Old Testament: Amos 8:1-12

¹This is what the Lord God showed me—a basket of summer fruit. ²He said, “Amos, what do you see?” And I said, “A basket of summer fruit.” Then the Lord said to me, The end has come upon my people Israel; I will never again pass them by. ³The songs of the temple shall become wailings in that day,” says the Lord God; “the dead bodies shall be many, cast out in every place. Be silent!”

⁴Hear this, you that trample on the needy, and bring to ruin the poor of the land, ⁵saying, “When will the new moon be over so that we may sell grain; and the sabbath, so that we may offer wheat for sale? We will make the ephah small and the shekel great, and practice deceit with false balances, ⁶buying the poor for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals, and selling the sweepings of the wheat.” ⁷The Lord has sworn by the pride of Jacob: Surely I will never forget any of their deeds. ⁸Shall not the land tremble on this account, and everyone mourn who lives in it, and all of it rise like the Nile, and be tossed about and sink again, like the Nile of Egypt? ⁹On that day, says the Lord God, I will make the sun go down at noon, and darken the earth in broad daylight. ¹⁰I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; I will bring sackcloth on all loins, and baldness on every head; I will make it like the mourning for an only son, and the end of it like a bitter day.

¹¹The time is surely coming, says the Lord God, when I will send a famine on the land; not a famine of bread, or a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord. ¹²They shall wander from sea to sea, and from north to east; they shall run to and fro, seeking the word of the Lord, but they shall not find it.

Psalm: Psalm 52

¹ You tyrant, why do you boast of wickedness *
        against the godly all day long?
² You plot ruin;
   your tongue is like a sharpened razor, *
        O worker of deception.
³ You love evil more than good *
        and lying more than speaking the truth.
⁴ You love all words that hurt, *
        O you deceitful tongue.
⁵ Oh, that God would demolish you utterly, *
        topple you, and snatch you from your dwelling,
        and root you out of the land of the living!
⁶ The righteous shall see and tremble, *
        and they shall laugh at him, saying,
⁷ “This is the one who did not take God for a refuge, *
        but trusted in great wealth
        and relied upon wickedness.”
⁸ But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God; *
        I trust in the mercy of God for ever and ever.
⁹ I will give you thanks for what you have done *
        and declare the goodness of your Name in the presence
                              of the godly.

Old Testament: Genesis 18:1-10a

¹The Lord appeared to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the entrance of his tent in the heat of the day. ²He looked up and saw three men standing near him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent entrance to meet them, and bowed down to the ground. ³He said, “My lord, if I find favor with you, do not pass by your servant. ⁴Let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree. ⁵Let me bring a little bread, that you may refresh yourselves, and after that you may pass on—since you have come to your servant.” So they said, “Do as you have said.” ⁶And Abraham hastened into the tent to Sarah, and said, “Make ready quickly three measures of choice flour, knead it, and make cakes.” ⁷Abraham ran to the herd, and took a calf, tender and good, and gave it to the servant, who hastened to prepare it.⁸Then he took curds and milk and the calf that he had prepared, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree while they ate.

⁹They said to him, “Where is your wife Sarah?” And he said, “There, in the tent.” ¹⁰Then one said, “I will surely return to you in due season, and your wife Sarah shall have a son.”

Psalm: Psalm 15

¹ Lord, who may dwell in your tabernacle? *
        who may abide upon your holy hill?
² Whoever leads a blameless life and does what is right, *
        who speaks the truth from his heart.
³ There is no guile upon his tongue;
   he does no evil to his friend; *
        he does not heap contempt upon his neighbor.
⁴ In his sight the wicked is rejected, *
        but he honors those who fear the Lord.
⁵ He has sworn to do no wrong *
        and does not take back his word.
⁶ He does not give his money in hope of gain, *
        nor does he take a bribe against the innocent.
⁷ Whoever does these things *
        shall never be overthrown.