<SPAN name="startofbook"></SPAN>
<h1>The King James Version of the Bible</h1>
<h2><SPAN name="Hosea" id="Hosea"></SPAN>Hosea</h2>
<p>1:1 The word of the LORD that came unto Hosea, the son of Beeri, in
the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in
the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel.</p>
<p>1:2 The beginning of the word of the LORD by Hosea. And the LORD said
to Hosea, Go, take unto thee a wife of whoredoms and children of
whoredoms: for the land hath committed great whoredom, departing from
the LORD.</p>
<p>1:3 So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim; which
conceived, and bare him a son.</p>
<p>1:4 And the LORD said unto him, Call his name Jezreel; for yet a
little while, and I will avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of
Jehu, and will cause to cease the kingdom of the house of Israel.</p>
<p>1:5 And it shall come to pass at that day, that I will break the bow
of Israel, in the valley of Jezreel.</p>
<p>1:6 And she conceived again, and bare a daughter. And God said unto
him, Call her name Loruhamah: for I will no more have mercy upon the
house of Israel; but I will utterly take them away.</p>
<p>1:7 But I will have mercy upon the house of Judah, and will save them
by the LORD their God, and will not save them by bow, nor by sword,
nor by battle, by horses, nor by horsemen.</p>
<p>1:8 Now when she had weaned Loruhamah, she conceived, and bare a son.</p>
<p>1:9 Then said God, Call his name Loammi: for ye are not my people, and
I will not be your God.</p>
<p>1:10 Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of
the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to
pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my
people, there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the
living God.</p>
<p>1:11 Then shall the children of Judah and the children of Israel be
gathered together, and appoint themselves one head, and they shall
come up out of the land: for great shall be the day of Jezreel.</p>
<p>2:1 Say ye unto your brethren, Ammi; and to your sisters, Ruhamah.</p>
<p>2:2 Plead with your mother, plead: for she is not my wife, neither am
I her husband: let her therefore put away her whoredoms out of her
sight, and her adulteries from between her breasts; 2:3 Lest I strip
her naked, and set her as in the day that she was born, and make her
as a wilderness, and set her like a dry land, and slay her with
thirst.</p>
<p>2:4 And I will not have mercy upon her children; for they be the
children of whoredoms.</p>
<p>2:5 For their mother hath played the harlot: she that conceived them
hath done shamefully: for she said, I will go after my lovers, that
give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, mine oil and my
drink.</p>
<p>2:6 Therefore, behold, I will hedge up thy way with thorns, and make a
wall, that she shall not find her paths.</p>
<p>2:7 And she shall follow after her lovers, but she shall not overtake
them; and she shall seek them, but shall not find them: then shall she
say, I will go and return to my first husband; for then was it better
with me than now.</p>
<p>2:8 For she did not know that I gave her corn, and wine, and oil, and
multiplied her silver and gold, which they prepared for Baal.</p>
<p>2:9 Therefore will I return, and take away my corn in the time
thereof, and my wine in the season thereof, and will recover my wool
and my flax given to cover her nakedness.</p>
<p>2:10 And now will I discover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers,
and none shall deliver her out of mine hand.</p>
<p>2:11 I will also cause all her mirth to cease, her feast days, her new
moons, and her sabbaths, and all her solemn feasts.</p>
<p>2:12 And I will destroy her vines and her fig trees, whereof she hath
said, These are my rewards that my lovers have given me: and I will
make them a forest, and the beasts of the field shall eat them.</p>
<p>2:13 And I will visit upon her the days of Baalim, wherein she burned
incense to them, and she decked herself with her earrings and her
jewels, and she went after her lovers, and forgat me, saith the LORD.</p>
<p>2:14 Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the
wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her.</p>
<p>2:15 And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley of
Achor for a door of hope: and she shall sing there, as in the days of
her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of
Egypt.</p>
<p>2:16 And it shall be at that day, saith the LORD, that thou shalt call
me Ishi; and shalt call me no more Baali.</p>
<p>2:17 For I will take away the names of Baalim out of her mouth, and
they shall no more be remembered by their name.</p>
<p>2:18 And in that day will I make a covenant for them with the beasts
of the field and with the fowls of heaven, and with the creeping
things of the ground: and I will break the bow and the sword and the
battle out of the earth, and will make them to lie down safely.</p>
<p>2:19 And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth
thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness,
and in mercies.</p>
<p>2:20 I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt
know the LORD.</p>
<p>2:21 And it shall come to pass in that day, I will hear, saith the
LORD, I will hear the heavens, and they shall hear the earth; 2:22 And
the earth shall hear the corn, and the wine, and the oil; and they
shall hear Jezreel.</p>
<p>2:23 And I will sow her unto me in the earth; and I will have mercy
upon her that had not obtained mercy; and I will say to them which
were not my people, Thou art my people; and they shall say, Thou art
my God.</p>
<p>3:1 Then said the LORD unto me, Go yet, love a woman beloved of her
friend, yet an adulteress, according to the love of the LORD toward
the children of Israel, who look to other gods, and love flagons of
wine.</p>
<p>3:2 So I bought her to me for fifteen pieces of silver, and for an
homer of barley, and an half homer of barley: 3:3 And I said unto her,
Thou shalt abide for me many days; thou shalt not play the harlot, and
thou shalt not be for another man: so will I also be for thee.</p>
<p>3:4 For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king,
and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image,
and without an ephod, and without teraphim: 3:5 Afterward shall the
children of Israel return, and seek the LORD their God, and David
their king; and shall fear the LORD and his goodness in the latter
days.</p>
<p>4:1 Hear the word of the LORD, ye children of Israel: for the LORD
hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is
no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land.</p>
<p>4:2 By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing
adultery, they break out, and blood toucheth blood.</p>
<p>4:3 Therefore shall the land mourn, and every one that dwelleth
therein shall languish, with the beasts of the field, and with the
fowls of heaven; yea, the fishes of the sea also shall be taken away.</p>
<p>4:4 Yet let no man strive, nor reprove another: for thy people are as
they that strive with the priest.</p>
<p>4:5 Therefore shalt thou fall in the day, and the prophet also shall
fall with thee in the night, and I will destroy thy mother.</p>
<p>4:6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast
rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no
priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will
also forget thy children.</p>
<p>4:7 As they were increased, so they sinned against me: therefore will
I change their glory into shame.</p>
<p>4:8 They eat up the sin of my people, and they set their heart on
their iniquity.</p>
<p>4:9 And there shall be, like people, like priest: and I will punish
them for their ways, and reward them their doings.</p>
<p>4:10 For they shall eat, and not have enough: they shall commit
whoredom, and shall not increase: because they have left off to take
heed to the LORD.</p>
<p>4:11 Whoredom and wine and new wine take away the heart.</p>
<p>4:12 My people ask counsel at their stocks, and their staff declareth
unto them: for the spirit of whoredoms hath caused them to err, and
they have gone a whoring from under their God.</p>
<p>4:13 They sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains, and burn incense
upon the hills, under oaks and poplars and elms, because the shadow
thereof is good: therefore your daughters shall commit whoredom, and
your spouses shall commit adultery.</p>
<p>4:14 I will not punish your daughters when they commit whoredom, nor
your spouses when they commit adultery: for themselves are separated
with whores, and they sacrifice with harlots: therefore the people
that doth not understand shall fall.</p>
<p>4:15 Though thou, Israel, play the harlot, yet let not Judah offend;
and come not ye unto Gilgal, neither go ye up to Bethaven, nor swear,
The LORD liveth.</p>
<p>4:16 For Israel slideth back as a backsliding heifer: now the LORD
will feed them as a lamb in a large place.</p>
<p>4:17 Ephraim is joined to idols: let him alone.</p>
<p>4:18 Their drink is sour: they have committed whoredom continually:
her rulers with shame do love, Give ye.</p>
<p>4:19 The wind hath bound her up in her wings, and they shall be
ashamed because of their sacrifices.</p>
<p>5:1 Hear ye this, O priests; and hearken, ye house of Israel; and give
ye ear, O house of the king; for judgment is toward you, because ye
have been a snare on Mizpah, and a net spread upon Tabor.</p>
<p>5:2 And the revolters are profound to make slaughter, though I have
been a rebuker of them all.</p>
<p>5:3 I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hid from me: for now, O Ephraim,
thou committest whoredom, and Israel is defiled.</p>
<p>5:4 They will not frame their doings to turn unto their God: for the
spirit of whoredoms is in the midst of them, and they have not known
the LORD.</p>
<p>5:5 And the pride of Israel doth testify to his face: therefore shall
Israel and Ephraim fall in their iniquity: Judah also shall fall with
them.</p>
<p>5:6 They shall go with their flocks and with their herds to seek the
LORD; but they shall not find him; he hath withdrawn himself from
them.</p>
<p>5:7 They have dealt treacherously against the LORD: for they have
begotten strange children: now shall a month devour them with their
portions.</p>
<p>5:8 Blow ye the cornet in Gibeah, and the trumpet in Ramah: cry aloud
at Bethaven, after thee, O Benjamin.</p>
<p>5:9 Ephraim shall be desolate in the day of rebuke: among the tribes
of Israel have I made known that which shall surely be.</p>
<p>5:10 The princes of Judah were like them that remove the bound:
therefore I will pour out my wrath upon them like water.</p>
<p>5:11 Ephraim is oppressed and broken in judgment, because he willingly
walked after the commandment.</p>
<p>5:12 Therefore will I be unto Ephraim as a moth, and to the house of
Judah as rottenness.</p>
<p>5:13 When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah saw his wound, then went
Ephraim to the Assyrian, and sent to king Jareb: yet could he not heal
you, nor cure you of your wound.</p>
<p>5:14 For I will be unto Ephraim as a lion, and as a young lion to the
house of Judah: I, even I, will tear and go away; I will take away,
and none shall rescue him.</p>
<p>5:15 I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their
offence, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me
early.</p>
<p>6:1 Come, and let us return unto the LORD: for he hath torn, and he
will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up.</p>
<p>6:2 After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise
us up, and we shall live in his sight.</p>
<p>6:3 Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the LORD: his going
forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the
rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth.</p>
<p>6:4 O Ephraim, what shall I do unto thee? O Judah, what shall I do
unto thee? for your goodness is as a morning cloud, and as the early
dew it goeth away.</p>
<p>6:5 Therefore have I hewed them by the prophets; I have slain them by
the words of my mouth: and thy judgments are as the light that goeth
forth.</p>
<p>6:6 For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God
more than burnt offerings.</p>
<p>6:7 But they like men have transgressed the covenant: there have they
dealt treacherously against me.</p>
<p>6:8 Gilead is a city of them that work iniquity, and is polluted with
blood.</p>
<p>6:9 And as troops of robbers wait for a man, so the company of priests
murder in the way by consent: for they commit lewdness.</p>
<p>6:10 I have seen an horrible thing in the house of Israel: there is
the whoredom of Ephraim, Israel is defiled.</p>
<p>6:11 Also, O Judah, he hath set an harvest for thee, when I returned
the captivity of my people.</p>
<p>7:1 When I would have healed Israel, then the iniquity of Ephraim was
discovered, and the wickedness of Samaria: for they commit falsehood;
and the thief cometh in, and the troop of robbers spoileth without.</p>
<p>7:2 And they consider not in their hearts that I remember all their
wickedness: now their own doings have beset them about; they are
before my face.</p>
<p>7:3 They make the king glad with their wickedness, and the princes
with their lies.</p>
<p>7:4 They are all adulterers, as an oven heated by the baker, who
ceaseth from raising after he hath kneaded the dough, until it be
leavened.</p>
<p>7:5 In the day of our king the princes have made him sick with bottles
of wine; he stretched out his hand with scorners.</p>
<p>7:6 For they have made ready their heart like an oven, whiles they lie
in wait: their baker sleepeth all the night; in the morning it burneth
as a flaming fire.</p>
<p>7:7 They are all hot as an oven, and have devoured their judges; all
their kings are fallen: there is none among them that calleth unto me.</p>
<p>7:8 Ephraim, he hath mixed himself among the people; Ephraim is a cake
not turned.</p>
<p>7:9 Strangers have devoured his strength, and he knoweth it not: yea,
gray hairs are here and there upon him, yet he knoweth not.</p>
<p>7:10 And the pride of Israel testifieth to his face: and they do not
return to the LORD their God, nor seek him for all this.</p>
<p>7:11 Ephraim also is like a silly dove without heart: they call to
Egypt, they go to Assyria.</p>
<p>7:12 When they shall go, I will spread my net upon them; I will bring
them down as the fowls of the heaven; I will chastise them, as their
congregation hath heard.</p>
<p>7:13 Woe unto them! for they have fled from me: destruction unto them!
because they have transgressed against me: though I have redeemed
them, yet they have spoken lies against me.</p>
<p>7:14 And they have not cried unto me with their heart, when they
howled upon their beds: they assemble themselves for corn and wine,
and they rebel against me.</p>
<p>7:15 Though I have bound and strengthened their arms, yet do they
imagine mischief against me.</p>
<p>7:16 They return, but not to the most High: they are like a deceitful
bow: their princes shall fall by the sword for the rage of their
tongue: this shall be their derision in the land of Egypt.</p>
<p>8:1 Set the trumpet to thy mouth. He shall come as an eagle against
the house of the LORD, because they have transgressed my covenant, and
trespassed against my law.</p>
<p>8:2 Israel shall cry unto me, My God, we know thee.</p>
<p>8:3 Israel hath cast off the thing that is good: the enemy shall
pursue him.</p>
<p>8:4 They have set up kings, but not by me: they have made princes, and
I knew it not: of their silver and their gold have they made them
idols, that they may be cut off.</p>
<p>8:5 Thy calf, O Samaria, hath cast thee off; mine anger is kindled
against them: how long will it be ere they attain to innocency? 8:6
For from Israel was it also: the workman made it; therefore it is not
God: but the calf of Samaria shall be broken in pieces.</p>
<p>8:7 For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind: it
hath no stalk; the bud shall yield no meal: if so be it yield, the
strangers shall swallow it up.</p>
<p>8:8 Israel is swallowed up: now shall they be among the Gentiles as a
vessel wherein is no pleasure.</p>
<p>8:9 For they are gone up to Assyria, a wild ass alone by himself:
Ephraim hath hired lovers.</p>
<p>8:10 Yea, though they have hired among the nations, now will I gather
them, and they shall sorrow a little for the burden of the king of
princes.</p>
<p>8:11 Because Ephraim hath made many altars to sin, altars shall be
unto him to sin.</p>
<p>8:12 I have written to him the great things of my law, but they were
counted as a strange thing.</p>
<p>8:13 They sacrifice flesh for the sacrifices of mine offerings, and
eat it; but the LORD accepteth them not; now will he remember their
iniquity, and visit their sins: they shall return to Egypt.</p>
<p>8:14 For Israel hath forgotten his Maker, and buildeth temples; and
Judah hath multiplied fenced cities: but I will send a fire upon his
cities, and it shall devour the palaces thereof.</p>
<p>9:1 Rejoice not, O Israel, for joy, as other people: for thou hast
gone a whoring from thy God, thou hast loved a reward upon every
cornfloor.</p>
<p>9:2 The floor and the winepress shall not feed them, and the new wine
shall fail in her.</p>
<p>9:3 They shall not dwell in the LORD’s land; but Ephraim shall return
to Egypt, and they shall eat unclean things in Assyria.</p>
<p>9:4 They shall not offer wine offerings to the LORD, neither shall
they be pleasing unto him: their sacrifices shall be unto them as the
bread of mourners; all that eat thereof shall be polluted: for their
bread for their soul shall not come into the house of the LORD.</p>
<p>9:5 What will ye do in the solemn day, and in the day of the feast of
the LORD? 9:6 For, lo, they are gone because of destruction: Egypt
shall gather them up, Memphis shall bury them: the pleasant places for
their silver, nettles shall possess them: thorns shall be in their
tabernacles.</p>
<p>9:7 The days of visitation are come, the days of recompence are come;
Israel shall know it: the prophet is a fool, the spiritual man is mad,
for the multitude of thine iniquity, and the great hatred.</p>
<p>9:8 The watchman of Ephraim was with my God: but the prophet is a
snare of a fowler in all his ways, and hatred in the house of his God.</p>
<p>9:9 They have deeply corrupted themselves, as in the days of Gibeah:
therefore he will remember their iniquity, he will visit their sins.</p>
<p>9:10 I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness; I saw your fathers
as the firstripe in the fig tree at her first time: but they went to
Baalpeor, and separated themselves unto that shame; and their
abominations were according as they loved.</p>
<p>9:11 As for Ephraim, their glory shall fly away like a bird, from the
birth, and from the womb, and from the conception.</p>
<p>9:12 Though they bring up their children, yet will I bereave them,
that there shall not be a man left: yea, woe also to them when I
depart from them! 9:13 Ephraim, as I saw Tyrus, is planted in a
pleasant place: but Ephraim shall bring forth his children to the
murderer.</p>
<p>9:14 Give them, O LORD: what wilt thou give? give them a miscarrying
womb and dry breasts.</p>
<p>9:15 All their wickedness is in Gilgal: for there I hated them: for
the wickedness of their doings I will drive them out of mine house, I
will love them no more: all their princes are revolters.</p>
<p>9:16 Ephraim is smitten, their root is dried up, they shall bear no
fruit: yea, though they bring forth, yet will I slay even the beloved
fruit of their womb.</p>
<p>9:17 My God will cast them away, because they did not hearken unto
him: and they shall be wanderers among the nations.</p>
<p>10:1 Israel is an empty vine, he bringeth forth fruit unto himself:
according to the multitude of his fruit he hath increased the altars;
according to the goodness of his land they have made goodly images.</p>
<p>10:2 Their heart is divided; now shall they be found faulty: he shall
break down their altars, he shall spoil their images.</p>
<p>10:3 For now they shall say, We have no king, because we feared not
the LORD; what then should a king do to us? 10:4 They have spoken
words, swearing falsely in making a covenant: thus judgment springeth
up as hemlock in the furrows of the field.</p>
<p>10:5 The inhabitants of Samaria shall fear because of the calves of
Bethaven: for the people thereof shall mourn over it, and the priests
thereof that rejoiced on it, for the glory thereof, because it is
departed from it.</p>
<p>10:6 It shall be also carried unto Assyria for a present to king
Jareb: Ephraim shall receive shame, and Israel shall be ashamed of his
own counsel.</p>
<p>10:7 As for Samaria, her king is cut off as the foam upon the water.</p>
<p>10:8 The high places also of Aven, the sin of Israel, shall be
destroyed: the thorn and the thistle shall come up on their altars;
and they shall say to the mountains, Cover us; and to the hills, Fall
on us.</p>
<p>10:9 O Israel, thou hast sinned from the days of Gibeah: there they
stood: the battle in Gibeah against the children of iniquity did not
overtake them.</p>
<p>10:10 It is in my desire that I should chastise them; and the people
shall be gathered against them, when they shall bind themselves in
their two furrows.</p>
<p>10:11 And Ephraim is as an heifer that is taught, and loveth to tread
out the corn; but I passed over upon her fair neck: I will make
Ephraim to ride; Judah shall plow, and Jacob shall break his clods.</p>
<p>10:12 Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your
fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain
righteousness upon you.</p>
<p>10:13 Ye have plowed wickedness, ye have reaped iniquity; ye have
eaten the fruit of lies: because thou didst trust in thy way, in the
multitude of thy mighty men.</p>
<p>10:14 Therefore shall a tumult arise among thy people, and all thy
fortresses shall be spoiled, as Shalman spoiled Betharbel in the day
of battle: the mother was dashed in pieces upon her children.</p>
<p>10:15 So shall Bethel do unto you because of your great wickedness: in
a morning shall the king of Israel utterly be cut off.</p>
<p>11:1 When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out
of Egypt.</p>
<p>11:2 As they called them, so they went from them: they sacrificed unto
Baalim, and burned incense to graven images.</p>
<p>11:3 I taught Ephraim also to go, taking them by their arms; but they
knew not that I healed them.</p>
<p>11:4 I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love: and I was to
them as they that take off the yoke on their jaws, and I laid meat
unto them.</p>
<p>11:5 He shall not return into the land of Egypt, and the Assyrian
shall be his king, because they refused to return.</p>
<p>11:6 And the sword shall abide on his cities, and shall consume his
branches, and devour them, because of their own counsels.</p>
<p>11:7 And my people are bent to backsliding from me: though they called
them to the most High, none at all would exalt him.</p>
<p>11:8 How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? how shall I deliver thee,
Israel? how shall I make thee as Admah? how shall I set thee as
Zeboim? mine heart is turned within me, my repentings are kindled
together.</p>
<p>11:9 I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger, I will not
return to destroy Ephraim: for I am God, and not man; the Holy One in
the midst of thee: and I will not enter into the city.</p>
<p>11:10 They shall walk after the LORD: he shall roar like a lion: when
he shall roar, then the children shall tremble from the west.</p>
<p>11:11 They shall tremble as a bird out of Egypt, and as a dove out of
the land of Assyria: and I will place them in their houses, saith the
LORD.</p>
<p>11:12 Ephraim compasseth me about with lies, and the house of Israel
with deceit: but Judah yet ruleth with God, and is faithful with the
saints.</p>
<p>12:1 Ephraim feedeth on wind, and followeth after the east wind: he
daily increaseth lies and desolation; and they do make a covenant with
the Assyrians, and oil is carried into Egypt.</p>
<p>12:2 The LORD hath also a controversy with Judah, and will punish
Jacob according to his ways; according to his doings will he
recompense him.</p>
<p>12:3 He took his brother by the heel in the womb, and by his strength
he had power with God: 12:4 Yea, he had power over the angel, and
prevailed: he wept, and made supplication unto him: he found him in
Bethel, and there he spake with us; 12:5 Even the LORD God of hosts;
the LORD is his memorial.</p>
<p>12:6 Therefore turn thou to thy God: keep mercy and judgment and wait
on thy God continually.</p>
<p>12:7 He is a merchant, the balances of deceit are in his hand: he
loveth to oppress.</p>
<p>12:8 And Ephraim said, Yet I am become rich, I have found me out
substance: in all my labours they shall find none iniquity in me that
were sin.</p>
<p>12:9 And I that am the LORD thy God from the land of Egypt will yet
make thee to dwell in tabernacles, as in the days of the solemn feast.</p>
<p>12:10 I have also spoken by the prophets, and I have multiplied
visions, and used similitudes, by the ministry of the prophets.</p>
<p>12:11 Is there iniquity in Gilead? surely they are vanity: they
sacrifice bullocks in Gilgal; yea, their altars are as heaps in the
furrows of the fields.</p>
<p>12:12 And Jacob fled into the country of Syria, and Israel served for
a wife, and for a wife he kept sheep.</p>
<p>12:13 And by a prophet the LORD brought Israel out of Egypt, and by a
prophet was he preserved.</p>
<p>12:14 Ephraim provoked him to anger most bitterly: therefore shall he
leave his blood upon him, and his reproach shall his LORD return unto
him.</p>
<p>13:1 When Ephraim spake trembling, he exalted himself in Israel; but
when he offended in Baal, he died.</p>
<p>13:2 And now they sin more and more, and have made them molten images
of their silver, and idols according to their own understanding, all
of it the work of the craftsmen: they say of them, Let the men that
sacrifice kiss the calves.</p>
<p>13:3 Therefore they shall be as the morning cloud and as the early dew
that passeth away, as the chaff that is driven with the whirlwind out
of the floor, and as the smoke out of the chimney.</p>
<p>13:4 Yet I am the LORD thy God from the land of Egypt, and thou shalt
know no god but me: for there is no saviour beside me.</p>
<p>13:5 I did know thee in the wilderness, in the land of great drought.</p>
<p>13:6 According to their pasture, so were they filled; they were
filled, and their heart was exalted; therefore have they forgotten me.</p>
<p>13:7 Therefore I will be unto them as a lion: as a leopard by the way
will I observe them: 13:8 I will meet them as a bear that is bereaved
of her whelps, and will rend the caul of their heart, and there will I
devour them like a lion: the wild beast shall tear them.</p>
<p>13:9 O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself; but in me is thine help.</p>
<p>13:10 I will be thy king: where is any other that may save thee in all
thy cities? and thy judges of whom thou saidst, Give me a king and
princes? 13:11 I gave thee a king in mine anger, and took him away in
my wrath.</p>
<p>13:12 The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up; his sin is hid.</p>
<p>13:13 The sorrows of a travailing woman shall come upon him: he is an
unwise son; for he should not stay long in the place of the breaking
forth of children.</p>
<p>13:14 I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem
them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be
thy destruction: repentance shall be hid from mine eyes.</p>
<p>13:15 Though he be fruitful among his brethren, an east wind shall
come, the wind of the LORD shall come up from the wilderness, and his
spring shall become dry, and his fountain shall be dried up: he shall
spoil the treasure of all pleasant vessels.</p>
<p>13:16 Samaria shall become desolate; for she hath rebelled against her
God: they shall fall by the sword: their infants shall be dashed in
pieces, and their women with child shall be ripped up.</p>
<p>14:1 O israel, return unto the LORD thy God; for thou hast fallen by
thine iniquity.</p>
<p>14:2 Take with you words, and turn to the LORD: say unto him, Take
away all iniquity, and receive us graciously: so will we render the
calves of our lips.</p>
<p>14:3 Asshur shall not save us; we will not ride upon horses: neither
will we say any more to the work of our hands, Ye are our gods: for in
thee the fatherless findeth mercy.</p>
<p>14:4 I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine
anger is turned away from him.</p>
<p>14:5 I will be as the dew unto Israel: he shall grow as the lily, and
cast forth his roots as Lebanon.</p>
<p>14:6 His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive
tree, and his smell as Lebanon.</p>
<p>14:7 They that dwell under his shadow shall return; they shall revive
as the corn, and grow as the vine: the scent thereof shall be as the
wine of Lebanon.</p>
<p>14:8 Ephraim shall say, What have I to do any more with idols? I have
heard him, and observed him: I am like a green fir tree. From me is
thy fruit found.</p>
<p>14:9 Who is wise, and he shall understand these things? prudent, and
he shall know them? for the ways of the LORD are right, and the just
shall walk in them: but the transgressors shall fall therein.</p>
<!--end chapter-->
<h2><SPAN name="Joel" id="Joel"></SPAN>Joel</h2>
<p>1:1 The word of the LORD that came to Joel the son of Pethuel.</p>
<p>1:2 Hear this, ye old men, and give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land.</p>
<p>Hath this been in your days, or even in the days of your fathers? 1:3
Tell ye your children of it, and let your children tell their
children, and their children another generation.</p>
<p>1:4 That which the palmerworm hath left hath the locust eaten; and
that which the locust hath left hath the cankerworm eaten; and that
which the cankerworm hath left hath the caterpiller eaten.</p>
<p>1:5 Awake, ye drunkards, and weep; and howl, all ye drinkers of wine,
because of the new wine; for it is cut off from your mouth.</p>
<p>1:6 For a nation is come up upon my land, strong, and without number,
whose teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he hath the cheek teeth of a
great lion.</p>
<p>1:7 He hath laid my vine waste, and barked my fig tree: he hath made
it clean bare, and cast it away; the branches thereof are made white.</p>
<p>1:8 Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth for the husband of her
youth.</p>
<p>1:9 The meat offering and the drink offering is cut off from the house
of the LORD; the priests, the LORD’s ministers, mourn.</p>
<p>1:10 The field is wasted, the land mourneth; for the corn is wasted:
the new wine is dried up, the oil languisheth.</p>
<p>1:11 Be ye ashamed, O ye husbandmen; howl, O ye vinedressers, for the
wheat and for the barley; because the harvest of the field is
perished.</p>
<p>1:12 The vine is dried up, and the fig tree languisheth; the
pomegranate tree, the palm tree also, and the apple tree, even all the
trees of the field, are withered: because joy is withered away from
the sons of men.</p>
<p>1:13 Gird yourselves, and lament, ye priests: howl, ye ministers of
the altar: come, lie all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God:
for the meat offering and the drink offering is withholden from the
house of your God.</p>
<p>1:14 Sanctify ye a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the elders and
all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the LORD your God,
and cry unto the LORD, 1:15 Alas for the day! for the day of the LORD
is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come.</p>
<p>1:16 Is not the meat cut off before our eyes, yea, joy and gladness
from the house of our God? 1:17 The seed is rotten under their clods,
the garners are laid desolate, the barns are broken down; for the corn
is withered.</p>
<p>1:18 How do the beasts groan! the herds of cattle are perplexed,
because they have no pasture; yea, the flocks of sheep are made
desolate.</p>
<p>1:19 O LORD, to thee will I cry: for the fire hath devoured the
pastures of the wilderness, and the flame hath burned all the trees of
the field.</p>
<p>1:20 The beasts of the field cry also unto thee: for the rivers of
waters are dried up, and the fire hath devoured the pastures of the
wilderness.</p>
<p>2:1 Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy
mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of
the LORD cometh, for it is nigh at hand; 2:2 A day of darkness and of
gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning
spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not
been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the
years of many generations.</p>
<p>2:3 A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the
land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate
wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.</p>
<p>2:4 The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as
horsemen, so shall they run.</p>
<p>2:5 Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they
leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble, as
a strong people set in battle array.</p>
<p>2:6 Before their face the people shall be much pained: all faces shall
gather blackness.</p>
<p>2:7 They shall run like mighty men; they shall climb the wall like men
of war; and they shall march every one on his ways, and they shall not
break their ranks: 2:8 Neither shall one thrust another; they shall
walk every one in his path: and when they fall upon the sword, they
shall not be wounded.</p>
<p>2:9 They shall run to and fro in the city; they shall run upon the
wall, they shall climb up upon the houses; they shall enter in at the
windows like a thief.</p>
<p>2:10 The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the
sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their
shining: 2:11 And the LORD shall utter his voice before his army: for
his camp is very great: for he is strong that executeth his word: for
the day of the LORD is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?
2:12 Therefore also now, saith the LORD, turn ye even to me with all
your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning:
2:13 And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the
LORD your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of
great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil.</p>
<p>2:14 Who knoweth if he will return and repent, and leave a blessing
behind him; even a meat offering and a drink offering unto the LORD
your God? 2:15 Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a
solemn assembly: 2:16 Gather the people, sanctify the congregation,
assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the
breasts: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out
of her closet.</p>
<p>2:17 Let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep between the
porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O LORD, and
give not thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over
them: wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God?
2:18 Then will the LORD be jealous for his land, and pity his people.</p>
<p>2:19 Yea, the LORD will answer and say unto his people, Behold, I will
send you corn, and wine, and oil, and ye shall be satisfied therewith:
and I will no more make you a reproach among the heathen: 2:20 But I
will remove far off from you the northern army, and will drive him
into a land barren and desolate, with his face toward the east sea,
and his hinder part toward the utmost sea, and his stink shall come
up, and his ill savour shall come up, because he hath done great
things.</p>
<p>2:21 Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice: for the LORD will do great
things.</p>
<p>2:22 Be not afraid, ye beasts of the field: for the pastures of the
wilderness do spring, for the tree beareth her fruit, the fig tree and
the vine do yield their strength.</p>
<p>2:23 Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your
God: for he hath given you the former rain moderately, and he will
cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter
rain in the first month.</p>
<p>2:24 And the floors shall be full of wheat, and the vats shall
overflow with wine and oil.</p>
<p>2:25 And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten,
the cankerworm, and the caterpiller, and the palmerworm, my great army
which I sent among you.</p>
<p>2:26 And ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name
of the LORD your God, that hath dealt wondrously with you: and my
people shall never be ashamed.</p>
<p>2:27 And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am
the LORD your God, and none else: and my people shall never be
ashamed.</p>
<p>2:28 And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my
spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall
prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see
visions: 2:29 And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in
those days will I pour out my spirit.</p>
<p>2:30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood,
and fire, and pillars of smoke.</p>
<p>2:31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood,
before the great and terrible day of the LORD come.</p>
<p>2:32 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name
of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem
shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom
the LORD shall call.</p>
<p>3:1 For, behold, in those days, and in that time, when I shall bring
again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem, 3:2 I will also gather all
nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and
will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel,
whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.</p>
<p>3:3 And they have cast lots for my people; and have given a boy for an
harlot, and sold a girl for wine, that they might drink.</p>
<p>3:4 Yea, and what have ye to do with me, O Tyre, and Zidon, and all
the coasts of Palestine? will ye render me a recompence? and if ye
recompense me, swiftly and speedily will I return your recompence upon
your own head; 3:5 Because ye have taken my silver and my gold, and
have carried into your temples my goodly pleasant things: 3:6 The
children also of Judah and the children of Jerusalem have ye sold unto
the Grecians, that ye might remove them far from their border.</p>
<p>3:7 Behold, I will raise them out of the place whither ye have sold
them, and will return your recompence upon your own head: 3:8 And I
will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the children
of Judah, and they shall sell them to the Sabeans, to a people far
off: for the LORD hath spoken it.</p>
<p>3:9 Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles; Prepare war, wake up the
mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up: 3:10
Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruninghooks into spears:
let the weak say, I am strong.</p>
<p>3:11 Assemble yourselves, and come, all ye heathen, and gather
yourselves together round about: thither cause thy mighty ones to come
down, O LORD.</p>
<p>3:12 Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of
Jehoshaphat: for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round
about.</p>
<p>3:13 Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you
down; for the press is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness
is great.</p>
<p>3:14 Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of
the LORD is near in the valley of decision.</p>
<p>3:15 The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall
withdraw their shining.</p>
<p>3:16 The LORD also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from
Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the LORD
will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of
Israel.</p>
<p>3:17 So shall ye know that I am the LORD your God dwelling in Zion, my
holy mountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no
strangers pass through her any more.</p>
<p>3:18 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the mountains shall
drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the
rivers of Judah shall flow with waters, and a fountain shall come
forth out of the house of the LORD, and shall water the valley of
Shittim.</p>
<p>3:19 Egypt shall be a desolation, and Edom shall be a desolate
wilderness, for the violence against the children of Judah, because
they have shed innocent blood in their land.</p>
<p>3:20 But Judah shall dwell for ever, and Jerusalem from generation to
generation.</p>
<p>3:21 For I will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed: for the
LORD dwelleth in Zion.</p>
<!--end chapter-->
<h2><SPAN name="Amos" id="Amos"></SPAN>Amos</h2>
<p>1:1 The words of Amos, who was among the herdmen of Tekoa, which he
saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the
days of Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel, two years before the
earthquake.</p>
<p>1:2 And he said, The LORD will roar from Zion, and utter his voice
from Jerusalem; and the habitations of the shepherds shall mourn, and
the top of Carmel shall wither.</p>
<p>1:3 Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Damascus, and for
four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have
threshed Gilead with threshing instruments of iron: 1:4 But I will
send a fire into the house of Hazael, which shall devour the palaces
of Benhadad.</p>
<p>1:5 I will break also the bar of Damascus, and cut off the inhabitant
from the plain of Aven, and him that holdeth the sceptre from the
house of Eden: and the people of Syria shall go into captivity unto
Kir, saith the LORD.</p>
<p>1:6 Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Gaza, and for
four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they
carried away captive the whole captivity, to deliver them up to Edom:
1:7 But I will send a fire on the wall of Gaza, which shall devour the
palaces thereof: 1:8 And I will cut off the inhabitant from Ashdod,
and him that holdeth the sceptre from Ashkelon, and I will turn mine
hand against Ekron: and the remnant of the Philistines shall perish,
saith the Lord GOD.</p>
<p>1:9 Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Tyrus, and for
four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they
delivered up the whole captivity to Edom, and remembered not the
brotherly covenant: 1:10 But I will send a fire on the wall of Tyrus,
which shall devour the palaces thereof.</p>
<p>1:11 Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Edom, and for
four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because he did
pursue his brother with the sword, and did cast off all pity, and his
anger did tear perpetually, and he kept his wrath for ever: 1:12 But I
will send a fire upon Teman, which shall devour the palaces of Bozrah.</p>
<p>1:13 Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of the children of
Ammon, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof;
because they have ripped up the women with child of Gilead, that they
might enlarge their border: 1:14 But I will kindle a fire in the wall
of Rabbah, and it shall devour the palaces thereof, with shouting in
the day of battle, with a tempest in the day of the whirlwind: 1:15
And their king shall go into captivity, he and his princes together,
saith the LORD.</p>
<p>2:1 Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Moab, and for
four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because he burned
the bones of the king of Edom into lime: 2:2 But I will send a fire
upon Moab, and it shall devour the palaces of Kirioth: and Moab shall
die with tumult, with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet: 2:3
And I will cut off the judge from the midst thereof, and will slay all
the princes thereof with him, saith the LORD.</p>
<p>2:4 Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Judah, and for
four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have
despised the law of the LORD, and have not kept his commandments, and
their lies caused them to err, after the which their fathers have
walked: 2:5 But I will send a fire upon Judah, and it shall devour the
palaces of Jerusalem.</p>
<p>2:6 Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Israel, and for
four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they sold
the righteous for silver, and the poor for a pair of shoes; 2:7 That
pant after the dust of the earth on the head of the poor, and turn
aside the way of the meek: and a man and his father will go in unto
the same maid, to profane my holy name: 2:8 And they lay themselves
down upon clothes laid to pledge by every altar, and they drink the
wine of the condemned in the house of their god.</p>
<p>2:9 Yet destroyed I the Amorite before them, whose height was like the
height of the cedars, and he was strong as the oaks; yet I destroyed
his fruit from above, and his roots from beneath.</p>
<p>2:10 Also I brought you up from the land of Egypt, and led you forty
years through the wilderness, to possess the land of the Amorite.</p>
<p>2:11 And I raised up of your sons for prophets, and of your young men
for Nazarites. Is it not even thus, O ye children of Israel? saith the
LORD.</p>
<p>2:12 But ye gave the Nazarites wine to drink; and commanded the
prophets, saying, Prophesy not.</p>
<p>2:13 Behold, I am pressed under you, as a cart is pressed that is full
of sheaves.</p>
<p>2:14 Therefore the flight shall perish from the swift, and the strong
shall not strengthen his force, neither shall the mighty deliver
himself: 2:15 Neither shall he stand that handleth the bow; and he
that is swift of foot shall not deliver himself: neither shall he that
rideth the horse deliver himself.</p>
<p>2:16 And he that is courageous among the mighty shall flee away naked
in that day, saith the LORD.</p>
<p>3:1 Hear this word that the LORD hath spoken against you, O children
of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up from the land
of Egypt, saying, 3:2 You only have I known of all the families of the
earth: therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.</p>
<p>3:3 Can two walk together, except they be agreed? 3:4 Will a lion
roar in the forest, when he hath no prey? will a young lion cry out of
his den, if he have taken nothing? 3:5 Can a bird fall in a snare
upon the earth, where no gin is for him? shall one take up a snare
from the earth, and have taken nothing at all? 3:6 Shall a trumpet be
blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? shall there be evil
in a city, and the LORD hath not done it? 3:7 Surely the Lord GOD
will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the
prophets.</p>
<p>3:8 The lion hath roared, who will not fear? the Lord GOD hath spoken,
who can but prophesy? 3:9 Publish in the palaces at Ashdod, and in
the palaces in the land of Egypt, and say, Assemble yourselves upon
the mountains of Samaria, and behold the great tumults in the midst
thereof, and the oppressed in the midst thereof.</p>
<p>3:10 For they know not to do right, saith the LORD, who store up
violence and robbery in their palaces.</p>
<p>3:11 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; An adversary there shall be
even round about the land; and he shall bring down thy strength from
thee, and thy palaces shall be spoiled.</p>
<p>3:12 Thus saith the LORD; As the shepherd taketh out of the mouth of
the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear; so shall the children of
Israel be taken out that dwell in Samaria in the corner of a bed, and
in Damascus in a couch.</p>
<p>3:13 Hear ye, and testify in the house of Jacob, saith the Lord GOD,
the God of hosts, 3:14 That in the day that I shall visit the
transgressions of Israel upon him I will also visit the altars of
Bethel: and the horns of the altar shall be cut off, and fall to the
ground.</p>
<p>3:15 And I will smite the winter house with the summer house; and the
houses of ivory shall perish, and the great houses shall have an end,
saith the LORD.</p>
<p>4:1 Hear this word, ye kine of Bashan, that are in the mountain of
Samaria, which oppress the poor, which crush the needy, which say to
their masters, Bring, and let us drink.</p>
<p>4:2 The Lord GOD hath sworn by his holiness, that, lo, the days shall
come upon you, that he will take you away with hooks, and your
posterity with fishhooks.</p>
<p>4:3 And ye shall go out at the breaches, every cow at that which is
before her; and ye shall cast them into the palace, saith the LORD.</p>
<p>4:4 Come to Bethel, and transgress; at Gilgal multiply transgression;
and bring your sacrifices every morning, and your tithes after three
years: 4:5 And offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving with leaven, and
proclaim and publish the free offerings: for this liketh you, O ye
children of Israel, saith the Lord GOD.</p>
<p>4:6 And I also have given you cleanness of teeth in all your cities,
and want of bread in all your places: yet have ye not returned unto
me, saith the LORD.</p>
<p>4:7 And also I have withholden the rain from you, when there were yet
three months to the harvest: and I caused it to rain upon one city,
and caused it not to rain upon another city: one piece was rained
upon, and the piece whereupon it rained not withered.</p>
<p>4:8 So two or three cities wandered unto one city, to drink water; but
they were not satisfied: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the
LORD.</p>
<p>4:9 I have smitten you with blasting and mildew: when your gardens and
your vineyards and your fig trees and your olive trees increased, the
palmerworm devoured them: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the
LORD.</p>
<p>4:10 I have sent among you the pestilence after the manner of Egypt:
your young men have I slain with the sword, and have taken away your
horses; and I have made the stink of your camps to come up unto your
nostrils: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD.</p>
<p>4:11 I have overthrown some of you, as God overthrew Sodom and
Gomorrah, and ye were as a firebrand plucked out of the burning: yet
have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD.</p>
<p>4:12 Therefore thus will I do unto thee, O Israel: and because I will
do this unto thee, prepare to meet thy God, O Israel.</p>
<p>4:13 For, lo, he that formeth the mountains, and createth the wind,
and declareth unto man what is his thought, that maketh the morning
darkness, and treadeth upon the high places of the earth, The LORD,
The God of hosts, is his name.</p>
<p>5:1 Hear ye this word which I take up against you, even a lamentation,
O house of Israel.</p>
<p>5:2 The virgin of Israel is fallen; she shall no more rise: she is
forsaken upon her land; there is none to raise her up.</p>
<p>5:3 For thus saith the Lord GOD; The city that went out by a thousand
shall leave an hundred, and that which went forth by an hundred shall
leave ten, to the house of Israel.</p>
<p>5:4 For thus saith the LORD unto the house of Israel, Seek ye me, and
ye shall live: 5:5 But seek not Bethel, nor enter into Gilgal, and
pass not to Beersheba: for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, and
Bethel shall come to nought.</p>
<p>5:6 Seek the LORD, and ye shall live; lest he break out like fire in
the house of Joseph, and devour it, and there be none to quench it in
Bethel.</p>
<p>5:7 Ye who turn judgment to wormwood, and leave off righteousness in
the earth, 5:8 Seek him that maketh the seven stars and Orion, and
turneth the shadow of death into the morning, and maketh the day dark
with night: that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them
out upon the face of the earth: The LORD is his name: 5:9 That
strengtheneth the spoiled against the strong, so that the spoiled
shall come against the fortress.</p>
<p>5:10 They hate him that rebuketh in the gate, and they abhor him that
speaketh uprightly.</p>
<p>5:11 Forasmuch therefore as your treading is upon the poor, and ye
take from him burdens of wheat: ye have built houses of hewn stone,
but ye shall not dwell in them; ye have planted pleasant vineyards,
but ye shall not drink wine of them.</p>
<p>5:12 For I know your manifold transgressions and your mighty sins:
they afflict the just, they take a bribe, and they turn aside the poor
in the gate from their right.</p>
<p>5:13 Therefore the prudent shall keep silence in that time; for it is
an evil time.</p>
<p>5:14 Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live: and so the LORD, the
God of hosts, shall be with you, as ye have spoken.</p>
<p>5:15 Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish judgment in the
gate: it may be that the LORD God of hosts will be gracious unto the
remnant of Joseph.</p>
<p>5:16 Therefore the LORD, the God of hosts, the LORD, saith thus;
Wailing shall be in all streets; and they shall say in all the
highways, Alas! alas! and they shall call the husbandman to mourning,
and such as are skilful of lamentation to wailing.</p>
<p>5:17 And in all vineyards shall be wailing: for I will pass through
thee, saith the LORD.</p>
<p>5:18 Woe unto you that desire the day of the LORD! to what end is it
for you? the day of the LORD is darkness, and not light.</p>
<p>5:19 As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; or went
into the house, and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit
him.</p>
<p>5:20 Shall not the day of the LORD be darkness, and not light? even
very dark, and no brightness in it? 5:21 I hate, I despise your feast
days, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies.</p>
<p>5:22 Though ye offer me burnt offerings and your meat offerings, I
will not accept them: neither will I regard the peace offerings of
your fat beasts.</p>
<p>5:23 Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs; for I will not
hear the melody of thy viols.</p>
<p>5:24 But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a
mighty stream.</p>
<p>5:25 Have ye offered unto me sacrifices and offerings in the
wilderness forty years, O house of Israel? 5:26 But ye have borne the
tabernacle of your Moloch and Chiun your images, the star of your god,
which ye made to yourselves.</p>
<p>5:27 Therefore will I cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus,
saith the LORD, whose name is The God of hosts.</p>
<p>6:1 Woe to them that are at ease in Zion, and trust in the mountain of
Samaria, which are named chief of the nations, to whom the house of
Israel came! 6:2 Pass ye unto Calneh, and see; and from thence go ye
to Hamath the great: then go down to Gath of the Philistines: be they
better than these kingdoms? or their border greater than your border?
6:3 Ye that put far away the evil day, and cause the seat of violence
to come near; 6:4 That lie upon beds of ivory, and stretch themselves
upon their couches, and eat the lambs out of the flock, and the calves
out of the midst of the stall; 6:5 That chant to the sound of the
viol, and invent to themselves instruments of musick, like David; 6:6
That drink wine in bowls, and anoint themselves with the chief
ointments: but they are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph.</p>
<p>6:7 Therefore now shall they go captive with the first that go
captive, and the banquet of them that stretched themselves shall be
removed.</p>
<p>6:8 The Lord GOD hath sworn by himself, saith the LORD the God of
hosts, I abhor the excellency of Jacob, and hate his palaces:
therefore will I deliver up the city with all that is therein.</p>
<p>6:9 And it shall come to pass, if there remain ten men in one house,
that they shall die.</p>
<p>6:10 And a man’s uncle shall take him up, and he that burneth him, to
bring out the bones out of the house, and shall say unto him that is
by the sides of the house, Is there yet any with thee? and he shall
say, No. Then shall he say, Hold thy tongue: for we may not make
mention of the name of the LORD.</p>
<p>6:11 For, behold, the LORD commandeth, and he will smite the great
house with breaches, and the little house with clefts.</p>
<p>6:12 Shall horses run upon the rock? will one plow there with oxen?
for ye have turned judgment into gall, and the fruit of righteousness
into hemlock: 6:13 Ye which rejoice in a thing of nought, which say,
Have we not taken to us horns by our own strength? 6:14 But, behold,
I will raise up against you a nation, O house of Israel, saith the
LORD the God of hosts; and they shall afflict you from the entering in
of Hemath unto the river of the wilderness.</p>
<p>7:1 Thus hath the Lord GOD shewed unto me; and, behold, he formed
grasshoppers in the beginning of the shooting up of the latter growth;
and, lo, it was the latter growth after the king’s mowings.</p>
<p>7:2 And it came to pass, that when they had made an end of eating the
grass of the land, then I said, O Lord GOD, forgive, I beseech thee:
by whom shall Jacob arise? for he is small.</p>
<p>7:3 The LORD repented for this: It shall not be, saith the LORD.</p>
<p>7:4 Thus hath the Lord GOD shewed unto me: and, behold, the Lord GOD
called to contend by fire, and it devoured the great deep, and did eat
up a part.</p>
<p>7:5 Then said I, O Lord GOD, cease, I beseech thee: by whom shall
Jacob arise? for he is small.</p>
<p>7:6 The LORD repented for this: This also shall not be, saith the Lord
GOD.</p>
<p>7:7 Thus he shewed me: and, behold, the LORD stood upon a wall made by
a plumbline, with a plumbline in his hand.</p>
<p>7:8 And the LORD said unto me, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A
plumbline. Then said the LORD, Behold, I will set a plumbline in the
midst of my people Israel: I will not again pass by them any more: 7:9
And the high places of Isaac shall be desolate, and the sanctuaries of
Israel shall be laid waste; and I will rise against the house of
Jeroboam with the sword.</p>
<p>7:10 Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam king of
Israel, saying, Amos hath conspired against thee in the midst of the
house of Israel: the land is not able to bear all his words.</p>
<p>7:11 For thus Amos saith, Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel
shall surely be led away captive out of their own land.</p>
<p>7:12 Also Amaziah said unto Amos, O thou seer, go, flee thee away into
the land of Judah, and there eat bread, and prophesy there: 7:13 But
prophesy not again any more at Bethel: for it is the king’s chapel,
and it is the king’s court.</p>
<p>7:14 Then answered Amos, and said to Amaziah, I was no prophet,
neither was I a prophet’s son; but I was an herdman, and a gatherer of
sycomore fruit: 7:15 And the LORD took me as I followed the flock, and
the LORD said unto me, Go, prophesy unto my people Israel.</p>
<p>7:16 Now therefore hear thou the word of the LORD: Thou sayest,
Prophesy not against Israel, and drop not thy word against the house
of Isaac.</p>
<p>7:17 Therefore thus saith the LORD; Thy wife shall be an harlot in the
city, and thy sons and thy daughters shall fall by the sword, and thy
land shall be divided by line; and thou shalt die in a polluted land:
and Israel shall surely go into captivity forth of his land.</p>
<p>8:1 Thus hath the Lord GOD shewed unto me: and behold a basket of
summer fruit.</p>
<p>8:2 And he said, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A basket of summer
fruit. Then said the LORD unto me, The end is come upon my people of
Israel; I will not again pass by them any more.</p>
<p>8:3 And the songs of the temple shall be howlings in that day, saith
the Lord GOD: there shall be many dead bodies in every place; they
shall cast them forth with silence.</p>
<p>8:4 Hear this, O ye that swallow up the needy, even to make the poor
of the land to fail, 8:5 Saying, When will the new moon be gone, that
we may sell corn? and the sabbath, that we may set forth wheat, making
the ephah small, and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances by
deceit? 8:6 That we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a
pair of shoes; yea, and sell the refuse of the wheat? 8:7 The LORD
hath sworn by the excellency of Jacob, Surely I will never forget any
of their works.</p>
<p>8:8 Shall not the land tremble for this, and every one mourn that
dwelleth therein? and it shall rise up wholly as a flood; and it shall
be cast out and drowned, as by the flood of Egypt.</p>
<p>8:9 And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord GOD, that I
will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in
the clear day: 8:10 And I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all
your songs into lamentation; and I will bring up sackcloth upon all
loins, and baldness upon every head; and I will make it as the
mourning of an only son, and the end thereof as a bitter day.</p>
<p>8:11 Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a
famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but
of hearing the words of the LORD: 8:12 And they shall wander from sea
to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro
to seek the word of the LORD, and shall not find it.</p>
<p>8:13 In that day shall the fair virgins and young men faint for
thirst.</p>
<p>8:14 They that swear by the sin of Samaria, and say, Thy god, O Dan,
liveth; and, The manner of Beersheba liveth; even they shall fall, and
never rise up again.</p>
<p>9:1 I saw the LORD standing upon the altar: and he said, Smite the
lintel of the door, that the posts may shake: and cut them in the
head, all of them; and I will slay the last of them with the sword: he
that fleeth of them shall not flee away, and he that escapeth of them
shall not be delivered.</p>
<p>9:2 Though they dig into hell, thence shall mine hand take them;
though they climb up to heaven, thence will I bring them down: 9:3 And
though they hide themselves in the top of Carmel, I will search and
take them out thence; and though they be hid from my sight in the
bottom of the sea, thence will I command the serpent, and he shall
bite them: 9:4 And though they go into captivity before their enemies,
thence will I command the sword, and it shall slay them: and I will
set mine eyes upon them for evil, and not for good.</p>
<p>9:5 And the Lord GOD of hosts is he that toucheth the land, and it
shall melt, and all that dwell therein shall mourn: and it shall rise
up wholly like a flood; and shall be drowned, as by the flood of
Egypt.</p>
<p>9:6 It is he that buildeth his stories in the heaven, and hath founded
his troop in the earth; he that calleth for the waters of the sea, and
poureth them out upon the face of the earth: The LORD is his name.</p>
<p>9:7 Are ye not as children of the Ethiopians unto me, O children of
Israel? saith the LORD. Have not I brought up Israel out of the land
of Egypt? and the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Syrians from Kir?
9:8 Behold, the eyes of the Lord GOD are upon the sinful kingdom, and
I will destroy it from off the face of the earth; saving that I will
not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, saith the LORD.</p>
<p>9:9 For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among
all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the
least grain fall upon the earth.</p>
<p>9:10 All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, which say,
The evil shall not overtake nor prevent us.</p>
<p>9:11 In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is
fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his
ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old: 9:12 That they may
possess the remnant of Edom, and of all the heathen, which are called
by my name, saith the LORD that doeth this.</p>
<p>9:13 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that the plowman shall
overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed;
and the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt.</p>
<p>9:14 And I will bring again the captivity of my people of Israel, and
they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they shall
plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make
gardens, and eat the fruit of them.</p>
<p>9:15 And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be
pulled up out of their land which I have given them, saith the LORD
thy God.</p>
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<h2><SPAN name="Obadiah" id="Obadiah"></SPAN>Obadiah</h2>
<p>1:1 The vision of Obadiah. Thus saith the Lord GOD concerning Edom;
We have heard a rumour from the LORD, and an ambassador is sent among
the heathen, Arise ye, and let us rise up against her in battle.</p>
<p>1:2 Behold, I have made thee small among the heathen: thou art greatly
despised.</p>
<p>1:3 The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee, thou that dwellest in
the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high; that saith in his
heart, Who shall bring me down to the ground? 1:4 Though thou exalt
thyself as the eagle, and though thou set thy nest among the stars,
thence will I bring thee down, saith the LORD.</p>
<p>1:5 If thieves came to thee, if robbers by night, (how art thou cut
off!) would they not have stolen till they had enough? if the
grapegatherers came to thee, would they not leave some grapes? 1:6
How are the things of Esau searched out! how are his hidden things
sought up! 1:7 All the men of thy confederacy have brought thee even
to the border: the men that were at peace with thee have deceived
thee, and prevailed against thee; that they eat thy bread have laid a
wound under thee: there is none understanding in him.</p>
<p>1:8 Shall I not in that day, saith the LORD, even destroy the wise men
out of Edom, and understanding out of the mount of Esau? 1:9 And thy
mighty men, O Teman, shall be dismayed, to the end that every one of
the mount of Esau may be cut off by slaughter.</p>
<p>1:10 For thy violence against thy brother Jacob shame shall cover
thee, and thou shalt be cut off for ever.</p>
<p>1:11 In the day that thou stoodest on the other side, in the day that
the strangers carried away captive his forces, and foreigners entered
into his gates, and cast lots upon Jerusalem, even thou wast as one of
them.</p>
<p>1:12 But thou shouldest not have looked on the day of thy brother in
the day that he became a stranger; neither shouldest thou have
rejoiced over the children of Judah in the day of their destruction;
neither shouldest thou have spoken proudly in the day of distress.</p>
<p>1:13 Thou shouldest not have entered into the gate of my people in the
day of their calamity; yea, thou shouldest not have looked on their
affliction in the day of their calamity, nor have laid hands on their
substance in the day of their calamity; 1:14 Neither shouldest thou
have stood in the crossway, to cut off those of his that did escape;
neither shouldest thou have delivered up those of his that did remain
in the day of distress.</p>
<p>1:15 For the day of the LORD is near upon all the heathen: as thou
hast done, it shall be done unto thee: thy reward shall return upon
thine own head.</p>
<p>1:16 For as ye have drunk upon my holy mountain, so shall all the
heathen drink continually, yea, they shall drink, and they shall
swallow down, and they shall be as though they had not been.</p>
<p>1:17 But upon mount Zion shall be deliverance, and there shall be
holiness; and the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions.</p>
<p>1:18 And the house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a
flame, and the house of Esau for stubble, and they shall kindle in
them, and devour them; and there shall not be any remaining of the
house of Esau; for the LORD hath spoken it.</p>
<p>1:19 And they of the south shall possess the mount of Esau; and they
of the plain the Philistines: and they shall possess the fields of
Ephraim, and the fields of Samaria: and Benjamin shall possess Gilead.</p>
<p>1:20 And the captivity of this host of the children of Israel shall
possess that of the Canaanites, even unto Zarephath; and the captivity
of Jerusalem, which is in Sepharad, shall possess the cities of the
south.</p>
<p>1:21 And saviours shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of
Esau; and the kingdom shall be the LORD’s.</p>
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<h2><SPAN name="Jonah" id="Jonah"></SPAN>Jonah</h2>
<p>1:1 Now the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the son of Amittai,
saying, 1:2 Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it;
for their wickedness is come up before me.</p>
<p>1:3 But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the
LORD, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish:
so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them
unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD.</p>
<p>1:4 But the LORD sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a
mighty tempest in the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken.</p>
<p>1:5 Then the mariners were afraid, and cried every man unto his god,
and cast forth the wares that were in the ship into the sea, to
lighten it of them. But Jonah was gone down into the sides of the
ship; and he lay, and was fast asleep.</p>
<p>1:6 So the shipmaster came to him, and said unto him, What meanest
thou, O sleeper? arise, call upon thy God, if so be that God will
think upon us, that we perish not.</p>
<p>1:7 And they said every one to his fellow, Come, and let us cast lots,
that we may know for whose cause this evil is upon us. So they cast
lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah.</p>
<p>1:8 Then said they unto him, Tell us, we pray thee, for whose cause
this evil is upon us; What is thine occupation? and whence comest
thou? what is thy country? and of what people art thou? 1:9 And he
said unto them, I am an Hebrew; and I fear the LORD, the God of
heaven, which hath made the sea and the dry land.</p>
<p>1:10 Then were the men exceedingly afraid, and said unto him. Why hast
thou done this? For the men knew that he fled from the presence of the
LORD, because he had told them.</p>
<p>1:11 Then said they unto him, What shall we do unto thee, that the sea
may be calm unto us? for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous.</p>
<p>1:12 And he said unto them, Take me up, and cast me forth into the
sea; so shall the sea be calm unto you: for I know that for my sake
this great tempest is upon you.</p>
<p>1:13 Nevertheless the men rowed hard to bring it to the land; but they
could not: for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous against them.</p>
<p>1:14 Wherefore they cried unto the LORD, and said, We beseech thee, O
LORD, we beseech thee, let us not perish for this man’s life, and lay
not upon us innocent blood: for thou, O LORD, hast done as it pleased
thee.</p>
<p>1:15 So they look up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea: and the
sea ceased from her raging.</p>
<p>1:16 Then the men feared the LORD exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice
unto the LORD, and made vows.</p>
<p>1:17 Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And
Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.</p>
<p>2:1 Then Jonah prayed unto the LORD his God out of the fish’s belly,
2:2 And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the LORD, and
he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my
voice.</p>
<p>2:3 For thou hadst cast me into the deep, in the midst of the seas;
and the floods compassed me about: all thy billows and thy waves
passed over me.</p>
<p>2:4 Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight; yet I will look again
toward thy holy temple.</p>
<p>2:5 The waters compassed me about, even to the soul: the depth closed
me round about, the weeds were wrapped about my head.</p>
<p>2:6 I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her
bars was about me for ever: yet hast thou brought up my life from
corruption, O LORD my God.</p>
<p>2:7 When my soul fainted within me I remembered the LORD: and my
prayer came in unto thee, into thine holy temple.</p>
<p>2:8 They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy.</p>
<p>2:9 But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I
will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the LORD.</p>
<p>2:10 And the LORD spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon
the dry land.</p>
<p>3:1 And the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the second time, saying,
3:2 Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the
preaching that I bid thee.</p>
<p>3:3 So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of
the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days’
journey.</p>
<p>3:4 And Jonah began to enter into the city a day’s journey, and he
cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.</p>
<p>3:5 So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and
put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them.</p>
<p>3:6 For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his
throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth,
and sat in ashes.</p>
<p>3:7 And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by
the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor
beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink
water: 3:8 But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry
mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and
from the violence that is in their hands.</p>
<p>3:9 Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his
fierce anger, that we perish not? 3:10 And God saw their works, that
they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he
had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.</p>
<p>4:1 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry.</p>
<p>4:2 And he prayed unto the LORD, and said, I pray thee, O LORD, was
not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled
before unto Tarshish: for I knew that thou art a gracious God, and
merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest thee of
the evil.</p>
<p>4:3 Therefore now, O LORD, take, I beseech thee, my life from me; for
it is better for me to die than to live.</p>
<p>4:4 Then said the LORD, Doest thou well to be angry? 4:5 So Jonah
went out of the city, and sat on the east side of the city, and there
made him a booth, and sat under it in the shadow, till he might see
what would become of the city.</p>
<p>4:6 And the LORD God prepared a gourd, and made it to come up over
Jonah, that it might be a shadow over his head, to deliver him from
his grief. So Jonah was exceeding glad of the gourd.</p>
<p>4:7 But God prepared a worm when the morning rose the next day, and it
smote the gourd that it withered.</p>
<p>4:8 And it came to pass, when the sun did arise, that God prepared a
vehement east wind; and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he
fainted, and wished in himself to die, and said, It is better for me
to die than to live.</p>
<p>4:9 And God said to Jonah, Doest thou well to be angry for the gourd?
And he said, I do well to be angry, even unto death.</p>
<p>4:10 Then said the LORD, Thou hast had pity on the gourd, for the
which thou hast not laboured, neither madest it grow; which came up in
a night, and perished in a night: 4:11 And should not I spare Nineveh,
that great city, wherein are more then sixscore thousand persons that
cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also
much cattle?</p>
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