Lord God has spoken.
Judgment Against Canaan
9 This is what the Lord says:
    Because of three sins of Tyre,
    because of four, I will not hold back judgment,
    because they delivered over an entire population and exiled them to Edom,
    and they did not remember a treaty of brotherhood.
10 So I will send fire against the city wall of Tyre,
    and it will consume her citadels.
Judgment Against Edom
11 This is what the Lord says:
    Because of three sins of Edom,
    because of four, I will not hold back judgment,
    because he [7] pursued his brother with a sword,
    and he had no compassion. [8]
    His anger kept tearing Israel apart,
    and his fury raged without stopping.
12 So I will send fire against Teman,
    and it will consume the citadels of Bozrah.
Judgment Against Ammon
13 This is what the Lord says:
    Because of three sins of the Ammonites,
    because of four, I will not hold back judgment,
    because they ripped open the pregnant women of Gilead in order to enlarge their own territory.
14 So I will ignite a fire against the city wall of Rabbah,
    and it will consume her citadels
        with a battle cry on the day of war,
        with a strong wind on the day of the storm.
15 Then their king will go into exile,
    he and his officials together.
    The Lord has spoken.
Judgment Against Moab
Amos 2
1 This is what the Lord says:
Because of three sins of Moab,
    because of four, I will not hold back judgment,
    because they burned the bones of the king of Edom to make lime.
2 So I will send fire against Moab,
    and it will consume the citadels of Kerioth.
    Moab will die in an uproar,
    with a battle cry, with a blast of a ram’s horn.
3 I will cut off the judge [9] from her midst,
    and I will kill all her officials with him.
    The Lord has spoken.
Judgment Against Judah
4 This is what the Lord says:
    Because of three sins of Judah,
    because of four, I will not hold back judgment,
    because they rejected the law of the Lord,
    and they did not keep his statutes.
    Their lying idols led them astray,
    the idols that their fathers followed.
5 So I will send fire against Judah,
    and it will consume the citadels of Jerusalem.
Judgment Against Israel
6 This is what the Lord says:
    Because of three sins of Israel,
    because of four, I will not hold back judgment,
    because they sell the righteous for silver
    and the needy for a pair of sandals.
7 They trample the heads of the poor into the dust of the earth,
    and they turn aside the claims of the oppressed.
    A man and his father go to the same young woman.
    In this way they profane my holy name.
8 They stretch themselves out beside every altar
        on pieces of clothing they seized as collateral.
    In the temple of their gods they drink wine obtained through fines.
9 I was the one who destroyed the Amorites in front of them,
    the Amorites, who were as tall as cedars,
    who were as strong as oaks.
    I destroyed their fruit above and their roots below.
10 I myself brought you up from the land of Egypt,
    and I led you in the wilderness for forty years,
        so that you would take possession of the land of the Amorites.
11 I raised up some of your sons to be prophets,
    and some of your best young men to be Nazirites.
    Is this not so, you people of Israel? declares the Lord.
12 But you made the Nazirites drink wine,
    and you commanded the prophets, “You must not prophesy!”
13 Look, I am weighed down under you,
    just as a cart is weighed down when it is loaded with sheaves of grain. [10]
14 There will be no escape for the swift runner.
    The powerful man will not be able to exert his strength,
    and the strong warrior will not be able to save his own life.
15 The archer will not stand his ground.
    The swift runner will not save himself,
    and the horseman will not save his own life.
16 The most courageous among the warriors will flee naked on that day,
    declares the Lord.
Footnotes
Amos 1:1 Or ranchers
Amos 1:2 Or mourn
Amos 1:3 Or crimes
Amos 1:3 A threshing board or threshing sledge is similar to a toboggan, but it has iron teeth protruding from the bottom. It is dragged over piles of grain to cut up the straw and release the kernels of grain.
Amos 1:5 Valley of Aven and Beth Eden mean Valley of Wickedness and House of Pleasure. They may be figurative names for the region around Damascus.
Amos 1:5 The location of Kir is unknown. It probably lies far to the north or east.
Amos 1:11 Edom is referred to by the singular he because it is also a name of Jacob’s brother Esau.
Amos 1:11 Or he destroyed pregnant women
Amos 2:3 Or ruler
Amos 2:13 The meaning of the verse is uncertain. It may mean I will weigh you down as a cart is weighed down.

The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.
7 min
July 28Through My Bible Yr 03 – July 28
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Through My Bible Yr 03 – July 28
Acts 28:17-31
Acts 28
17 Three days later, Paul called together the leaders of the Jews. When they had assembled, he said to them, “Gentlemen, brothers, although I had done nothing against the people or the customs of our fathers, yet I was handed over as a prisoner from Jerusalem to the Romans. 18 After they interrogated me, they wanted to release me, because there were no grounds for the death penalty in my case. 19 But when the Jews objected, I was compelled to appeal to Caesar—not that I had any charge to bring against my own people. 20 That is why I asked to see you and speak to you, since it is because of the hope of Israel that I am bound with this chain.”
21 They said to him, “We have not received any letters about you from Judea, and none of the brothers who came here has reported or said anything evil about you. 22 But we would like to hear from you what you think, because we know that people everywhere are speaking against this sect.”
23 They set a day to meet with Paul, and even more of them came to the place where he was staying. From morning till evening he explained and testified about the kingdom of God. He also tried to convince them about Jesus, both from the Law of Moses and the Prophets. 24 Some were convinced by what he said, but others continued in their unbelief.
25 They were arguing with one another and began to leave after Paul made this one statement: “The Holy Spirit spoke the truth to your [1] fathers through Isaiah the prophet:
26 Go to this people and say,
You will keep hearing and yet never understand;
you will keep seeing and yet never perceive.
27 For the heart of this people has grown dull,
their ears are hard of hearing,
and they have closed their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
hear with their ears,
understand with their heart,
and turn, and I would heal them. [2]
28 “Therefore let it be known to you that this salvation from God has been sent to the Gentiles, and they will listen!” [3]
30 For two whole years Paul stayed in his own rented house and welcomed all who came to visit him. 31 He was preaching the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without anyone stopping him.
Footnotes
Acts 28:25 Some of the witnesses to the text read our.
Acts 28:27 Isaiah 6:9-10
Acts 28:28 A few witnesses to the text add 29 After he spoke these words, the Jews departed, while having a long debate among themselves.

The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.
3 min
July 27Through My Bible Yr 03 – July 27
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Through My Bible Yr 03 – July 27
Acts 28
Safe on Malta
1 Once we were safely on shore, we learned that the island was called Malta. 2 The natives showed us extraordinary kindness. They built a fire and welcomed us all, because it had started to rain and was cold.
3 As Paul gathered a bundle of sticks and laid it on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened itself on his hand. 4 When the natives saw the snake hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “No doubt this man is a murderer. Though he escaped from the sea, Justice [1] has not allowed him to live.”
5 However, Paul shook the snake off into the fire and was not harmed. 6 The people expected him to swell up or suddenly fall down dead. But after they had waited for a long time and saw nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and said he was a god.
7 In the nearby vicinity was an estate that belonged to a man named Publius, the chief official of the island. He welcomed us and entertained us hospitably as his guests for three days. 8 The father of Publius happened to be sick in bed, suffering from a fever and dysentery. Paul went to him, prayed, laid his hands on him, and healed him.
9 After that happened, others on the island who were sick also came and were healed. 10 They honored us in many ways, and when we were going to sail, they put on board whatever we needed.
On to Rome
11 After three months, we set sail in an Alexandrian ship that had wintered at the island. Its figurehead was the Twin Brothers. [2] 12 We put in at Syracuse and stayed there three days. 13 From there we sailed up the coast and arrived at Rhegium. After one day a south wind sprang up, and on the second day we came to Puteoli. 14 There we found some brothers [3] and were invited to stay with them for seven days. And so we came to Rome. 15 The brothers there heard the news about us and came as far as the Forum of Appius and Three Taverns to meet us. When Paul saw them, he thanked God and was encouraged.
God’s Witness Reaches Rome
16 When we entered Rome, [4] Paul was allowed to live by himself with a soldier who guarded him.
Footnotes
Acts 28:4 Or justice. They likely meant a Greek goddess called Justice.
Acts 28:11 The Twin Brothers figurehead referred to Castor and Pollux, two sons of Zeus.
Acts 28:14 When context indicates it, the Greek word for brothers may refer to all fellow believers, male and female.
Acts 28:16 Some witnesses to the text add the centurion delivered the prisoners to the captain of the guard, but.

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3 min
July 26Through My Bible Yr 03 – July 26
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Through My Bible Yr 03 – July 26
Acts 27:21-44
Acts 27
21 After they had gone a long time without food, Paul stood up among them and said, “Men, you should have followed my advice and not set sail from Crete and avoided this damage and loss. 22 But now I urge you to keep up your courage, because there will be no loss of life among you. Only the ship will be lost. 23 In fact, last night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood beside me 24 and said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand before Caesar. And surely God has graciously given you all those who are sailing with you.’ 25 So keep up your courage, men, because I believe God that it will be exactly the way I have been told. 26 However, we must run aground on some island.”
The Shipwreck
27 When the fourteenth night came, while we were being driven back and forth in the Adriatic Sea, [1] about midnight the sailors suspected that they were approaching some land. 28 They took soundings and found it to be one hundred twenty feet deep. [2] After sailing a little farther, they took soundings again and found it was ninety feet deep. [3] 29 Fearing that we would run aground on the rocks, they dropped four anchors from the stern and prayed for daybreak.
30 The sailors tried to escape from the ship and had let down the skiff into the sea, pretending they were going to put out anchors from the bow. 31 Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, “If these men do not stay in the ship, you cannot be saved.” 32 Then the soldiers cut the ropes holding the skiff and let it fall away.
33 Just before daybreak, Paul urged them all to eat some food. He said, “This is the fourteenth day you have waited in suspense and have gone without food. You have eaten nothing. 34 Therefore I urge you to take some food because this is important for your rescue. In fact, not a hair from any of your heads will be lost.” 35 After he said these things and had taken some bread, he gave thanks to God in front of them all. Then he broke it and began to eat. 36 They were all encouraged and took some food themselves. 37 In all there were 276 of us on the ship. 38 When they had eaten all they wanted, they lightened the ship by throwing the grain overboard into the sea.
39 At daybreak, they did not recognize the land, but they noticed a bay with a beach, where they planned to run the ship aground if they could. 40 They cut off the anchors, leaving them in the sea, and at the same time untied the ropes that held the rudders. Then, after hoisting the foresail to the wind, they headed for the beach. 41 But they struck a sandbar and ran the ship aground. The bow stuck fast and would not move, while the stern began to break up from the pounding of the waves.
42 The soldiers’ plan was to kill the prisoners so that no one would swim away and escape. 43 But the centurion wanted to save Paul and kept them from carrying out their plan. He ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and make their way to land. 44 The rest were to follow, some on planks, and some on other pieces from the ship. In this way, all of them were brought safely onto land.
Footnotes
Acts 27:27 At that time, the Adriatic Sea included the present-day Adriatic plus a large section of the Mediterranean Sea south of it.
Acts 27:28 Or twenty fathoms (a fathom is about six feet deep)
Acts 27:28 Or fifteen fathoms

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4 min
July 25Through My Bible Yr 03 – July 25
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Through My Bible Yr 03 – July 25
Acts 27:1-20
Acts 27
Paul Sails for Rome
1 When it was decided that we [1] would sail for Italy, Paul and some other prisoners were handed over to a centurion named Julius, of the Imperial Regiment. 2 After boarding a ship from Adramyttium, which was going to sail for ports along the coast of the province of Asia, we put out to sea. Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica, was with us.
3 The next day, we put in at Sidon, and Julius treated Paul kindly and allowed him to go to his friends to receive their care. 4 From there we put out to sea and sailed on the sheltered side of Cyprus, because the winds were against us. 5 We crossed the open sea along the coast of Cilicia and Pamphylia and landed at Myra in Lycia. 6 There the centurion found an Alexandrian ship sailing for Italy, and he put us on board. 7 We sailed slowly for a number of days and arrived with difficulty off Cnidus. Since the wind did not permit us to go further, we sailed on the sheltered side of Crete, off Salmone. 8 With difficulty we sailed along its coast and came to a place called Fair Havens, near the city of Lasea.
9 Since so much time had passed and the voyage was now dangerous because the Fast [2] was already over, Paul advised them, 10 “Men, it looks to me as if the voyage is going to end with disaster and great loss, not only of the cargo and the ship but also of our lives.” 11 But the centurion paid more attention to the pilot and the owner of the ship than to what Paul was saying. 12 Since that harbor was unsuitable to winter in, the majority decided to put out to sea from there, hoping somehow to reach Phoenix and winter there. (Phoenix is a harbor on Crete, facing both southwest and northwest.) 13 When a gentle south wind began to blow, they thought they could carry out their plan. They raised the anchor and sailed close to the shore of Crete.
The Storm
14 But before long, a hurricane-like wind, called the “northeaster,” rushed down from the island. 15 Since the ship was caught in it and could not head into the wind, we gave way to it and were driven along. 16 As we sailed on the sheltered side of a small island called Cauda, we were barely able to secure the skiff. [3] 17 After hoisting it on board, the men tied ropes around the ship to reinforce it. Then, fearing that they would run aground on the sandbars of Syrtis, they lowered the sea anchor and in this way were driven along. 18 Because we were tossed around so violently by the storm, the next day they began to throw the cargo overboard. 19 On the third day, they threw the ship’s gear overboard with their own hands. 20 When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and the violent storm kept pressing down on us, finally all hope that we would be saved was disappearing.
Footnotes
Acts 27:1 Luke is included.
Acts 27:9 The Fast refers to the Jewish Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16) in the fall, just before the winter months, when sea travel was treacherous.
Acts 27:16 A small service boat (also mentioned in verses 30 and 32)

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4 min