Your eyes saw me when I was inside the womb. ¹  All the days ordained for me were recorded in your scroll before one of them came into existence. ² 

So I reflected on all this, ¹  attempting to clear ²  it all up. I concluded that ³  the righteous and the wise, as well as their works, are in the hand of God; whether a person will be loved or hated ⁴  – no one knows what lies ahead. ⁵ 

Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is an eternal God, the creator of the whole earth. ¹  He does not get tired or weary; there is no limit to his wisdom. ² 

I will bring them to my holy mountain; I will make them happy in the temple where people pray to me. ¹  Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on my altar, for my temple will be known as a temple where all nations may pray.” ² 

I said, ¹  “Oh, the feeling in the pit of my stomach! ²  I writhe in anguish. Oh, the pain in my heart! ³  My heart pounds within me. I cannot keep silent. For I hear the sound of the trumpet; ⁴  the sound of the battle cry pierces my soul! ⁵ 

All of this is because ¹  the Lord who rules over all ²  has said: ‘Cut down the trees around Jerusalem and build up a siege ramp against its walls. ³  This is the city which is to be punished. ⁴  Nothing but oppression happens in it. ⁵ 

I said, ¹  “Who is wise enough to understand why this has happened? ²  Who has a word from the Lord that can explain it? ³  Why does the land lie in ruins? Why is it as scorched as a desert through which no one travels?”

But you, Lord, know all about me. You watch me and test my devotion to you. ¹  Drag these wicked men away like sheep to be slaughtered! Appoint a time when they will be killed! ² 

I will reduce the people of this city to desperate straits during the siege imposed on it by their enemies who are seeking to kill them. I will make them so desperate that they will eat the flesh of their own sons and daughters and the flesh of one another.”’” ¹ 

כ (Kaf) My eyes are worn out ¹  from weeping; ²  my stomach is in knots. ³  My heart ⁴  is poured out on the ground due to the destruction ⁵  of my helpless people; ⁶  children and infants faint in the town squares.

As I watched, I noticed ¹  a windstorm ²  coming from the north – an enormous cloud, with lightning flashing, ³  such that bright light ⁴  rimmed it and came from ⁵  it like glowing amber ⁶  from the middle of a fire.

Therefore, this is what the sovereign Lord says: ‘The corpses you have dumped ¹  in the midst of the city ²  are the meat, and this city ³  is the cooking pot, but I will take you out of it. ⁴ 

“‘Therefore this is what the sovereign Lord says: Woe to the city of bloodshed, the pot whose rot ¹  is in it, whose rot has not been removed ²  from it! Empty it piece by piece. No lot has fallen on it. ³ 

Then he measured the length of the building facing the courtyard at the rear of the temple, with its galleries on either side as 175 feet. ¹  The interior of the outer sanctuary and the porch of the court, ² 

a human face toward the palm tree on one side and a lion’s face toward the palm tree on the other side. They were carved on the whole temple all around;

“‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: The gate of the inner court that faces east ¹  will be closed six working days, but on the Sabbath day it will be opened and on the day of the new moon it will be opened.

Who is wise? Let him discern ¹  these things! Who is discerning? Let him understand them! For the ways of the Lord are right; the godly walk in them, but in them the rebellious stumble.

Amaziah the priest of Bethel ¹  sent this message ²  to King Jeroboam of Israel: “Amos is conspiring against you in the very heart of the kingdom of Israel! ³  The land cannot endure all his prophecies. ⁴ 

They will rule ¹  the land of Assyria with the sword, the land of Nimrod ²  with a drawn sword. ³  Our king ⁴  will rescue us from the Assyrians should they attempt to invade our land and try to set foot in our territory.

And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter into life with one eye than to have ¹  two eyes and be thrown into fiery hell. ²