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Today's Bible Verse and Prayer —Amos 5:15 12-Apr-2023 Hate evil, love good; maintain justice in the courts. Perhaps the LORD God Almighty will have mercy on the remnant of Joseph. —Amos 5:15 Thoughts on Today's Verse... While we rightfully teach our children that we must not hate others, we also must teach them to loathe injustice, evil, prejudice, and the mistreatment of the vulnerable — the foreigner, widow, fatherless, and poor, as God defined them in the Torah. Amos reminded Israel that God demands justice to be administered fairly for both rich and poor, residents and foreigners, those in families as well as those left alone. Israel's repeated refusals of God's commands in these areas brought destruction upon their land despite their apparent affluence, military might, and political power in Amos' day. My Prayer... Holy God, I know you are furious at the injustice in so many lands and are enraged at the ethnic hatred setting our world ablaze. Please make your people, your Church, a place of justice, equity, compassion, love, racial healing, and hope. Please begin in my heart and with my hands to build this better world. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen. Life Application Study Bible note: If Israel were to sweep away the corrupt system of false accusations, bribery, and corruption, and were to insist that only just decisions be given, this would show their change of heart. We dare not read this passage lightly or write it off simply as encouragement to be good. It is a command to reform our own legal and social system.