CHAPTER 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. ² Behold, I have made thee small among the heathen: thou art greatly despised. 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? 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. 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? ⁶ How are the things of Esau searched out! how are his hidden things sought up! 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; they that eat thy bread have laid a wound under thee: there is none understanding in him. 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? 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.

¹⁰ For thy violence against thy brother Jacob shame shall cover thee, and thou shalt be cut off for ever. 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. 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. 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; 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. 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. 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.

¹⁷ But upon mount Zion shall be deliverance, and there shall be holiness; and the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions. 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. 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. 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. ²¹ And saviours shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the LORD'S.

CHAPTER 9

¹ And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit. ² And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit. ³ And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. ⁴ And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads. ⁵ And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man. ⁶ And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them. ⁷ And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle; and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men. ⁸ And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions. ⁹ And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle. ¹⁰ And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men five months. ¹¹ And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon. ¹² One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter.

¹³ And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, ¹⁴ Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates. ¹⁵ And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men. ¹⁶ And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them. ¹⁷ And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone. ¹⁸ By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths. ¹⁹ For their power is in their mouth, and in their tails: for their tails were like unto serpents, and had heads, and with them they do hurt. ²⁰ And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk: ²¹ Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.

¹ Through desire a man, having separated himself, seeketh and intermeddleth with all wisdom. ² A fool hath no delight in understanding, but that his heart may discover itself. ³ When the wicked cometh, then cometh also contempt, and with ignominy reproach. ⁴ The words of a man's mouth are as deep waters, and the wellspring of wisdom as a flowing brook. ⁵ It is not good to accept the person of the wicked, to overthrow the righteous in judgment. ⁶ A fool's lips enter into contention, and his mouth calleth for strokes. ⁷ A fool's mouth is his destruction, and his lips are the snare of his soul. ⁸ The words of a talebearer are as wounds, and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly. ⁹ He also that is slothful in his work is brother to him that is a great waster. ¹⁰ The name of the LORD is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe. ¹¹ The rich man's wealth is his strong city, and as an high wall in his own conceit. ¹² Before destruction the heart of man is haughty, and before honour is humility. ¹³ He that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame unto him. ¹⁴ The spirit of a man will sustain his infirmity; but a wounded spirit who can bear? ¹⁵ The heart of the prudent getteth knowledge; and the ear of the wise seeketh knowledge. ¹⁶ A man's gift maketh room for him, and bringeth him before great men. ¹⁷ He that is first in his own cause seemeth just; but his neighbour cometh and searcheth him. ¹⁸ The lot causeth contentions to cease, and parteth between the mighty. ¹⁹ A brother offended is harder to be won than a strong city: and their contentions are like the bars of a castle. ²⁰ A man's belly shall be satisfied with the fruit of his mouth; and with the increase of his lips shall he be filled. ²¹ Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof. ²² Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favour of the LORD. ²³ The poor useth intreaties; but the rich answereth roughly. ²⁴ A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.

CHAPTER 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. 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. ³ The LORD repented for this: It shall not be, saith the LORD. 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. ⁵ Then said I, O Lord GOD, cease, I beseech thee: by whom shall Jacob arise? for he is small. ⁶ The LORD repented for this: This also shall not be, saith the Lord GOD. ⁷ Thus he shewed me: and, behold, the Lord stood upon a wall made by a plumbline, with a plumbline in his hand. 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: 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.

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. ¹¹ For thus Amos saith, Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel shall surely be led away captive out of their own land. 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: ¹³ But prophesy not again any more at Bethel: for it is the king's chapel, and it is the king's court. 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: ¹⁵ And the LORD took me as I followed the flock, and the LORD said unto me, Go, prophesy unto my people Israel. 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. 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.

CHAPTER 8

¹ Thus hath the Lord GOD shewed unto me: and behold a basket of summer fruit. 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. 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.

⁴ Hear this, O ye that swallow up the needy, even to make the poor of the land to fail, 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? 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? ⁷ The LORD hath sworn by the excellency of Jacob, Surely I will never forget any of their works. 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. 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: 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.

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: 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. ¹³ In that day shall the fair virgins and young men faint for thirst. 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.

CHAPTER 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. ² Though they dig into hell, thence shall mine hand take them; though they climb up to heaven, thence will I bring them down: 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: 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. 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. 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. 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? 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. 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. ¹⁰ All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, which say, The evil shall not overtake nor prevent us.

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: 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. 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. 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. 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.

CHAPTER 8

¹ And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour. ² And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets. ³ And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. ⁴ And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel's hand. ⁵ And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth: and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake. ⁶ And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound.

⁷ The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up. ⁸ And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood; ⁹ And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed. ¹⁰ And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters; ¹¹ And the name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter. ¹² And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise. ¹³ And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound!

¹ Better is a dry morsel, and quietness therewith, than an house full of sacrifices with strife. ² A wise servant shall have rule over a son that causeth shame, and shall have part of the inheritance among the brethren. ³ The fining pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold: but the LORD trieth the hearts. ⁴ A wicked doer giveth heed to false lips; and a liar giveth ear to a naughty tongue. ⁵ Whoso mocketh the poor reproacheth his Maker: and he that is glad at calamities shall not be unpunished. ⁶ Children's children are the crown of old men; and the glory of children are their fathers. ⁷ Excellent speech becometh not a fool: much less do lying lips a prince. ⁸ A gift is as a precious stone in the eyes of him that hath it: whithersoever it turneth, it prospereth. ⁹ He that covereth a transgression seeketh love; but he that repeateth a matter separateth very friends. ¹⁰ A reproof entereth more into a wise man than an hundred stripes into a fool. ¹¹ An evil man seeketh only rebellion: therefore a cruel messenger shall be sent against him. ¹² Let a bear robbed of her whelps meet a man, rather than a fool in his folly. ¹³ Whoso rewardeth evil for good, evil shall not depart from his house. ¹⁴ The beginning of strife is as when one letteth out water: therefore leave off contention, before it be meddled with. ¹⁵ He that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the just, even they both are abomination to the LORD. ¹⁶ Wherefore is there a price in the hand of a fool to get wisdom, seeing he hath no heart to it? ¹⁷ A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity. ¹⁸ A man void of understanding striketh hands, and becometh surety in the presence of his friend. ¹⁹ He loveth transgression that loveth strife: and he that exalteth his gate seeketh destruction. ²⁰ He that hath a froward heart findeth no good: and he that hath a perverse tongue falleth into mischief. ²¹ He that begetteth a fool doeth it to his sorrow: and the father of a fool hath no joy. ²² A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones. ²³ A wicked man taketh a gift out of the bosom to pervert the ways of judgment. ²⁴ Wisdom is before him that hath understanding; but the eyes of a fool are in the ends of the earth. ²⁵ A foolish son is a grief to his father, and bitterness to her that bare him. ²⁶ Also to punish the just is not good, nor to strike princes for equity. ²⁷ He that hath knowledge spareth his words: and a man of understanding is of an excellent spirit. ²⁸ Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise: and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding.