Day 284 The Bible in a Year (Orthodox canon)

Amos 1

1 The words of Amos which came [to him] in Accarim out of Thecue, which he saw concerning Jerusalem, in the days of Ozias king of Juda, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joas king of Israel, two years before the earthquake. 2 And he said, The Lord has spoken out of Sion, and has uttered his voice out of Jerusalem; and the pastures of the shepherds have mourned, and the top of Carmel is dried up. 3 And the Lord said, For three sins of Damascus, and for four, I will not turn away from it; because they sawed with iron saws the women with child of the Galaadites. 4 And I will send a fire on the house of Azael, and it shall devour the foundations of the son of Ader. 5 And I will break to pieces the bars of Damascus, and will destroy the inhabitants out of the plain of On, and will cut in pieces a tribe out of the men of Charrhan: and the famous people of Syria shall be led captive, saith the Lord. 6 Thus saith the Lord; For three sins of Gaza, and for four, I will not turn away from them; because they took prisoners the captivity of Solomon, to shut [them] up into Idumea. 7 And I will send forth a fire on the walls of Gaza, and it shall devour its foundations. 8 And I will destroy the inhabitants out of Azotus, and a tribe shall be cut off from Ascalon, and I will stretch out my hand upon Accaron: and the remnant of the Philistines shall perish, saith the Lord. 9 Thus saith the Lord; For three transgressions of Tyre, and for four, I will not turn away from it; because they shut up the prisoners of Solomon into Idumea, and remembered not the covenant of brethren. 10 And I will send forth a fire on the walls of Tyre, and it shall devour the foundations of it. 11 Thus saith the Lord; For three sins of Idumea, and for four, I will not turn away from them; because they pursued their brother with the sword, and destroyed the mother upon the earth, and summoned up his anger for a testimony, and kept up his fury to the end. 12 And I will send forth a fire upon Thaman, and it shall devour the foundations of her walls. 13 Thus saith the Lord; For three sins of the children of Ammon, and for four, I will not turn away from him; because they ripped up the women with child of the Galaadites, that they might widen their coasts. 14 And I will kindle a fire on the walls of Rabbath, and it shall devour her foundations with shouting in the day of war, and she shall be shaken in the days of her destruction: 15 and her kings shall go into captivity, their priests and their rulers together, saith the Lord.

Amos 2

1 Thus saith the Lord; For three sins of Moab, and for four, I will not turn away from it; because they burnt the bones of the king of Idumea to lime. 2 But I will send forth a fire on Moab, and it shall devour the foundations of its cities: and Moab shall perish in weakness, with a shout, and with the sound of a trumpet. 3 And I will destroy the judge out of her, and slay all her princes with him, saith the Lord. 4 Thus saith the Lord; For three sins of the children of Juda, and for four, I will not turn away from him; because they have rejected the law of the Lord, and have not kept his ordinances, and their vain [idols] which they made, which their fathers followed, caused them to err. 5 And I will send a fire on Juda, and it shall devour the foundations of Jerusalem. 6 Thus saith the Lord; For three sins of Israel, and for four, I will not turn away from him; because they sold the righteous for silver, and the poor for sandals, 7 wherewith to tread on the dust of the earth, and they have smitten upon the heads of the poor, and have perverted the way of the lowly: and a son and his father have gone in to the same maid, that they might profane the name of their God. 8 And binding their clothes with cords they have made them curtains near the altar, and they have drunk wine gained by extortion in the house of their God. 9 Nevertheless I cut off the Amorite from before them, whose height was as the height of a cedar, and he was strong as an oak; and I dried up his fruit from above, and his roots from beneath. 10 And I brought you up out of the land of Egypt, and led you about in the desert forty years, that ye should inherit the land of the Amorites. 11 And I took of your sons for prophets, and of your young men for consecration. Are not these things so, ye sons of Israel? saith the Lord. 12 But ye gave the consecrated ones wine to drink; and ye commanded the prophets, saying, Prophesy not. 13 Therefore, behold, I roll under you, as a waggon full of straw is rolled. 14 And flight shall perish from the runner, and the strong shall not hold fast his strength, and the warrior shall not save his life: 15 and the archer shall not withstand, and he that is swift of foot shall in no wise escape; and the horseman shall not save his life. 16 And the strong shall find no confidence in power: the naked shall flee away in that day, saith the Lord.

Amos 3

1 Hear ye this word, O house of Israel, which the Lord has spoken concerning you, and against the whole family whom I brought up out of the land of Egypt, saying, 2 You especially have I known out of all the families of the earth: therefore will I take vengeance upon you for all your sins. 3 Shall two walk together at all, if they do not know one another? 4 Will a lion roar out of his thicket if he has no prey? will a [lion's] whelp utter his voice at all out of his lair, if he have taken nothing? 5 Will a bird fall on the earth without a fowler? will a snare be taken up from the earth without having taken anything? 6 Shall the trumpet sound in the city, and the people not be alarmed? shall there be evil in a city which the Lord has not wrought? 7 For the Lord God will do nothing, without revealing instruction to his servants the prophets. 8 A lion shall roar, and who will not be alarmed? the Lord God has spoken, and who will not prophesy? 9 Proclaim it to the regions among the Assyrians, and to the regions of Egypt, and say, Gather yourselves to the mountain of Samaria, and behold many wonderful things in the midst of it, and the oppression that is in it. 10 And she knew not what things would come against her, saith the Lord, [even] those that store up wrong and misery in their countries. 11 Therefore thus saith the Lord God; O Tyre, thy land shall be made desolate round about [thee]; and he shall bring down thy strength out of thee, and thy countries shall be spoiled. 12 Thus saith the Lord; As when a shepherd rescues from the mouth of a lion two legs or a piece of an ear, so shall be drawn forth the children of Israel who dwell in Samaria in the presence of [a foreign] tribe, and in Damascus. 13 Hear, O ye priests, and testify to the house of Jacob, saith the Lord God Almighty. 14 For in the day wherein I shall take vengeance of the sins of Israel upon him, I will also take vengeance on the altars of Bæthel: and the horns of the altar shall be broken down, and they shall fall upon the ground. 15 I will crush and smite the turreted-house upon the summer-house; and the ivory-houses shall be destroyed, and many other houses also, saith the Lord.

Colossians 4

1 Masters, give to your servants that which is just and equal, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven. 2 Continue steadfastly in prayer, watching in it with thanksgiving, 3 praying together for us also, that God may open to us a door for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds, 4 that I may reveal it as I ought to speak. 5 Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time. 6 Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one. 7 All my affairs will be made known to you by Tychicus, the beloved brother, faithful servant, and fellow bondservant in the Lord. 8 I am sending him to you for this very purpose, that he may know your circumstances and comfort your hearts, 9 together with Onesimus, the faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you. They will make known to you everything that is going on here. 10 Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner, greets you, and Mark the cousin of Barnabas (concerning whom you received instructions, “if he comes to you, receive him”), 11 and Jesus who is called Justus. These are my only fellow workers for God’s Kingdom who are of the circumcision, men who have been a comfort to me. 12 Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, salutes you, always striving for you in his prayers, that you may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God. 13 For I testify about him that he has great zeal for you, and for those in Laodicea, and for those in Hierapolis. 14 Luke the beloved physician and Demas greet you. 15 Greet the brothers who are in Laodicea, with Nymphas and the assembly that is in his house. 16 When this letter has been read among you, cause it to be read also in the assembly of the Laodiceans, and that you also read the letter from Laodicea. 17 Tell Archippus, “Take heed to the ministry which you have received in the Lord, that you fulfill it.” 18 I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. Remember my chains. Grace be with you. Amen.