Amos 9:1–10

9:1 I saw the Lord standing by the altar and he said,

“Strike the tops of the support pillars, so the thresholds shake!

Knock them down on the heads of all the people,

and I will kill the survivors with the sword.

No one will be able to run away;

no one will be able to escape.

2Even if they could dig down into the netherworld,

my hand would pull them up from there.

Even if they could climb up to heaven,

I would drag them down from there.

3Even if they were to hide on the top of Mount Carmel,

I would hunt them down and take them from there.

Even if they tried to hide from me at the bottom of the sea,

from there I would command the Sea Serpent to bite them.

4Even when their enemies drive them into captivity,

from there I will command the sword to kill them.

I will not let them out of my sight;

they will experience disaster, not prosperity.”

5The Sovereign Lord of Heaven’s Armies will do this.

He touches the earth and it dissolves;

all who live on it mourn.

The whole earth rises like the Nile River

and then grows calm like the Nile in Egypt.

6He builds the upper rooms of his palace in heaven

and sets its foundation supports on the earth.

He summons the water of the sea

and pours it out on the earth’s surface.

The Lord is his name.

7“You Israelites are just like the Ethiopians in my sight,” says the Lord.

“Certainly I brought Israel up from the land of Egypt,

but I also brought the Philistines from Caphtor and the Arameans from Kir.

8Look, the Sovereign Lord is watching the sinful nation,

and I will destroy it from the face of the earth.

But I will not completely destroy the family of Jacob,” says the Lord.

9“For look, I am giving a command,

and I will shake the family of Israel together with all the nations.

It will resemble a sieve being shaken,

when not even a pebble falls to the ground.

10All the sinners among my people will die by the sword—

the ones who say, ‘Disaster will not come near, it will not confront us.’

Ps. 98

98:1 A psalm.

Sing to the Lord a new song,

for he performs amazing deeds.

His right hand and his mighty arm

accomplish deliverance.

2The Lord demonstrates his power to deliver;

in the sight of the nations he reveals his justice.

3He remains loyal and faithful to the family of Israel.

All the ends of the earth see our God deliver us.

4Shout out praises to the Lord, all the earth.

Break out in a joyful shout and sing!

5Sing to the Lord accompanied by a harp,

accompanied by a harp and the sound of music.

6With trumpets and the blaring of the ram’s horn,

shout out praises before the king, the Lord.

7Let the sea and everything in it shout,

along with the world and those who live in it.

8Let the rivers clap their hands!

Let the mountains sing in unison

9before the Lord.

For he comes to judge the earth.

He judges the world fairly,

and the nations in a just manner.

Mark 5:1–20

5:1 So they came to the other side of the lake, to the region of the Gerasenes. 2Just as Jesus was getting out of the boat, a man with an unclean spirit came from the tombs and met him. 3He lived among the tombs, and no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain. 4For his hands and feet had often been bound with chains and shackles, but he had torn the chains apart and broken the shackles in pieces. No one was strong enough to subdue him. 5Each night and every day among the tombs and in the mountains, he would cry out and cut himself with stones. 6When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and bowed down before him. 7Then he cried out with a loud voice, “Leave me alone, Jesus, Son of the Most High God! I implore you by God—do not torment me!” 8(For Jesus had said to him, “Come out of that man, you unclean spirit!”) 9Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” And he said, “My name is Legion, for we are many.” 10He begged Jesus repeatedly not to send them out of the region. 11There on the hillside, a great herd of pigs was feeding. 12And the demonic spirits begged him, “Send us into the pigs. Let us enter them.” 13Jesus gave them permission. So the unclean spirits came out and went into the pigs. Then the herd rushed down the steep slope into the lake, and about 2,000 were drowned in the lake.

14Now the herdsmen ran off and spread the news in the town and countryside, and the people went out to see what had happened. 15They came to Jesus and saw the demon-possessed man sitting there, clothed, and in his right mind—the one who had the “Legion”—and they were afraid. 16Those who had seen what had happened to the demon-possessed man reported it, and they also told about the pigs. 17Then they began to beg Jesus to leave their region. 18As he was getting into the boat the man who had been demon-possessed asked if he could go with him. 19But Jesus did not permit him to do so. Instead, he said to him, “Go to your home and to your people and tell them what the Lord has done for you, that he had mercy on you.” 20So he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis what Jesus had done for him, and all were amazed.