Isaiah 29 Cross References - BSB

¹ Woe to you, O Ariel, the city of Ariel where David camped! Year upon year let your festivals recur. ² And I will constrain Ariel, and there will be mourning and lamentation; she will be like an altar hearth before Me. ³ I will camp in a circle around you; I will besiege you with towers and set up siege works against you. ⁴ You will be brought low, you will speak from the ground, and out of the dust your words will be muffled. Your voice will be like a spirit from the ground; your speech will whisper out of the dust. ⁵ But your many foes will be like fine dust, the multitude of the ruthless like blowing chaff. Then suddenly, in an instant, ⁶ you will be visited by the LORD of Hosts with thunder and earthquake and loud noise, with windstorm and tempest and consuming flame of fire. ⁷ All the many nations going out to battle against Ariel—even all who war against her, laying siege and attacking her—will be like a dream, like a vision in the night, ⁸ as when a hungry man dreams he is eating, then awakens still hungry; as when a thirsty man dreams he is drinking, then awakens faint and parched. So will it be for all the many nations who go to battle against Mount Zion. ⁹ Stop and be astonished; blind yourselves and be sightless; be drunk, but not with wine; stagger, but not from strong drink. ¹⁰ For the LORD has poured out on you a spirit of deep sleep. He has shut your eyes, O prophets; He has covered your heads, O seers. ¹¹ And the entire vision will be to you like the words sealed in a scroll. If it is handed to someone to read, he will say, “I cannot, because it is sealed.” ¹² Or if the scroll is handed to one unable to read, he will say, “I cannot read.” ¹³ Therefore the Lord said: “These people draw near to Me with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. Their worship of Me is but rules taught by men. ¹⁴ Therefore I will again confound these people with wonder upon wonder. The wisdom of the wise will vanish, and the intelligence of the intelligent will be hidden.” ¹⁵ Woe to those who dig deep to hide their plans from the LORD. In darkness they do their works and say, “Who sees us, and who will know?” ¹⁶ You have turned things upside down, as if the potter were regarded as clay. Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, “He did not make me”? Can the pottery say of the potter, “He has no understanding”? ¹⁷ In a very short time, will not Lebanon become an orchard, and the orchard seem like a forest? ¹⁸ On that day the deaf will hear the words of the scroll, and out of the deep darkness the eyes of the blind will see. ¹⁹ The humble will increase their joy in the LORD, and the poor among men will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel. ²⁰ For the ruthless will vanish, the mockers will disappear, and all who look for evil will be cut down— ²¹ those who indict a man with a word, who ensnare the mediator at the gate, and who with false charges deprive the innocent of justice. ²² Therefore the LORD who redeemed Abraham says of the house of Jacob: “No longer will Jacob be ashamed and no more will his face grow pale. ²³ For when he sees his children around him, the work of My hands, they will honor My name, they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and they will stand in awe of the God of Israel. ²⁴ Then the wayward in spirit will come to understanding, and those who grumble will accept instruction.”

⁹ So David took up residence in the fortress and called it the City of David. He built it up all the way around, from the supporting terraces inward.

¹¹ “What good to Me is your multitude of sacrifices?” says the LORD. “I am full from the burnt offerings of rams and the fat of well-fed cattle; I take no delight in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats. ¹² When you come to appear before Me, who has required this of you—this trampling of My courts? ¹³ Bring your worthless offerings no more; your incense is detestable to Me—your New Moons, Sabbaths, and convocations. I cannot endure iniquity in a solemn assembly. ¹⁴ I hate your New Moons and your appointed feasts. They have become a burden to Me; I am weary of bearing them. ¹⁵ When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you; even though you multiply your prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood.

¹² On that day the Lord GOD of Hosts called for weeping and wailing, for shaven heads and the wearing of sackcloth. ¹³ But look, there is joy and gladness, butchering of cattle and slaughtering of sheep, eating of meat and drinking of wine: “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!”

⁹ Their rock will pass away for fear, and their princes will panic at the sight of the battle standard,” declares the LORD, whose fire is in Zion, whose furnace is in Jerusalem.

³ Whoever slaughters an ox is like one who slays a man; whoever sacrifices a lamb is like one who breaks a dog’s neck; whoever presents a grain offering is like one who offers pig’s blood; whoever offers frankincense is like one who blesses an idol. Indeed, they have chosen their own ways and delighted in their abominations.

²¹ This is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: Add your burnt offerings to your other sacrifices and eat the meat yourselves!

¹⁵ The altar hearth shall be four cubits high, and four horns shall project upward from the hearth. ¹⁶ The altar hearth shall be square at its four corners, twelve cubits long and twelve cubits wide.

⁶ They go with their flocks and herds to seek the LORD, but they do not find Him; He has withdrawn Himself from them.

¹³ Though they offer sacrifices as gifts to Me, and though they eat the meat, the LORD does not accept them. Now He will remember their iniquity and punish their sins: They will return to Egypt.

⁴ They will not pour out wine offerings to the LORD, and their sacrifices will not please Him, but will be to them like the bread of mourners; all who eat will be defiled. For their bread will be for themselves; it will not enter the house of the LORD.

⁴ “Go to Bethel and transgress; rebel even more at Gilgal! Bring your sacrifices every morning, your tithes every three days. ⁵ Offer leavened bread as a thank offering, and loudly proclaim your freewill offerings. For that is what you children of Israel love to do,” declares the Lord GOD.

⁶ With what shall I come before the LORD when I bow before the God on high? Should I come to Him with burnt offerings, with year-old calves? ⁷ Would the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I present my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

¹ For the law is only a shadow of the good things to come, not the realities themselves. It can never, by the same sacrifices offered year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship.

²⁶ And the gates of Zion will lament and mourn; destitute, she will sit on the ground.

²⁵ Therefore the anger of the LORD burns against His people; His hand is raised against them to strike them down. The mountains quake, and the corpses lay like refuse in the streets. Despite all this, His anger is not turned away; His hand is still upraised. ²⁶ He lifts a banner for the distant nations and whistles for those at the ends of the earth. Behold—how speedily and swiftly they come! ²⁷ None of them grows weary or stumbles; no one slumbers or sleeps. No belt is loose and no sandal strap is broken. ²⁸ Their arrows are sharpened, and all their bows are strung. The hooves of their horses are like flint; their chariot wheels are like a whirlwind. ²⁹ Their roaring is like that of a lion; they roar like young lions. They growl and seize their prey; they carry it away from deliverance. ³⁰ In that day they will roar over it, like the roaring of the sea. If one looks over the land, he will see darkness and distress; even the light will be obscured by clouds.

⁵ Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger; the staff in their hands is My wrath. ⁶ I will send him against a godless nation; I will dispatch him against a people destined for My rage, to take spoils and seize plunder, and to trample them down like clay in the streets.

³² Yet today they will halt at Nob, shaking a fist at the mount of Daughter Zion, at the hill of Jerusalem.

¹⁴ In the evening, there is sudden terror! Before morning, they are no more! This is the portion of those who loot us and the lot of those who plunder us.

¹ Behold, the LORD lays waste the earth and leaves it in ruins. He will twist its surface and scatter its inhabitants— ² people and priest alike, servant and master, maid and mistress, buyer and seller, lender and borrower, creditor and debtor. ³ The earth will be utterly laid waste and thoroughly plundered. For the LORD has spoken this word. ⁴ The earth mourns and withers; the world languishes and fades; the exalted of the earth waste away. ⁵ The earth is defiled by its people; they have transgressed the laws; they have overstepped the decrees and broken the everlasting covenant. ⁶ Therefore a curse has consumed the earth, and its inhabitants must bear the guilt; the earth’s dwellers have been burned, and only a few survive. ⁷ The new wine dries up, the vine withers. All the merrymakers now groan. ⁸ The joyful tambourines have ceased; the noise of revelers has stopped; the joyful harp is silent. ⁹ They no longer sing and drink wine; strong drink is bitter to those who consume it. ¹⁰ The city of chaos is shattered; every house is closed to entry. ¹¹ In the streets they cry out for wine. All joy turns to gloom; rejoicing is exiled from the land. ¹² The city is left in ruins; its gate is reduced to rubble.

⁷ Behold, their valiant ones cry aloud in the streets; the envoys of peace weep bitterly. ⁸ The highways are deserted; travel has ceased. The treaty has been broken, the witnesses are despised, and human life is disregarded. ⁹ The land mourns and languishes; Lebanon is ashamed and decayed. Sharon is like a desert; Bashan and Carmel shake off their leaves.

⁶ The sword of the LORD is bathed in blood. It drips with fat—with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams. For the LORD has a sacrifice in Bozrah, a great slaughter in the land of Edom.

²² Then Hilkiah’s son Eliakim the palace administrator, Shebna the scribe, and Asaph’s son Joah the recorder came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn, and they relayed to him the words of the Rabshakeh.

³ to tell him, “This is what Hezekiah says: Today is a day of distress, rebuke, and disgrace; for children have come to the point of birth, but there is no strength to deliver them.

²⁸ Therefore this is what the LORD says: Behold, I am about to deliver this city into the hands of the Chaldeans and of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, who will capture it. ²⁹ And the Chaldeans who are fighting against this city will come in, set it on fire, and burn it, along with the houses of those who provoked Me to anger by burning incense to Baal on their rooftops and by pouring out drink offerings to other gods. ³⁰ For the children of Israel and of Judah have done nothing but evil in My sight from their youth; indeed, they have done nothing but provoke Me to anger by the work of their hands, declares the LORD. ³¹ For this city has aroused My wrath and fury from the day it was built until now. Therefore I will remove it from My presence ³² because of all the evil the children of Israel and of Judah have done to provoke Me to anger—they, their kings, their officials, their priests and prophets, the men of Judah, and the residents of Jerusalem.

⁴ When Zedekiah king of Judah and all the soldiers saw them, they fled. They left the city at night by way of the king’s garden, through the gate between the two walls, and they went out along the route to the Arabah. ⁵ But the army of the Chaldeans pursued them and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho. They seized him and brought him up to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath, where he pronounced judgment on him.

⁵ The Lord is like an enemy; He has swallowed up Israel. He has swallowed up all her palaces and destroyed her strongholds. He has multiplied mourning and lamentation for the Daughter of Judah.

³¹ So I have poured out My indignation upon them and consumed them with the fire of My fury. I have brought their ways down upon their own heads, declares the Lord GOD.”

³ Now speak a parable to this rebellious house and tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Put the pot on the fire; put it on and pour in the water. ⁴ Put in the pieces of meat, every good piece—thigh and shoulder—fill it with choice bones. ⁵ Take the choicest of the flock and pile the fuel beneath it. Bring it to a boil and cook the bones in it.’ ⁶ Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Woe to the city of bloodshed, to the pot now rusted, whose rust will not come off! Empty it piece by piece; cast no lots for its contents. ⁷ For the blood she shed is still within her; she poured it out on the bare rock; she did not pour it on the ground to cover it with dust. ⁸ In order to stir up wrath and take vengeance, I have placed her blood on the bare rock, so that it would not be covered.’ ⁹ Yes, this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Woe to the city of bloodshed! I, too, will pile the kindling high. ¹⁰ Pile on the logs and kindle the fire; cook the meat well and mix in the spices; let the bones be burned. ¹¹ Set the empty pot on its coals until it becomes hot and its copper glows. Then its impurity will melt within; its rust will be consumed. ¹² It has frustrated every effort; its thick rust has not been removed, even by the fire. ¹³ Because of the indecency of your uncleanness I tried to cleanse you, but you would not be purified from your filthiness. You will not be pure again until My wrath against you has subsided.

¹⁷ And as for you, son of man, this is what the Lord GOD says: Call out to every kind of bird and to every beast of the field: ‘Assemble and come together from all around to the sacrificial feast that I am preparing for you, a great feast on the mountains of Israel. There you will eat flesh and drink blood.

⁷ Be silent in the presence of the Lord GOD, for the Day of the LORD is near. Indeed, the LORD has prepared a sacrifice; He has consecrated His guests. ⁸ “On the Day of the LORD’s sacrifice I will punish the princes, the sons of the king, and all who are dressed in foreign apparel.

¹⁷ Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and he cried out in a loud voice to all the birds flying overhead, “Come, gather together for the great supper of God, ¹⁸ so that you may eat the flesh of kings and commanders and mighty men, of horses and riders, of everyone slave and free, small and great.”

¹⁷ Nevertheless, the king of Assyria sent the Tartan, the Rabsaris, and the Rabshakeh, along with a great army, from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. They advanced up to Jerusalem and stationed themselves by the aqueduct of the upper pool, on the road to the Launderer’s Field.

³² So this is what the LORD says about the king of Assyria: ‘He will not enter this city or shoot an arrow into it. He will not come before it with a shield or build up a siege ramp against it.

¹¹ And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to the city while his servants were besieging it. ¹² Jehoiachin king of Judah, his mother, his servants, his commanders, and his officials all surrendered to the king of Babylon. So in the eighth year of his reign, the king of Babylon took him captive.

¹ So in the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched against Jerusalem with his entire army. They encamped outside the city and built a siege wall all around it. ² And the city was kept under siege until King Zedekiah’s eleventh year. ³ By the ninth day of the fourth month, the famine in the city was so severe that the people of the land had no food. ⁴ Then the city was breached; and though the Chaldeans had surrounded the city, all the men of war fled by night by way of the gate between the two walls near the king’s garden. They headed toward the Arabah,

²² In his right hand appears the portent for Jerusalem, where he is to set up battering rams, to call for the slaughter, to lift a battle cry, to direct the battering rams against the gates, to build a ramp, and to erect a siege wall.

⁷ The king was enraged, and he sent his troops to destroy those murderers and burn their city.

⁴³ For the days will come upon you when your enemies will barricade you and surround you and hem you in on every side. ⁴⁴ They will level you to the ground—you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God.”

²⁵ For our soul has sunk to the dust; our bodies cling to the earth.

¹¹ The proud look of man will be humbled, and the loftiness of men brought low; the LORD alone will be exalted in that day. ¹² For the Day of the LORD of Hosts will come against all the proud and lofty, against all that is exalted—it will be humbled— ¹³ against all the cedars of Lebanon, lofty and lifted up, against all the oaks of Bashan, ¹⁴ against all the tall mountains, against all the high hills, ¹⁵ against every high tower, against every fortified wall, ¹⁶ against every ship of Tarshish, and against every stately vessel. ¹⁷ So the pride of man will be brought low, and the loftiness of men will be humbled; the LORD alone will be exalted in that day, ¹⁸ and the idols will vanish completely. ¹⁹ Men will flee to caves in the rocks and holes in the ground, away from the terror of the LORD and from the splendor of His majesty, when He rises to shake the earth. ²⁰ In that day men will cast away to the moles and bats their idols of silver and gold—the idols they made to worship. ²¹ They will flee to caverns in the rocks and crevices in the cliffs, away from the terror of the LORD and from the splendor of His majesty, when He rises to shake the earth.

⁸ For Jerusalem has stumbled and Judah has fallen because they spoke and acted against the LORD, defying His glorious presence.

¹⁹ When men tell you to consult the spirits of the dead and the spiritists who whisper and mutter, shouldn’t a people consult their God instead? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living?

²³ I will place it in the hands of your tormentors, who told you: ‘Lie down, so we can walk over you,’ so that you made your back like the ground, like a street to be traversed.”

⁹ Her uncleanness stains her skirts; she did not consider her end. Her downfall was astounding; there was no one to comfort her. Look, O LORD, on my affliction, for the enemy has triumphed!

¹⁸ Are they like straw before the wind, like chaff swept away by a storm?

⁴ Not so the wicked! For they are like chaff driven off by the wind.

⁵ May they be like chaff in the wind, as the angel of the LORD drives them away.

⁵ God is within her; she will not be moved. God will help her when morning dawns. ⁶ Nations rage, kingdoms crumble; the earth melts when He lifts His voice.

⁵ The valiant lie plundered; they sleep their last sleep. No men of might could lift a hand. ⁶ At Your rebuke, O God of Jacob, both horse and rider lie stunned.

¹⁶ Therefore the Lord GOD of Hosts will send a wasting disease among Assyria’s stout warriors, and under his pomp will be kindled a fire like a burning flame. ¹⁷ And the Light of Israel will become a fire, and its Holy One a flame. In a single day it will burn and devour Assyria’s thorns and thistles. ¹⁸ The splendor of its forests and orchards, both soul and body, it will completely destroy, as a sickness consumes a man. ¹⁹ The remaining trees of its forests will be so few that a child could count them.

¹³ The nations rage like the rush of many waters. He rebukes them, and they flee far away, driven before the wind like chaff on the hills, like tumbleweeds before a gale. ¹⁴ In the evening, there is sudden terror! Before morning, they are no more! This is the portion of those who loot us and the lot of those who plunder us.

⁵ like heat in a dry land. You subdue the uproar of foreigners. As the shade of a cloud cools the heat, so the song of the ruthless is silenced.

¹³ this iniquity of yours is like a breach about to fail, a bulge in a high wall, whose collapse will come suddenly—in an instant!

³ But the Egyptians are men, not God; their horses are flesh, not spirit. When the LORD stretches out His hand, the helper will stumble, and the one he helps will fall; both will perish together.

⁸ “Then Assyria will fall, but not by the sword of man; a sword will devour them, but not one made by mortals. They will flee before the sword, and their young men will be put to forced labor.

³⁶ Then the angel of the LORD went out and struck down 185,000 men in the camp of the Assyrians. When the people got up the next morning, there were all the dead bodies!

³ While people are saying, “Peace and security,” destruction will come upon them suddenly, like labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.

¹⁰ Those who oppose the LORD will be shattered. He will thunder from heaven against them. The LORD will judge the ends of the earth and will give power to His king. He will exalt the horn of His anointed.”

¹⁷ Is it not the wheat harvest today? I will call on the LORD to send thunder and rain, so that you will know and see what a great evil you have committed in the sight of the LORD by asking for a king.” ¹⁸ So Samuel called to the LORD, and on that day the LORD sent thunder and rain. As a result, all the people greatly feared the LORD and Samuel.

¹⁴ The LORD thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most High resounded.

² Behold, the Lord has one who is strong and mighty. Like a hailstorm or destructive tempest, like a driving rain or flooding downpour, he will smash that crown to the ground.

³⁰ And the LORD will cause His majestic voice to be heard and His mighty arm to be revealed, striking in angry wrath with a flame of consuming fire, and with cloudburst, storm, and hailstones.

¹¹ You conceive chaff; you give birth to stubble. Your breath is a fire that will consume you. ¹² The peoples will be burned to ashes, like thorns cut down and set ablaze. ¹³ You who are far off, hear what I have done; you who are near, acknowledge My might.” ¹⁴ The sinners in Zion are afraid; trembling grips the ungodly: “Who of us can dwell with a consuming fire? Who of us can dwell with everlasting flames?”

⁷ Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places.

⁸ Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, as well as famines. These are the beginning of birth pains.

¹¹ There will be great earthquakes, famines, and pestilences in various places, along with fearful sights and great signs from heaven.

¹³ And in that hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city collapsed. Seven thousand were killed in the quake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.

¹⁹ Then the temple of God in heaven was opened, and the ark of His covenant appeared in His temple. And there were flashes of lightning, and rumblings, and peals of thunder, and an earthquake, and a great hailstorm.

¹⁸ And there were flashes of lightning, and rumblings, and peals of thunder, and a great earthquake the likes of which had not occurred since men were upon the earth—so mighty was the great quake.

⁸ He will fly away like a dream, never to be found; he will be chased away like a vision in the night.

²⁰ Like one waking from a dream, so You, O Lord, awaken and despise their form.

¹¹ Behold, all who rage against you will be ashamed and disgraced; those who contend with you will be reduced to nothing and will perish. ¹² You will seek them but will not find them. Those who wage war against you will come to nothing.

³¹ The tumult will resound to the ends of the earth because the LORD brings a charge against the nations. He brings judgment on all mankind and puts the wicked to the sword,’” declares the LORD. ³² This is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Behold! Disaster is spreading from nation to nation; a mighty storm is rising from the ends of the earth.” ³³ Those slain by the LORD on that day will be spread from one end of the earth to the other. They will not be mourned, gathered, or buried. They will be like dung lying on the ground.

⁴² The sea has come up over Babylon; she is covered in turbulent waves. ⁴³ Her cities have become a desolation, a dry and arid land, a land where no one lives, where no son of man passes through. ⁴⁴ I will punish Bel in Babylon. I will make him spew out what he swallowed. The nations will no longer stream to him; even the wall of Babylon will fall.

¹¹ But now many nations have assembled against you, saying, “Let her be defiled, and let us feast our eyes on Zion.” ¹² But they do not know the thoughts of the LORD or understand His plan, for He has gathered them like sheaves to the threshing floor.

³ The LORD is slow to anger and great in power; the LORD will by no means leave the guilty unpunished. His path is in the whirlwind and storm, and clouds are the dust beneath His feet. ⁴ He rebukes the sea and dries it up; He makes all the rivers run dry. Bashan and Carmel wither, and the flower of Lebanon wilts. ⁵ The mountains quake before Him, and the hills melt away; the earth trembles at His presence—the world and all its dwellers. ⁶ Who can withstand His indignation? Who can endure His burning anger? His wrath is poured out like fire; even rocks are shattered before Him. ⁷ The LORD is good, a stronghold in the day of distress; He cares for those who trust in Him. ⁸ But with an overwhelming flood He will make an end of Nineveh and pursue His enemies into darkness. ⁹ Whatever you plot against the LORD, He will bring to an end. Affliction will not rise up a second time. ¹⁰ For they will be entangled as with thorns and consumed like the drink of a drunkard—like stubble that is fully dry. ¹¹ From you, O Nineveh, comes forth a plotter of evil against the LORD, a counselor of wickedness. ¹² This is what the LORD says: “Though they are allied and numerous, yet they will be cut down and pass away. Though I have afflicted you, O Judah, I will afflict you no longer.

³ On that day, when all the nations of the earth gather against her, I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples; all who would heave it away will be severely injured. ⁴ On that day, declares the LORD, I will strike every horse with panic, and every rider with madness. I will keep a watchful eye on the house of Judah, but I will strike with blindness all the horses of the nations. ⁵ Then the leaders of Judah will say in their hearts: ‘The people of Jerusalem are my strength, for the LORD of Hosts is their God.’

⁹ So on that day I will set out to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.

¹ Behold, a day of the LORD is coming when your plunder will be divided in your presence. ² For I will gather all the nations for battle against Jerusalem, and the city will be captured, the houses looted, and the women ravished. Half of the city will go into exile, but the rest of the people will not be removed from the city. ³ Then the LORD will go out to fight against those nations, as He fights in the day of battle.

¹² And this will be the plague with which the LORD strikes all the peoples who have warred against Jerusalem: Their flesh will rot while they stand on their feet, their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongues will rot in their mouths. ¹³ On that day a great panic from the LORD will come upon them, so that each will seize the hand of another, and the hand of one will rise against the other. ¹⁴ Judah will also fight at Jerusalem, and the wealth of all the surrounding nations will be collected—gold, silver, and apparel in great abundance. ¹⁵ And a similar plague will strike the horses and mules, camels and donkeys, and all the animals in those camps.

⁸ and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth—Gog and Magog—to assemble them for battle. Their number is like the sand of the seashore. ⁹ And they marched across the broad expanse of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. But fire came down from heaven and consumed them.

²¹ and the LORD sent an angel who annihilated every mighty man of valor and every leader and commander in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he withdrew to his own land in disgrace. And when he entered the temple of his god, some of his own sons struck him down with the sword.

⁷ But this is not his intention; this is not his plan. For it is in his heart to destroy and cut off many nations. ⁸ “Are not all my commanders kings?” he says. ⁹ “Is not Calno like Carchemish? Is not Hamath like Arpad? Is not Samaria like Damascus? ¹⁰ As my hand seized the idolatrous kingdoms whose images surpassed those of Jerusalem and Samaria, ¹¹ and as I have done to Samaria and its idols, will I not also do to Jerusalem and her idols?” ¹² So when the Lord has completed all His work against Mount Zion and Jerusalem, He will say, “I will punish the king of Assyria for the fruit of his arrogant heart and the proud look in his eyes. ¹³ For he says: ‘By the strength of my hand I have done this, and by my wisdom, for I am clever. I have removed the boundaries of nations and plundered their treasures; like a mighty one I subdued their rulers. ¹⁴ My hand reached as into a nest to seize the wealth of the nations. Like one gathering abandoned eggs, I gathered all the earth. No wing fluttered, no beak opened or chirped.’” ¹⁵ Does an axe raise itself above the one who swings it? Does a saw boast over him who saws with it? It would be like a rod waving the one who lifts it, or a staff lifting him who is not wood! ¹⁶ Therefore the Lord GOD of Hosts will send a wasting disease among Assyria’s stout warriors, and under his pomp will be kindled a fire like a burning flame.

¹² The blacksmith takes a tool and labors over the coals; he fashions an idol with hammers and forges it with his strong arms. Yet he grows hungry and loses his strength; he fails to drink water and grows faint.

² Listen, O heavens, and give ear, O earth, for the LORD has spoken: “I have raised children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against Me.

¹⁴ The LORD has poured into her a spirit of confusion. Egypt has been led astray in all she does, as a drunkard staggers through his own vomit.

⁷ These also stagger from wine and stumble from strong drink: Priests and prophets reel from strong drink and are befuddled by wine. They stumble because of strong drink, muddled in their visions and stumbling in their judgments. ⁸ For all their tables are covered with vomit; there is not a place without filth.

¹⁰ For the LORD has poured out on you a spirit of deep sleep. He has shut your eyes, O prophets; He has covered your heads, O seers.

²⁶ I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh; they will be drunk on their own blood, as with wine. Then all mankind will know that I, the LORD, am your Savior and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.”

¹⁷ Awake, awake! Rise up, O Jerusalem, you who have drunk from the hand of the LORD the cup of His fury; you who have drained the goblet to the dregs—the cup that makes men stagger.

²¹ Therefore now hear this, you afflicted one, drunken, but not with wine. ²² Thus says your Lord, the LORD, even your God, who defends His people: “See, I have removed from your hand the cup of staggering. From that goblet, the cup of My fury, you will never drink again.

¹² Be stunned by this, O heavens; be shocked and utterly appalled,” declares the LORD.

⁹ As for the prophets: My heart is broken within me, and all my bones tremble. I have become like a drunkard, like a man overcome by wine, because of the LORD, because of His holy words.

²⁷ “Then you are to tell them that this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘Drink, get drunk, and vomit. Fall down and never get up again, because of the sword I will send among you.’

⁷ Babylon was a gold cup in the hand of the LORD, making the whole earth drunk. The nations drank her wine; therefore the nations have gone mad.

²¹ So rejoice and be glad, O Daughter of Edom, you who dwell in the land of Uz. Yet the cup will pass to you as well; you will get drunk and expose yourself.

⁵ “Look at the nations and observe—be utterly astounded! For I am doing a work in your days that you would never believe even if someone told you.

⁴⁵ Then He returned to the disciples and said, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour is near, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.

⁴¹ When Jesus returned the third time, He said, “Are you still sleeping and resting? That is enough! The hour has come. Look, the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.

⁴⁰ Watch out, then, that what was spoken by the prophets does not happen to you: ⁴¹ ‘Look, you scoffers, wonder and perish! For I am doing a work in your days that you would never believe, even if someone told you.’”

⁶ I could see that the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints and witnesses for Jesus. And I was utterly amazed at the sight of her.

⁹ (Formerly in Israel, a man on his way to inquire of God would say, “Come, let us go to the seer.” For the prophet of today was formerly called the seer.)

¹² So David took the spear and water jug by Saul’s head, and they departed. No one saw them or knew about it, nor did anyone wake up; they all remained asleep, because a deep sleep from the LORD had fallen on them.

²³ May their eyes be darkened so they cannot see, and their backs be bent forever.

² the mighty man and the warrior, the judge and the prophet, the soothsayer and the elder, ³ the commander of fifty and the dignitary, the counselor, the cunning magician, and the clever enchanter.

⁹ And He replied: “Go and tell this people, ‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’ ¹⁰ Make the hearts of this people calloused; deafen their ears and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”

¹⁴ Therefore I will again confound these people with wonder upon wonder. The wisdom of the wise will vanish, and the intelligence of the intelligent will be hidden.”

¹⁰ They say to the seers, “Stop seeing visions!” and to the prophets, “Do not prophesy to us the truth! Speak to us pleasant words; prophesy illusions.

¹⁸ They do not comprehend or discern, for He has shut their eyes so they cannot see and closed their minds so they cannot understand.

⁸ and as soon as he had finished telling all the people everything the LORD had commanded him to say, the priests and prophets and all the people seized him, shouting, “You must surely die! ⁹ How dare you prophesy in the name of the LORD that this house will become like Shiloh and this city will be desolate and deserted!” And all the people assembled against Jeremiah in the house of the LORD. ¹⁰ When the officials of Judah heard these things, they went up from the king’s palace to the house of the LORD and sat there at the entrance of the New Gate. ¹¹ Then the priests and prophets said to the officials and all the people, “This man is worthy of death, for he has prophesied against this city, as you have heard with your own ears!”

⁹ But if the prophet is enticed to speak a message, then it was I the LORD who enticed him, and I will stretch out My hand against him and destroy him from among My people Israel.

¹² And Amaziah said to Amos, “Go away, you seer! Flee to the land of Judah; earn your bread there and do your prophesying there. ¹³ But never prophesy at Bethel again, because it is the sanctuary of the king and the temple of the kingdom.”

¹ Then I said: “Hear now, O leaders of Jacob, you rulers of the house of Israel. Should you not know justice?

⁶ Therefore night will come over you without visions, and darkness without divination. The sun will set on these prophets, and the daylight will turn black over them.

²⁶ ‘Go to this people and say, “You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.” ²⁷ For this people’s heart has grown callous; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn, and I would heal them.’

⁸ as it is written: “God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that could not see, and ears that could not hear, to this very day.”

⁴ The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers so they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

⁹ The coming of the lawless one will be accompanied by the working of Satan, with every kind of power, sign, and false wonder, ¹⁰ and with every wicked deception directed against those who are perishing, because they refused the love of the truth that would have saved them. ¹¹ For this reason God will send them a powerful delusion so that they believe the lie, ¹² in order that judgment may come upon all who have disbelieved the truth and delighted in wickedness.

¹⁶ Bind up the testimony and seal the law among my disciples.

⁴ But you, Daniel, shut up these words and seal the book until the time of the end. Many will roam to and fro, and knowledge will increase.”

⁹ “Go on your way, Daniel,” he replied, “for the words are closed up and sealed until the time of the end.

²⁵ At that time Jesus declared, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because You have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children.

¹¹ He replied, “The knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them.

¹⁷ Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by My Father in heaven.

¹ Then I saw a scroll in the right hand of the One seated on the throne. It had writing on both sides and was sealed with seven seals. ² And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, “Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?” ³ But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or look inside it. ⁴ And I began to weep bitterly, because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or look inside it. ⁵ Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep! Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed to open the scroll and its seven seals.” ⁶ Then I saw a Lamb who appeared to have been slain, standing in the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. The Lamb had seven horns and seven eyes, which represent the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth. ⁷ And He came and took the scroll from the right hand of the One seated on the throne. ⁸ When He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp, and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. ⁹ And they sang a new song: “Worthy are You to take the scroll and open its seals, because You were slain, and by Your blood You purchased for God those from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.

¹ Then I watched as the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures say in a thunderous voice, “Come!”

¹² to whom He has said: “This is the place of rest, let the weary rest; this is the place of repose.” But they would not listen. ¹³ Then the word of the LORD to them will become: “Order on order, order on order, line on line, line on line; a little here, a little there,” so that they will go stumbling backward and will be injured, ensnared, and captured.

¹⁸ On that day the deaf will hear the words of the scroll, and out of the deep darkness the eyes of the blind will see.

⁴ Then I said, “They are only the poor; they have played the fool, for they do not know the way of the LORD, the justice of their God.

⁶ My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I will also reject you as My priests. Since you have forgotten the law of your God, I will also forget your children.

¹⁵ The Jews were amazed and asked, “How did this man attain such learning without having studied?” ¹⁶ “My teaching is not My own,” Jesus replied. “It comes from Him who sent Me.

¹ Hezekiah was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-nine years. His mother’s name was Abijah, the daughter of Zechariah. ² And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, just as his father David had done. ³ In the first month of the first year of his reign, Hezekiah opened and repaired the doors of the house of the LORD. ⁴ Then he brought in the priests and Levites and gathered them in the square on the east side. ⁵ “Listen to me, O Levites,” he said. “Consecrate yourselves now and consecrate the house of the LORD, the God of your fathers. Remove from the Holy Place every impurity. ⁶ For our fathers were unfaithful and did evil in the sight of the LORD our God. They abandoned Him, turned their faces away from the dwelling place of the LORD, and turned their backs on Him. ⁷ They also shut the doors of the portico and extinguished the lamps. They did not burn incense or present burnt offerings in the Holy Place of the God of Israel. ⁸ Therefore, the wrath of the LORD has fallen upon Judah and Jerusalem, and He has made them an object of terror, horror, and mockery, as you can see with your own eyes. ⁹ For behold, this is why our fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons and daughters and wives are in captivity. ¹⁰ Now it is in my heart to make a covenant with the LORD, the God of Israel, so that His fierce anger will turn away from us. ¹¹ Now, my sons, do not be negligent, for the LORD has chosen you to stand before Him, to serve Him, to minister before Him, and to burn incense.” ¹² Then the Levites set to work: Mahath son of Amasai and Joel son of Azariah from the Kohathites; Kish son of Abdi and Azariah son of Jehallelel from the Merarites; Joah son of Zimmah and Eden son of Joah from the Gershonites; ¹³ Shimri and Jeuel from the Elizaphanites; Zechariah and Mattaniah from the Asaphites; ¹⁴ Jehiel and Shimei from the Hemanites; and Shemaiah and Uzziel from the Jeduthunites. ¹⁵ When they had assembled their brothers and consecrated themselves, they went in to cleanse the house of the LORD, according to the command of the king by the words of the LORD. ¹⁶ So the priests went inside the house of the LORD to cleanse it, and they brought out to the courtyard all the unclean things that they found in the temple of the LORD. Then the Levites took these things and carried them out to the Kidron Valley. ¹⁷ They began the consecration on the first day of the first month, and on the eighth day of the month they reached the portico of the LORD. For eight more days they consecrated the house of the LORD itself, finishing on the sixteenth day of the first month. ¹⁸ Then they went in to King Hezekiah and reported, “We have cleansed the entire house of the LORD, the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, and the table of the showbread with all its utensils. ¹⁹ Moreover, we have prepared and consecrated all the articles that King Ahaz in his unfaithfulness cast aside during his reign. They are now in front of the altar of the LORD.” ²⁰ Early the next morning King Hezekiah gathered the city officials and went up to the house of the LORD. ²¹ They brought seven bulls, seven rams, seven lambs, and seven male goats as a sin offering for the kingdom, for the sanctuary, and for Judah. And the king commanded the priests, the descendants of Aaron, to offer them on the altar of the LORD. ²² So they slaughtered the bulls, and the priests took the blood and sprinkled it on the altar. They slaughtered the rams and sprinkled the blood on the altar. And they slaughtered the lambs and sprinkled the blood on the altar. ²³ Then they brought the goats for the sin offering before the king and the assembly, who laid their hands on them. ²⁴ And the priests slaughtered the goats and put their blood on the altar for a sin offering, to make atonement for all Israel, because the king had ordered the burnt offering and the sin offering for all Israel. ²⁵ Hezekiah stationed the Levites in the house of the LORD with cymbals, harps, and lyres according to the command of David, of Gad the king’s seer, and of Nathan the prophet. For the command had come from the LORD through His prophets. ²⁶ The Levites stood with the instruments of David, and the priests with the trumpets. ²⁷ And Hezekiah ordered that the burnt offering be sacrificed on the altar. When the burnt offering began, the song of the LORD and the trumpets began as well, accompanied by the instruments of David king of Israel. ²⁸ The whole assembly was worshiping, the singers were singing, and the trumpeters were playing. All this continued until the burnt offering was completed. ²⁹ When the offerings were completed, the king and all those present with him bowed down and worshiped. ³⁰ Then King Hezekiah and his officials ordered the Levites to sing praises to the LORD in the words of David and of Asaph the seer. So they sang praises with gladness and bowed their heads and worshiped. ³¹ Then Hezekiah said, “Now that you have consecrated yourselves to the LORD, come near and bring sacrifices and thank offerings to the house of the LORD.” So the assembly brought sacrifices and thank offerings, and all whose hearts were willing brought burnt offerings.

¹ A prayer of David. Hear, O LORD, my righteous plea; listen to my cry. Give ear to my prayer—it comes from lips free of deceit.

⁶ Do not add to His words, lest He rebuke you and prove you a liar.

⁶ I will send him against a godless nation; I will dispatch him against a people destined for My rage, to take spoils and seize plunder, and to trample them down like clay in the streets.

¹ “Listen to this, O house of Jacob, you who are called by the name of Israel, who have descended from the line of Judah, who swear by the name of the LORD, who invoke the God of Israel—but not in truth or righteousness— ² who indeed call yourselves after the holy city and lean on the God of Israel; the LORD of Hosts is His name.

² For day after day they seek Me and delight to know My ways, like a nation that does what is right and does not forsake the justice of their God. They ask Me for righteous judgments; they delight in the nearness of God.” ³ “Why have we fasted, and You have not seen? Why have we humbled ourselves, and You have not noticed?” “Behold, on the day of your fast, you do as you please, and you oppress all your workers.

¹⁰ Yet in spite of all this, her unfaithful sister Judah did not return to Me with all her heart, but only in pretense,” declares the LORD.

² Although they say, ‘As surely as the LORD lives,’ they are swearing falsely.”

² You planted them, and they have taken root. They have grown and produced fruit. You are ever on their lips, but far from their hearts.

² Jeremiah the prophet and said, “May our petition come before you; pray to the LORD your God on behalf of this entire remnant. For few of us remain of the many, as you can see with your own eyes. ³ Pray that the LORD your God will tell us the way we should walk and the thing we should do.” ⁴ “I have heard you,” replied Jeremiah the prophet. “I will surely pray to the LORD your God as you request, and I will tell you everything that the LORD answers; I will not withhold a word from you.”

²⁰ For you have deceived yourselves by sending me to the LORD your God, saying, ‘Pray to the LORD our God on our behalf, and as for all that the LORD our God says, tell it to us and we will do it.’

³¹ So My people come to you as usual, sit before you, and hear your words; but they do not put them into practice. Although they express love with their mouths, their hearts pursue dishonest gain. ³² Indeed, you are to them like a singer of love songs with a beautiful voice, who skillfully plays an instrument. They hear your words but do not put them into practice. ³³ So when it comes to pass—and surely it will come—then they will know that a prophet has been among them.”

² “Why do Your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They do not wash their hands before they eat.” ³ Jesus replied, “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? ⁴ For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’ and ‘Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.’ ⁵ But you say that if anyone says to his father or mother, ‘Whatever you would have received from me is a gift devoted to God,’ ⁶ he need not honor his father or mother with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition. ⁷ You hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied correctly about you: ⁸ ‘These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. ⁹ They worship Me in vain; they teach as doctrine the precepts of men.’”

² and they saw some of His disciples eating with hands that were defiled—that is, unwashed. ³ Now in holding to the tradition of the elders, the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat until they wash their hands ceremonially. ⁴ And on returning from the market, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other traditions for them to observe, including the washing of cups, pitchers, kettles, and couches for dining. ⁵ So the Pharisees and scribes questioned Jesus: “Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders? Instead, they eat with defiled hands.” ⁶ Jesus answered them, “Isaiah prophesied correctly about you hypocrites, as it is written: ‘These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. ⁷ They worship Me in vain; they teach as doctrine the precepts of men.’ ⁸ You have disregarded the commandment of God to keep the tradition of men.” ⁹ He went on to say, “You neatly set aside the command of God to maintain your own tradition. ¹⁰ For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’ and ‘Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.’ ¹¹ But you say that if a man says to his father or mother, ‘Whatever you would have received from me is Corban’ (that is, a gift devoted to God), ¹² he is no longer permitted to do anything for his father or mother. ¹³ Thus you nullify the word of God by the tradition you have handed down. And you do so in many such matters.”

²² These will all perish with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings.

¹³ He catches the wise in their craftiness, and sweeps away the plans of the cunning.

³ Then the spirit of the Egyptians will be emptied out from among them, and I will frustrate their plans, so that they will resort to idols and spirits of the dead, to mediums and spiritists.

¹¹ The princes of Zoan are mere fools; Pharaoh’s wise counselors give senseless advice. How can you say to Pharaoh, “I am one of the wise, a son of eastern kings”? ¹² Where are your wise men now? Let them tell you and reveal what the LORD of Hosts has planned against Egypt. ¹³ The princes of Zoan have become fools; the princes of Memphis are deceived. The cornerstones of her tribes have led Egypt astray. ¹⁴ The LORD has poured into her a spirit of confusion. Egypt has been led astray in all she does, as a drunkard staggers through his own vomit.

²¹ For the LORD will rise up as at Mount Perazim. He will rouse Himself as in the Valley of Gibeon, to do His work, His strange work, and to perform His task, His disturbing task.

⁹ Stop and be astonished; blind yourselves and be sightless; be drunk, but not with wine; stagger, but not from strong drink. ¹⁰ For the LORD has poured out on you a spirit of deep sleep. He has shut your eyes, O prophets; He has covered your heads, O seers.

⁷ Even the stork in the sky knows her appointed seasons. The turtledove, the swift, and the thrush keep their time of migration, but My people do not know the requirements of the LORD. ⁸ How can you say, ‘We are wise, and the Law of the LORD is with us,’ when in fact the lying pen of the scribes has produced a deception? ⁹ The wise will be put to shame; they will be dismayed and trapped. Since they have rejected the word of the LORD, what wisdom do they really have?

⁷ Concerning Edom, this is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Is there no longer wisdom in Teman? Has counsel perished from the prudent? Has their wisdom decayed?

⁸ In that day, declares the LORD, will I not destroy the wise men of Edom and the men of understanding in the mountains of Esau?

²⁴ For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.”

²⁹ We know that God spoke to Moses, but we do not know where this man is from.” ³⁰ “That is remarkable indeed!” the man said. “You do not know where He is from, and yet He opened my eyes. ³¹ We know that God does not listen to sinners, but He does listen to the one who worships Him and does His will. ³² Never before has anyone heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. ³³ If this man were not from God, He could do no such thing.” ³⁴ They replied, “You were born in utter sin, and you are instructing us?” And they threw him out.

³⁹ Then Jesus declared, “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind may see and those who see may become blind.” ⁴⁰ Some of the Pharisees who were with Him heard this, and they asked Him, “Are we blind too?” ⁴¹ “If you were blind,” Jesus replied, “you would not be guilty of sin. But since you claim you can see, your guilt remains.”

²¹ For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking and darkened in their foolish hearts. ²² Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools,

²⁸ Furthermore, since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, He gave them up to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done.

¹⁹ For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.” ²⁰ Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? ²¹ For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know Him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. ²² Jews demand signs and Greeks search for wisdom, ²³ but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, ²⁴ but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

¹⁹ For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight. As it is written: “He catches the wise in their craftiness.”

¹³ Yet you say: ‘What does God know? Does He judge through thick darkness? ¹⁴ Thick clouds veil Him so He does not see us as He traverses the vault of heaven.’

¹³ Then there are those who rebel against the light, not knowing its ways or staying on its paths. ¹⁴ When daylight is gone, the murderer rises to kill the poor and needy; in the night he is like a thief. ¹⁵ The eye of the adulterer watches for twilight. Thinking, ‘No eye will see me,’ he covers his face. ¹⁶ In the dark they dig through houses; by day they shut themselves in, never to experience the light. ¹⁷ For to them, deep darkness is their morning; surely they are friends with the terrors of darkness!

²² There is no darkness or deep shadow where the workers of iniquity can hide.

¹¹ He says to himself, “God has forgotten; He hides His face and never sees.” ¹² Arise, O LORD! Lift up Your hand, O God! Do not forget the helpless. ¹³ Why has the wicked man renounced God? He says to himself, “You will never call me to account.”

⁷ See what they spew from their mouths—sharp words from their lips: “For who can hear us?”

⁵ They hold fast to their evil purpose; they speak of hiding their snares. “Who will see them?” they say. ⁶ They devise injustice and say, “We have perfected a secret plan.” For the inner man and the heart are mysterious.

¹¹ The wicked say, “How can God know? Does the Most High have knowledge?”

⁷ They say, “The LORD does not see; the God of Jacob pays no heed.” ⁸ Take notice, O senseless among the people! O fools, when will you be wise? ⁹ He who affixed the ear, can He not hear? He who formed the eye, can He not see?

¹ For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. O LORD, You have searched me and known me. ² You know when I sit and when I rise; You understand my thoughts from afar. ³ You search out my path and my lying down; You are aware of all my ways. ⁴ Even before a word is on my tongue, You know all about it, O LORD. ⁵ You hem me in behind and before; You have laid Your hand upon me. ⁶ Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. ⁷ Where can I go to escape Your Spirit? Where can I flee from Your presence? ⁸ If I ascend to the heavens, You are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, You are there.

¹⁸ Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of deceit and pull sin along with cart ropes, ¹⁹ to those who say, “Let Him hurry and hasten His work so that we may see it! Let the plan of the Holy One of Israel come so that we may know it!”

¹⁵ For you said, “We have made a covenant with death; we have fashioned an agreement with Sheol. When the overwhelming scourge passes through it will not touch us, because we have made lies our refuge and falsehood our hiding place.”

¹⁷ I will make justice the measuring line and righteousness the level. Hail will sweep away your refuge of lies, and water will flood your hiding place.

¹ “Woe to the rebellious children,” declares the LORD, “to those who carry out a plan that is not Mine, who form an alliance, but against My will, heaping up sin upon sin.

¹⁰ You were secure in your wickedness; you said, ‘No one sees me.’ Your wisdom and knowledge led you astray; you told yourself, ‘I am, and there is none besides me.’

¹² I will expose your righteousness and your works, and they will not profit you.

²⁴ “Can a man hide in secret places where I cannot see him?” declares the LORD. “Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?” declares the LORD.

¹² “Son of man,” He said to me, “do you see what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the darkness, each at the shrine of his own idol? For they are saying, ‘The LORD does not see us; the LORD has forsaken the land.’”

⁹ He replied, “The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great. The land is full of bloodshed, and the city is full of perversity. For they say, ‘The LORD has forsaken the land; the LORD does not see.’

¹² And at that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps and punish the men settled in complacency, who say to themselves, ‘The LORD will do nothing, either good or bad.’

¹⁷ You have wearied the LORD with your words; yet you ask, “How have we wearied Him?” By saying, “All who do evil are good in the sight of the LORD, and in them He delights,” or, “Where is the God of justice?”

¹ In the meantime, a crowd of many thousands had gathered, so that they were trampling one another. Jesus began to speak first to His disciples: “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. ² There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, and nothing hidden that will not be made known. ³ What you have spoken in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the housetops.

¹⁹ And this is the verdict: The Light has come into the world, but men loved the darkness rather than the Light because their deeds were evil.

⁵ Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God.

² Instead, we have renounced secret and shameful ways. We do not practice deceit, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by open proclamation of the truth, we commend ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.

²³ Then I will strike her children dead, and all the churches will know that I am the One who searches minds and hearts, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds.

¹ Behold, the LORD lays waste the earth and leaves it in ruins. He will twist its surface and scatter its inhabitants—

⁹ Woe to him who quarrels with his Maker—one clay pot among many. Does the clay ask the potter, ‘What are you making?’ Does your work say, ‘He has no hands’? ¹⁰ Woe to him who says to his father, ‘What have you begotten?’ or to his mother, ‘What have you brought forth?’” ¹¹ Thus says the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, and its Maker: “How dare you question Me about My sons, or instruct Me in the work of My hands?

⁸ But now, O LORD, You are our Father; we are the clay, and You are the potter; we are all the work of Your hand.

¹ This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: ² “Go down at once to the potter’s house, and there I will reveal My message to you.” ³ So I went down to the potter’s house and saw him working at the wheel. ⁴ But the vessel that he was shaping from the clay became flawed in his hand; so he formed it into another vessel, as it seemed best for him to do. ⁵ Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, ⁶ “O house of Israel, declares the LORD, can I not treat you as this potter treats his clay? Just like clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel. ⁷ At any time I might announce that a nation or kingdom will be uprooted, torn down, and destroyed. ⁸ But if that nation I warned turns from its evil, then I will relent of the disaster I had planned to bring. ⁹ And if at another time I announce that I will build up and establish a nation or kingdom, ¹⁰ and if it does evil in My sight and does not listen to My voice, then I will relent of the good I had intended for it.

⁶ But when they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some other brothers before the city officials, shouting, “These men who have turned the world upside down have now come here,

¹⁹ One of you will say to me, “Then why does God still find fault? For who can resist His will?” ²⁰ But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? Shall what is formed say to Him who formed it, “Why did You make me like this?” ²¹ Does not the potter have the right to make from the same lump of clay one vessel for special occasions and another for common use?

⁶ As they pass through the Valley of Baca, they make it a place of springs; even the autumn rain covers it with pools.

³³ He turns rivers into deserts, springs of water into thirsty ground,

³⁵ He turns a desert into pools of water and a dry land into flowing springs.

⁶ I will make it a wasteland, neither pruned nor cultivated, and thorns and briers will grow up. I will command the clouds that rain shall not fall on it.”

¹⁵ until the Spirit is poured out upon us from on high. Then the desert will be an orchard, and the orchard will seem like a forest.

¹ The wilderness and the land will be glad; the desert will rejoice and blossom like a rose. ² It will bloom profusely and rejoice with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon will be given to it, the splendor of Carmel and Sharon. They will see the glory of the LORD, the splendor of our God.

¹⁹ I will plant cedars in the wilderness, acacias, myrtles, and olive trees. I will set cypresses in the desert, elms and boxwood together,

⁵ And now says the LORD, who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant, to bring Jacob back to Him, that Israel might be gathered to Him—for I am honored in the sight of the LORD, and My God is My strength— ⁶ He says: “It is not enough for You to be My Servant, to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the protected ones of Israel. I will also make You a light for the nations, to bring My salvation to the ends of the earth.”

¹³ Instead of the thornbush, a cypress will grow, and instead of the brier, a myrtle will spring up; they will make a name for the LORD, an everlasting sign, never to be destroyed.”

¹⁸ For a short while Your people possessed Your holy place, but our enemies have trampled Your sanctuary.

¹² I will destine you for the sword, and you will all kneel down to be slaughtered, because I called and you did not answer, I spoke and you did not listen; you did evil in My sight and chose that in which I did not delight.” ¹³ Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: “My servants will eat, but you will go hungry; My servants will drink, but you will go thirsty; My servants will rejoice, but you will be put to shame. ¹⁴ My servants will shout for joy with a glad heart, but you will cry out with a heavy heart and wail with a broken spirit. ¹⁵ You will leave behind your name as a curse for My chosen ones, and the Lord GOD will slay you; but to His servants He will give another name. ¹⁶ Whoever invokes a blessing in the land will do so by the God of truth, and whoever takes an oath in the land will swear by the God of truth. For the former troubles will be forgotten and hidden from My sight.

⁴⁶ “Son of man, set your face toward the south, preach against it, and prophesy against the forest of the Negev. ⁴⁷ Say to the forest of the Negev: Hear the word of the LORD! This is what the Lord GOD says: I am about to ignite in you a fire, and it will devour all your trees, both green and dry. The blazing flame will not be quenched, and by it every face from south to north will be scorched.

⁹ And the LORD said, “Name him Lo-ammi, for you are not My people, and I am not your God. ¹⁰ Yet the number of the Israelites will be like the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or counted. And it will happen that in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not My people,’ they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’

⁴ For the Israelites must live many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred pillar, and without ephod or idol.

¹² Therefore, because of you, Zion will be plowed like a field, Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble, and the temple mount a wooded ridge.

³ For the vision awaits an appointed time; it testifies of the end and does not lie. Though it lingers, wait for it, since it will surely come and will not delay.

⁶ For this is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Once more, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land.

¹ Open your doors, O Lebanon, that the fire may consume your cedars! ² Wail, O cypress, for the cedar has fallen; the majestic trees are ruined! Wail, O oaks of Bashan, for the dense forest has been cut down!

³⁰ But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.

¹⁸ In the morning, as Jesus was returning to the city, He was hungry. ¹⁹ Seeing a fig tree by the road, He went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. “May you never bear fruit again!” He said. And immediately the tree withered.

⁴³ Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit.

¹¹ I ask then, did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Certainly not! However, because of their trespass, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel jealous. ¹² But if their trespass means riches for the world, and their failure means riches for the Gentiles, how much greater riches will their fullness bring! ¹³ I am speaking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry ¹⁴ in the hope that I may provoke my own people to jealousy and save some of them. ¹⁵ For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? ¹⁶ If the first part of the dough is holy, so is the whole batch; if the root is holy, so are the branches. ¹⁷ Now if some branches have been broken off, and you, a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others to share in the nourishment of the olive root,

¹⁹ You will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.” ²⁰ That is correct: They were broken off because of unbelief, but you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but be afraid. ²¹ For if God did not spare the natural branches, He will certainly not spare you either. ²² Take notice, therefore, of the kindness and severity of God: severity to those who fell, but kindness to you, if you continue in His kindness. Otherwise you also will be cut off. ²³ And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. ²⁴ For if you were cut from a wild olive tree, and contrary to nature were grafted into one that is cultivated, how much more readily will these, the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree! ²⁵ I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you will not be conceited: A hardening in part has come to Israel, until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. ²⁶ And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: “The Deliverer will come from Zion; He will remove godlessness from Jacob. ²⁷ And this is My covenant with them when I take away their sins.”

³⁷ For, “In just a little while, He who is coming will come and will not delay.

⁴ Yet to this day the LORD has not given you a mind to understand, eyes to see, or ears to hear.

¹⁸ Open my eyes that I may see wondrous things from Your law.

¹² Ears that hear and eyes that see—the LORD has made them both.

¹⁰ For the LORD has poured out on you a spirit of deep sleep. He has shut your eyes, O prophets; He has covered your heads, O seers. ¹¹ And the entire vision will be to you like the words sealed in a scroll. If it is handed to someone to read, he will say, “I cannot, because it is sealed.” ¹² Or if the scroll is handed to one unable to read, he will say, “I cannot read.”

²⁴ Then the wayward in spirit will come to understanding, and those who grumble will accept instruction.”

³ Then the eyes of those who see will no longer be closed, and the ears of those who hear will listen.

⁵ Then the eyes of the blind will be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped.

¹⁶ I will lead the blind by a way they did not know; I will guide them on unfamiliar paths. I will turn darkness into light before them and rough places into level ground. These things I will do for them, and I will not forsake them. ¹⁷ But those who trust in idols and say to molten images, ‘You are our gods!’ will be turned back in utter shame. ¹⁸ Listen, you deaf ones; look, you blind ones, that you may see!

³³ “But this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD. I will put My law in their minds and inscribe it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they will be My people. ³⁴ No longer will each man teach his neighbor or his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ because they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquities and will remember their sins no more.”

⁵ The blind receive sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.

¹⁴ In them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled: ‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. ¹⁵ For this people’s heart has grown callous; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn, and I would heal them.’ ¹⁶ But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear.

³⁷ The people were utterly astonished and said, “He has done all things well! He makes even the deaf hear and the mute speak!”

¹⁸ “The Spirit of the Lord is on Me, because He has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to release the oppressed,

²² So He replied, “Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.

⁴⁵ It is written in the Prophets: ‘And they will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from Him comes to Me—

¹⁸ to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those sanctified by faith in Me.’

¹⁴ But their minds were closed. For to this day the same veil remains at the reading of the old covenant. It has not been lifted, because only in Christ can it be removed. ¹⁵ And even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. ¹⁶ But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. ¹⁷ Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. ¹⁸ And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into His image with intensifying glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

² Instead, we have renounced secret and shameful ways. We do not practice deceit, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by open proclamation of the truth, we commend ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God. ³ And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. ⁴ The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers so they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. ⁵ For we do not proclaim ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. ⁶ For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

¹⁷ that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in your knowledge of Him. ¹⁸ I ask that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may know the hope of His calling, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints, ¹⁹ and the surpassing greatness of His power to us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of His mighty strength,

¹⁴ So it is said: “Wake up, O sleeper, rise up from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”

⁹ But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, to proclaim the virtues of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.

¹⁸ I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, white garments so that you may be clothed and your shameful nakedness not exposed, and salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see.

¹⁸ For the needy will not always be forgotten; nor the hope of the oppressed forever dashed.

⁵ “For the cause of the oppressed and for the groaning of the needy, I will now arise,” says the LORD. “I will bring safety to him who yearns.”

⁹ He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them His way.

¹¹ But the meek will inherit the land and delight in abundant prosperity.

⁴ For the LORD takes pleasure in His people; He adorns the afflicted with salvation.

⁴ but with righteousness He will judge the poor, and with equity He will decide for the lowly of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth and slay the wicked with the breath of His lips.

³⁰ Then the firstborn of the poor will find pasture, and the needy will lie down in safety, but I will kill your root by famine, and your remnant will be slain.

³² What answer will be given to the envoys of that nation? “The LORD has founded Zion, where His afflicted people will find refuge.”

¹⁶ You will winnow them, and a wind will carry them away; a gale will scatter them. But you will rejoice in the LORD; you will glory in the Holy One of Israel. ¹⁷ The poor and needy seek water, but there is none; their tongues are parched with thirst. I, the LORD, will answer them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them. ¹⁸ I will open rivers on the barren heights, and fountains in the middle of the valleys. I will turn the desert into a pool of water, and the dry land into flowing springs.

¹⁵ For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in a high and holy place, and with the oppressed and humble in spirit, to restore the spirit of the lowly and revive the heart of the contrite.

¹ The Spirit of the Lord GOD is on Me, because the LORD has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and freedom to the prisoners,

¹⁰ I will rejoice greatly in the LORD, my soul will exult in my God; for He has clothed me with garments of salvation and wrapped me in a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom wears a priestly headdress, as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

² Has not My hand made all these things? And so they came into being,” declares the LORD. “This is the one I will esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, who trembles at My word.

¹⁸ yet I will exult in the LORD; I will rejoice in the God of my salvation!

³ Seek the LORD, all you humble of the earth who carry out His justice. Seek righteousness; seek humility. Perhaps you will be sheltered on the day of the LORD’s anger.

¹² But I will leave within you a meek and humble people, and they will trust in the name of the LORD. ¹³ The remnant of Israel will no longer do wrong or speak lies, nor will a deceitful tongue be found in their mouths. But they will feed and lie down, with no one to make them tremble.” ¹⁴ Sing for joy, O Daughter of Zion; shout aloud, O Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, O Daughter of Jerusalem! ¹⁵ The LORD has taken away your punishment; He has turned back your enemy. Israel’s King, the LORD, is among you; no longer will you fear any harm. ¹⁶ On that day they will say to Jerusalem: “Do not fear, O Zion; do not let your hands fall limp. ¹⁷ The LORD your God is among you; He is mighty to save. He will rejoice over you with gladness; He will quiet you with His love; He will rejoice over you with singing.” ¹⁸ “I will gather those among you who grieve over the appointed feasts, so that you will no longer suffer reproach.

³ “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

⁵ Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

²⁹ Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

²⁶ Brothers, consider the time of your calling: Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were powerful; not many were of noble birth. ²⁷ But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. ²⁸ He chose the lowly and despised things of the world, and the things that are not, to nullify the things that are, ²⁹ so that no one may boast in His presence.

²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

² with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,

¹ Therefore if you have any encouragement in Christ, if any comfort from His love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, ² then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being united in spirit and purpose. ³ Do nothing out of selfish ambition or empty pride, but in humility consider others more important than yourselves.

¹ Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord. It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you. ² Watch out for those dogs, those workers of evil, those mutilators of the flesh! ³ For it is we who are the circumcision, we who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh—

⁴ Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!

⁹ The brother in humble circumstances should exult in his high position.

²¹ Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and every expression of evil, and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save your souls.

⁵ Listen, my beloved brothers: Has not God chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom He promised those who love Him?

¹³ Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good conduct, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. ¹⁴ But if you harbor bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast in it or deny the truth. ¹⁵ Such wisdom does not come from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. ¹⁶ For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every evil practice. ¹⁷ But the wisdom from above is first of all pure, then peace-loving, gentle, accommodating, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial, and sincere. ¹⁸ Peacemakers who sow in peace reap the fruit of righteousness.

¹ Rid yourselves, therefore, of all malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander. ² Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, ³ now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.

³ I have commanded My sanctified ones; I have even summoned My warriors to execute My wrath and exult in My triumph.

⁴ For You have been a refuge for the poor, a stronghold for the needy in distress, a refuge from the storm, a shade from the heat. For the breath of the ruthless is like rain against a wall, ⁵ like heat in a dry land. You subdue the uproar of foreigners. As the shade of a cloud cools the heat, so the song of the ruthless is silenced.

¹⁴ Therefore hear the word of the LORD, O scoffers who rule this people in Jerusalem. ¹⁵ For you said, “We have made a covenant with death; we have fashioned an agreement with Sheol. When the overwhelming scourge passes through it will not touch us, because we have made lies our refuge and falsehood our hiding place.” ¹⁶ So this is what the Lord GOD says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; the one who believes will never be shaken. ¹⁷ I will make justice the measuring line and righteousness the level. Hail will sweep away your refuge of lies, and water will flood your hiding place. ¹⁸ Your covenant with death will be dissolved, and your agreement with Sheol will not stand. When the overwhelming scourge passes through, you will be trampled by it. ¹⁹ As often as it passes through, it will carry you away; it will sweep through morning after morning, by day and by night.” The understanding of this message will bring sheer terror. ²⁰ Indeed, the bed is too short to stretch out on, and the blanket too small to wrap around you. ²¹ For the LORD will rise up as at Mount Perazim. He will rouse Himself as in the Valley of Gibeon, to do His work, His strange work, and to perform His task, His disturbing task. ²² So now, do not mock, or your shackles will become heavier. Indeed, I have heard from the Lord GOD of Hosts a decree of destruction against the whole land.

⁵ But your many foes will be like fine dust, the multitude of the ruthless like blowing chaff. Then suddenly, in an instant,

²⁵ Indeed, this is what the LORD says: “Even the captives of the mighty will be taken away, and the plunder of the tyrant will be retrieved; I will contend with those who contend with you, and I will save your children.

¹³ But you have forgotten the LORD, your Maker, who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth. You live in terror all day long because of the fury of the oppressor who is bent on destruction. But where is the fury of the oppressor?

⁴ No one calls for justice; no one pleads his case honestly. They rely on empty pleas; they tell lies; they conceive mischief and give birth to iniquity.

⁷ After this, as I watched in my vision in the night, suddenly a fourth beast appeared, and it was terrifying—dreadful and extremely strong—with large iron teeth. It devoured and crushed; then it trampled underfoot whatever was left. It was different from all the beasts before it, and it had ten horns.

¹⁹ Then I wanted to know the true meaning of the fourth beast, which was different from all the others—extremely terrifying—devouring and crushing with iron teeth and bronze claws, then trampling underfoot whatever was left. ²⁰ I also wanted to know about the ten horns on its head and the other horn that came up, before which three of them fell—the horn whose appearance was more imposing than the others, with eyes and with a mouth that spoke words of arrogance. ²¹ As I watched, this horn was waging war against the saints and prevailing against them, ²² until the Ancient of Days arrived and pronounced judgment in favor of the saints of the Most High, and the time came for them to possess the kingdom. ²³ This is what he said: ‘The fourth beast is a fourth kingdom that will appear on the earth, different from all the other kingdoms, and it will devour the whole earth, trample it down, and crush it. ²⁴ And the ten horns are ten kings who will rise from this kingdom. After them another king, different from the earlier ones, will rise and subdue three kings. ²⁵ He will speak out against the Most High and oppress the saints of the Most High, intending to change the appointed times and laws; and the saints will be given into his hand for a time, and times, and half a time.

¹ Woe to those who devise iniquity and plot evil on their beds! At morning’s light they accomplish it because the power is in their hands.

⁶ For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans—that ruthless and impetuous nation which marches through the breadth of the earth to seize dwellings not their own. ⁷ They are dreaded and feared; from themselves they derive justice and sovereignty.

⁶ But some of the scribes were sitting there and thinking in their hearts, ⁷ “Why does this man speak like this? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

² In order to accuse Jesus, they were watching to see if He would heal on the Sabbath. ³ Then Jesus said to the man with the withered hand, “Stand up among us.” ⁴ And He asked them, “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?” But they were silent. ⁵ Jesus looked around at them with anger and sorrow at their hardness of heart. Then He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out, and it was restored. ⁶ At this, the Pharisees went out and began plotting with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus.

⁷ Looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, the scribes and Pharisees were watching Him closely to see if He would heal on the Sabbath.

¹⁴ But the synagogue leader was indignant that Jesus had healed on the Sabbath. “There are six days for work,” he told the crowd. “So come and be healed on those days and not on the Sabbath.” ¹⁵ “You hypocrites!” the Lord replied. “Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or donkey from the stall and lead it to water? ¹⁶ Then should not this daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be released from her bondage on the Sabbath day?” ¹⁷ When Jesus said this, all His adversaries were humiliated. And the whole crowd rejoiced at all the glorious things He was doing.

¹⁴ The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all of this and were scoffing at Jesus.

²⁰ So they watched Him closely and sent spies who pretended to be sincere. They were hoping to catch Him in His words in order to hand Him over to the rule and authority of the governor. ²¹ “Teacher,” they inquired, “we know that You speak and teach correctly. You show no partiality, but teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. ²² Is it lawful for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?” ²³ But Jesus saw through their duplicity and said to them,

¹¹ And even Herod and his soldiers ridiculed and mocked Him. Dressing Him in a fine robe, they sent Him back to Pilate.

³⁵ The people stood watching, and the rulers sneered at Him, saying, “He saved others; let Him save Himself if He is the Christ of God, the Chosen One.”

¹⁰ And I heard a loud voice in heaven saying: “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of His Christ. For the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down—he who accuses them day and night before our God.

⁶ they told him, “Please say Shibboleth.” If he said, “Sibboleth,” because he could not pronounce it correctly, they seized him and killed him at the fords of the Jordan. So at that time 42,000 Ephraimites were killed.

²¹ To show partiality is not good, yet a man will do wrong for a piece of bread.

⁷ The weapons of the scoundrel are destructive; he hatches plots to destroy the poor with lies, even when the plea of the needy is just.

¹⁸ Then some said, “Come, let us make plans against Jeremiah, for the law will never be lost to the priest, nor counsel to the wise, nor an oracle to the prophet. Come, let us denounce him and pay no heed to any of his words.”

⁷ You have deceived me, O LORD, and I was deceived. You have overcome me and prevailed. I am a laughingstock all day long; everyone mocks me. ⁸ For whenever I speak, I cry out; I proclaim violence and destruction. For the word of the LORD has become to me a reproach and derision all day long. ⁹ If I say, “I will not mention Him or speak any more in His name,” His message becomes a fire burning in my heart, shut up in my bones, and I become weary of holding it in, and I cannot prevail. ¹⁰ For I have heard the whispering of many: “Terror is on every side! Report him; let us report him!” All my trusted friends watch for my fall: “Perhaps he will be deceived so that we may prevail against him and take our vengeance upon him.”

² “This is what the LORD says: Stand in the courtyard of the house of the LORD and speak all the words I have commanded you to speak to all the cities of Judah who come to worship there. Do not omit a word. ³ Perhaps they will listen and turn—each from his evil way of life—so that I may relent of the disaster I am planning to bring upon them because of the evil of their deeds. ⁴ And you are to tell them that this is what the LORD says: ‘If you do not listen to Me and walk in My law, which I have set before you, ⁵ and if you do not listen to the words of My servants the prophets, whom I have sent you again and again even though you did not listen, ⁶ then I will make this house like Shiloh, and I will make this city an object of cursing among all the nations of the earth.’” ⁷ Now the priests and prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of the LORD, ⁸ and as soon as he had finished telling all the people everything the LORD had commanded him to say, the priests and prophets and all the people seized him, shouting, “You must surely die!

¹⁹ You have profaned Me among My people for handfuls of barley and scraps of bread. By lying to My people who would listen, you have killed those who should not have died and spared those who should not have lived.

¹⁰ There are those who hate the one who reproves in the gate and despise him who speaks with integrity. ¹¹ Therefore, because you trample on the poor and exact from him a tax of grain, you will never live in the stone houses you have built; you will never drink the wine from the lush vineyards you have planted. ¹² For I know that your transgressions are many and your sins are numerous. You oppress the righteous by taking bribes; you deprive the poor of justice in the gate.

¹⁰ Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent word to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, “Amos has conspired against you in the midst of the house of Israel. The land cannot bear all his words, ¹¹ for this is what Amos has said: ‘Jeroboam will die by the sword, and Israel will surely go into exile, away from their homeland.’” ¹² And Amaziah said to Amos, “Go away, you seer! Flee to the land of Judah; earn your bread there and do your prophesying there. ¹³ But never prophesy at Bethel again, because it is the sanctuary of the king and the temple of the kingdom.” ¹⁴ “I was not a prophet,” Amos replied, “nor was I the son of a prophet; rather, I was a herdsman and a tender of sycamore-fig trees. ¹⁵ But the LORD took me from following the flock and said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to My people Israel.’ ¹⁶ Now, therefore, hear the word of the LORD. You say: ‘Do not prophesy against Israel; do not preach against the house of Isaac.’ ¹⁷ Therefore this is what the LORD says: ‘Your wife will become a prostitute in the city, and your sons and daughters will fall by the sword. Your land will be divided by a measuring line, and you yourself will die on pagan soil. And Israel will surely go into exile, away from their homeland.’”

⁶ “Do not preach,” they preach. “Do not preach these things; disgrace will not overtake us.” ⁷ Should it be said, O house of Jacob, “Is the Spirit of the LORD impatient? Are these the things He does?” Do not My words bring good to him who walks uprightly?

⁵ “Then I will draw near to you for judgment. And I will be a swift witness against sorcerers and adulterers and perjurers, against oppressors of the widowed and fatherless, and against those who defraud laborers of their wages and deny justice to the foreigner but do not fear Me,” says the LORD of Hosts.

¹⁵ Then the Pharisees went out and conspired to trap Jesus in His words.

¹⁵ and asked, “What are you willing to give me if I hand Him over to you?” And they set out for him thirty pieces of silver.

⁵³ As Jesus went on from there, the scribes and Pharisees began to oppose Him bitterly and to ply Him with questions about many things, ⁵⁴ waiting to catch Him in something He might say.

¹⁴ You rejected the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you.

⁶ You have condemned and murdered the righteous, who did not resist you.

¹⁶ the angel who has redeemed me from all harm—may He bless these boys. And may they be called by my name and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac, and may they grow into a multitude upon the earth.”

² And Joshua said to all the people, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Long ago your fathers, including Terah the father of Abraham and Nahor, lived beyond the Euphrates and worshiped other gods. ³ But I took your father Abraham from beyond the Euphrates and led him through all the land of Canaan, and I multiplied his descendants. I gave him Isaac, ⁴ and to Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. I gave Esau Mount Seir to possess, but Jacob and his sons went down to Egypt. ⁵ Then I sent Moses and Aaron, and I afflicted the Egyptians by what I did there, and afterward I brought you out.

⁷ You are the LORD, the God who chose Abram, who brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans and gave him the name Abraham. ⁸ You found his heart faithful before You, and made a covenant with him to give the land of the Canaanites and Hittites, of the Amorites and Perizzites, of the Jebusites and Girgashites—to give it to his descendants. You have kept Your promise, because You are righteous.

⁸ “But you, O Israel, My servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, descendant of Abraham My friend— ⁹ I brought you from the ends of the earth and called you from its farthest corners. I said, ‘You are My servant.’ I have chosen and not rejected you.

¹⁴ Do not fear, O worm of Jacob, O few men of Israel. I will help you,” declares the LORD. “Your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.

²¹ Remember these things, O Jacob, for you are My servant, O Israel. I have made you, and you are My servant; O Israel, I will never forget you. ²² I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud, and your sins like a mist. Return to Me, for I have redeemed you. ²³ Sing for joy, O heavens, for the LORD has done this; shout aloud, O depths of the earth. Break forth in song, O mountains, you forests and all your trees. For the LORD has redeemed Jacob, and revealed His glory in Israel. ²⁴ Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer who formed you from the womb: “I am the LORD, who has made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who by Myself spread out the earth, ²⁵ who foils the signs of false prophets and makes fools of diviners, who confounds the wise and turns their knowledge into nonsense, ²⁶ who confirms the message of His servant and fulfills the counsel of His messengers, who says of Jerusalem, ‘She will be inhabited,’ and of the cities of Judah, ‘They will be rebuilt, and I will restore their ruins,’

¹⁷ But Israel will be saved by the LORD with an everlasting salvation; you will not be put to shame or humiliated, to ages everlasting.

²⁵ In the LORD all descendants of Israel will be justified and will exult.

³ “Listen to Me, O house of Jacob, all the remnant of the house of Israel, who have been sustained from the womb, carried along since birth. ⁴ Even to your old age, I will be the same, and I will bear you up when you turn gray. I have made you, and I will carry you; I will sustain you and deliver you.

⁷ Thus says the LORD, the Redeemer and Holy One of Israel, to Him who was despised and abhorred by the nation, to the Servant of rulers: “Kings will see You and rise, and princes will bow down, because of the LORD, who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen You.” ⁸ This is what the LORD says: “In the time of favor I will answer You, and in the day of salvation I will help You; I will keep You and appoint You to be a covenant for the people, to restore the land, to apportion its desolate inheritances, ⁹ to say to the prisoners, ‘Come out,’ and to those in darkness, ‘Show yourselves.’ They will feed along the pathways, and find pasture on every barren hill. ¹⁰ They will not hunger or thirst, nor will scorching heat or sun beat down on them. For He who has compassion on them will guide them and lead them beside springs of water. ¹¹ I will turn all My mountains into roads, and My highways will be raised up. ¹² Behold, they will come from far away, from the north and from the west, and from the land of Aswan.” ¹³ Shout for joy, O heavens; rejoice, O earth; break forth in song, O mountains! For the LORD has comforted His people, and He will have compassion on His afflicted ones. ¹⁴ But Zion said, “The LORD has forsaken me; the Lord has forgotten me!” ¹⁵ “Can a woman forget her nursing child, or lack compassion for the son of her womb? Even if she could forget, I will not forget you! ¹⁶ Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; your walls are ever before Me. ¹⁷ Your builders hasten back; your destroyers and wreckers depart from you. ¹⁸ Lift up your eyes and look around. They all gather together; they come to you. As surely as I live,” declares the LORD, “you will wear them all as jewelry and put them on like a bride. ¹⁹ For your ruined and desolate places and your ravaged land will now indeed be too small for your people, and those who devoured you will be far away. ²⁰ Yet the children of your bereavement will say in your hearing, ‘This place is too small for us; make room for us to live here.’ ²¹ Then you will say in your heart, ‘Who has begotten these for me? I was bereaved and barren; I was exiled and rejected. So who has reared them? Look, I was left all alone, so where did they come from?’” ²² This is what the Lord GOD says: “Behold, I will lift up My hand to the nations, and raise My banner to the peoples. They will bring your sons in their arms and carry your daughters on their shoulders. ²³ Kings will be your foster fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers. They will bow to you facedown and lick the dust at your feet. Then you will know that I am the LORD; those who hope in Me will never be put to shame.” ²⁴ Can the plunder be snatched from the mighty, or the captives of a tyrant be delivered? ²⁵ Indeed, this is what the LORD says: “Even the captives of the mighty will be taken away, and the plunder of the tyrant will be retrieved; I will contend with those who contend with you, and I will save your children. ²⁶ I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh; they will be drunk on their own blood, as with wine. Then all mankind will know that I, the LORD, am your Savior and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.”

² Look to Abraham your father, and to Sarah who gave you birth. When I called him, he was but one; then I blessed him and multiplied him.

¹¹ So the redeemed of the LORD will return and enter Zion with singing, crowned with everlasting joy. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee.

⁴ Do not be afraid, for you will not be put to shame; do not be intimidated, for you will not be humiliated. For you will forget the shame of your youth and will remember no more the reproach of your widowhood.

¹ Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you. ² For behold, darkness covers the earth, and thick darkness is over the peoples; but the LORD will rise upon you, and His glory will appear over you. ³ Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn. ⁴ Lift up your eyes and look around: They all gather and come to you; your sons will come from afar, and your daughters will be carried on the arm. ⁵ Then you will look and be radiant, and your heart will tremble and swell with joy, because the riches of the sea will be brought to you, and the wealth of the nations will come to you. ⁶ Caravans of camels will cover your land, young camels of Midian and Ephah, and all from Sheba will come, bearing gold and frankincense and proclaiming the praises of the LORD. ⁷ All the flocks of Kedar will be gathered to you; the rams of Nebaioth will serve you and go up on My altar with acceptance; I will adorn My glorious house. ⁸ Who are these who fly like clouds, like doves to their shelters? ⁹ Surely the islands will wait for Me, with the ships of Tarshish in the lead, to bring your children from afar, with their silver and gold, to the honor of the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, for He has glorified you.

⁷ Instead of shame, My people will have a double portion, and instead of humiliation, they will rejoice in their share; and so they will inherit a double portion in their land, and everlasting joy will be theirs. ⁸ For I, the LORD, love justice; I hate robbery and iniquity; in My faithfulness I will give them their recompense and make an everlasting covenant with them. ⁹ Their descendants will be known among the nations, and their offspring among the peoples. All who see them will acknowledge that they are a people the LORD has blessed. ¹⁰ I will rejoice greatly in the LORD, my soul will exult in my God; for He has clothed me with garments of salvation and wrapped me in a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom wears a priestly headdress, as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. ¹¹ For as the earth brings forth its growth, and as a garden enables seed to spring up, so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations.

¹⁶ Yet You are our Father, though Abraham does not know us and Israel does not acknowledge us. You, O LORD, are our Father; our Redeemer from Everlasting is Your name.

⁵ Yes, this is what the LORD says: “A cry of panic is heard—a cry of terror, not of peace. ⁶ Ask now, and see: Can a male give birth? Why then do I see every man with his hands on his stomach like a woman in labor and every face turned pale? ⁷ How awful that day will be! None will be like it! It is the time of Jacob’s distress, but he will be saved out of it.

¹⁰ As for you, O Jacob My servant, do not be afraid, declares the LORD, and do not be dismayed, O Israel. For I will surely save you out of a distant place, your descendants from the land of their captivity! Jacob will return to quiet and ease, with no one to make him afraid.

¹⁰ Hear, O nations, the word of the LORD, and proclaim it in distant coastlands: “The One who scattered Israel will gather them and keep them as a shepherd keeps his flock. ¹¹ For the LORD has ransomed Jacob and redeemed him from the hand that had overpowered him. ¹² They will come and shout for joy on the heights of Zion; they will be radiant over the bounty of the LORD—the grain, new wine, and oil, and the young of the flocks and herds. Their life will be like a well-watered garden, and never again will they languish.

²⁴ “Have you not noticed what these people are saying: ‘The LORD has rejected the two families He had chosen’? So they despise My people and no longer regard them as a nation. ²⁵ This is what the LORD says: If I have not established My covenant with the day and the night and the fixed order of heaven and earth, ²⁶ then I would also reject the descendants of Jacob and of My servant David, so as not to take from his descendants rulers over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For I will restore them from captivity and will have compassion on them.”

²⁴ My servant David will be king over them, and there will be one shepherd for all of them. They will follow My ordinances and keep and observe My statutes.

²⁸ Then the nations will know that I the LORD sanctify Israel, when My sanctuary is among them forever.’”

²⁵ Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: Now I will restore Jacob from captivity and will have compassion on the whole house of Israel, and I will be jealous for My holy name. ²⁶ They will forget their disgrace and all the treachery they committed against Me, when they dwell securely in their land, with no one to frighten them. ²⁷ When I bring them back from the peoples and gather them out of the lands of their enemies, I will show My holiness in them in the sight of many nations. ²⁸ Then they will know that I am the LORD their God, when I regather them to their own land, not leaving any of them behind after their exile among the nations. ²⁹ And I will no longer hide My face from them, for I will pour out My Spirit on the house of Israel, declares the Lord GOD.”

²⁵ Both the gateway and its portico had windows all around, like the other windows. It was fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide. ²⁶ Seven steps led up to it, and its portico was opposite them; it had palm trees on its side pillars, one on each side. ²⁷ The inner court also had a gate facing south, and he measured the distance from gateway to gateway toward the south to be a hundred cubits. ²⁸ Next he brought me into the inner court through the south gate, and he measured the south gate; it had the same measurements as the others. ²⁹ Its gate chambers, side pillars, and portico had the same measurements as the others. Both the gateway and its portico had windows all around; it was fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide. ³⁰ (The porticoes around the inner court were twenty-five cubits long and five cubits deep.) ³¹ Its portico faced the outer court, and its side pillars were decorated with palm trees. Eight steps led up to it. ³² And he brought me to the inner court on the east side, and he measured the gateway; it had the same measurements as the others. ³³ Its gate chambers, side pillars, and portico had the same measurements as the others. Both the gateway and its portico had windows all around. It was fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide. ³⁴ Its portico faced the outer court, and its side pillars were decorated with palm trees on each side. Eight steps led up to it. ³⁵ Then he brought me to the north gate and measured it. It had the same measurements as the others, ³⁶ as did its gate chambers, side pillars, and portico. It also had windows all around. It was fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide. ³⁷ Its portico faced the outer court, and its side pillars were decorated with palm trees on each side. Eight steps led up to it. ³⁸ There was a chamber with a doorway by the portico in each of the inner gateways. There the burnt offering was to be washed. ³⁹ Inside the portico of the gateway were two tables on each side, on which the burnt offerings, sin offerings, and guilt offerings were to be slaughtered. ⁴⁰ Outside, as one goes up to the entrance of the north gateway, there were two tables on one side and two more tables on the other side of the gate’s portico. ⁴¹ So there were four tables inside the gateway and four outside—eight tables in all—on which the sacrifices were to be slaughtered. ⁴² There were also four tables of dressed stone for the burnt offering, each a cubit and a half long, a cubit and a half wide, and a cubit high. On these were placed the utensils used to slaughter the burnt offerings and the other sacrifices. ⁴³ The double-pronged hooks, each a handbreadth long, were fastened all around the inside of the room, and the flesh of the offering was to be placed on the tables. ⁴⁴ Outside the inner gate, within the inner court, were two chambers, one beside the north gate and facing south, and another beside the south gate and facing north. ⁴⁵ Then the man said to me: “The chamber that faces south is for the priests who keep charge of the temple, ⁴⁶ and the chamber that faces north is for the priests who keep charge of the altar. These are the sons of Zadok, the only Levites who may approach the LORD to minister before Him.” ⁴⁷ Next he measured the court. It was square, a hundred cubits long and a hundred cubits wide. And the altar was in front of the temple. ⁴⁸ Then he brought me to the portico of the temple and measured the side pillars of the portico to be five cubits on each side. The width of the gateway was fourteen cubits and its sidewalls were three cubits on either side.

²⁷ Then you will know that I am present in Israel and that I am the LORD your God, and there is no other. My people will never again be put to shame.

⁶⁸ “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, because He has visited and redeemed His people.

¹¹ I ask then, did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Certainly not! However, because of their trespass, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel jealous. ¹² But if their trespass means riches for the world, and their failure means riches for the Gentiles, how much greater riches will their fullness bring! ¹³ I am speaking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry ¹⁴ in the hope that I may provoke my own people to jealousy and save some of them. ¹⁵ For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? ¹⁶ If the first part of the dough is holy, so is the whole batch; if the root is holy, so are the branches. ¹⁷ Now if some branches have been broken off, and you, a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others to share in the nourishment of the olive root, ¹⁸ do not boast over those branches. If you do, remember this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you. ¹⁹ You will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.” ²⁰ That is correct: They were broken off because of unbelief, but you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but be afraid. ²¹ For if God did not spare the natural branches, He will certainly not spare you either. ²² Take notice, therefore, of the kindness and severity of God: severity to those who fell, but kindness to you, if you continue in His kindness. Otherwise you also will be cut off. ²³ And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. ²⁴ For if you were cut from a wild olive tree, and contrary to nature were grafted into one that is cultivated, how much more readily will these, the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree!

¹⁸ For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life you inherited from your forefathers, ¹⁹ but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or spot.

⁹ And they sang a new song: “Worthy are You to take the scroll and open its seals, because You were slain, and by Your blood You purchased for God those from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.

³ Then Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the LORD meant when He said: ‘To those who come near Me I will show My holiness, and in the sight of all the people I will reveal My glory.’” But Aaron remained silent.

¹⁶ But the LORD of Hosts will be exalted by His justice, and the holy God will show Himself holy in righteousness.

¹³ The LORD of Hosts is the One you shall regard as holy. Only He should be feared; only He should be dreaded.

²⁵ The LORD of Hosts will bless them, saying, “Blessed be Egypt My people, Assyria My handiwork, and Israel My inheritance.”

²¹ The people I formed for Myself will declare My praise.

¹¹ Thus says the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, and its Maker: “How dare you question Me about My sons, or instruct Me in the work of My hands?

²¹ Then all your people will be righteous; they will possess the land forever; they are the branch of My planting, the work of My hands, so that I may be glorified.

⁵ Afterward, the people of Israel will return and seek the LORD their God and David their king. They will come trembling to the LORD and to His goodness in the last days.

⁹ So then, this is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name.

¹⁰ For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance as our way of life.

¹⁵ Then the seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and loud voices called out in heaven: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He will reign forever and ever.” ¹⁶ And the twenty-four elders who sit on their thrones before God fell on their faces and worshiped God, ¹⁷ saying: “We give thanks to You, O Lord God Almighty, the One who is and who was, because You have taken Your great power and have begun to reign.

⁴ Who will not fear You, O Lord, and glorify Your name? For You alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before You, for Your righteous acts have been revealed.”

⁵ Then a voice came from the throne, saying: “Praise our God, all you who serve Him, and those who fear Him, small and great alike!”

⁷ These also stagger from wine and stumble from strong drink: Priests and prophets reel from strong drink and are befuddled by wine. They stumble because of strong drink, muddled in their visions and stumbling in their judgments.

¹⁰ For the LORD has poured out on you a spirit of deep sleep. He has shut your eyes, O prophets; He has covered your heads, O seers. ¹¹ And the entire vision will be to you like the words sealed in a scroll. If it is handed to someone to read, he will say, “I cannot, because it is sealed.”

²¹ And whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear this command behind you: “This is the way. Walk in it.”

²⁰ so that all may see and know, may consider and understand, that the hand of the LORD has done this and the Holy One of Israel has created it.”

¹⁶ You will drink the milk of nations and nurse at the breasts of royalty; you will know that I, the LORD, am your Savior and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.

¹⁰ Then I will pour out on the house of David and on the people of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and prayer, and they will look on Me, the One they have pierced. They will mourn for Him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for Him as one grieves for a firstborn son.

²⁸ But what do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first one and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’ ²⁹ ‘I will not,’ he replied. But later he changed his mind and went. ³⁰ Then the man went to the second son and told him the same thing. ‘I will, sir,’ he said. But he did not go. ³¹ Which of the two did the will of his father?” “The first,” they answered. Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God before you. ³² For John came to you in a righteous way and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.

⁴⁷ Therefore I tell you, because her many sins have been forgiven, she has loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little.”

¹⁷ Finally he came to his senses and said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have plenty of food? But here I am, starving to death! ¹⁸ I will get up and go back to my father and say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. ¹⁹ I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.”’

³⁷ When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and asked Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”

⁷ So the word of God continued to spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem grew rapidly, and a great number of priests became obedient to the faith.

¹⁹ and after taking some food, he regained his strength. And he spent several days with the disciples in Damascus. ²⁰ Saul promptly began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, declaring, “He is the Son of God.”

¹¹ And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

¹³ I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a violent man; yet because I had acted in ignorance and unbelief, I was shown mercy. ¹⁴ And the grace of our Lord overflowed to me, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. ¹⁵ This is a trustworthy saying, worthy of full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the worst.

² He is able to deal gently with those who are ignorant and misguided, since he himself is beset by weakness.

² He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. ³ And he threw him into the Abyss, shut it, and sealed it over him, so that he could not deceive the nations until the thousand years were complete. After that, he must be released for a brief period of time.