Isaiah 60 Cross References - ISV

¹ The Light of God’s Deliverance “Arise, shine! For your light has come; the glory of the LORD has risen upon you. ² For look! Darkness will cover the earth and thick darkness is over the people, but the LORD will arise upon you, and his glory will appear over you. ³ Nations will come to your light, and kings before your dawn. ⁴ “Lift up your eyes and look around: They all gather together, they come to you; your sons will come from far away, and your daughters will be carried on the hip.” ⁵ Then you will look and be radiant; your heart will swell with joy, because the abundance of the seas will be diverted to you, and the riches of the nations will come to you. ⁶ Throngs of camels will blanket you: the young camels of Midian and Ephu; all those from Shebu will come. They’ll carry gold and frankincense, and proclaim the praise of the LORD. ⁷ All Kedar’s flocks will be gathered to you, the rams of Nebaioth will serve you. and they’ll come up with acceptance upon my altar, and I’ll glorify my glorious house.”
⁸ The Future Restoration of Zion“Who are these that fly like clouds, and like doves to their windows? ⁹ For the coastlands will look to me, with the ships of Tarshish in the lead, to bring my children from far away, their silver and gold with them, to the name of the LORD your God, and to the Holy One of Israel, because he has glorified you. ¹⁰ “Foreigners will rebuild your walls, and their kings will serve you. Though in my anger I struck you down, in my favor I have shown you mercy. ¹¹ Your gates will always stand open by day or night, and they will not be shut, so that nations will bring you their wealth, with their kings led in procession. ¹² For the nation or kingdom that will not serve you will perish; those nations will be utterly ruined. ¹³ “He has given you the glory of Lebanon, and it will come to you, the cypress, and the plane tree, and the pine, to adorn the place of my sanctuary; and I will make the place of my feet glorious. ¹⁴ “All the descendants of those who oppressed you will come bending low before you, and all those who despised you will bow down at your feet. They’ll call you ‘The City of the LORD,’ ‘Zion of the Holy One of Israel.’”
¹⁵ Israel: the Joy of Generations“Although you have been forsaken and despised, with no one traveling through, I will make you the everlasting pride, the joy of all generations. ¹⁶ You’ll suck the milk of nations, You’ll suck the breasts of kings. Then you will realize that I, the LORD, am your Savior and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob. ¹⁷ “Instead of bronze, I’ll bring gold, and instead of iron, I’ll bring silver; instead of wood, bronze, and instead of stones, iron. I’ll appoint peace as your supervisor and righteousness as your taskmaster. ¹⁸ Then violence will no longer be heard in your land, nor devastation or destruction within your borders; but you’ll call your walls ‘Salvation’, and your gates ‘Praise’. ¹⁹ “The sun will no longer be your light by day, nor for brightness will the moon shine on you by night— for the LORD will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory. ²⁰ Your sun won’t set, nor will your moon withdraw itself— for the LORD will be your everlasting light, and your days of mourning will end. ²¹ Then your people will all be righteous; They’ll possess the land forever. They are the shoot that the LORD planted, the works of his hands, so that I might be glorified. ²² The least of them will become a thousand, and the smallest one a mighty nation. “I am the LORD; When the time is right, I will do this swiftly.”

² The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; for those living in a land of deep darkness, a light has shined upon them.

¹ The Redemption of Zion Awake, awake! Clothe yourself with strength, O Zion! Put on your beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city, for the uncircumcised and the unclean won’t enter you. ² Shake yourself from the dust and arise, and sit on your throne, O Jerusalem! Loosen the bonds from your neck, O captive daughter of Zion.

⁸ God’s Reward“Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will spring up quickly; and your vindication will go before you, and the glory of the LORD will guard your back.

¹⁹ “The sun will no longer be your light by day, nor for brightness will the moon shine on you by night— for the LORD will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory. ²⁰ Your sun won’t set, nor will your moon withdraw itself— for the LORD will be your everlasting light, and your days of mourning will end.

² But the Sun of Righteousness will arise with healing in its light for those who fear my name. You will go out and leap like calves released from their stalls

¹⁶ The people living in darkness have seen a great light, and for those living in the land and shadow of death, a light has risen.”

¹⁶ In the same way, let your light shine before people in such a way that they will see your good actions and glorify your Father in heaven.”

⁷⁸ Because of the tender mercy of our God, his light from on high has visited us, ⁷⁹ to shine on those who sit in darkness and in death’s shadow, and to guide our feet into the way of peace.”

³² a light that will reveal salvation to unbelievers and bring glory to your people Israel.”

⁹ This was the true light that enlightens every person by his coming into the world.

¹⁹ And this is the basis for judgment: The light has come into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light because their actions were evil.

¹² Jesus the Light of the WorldLater on, Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. The one who follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

⁴⁶ I’ve come into the world as light, so that everyone who believes in me won’t remain in the darkness.

⁸ For once you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light,

¹⁴ for the light is making everything visible. That is why it says, “Wake up, sleeper! Arise from the dead, and the Messiah will shine on you.’’

¹⁵ so that you may be blameless and innocent, God’s children without any faults among a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine like stars in the world

¹⁴ If you are insulted because of the name of the Messiah, you are blessed, for the glorious Spirit of God is resting on you.

²³ The city doesn’t need any sun or moon to give it light, because the glory of God gave it light, and the lamb was its lamp.

⁵ There will be no more night, and they will not need any light from lamps or the sun because the Lord God will shine on them. They will rule forever and ever.

²³ Moses and Aaron entered the Tent of Meeting. When they came out, they blessed the people and the glory of the LORD appeared to all the people.

¹⁹ When Korah had assembled the entire community in opposition to Moses and Aaron at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, the glory of the LORD appeared to the entire community.

¹¹ so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, since the glory of the LORD filled the LORD’s Temple.

¹ For the Director of Music: According to “The Lilies”. A testimony of Asaph. A psalm.
A Prayer for Jerusalem Shepherd of Israel, listen! The one who leads Joseph like a flock, the one enthroned on the cherubim, display your glory.

¹⁶ Give glory to the LORD your God before he brings darkness, before your feet stumble on the mountains at twilight. You hope for light, but he turns it into deep darkness. He changes it into heavy gloom.

⁴ The glory of the LORD rose above the cherub and moved to the threshold of the Temple. A cloud filled the Temple and the court was filled with the brilliance of the LORD’s glory.

³ God comes from Teman— the Holy One from Mount Paran. Interlude His glory spreads throughout the heavens, and praises about him fill the earth. ⁴ His radiance is like sunlight; beams of light shine from his hand, where his strength lays hidden.

⁷ I will shake all nations, and the One desired by all nations will come. Then I will fill this house with glory,’ says the LORD of the Heavenly Armies.
⁸ “The silver belongs to me, as does the gold,” declares the LORD of the Heavenly Armies. ⁹ “The glory of this present house will be greater than was the former,” declares the LORD of the Heavenly Armies. “And in this place I will grant peace,” declares the LORD of the Heavenly Armies.”

¹⁴ Leave them alone. They are blind guides of the blind. If one blind person leads another blind person, both will fall into a ditch.”

¹⁹ You blind men! Which is more important, the gift or the altar that makes the gift holy?

²⁴ You blind guides! You filter out a gnat, yet swallow a camel!

¹ The Word and CreationIn the beginning, the Word existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God.

¹⁴ The Word Becomes HumanThe Word became flesh and lived among us. We gazed on his glory, the kind of glory that belongs to the Father’s unique Son, who is full of grace and truth.

¹⁸ No one has ever seen God. The unique God, who is close to the Father’s side, has revealed him.

⁵⁵ You don’t know him, but I know him. If I were to say that I don’t know him, I would be a liar like you. But I do know him and keep his word.

¹⁶ In past generations he allowed all the nations to go their own ways,

²³ For as I was walking around and looking closely at the objects you worship, I even found an altar with this written on it: ‘To an unknown god.’ So I am telling you about the unknown object you worship.

³⁰ Though God has overlooked those times of ignorance, he now commands everyone everywhere to repent, ³¹ because he has set a day when he is going to judge the world with justice through a man whom he has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.”

¹⁸ You will help them understand and turn them from darkness to light and from Satan’s control to God, so that their sins will be forgiven and they will receive a share among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’

²¹ For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him. Instead, their thoughts turned to worthless things, and their senseless hearts were darkened. ²² Though claiming to be wise, they became fools ²³ and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images that looked like mortal human beings, birds, four-footed animals, and reptiles.
²⁴ For this reason, God delivered them to sexual impurity as they followed the lusts of their hearts and dishonored their bodies with one another. ²⁵ They exchanged God’s truth for a lie and worshipped and served the creation rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
²⁶ For this reason, God delivered them to degrading passions as their females exchanged their natural sexual function for one that is unnatural. ²⁷ In the same way, their males also abandoned their natural sexual function toward females and burned with lust toward one another. Males committed indecent acts with males, and received within themselves the appropriate penalty for their perversion.
²⁸ Furthermore, because they did not think it worthwhile to keep knowing God fully, God delivered them to degraded minds to perform acts that should not be done. ²⁹ They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed, and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, quarreling, deceit, and viciousness. They are gossips, ³⁰ slanderers, God-haters, haughty, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to their parents, ³¹ foolish, faithless, heartless, and ruthless. ³² Although they know God’s just requirement—that those who practice such things deserve to die—they not only do these things but even applaud others who practice them.

¹⁸ As all of us reflect the glory of the Lord with unveiled faces, we are becoming more like him with ever-increasing glory by the Lord’s Spirit.

⁴ In their case, the god of this world has blinded the minds of those who do not believe to keep them from seeing the light of the glorious gospel of the Messiah, who is the image of God.
⁵ For we do not preach ourselves, but rather Jesus the Messiah as Lord, and ourselves as merely your servants for Jesus’ sake. ⁶ For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory in the face of Jesus the Messiah.

¹⁷ The Old Life and the NewTherefore, I tell you and insist on in the Lord not to live any longer like the gentiles live, thinking worthless thoughts. ¹⁸ They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of their ignorance and hardness of heart. ¹⁹ Since they have lost all sense of shame, they have abandoned themselves to sensuality and practice every kind of sexual perversion without restraint. ²⁰ However, that is not the way you came to know the Messiah.

¹³ God has rescued us from the power of darkness and has brought us into the kingdom of the Son whom he loves,

² has in these last days spoken to us by a Son whom he appointed to be the heir of everything and through whom he also made the universe. ³ He is the reflection of God’s glory and the exact likeness of his being, and he holds everything together by his powerful word. After he had provided a cleansing from sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Highest Majesty

⁹ But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people to be his very own and to proclaim the wonderful deeds of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

¹⁰ The scepter will never depart from Judah, nor a ruler’s staff from between his feet, until the One comes, who owns them both, and to him will belong the allegiance of nations.

¹⁰ Therefore, kings, act wisely! Earthly rulers, be warned!

²⁷ All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the LORD; all the families of the nations will bow in submission to the LORD.

¹ To the Director of music: Accompanied by stringed instruments. A Psalm. A song.
A Call to Thanksgiving May God show us favor and bless us; may he truly show us his favor. Interlude ² Let your ways be known by all the nations of the earth, along with your deliverance. ³ Let the people thank you, God. Let all the people thank you. ⁴ Let the nations rejoice and sing for joy, because you judge people with fairness and you govern the people of the earth. Interlude

²⁹ Because of your Temple in Jerusalem, kings bring tribute to you.

¹¹ May all kings bow down to him, and all nations serve him.

¹⁷ Praising the God of IsraelMay his fame be eternal— as long as the sun— may his name endure, and may they be blessed through him, and may all nations call him blessed. ¹⁸ Blessed be the LORD God, the God of Israel, who alone does awesome deeds. ¹⁹ And blessed be his glorious name forever, and may the whole earth be filled with his glory. Amen and amen!

² The LORD has made his deliverance known; he has disclosed his justice before the nations. ³ He has remembered his gracious love; his faithfulness toward the house of Israel; all the ends of the earth saw our God’s deliverance.

¹ A Call to Praise the LORD Praise the LORD, all you nations! Exalt him, all you peoples! ² For great is his gracious love toward us, and the LORD’s faithfulness is eternal. Hallelujah!

⁴ LORD, all the kings of the earth will give you thanks, for they have heard what you have spoken.

² “It will come about in the last days that the mountain that is the LORD’s Temple will be established as the highest of mountains, and will be raised above the hills; all the nations will stream to it. ³ Many groups of people will come, commenting, “Come! Let’s go up to the Temple of the God of Jacob, that they may teach us his ways. Then let’s walk in his paths.”
The Rule of God from Jerusalem “Instruction will proceed from Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. ⁴ He will judge between the nations, and will render verdicts for the benefit of many. “They will beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nations will not raise swords against nations, and they will not learn warfare anymore. ⁵ “You house of Jacob!
Come! Let’s live in the LORD’s light.

¹⁰ Israel RegatheredAt that time, as to the root of Jesse, who will be standing as a banner for the peoples, the nations will rally to him, and his resting place is glorious.

²³ At that time, there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrians will come into Egypt, and the Egyptians into Assyria, and they will worship with the Assyrians.
²⁴ At that time, Israel will be in a triple alliance with Egypt and Assyria; they will be a blessing in the midst of the earth. ²⁵ The LORD of the Heavenly Armies has blessed them, saying, “Blessed be Egypt my people, Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel my inheritance.”

¹⁴ This is what the LORD says: “The wealth of Egypt, and the merchandise of Ethiopia, those Sabeans, men of great heights. They’ll come over to you and will be yours; They’ll trudge behind you— coming over in chains, they’ll bow down to you. They’ll plead with you, ‘Surely God is in you; and there is no other God at all.’”

⁶ he says: “It is too small a thing for you to be my servant, to raise up the tribes of Israel and bring back those of Jacob I have preserved. I’ll also make you as a light to the nations, to be my salvation to the ends of the earth. ⁷ “This is what my Lord says— the LORD your Redeemer, O Israel, and his Holy One— to one despised by people, to those abhorred as a nation, to the servant of rulers: “Kings see and arise, and princes will bow down, because of the LORD who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, the one who has chosen you.”

¹² “Watch! They’ll come from far away— some from the north and from the west, and others from the Aswan region.”

²³ “Oh, yes! Kings will be your foster fathers, and their queens will be your nursing mothers. They will bow to you with their faces to the ground, and lick the dust from your feet. Then you will know that I am the LORD; those who hope in me will not be disappointed.

¹ The Coming Glory of Israel “Sing, you barren woman, even the one who never bore a child! Burst into song and shout for joy, even you who were never in labor! For the children of the desolate woman will be more than the children of her that is married,” says the LORD. ² “Enlarge the location of your tent, let the curtains of your dwellings be stretched wide, and don’t hold back. Lengthen your cords; strengthen your stakes. ³ For you will spread out to the right hand and to the left, and your descendants will possess the nations and will populate the deserted towns.

¹⁰ “Foreigners will rebuild your walls, and their kings will serve you. Though in my anger I struck you down, in my favor I have shown you mercy.

¹⁶ You’ll suck the milk of nations, You’ll suck the breasts of kings. Then you will realize that I, the LORD, am your Savior and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.

¹² The Rule of GodThis is what the LORD says: “See, I will extend prosperity to her like a river, and the wealth of nations like a flooding stream; and you will nurse, and you will be carried on her hip, and bounced upon her knees.

¹⁹ “I will put up signs among them, and from them I will send survivors to the nations—to Tarshish, Libya, and Lydia, (who draw the bow), to Tubal and Greece, to the far off coastlands that have not heard of my fame or seen my glory. Then they will proclaim my glory among the nations. ²⁰ They will bring all—yes, all!— of your kindred from all the nations to my holy mountain Jerusalem as an offering to the LORD—on horses, in chariots, in wagons, and on mules—yes, even on mules!— and on camels,” says the LORD, “just as the Israelis bring a grain offering in a clean vessel to the LORD’s house.

¹² so my people may inherit the remnant of Edom and all of the nations that bear my name,” declares the LORD who is bringing this about.

¹ The Future Reign of God “But in the last days it will come about that the Temple Mount of the LORD will be firmly set as the leading mountain. It will be exalted above its surrounding hills, and people will stream toward it. ² Many nations will approach and say, ‘Come, let’s go up to the mountain of the LORD, and to the Temple of the God of Jacob. He will teach us about his ways, and we will walk according to his directions.’ “Indeed, the Law will proceed from Zion, and the message of the LORD from Jerusalem.

¹¹ “Many nations will cling to the LORD at that time and will become my people. I will live in your midst, and you will know that the LORD of the Heavenly Armies has sent me to you.

²⁰ Future Visits by Nations to Jerusalem“This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies says: ‘In the future, people will come, including residents of many cities, ²¹ and they will travel from one place to another place and say, “Let’s go quickly to pray in the presence of the LORD and to inquire of the LORD of the Heavenly Armies.’ And I will go, too. ²² Many people and powerful nations will come to inquire of the LORD of the Heavenly Armies in Jerusalem, and to pray in the presence of the LORD.”’”
²³ “This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies says: ‘In the future, ten men speaking all the languages of the nations will grab hold of one Jewish person by the hem of his garment and say, “Let us go up to Jerusalem with you, because we heard that God is with you.”’”

¹ The Visit of the Wise MenAfter Jesus had been born in Bethlehem of Judea during the reign of King Herod, wise men arrived in Jerusalem from the east ² and asked, “Where is the one who was born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.”
³ When King Herod heard this, he was disturbed, as was all of Jerusalem. ⁴ He called together all the high priests and scribes of the people and asked them where the Messiah was to be born. ⁵ They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, because that is what was written by the prophet: ⁶ ‘O Bethlehem in the land of Judah, you are by no means least among the rulers of Judah, because from you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’”
⁷ Then Herod secretly called together the wise men, found out from them the time the star had appeared, ⁸ and sent them to Bethlehem. He told them, “As you go, search carefully for the child. When you find him, tell me so that I, too, may go and worship him.”
⁹ After listening to the king, they set out, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it came and stopped over the place where the child was. ¹⁰ When they saw the star, they were ecstatic with joy. ¹¹ After they went into the house and saw the child with his mother Mary, they fell down and worshipped him. Then they opened their treasure sacks and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

¹⁹ Therefore, as you go, disciple people in all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit,

⁴⁷ and then repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all the nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

²⁰ Some Greeks Ask to See JesusNow some Greeks were among those who had come up to worship at the festival. ²¹ They went to Philip (who was from Bethsaida in Galilee) and told him, “Sir, we would like to see Jesus.”

³² As for me, if I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all people to myself.”

⁴⁷ For that is what the Lord ordered us to do: ‘I have made you a light to the gentiles to be the means of salvation to the very ends of the earth.’”

¹⁷ so that the rest of the people may search for the Lord, including all the gentiles who are called by my name,’ declares the Lord. ‘He is the one who has been doing these things

¹¹ The Salvation of the GentilesAnd so I ask, “They have not stumbled so as to fall, have they?” Of course not! On the contrary, because of their stumbling, salvation has come to the gentiles to make the Jews jealous. ¹² Now if their stumbling means riches for the world, and if their fall means riches for the gentiles, how much more will their full participation mean!
¹³ I am speaking to you gentiles. Because I am an apostle to the gentiles, I magnify my ministry ¹⁴ in the hope that I can make my people jealous and save some of them. ¹⁵ For if their rejection results in reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance bring but life from the dead?

⁹ so that the gentiles may glorify God for his mercy. As it is written, “That is why I will praise you among the gentiles; I will sing praises to your name.”
¹⁰ Again he says, “Rejoice, you gentiles, with his people!”
¹¹ And again, “Praise the Lord, all you gentiles! Let all the nations praise him.”
¹² And again, Isaiah says, “There will be a Root from Jesse. He will rise up to rule the gentiles, and the gentiles will hope in him.”

¹⁵ The Vision of the Seventh Angel Blowing His TrumpetWhen the seventh angel blew his trumpet, there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The world’s kingdom has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah, and he will rule forever and ever.”

²⁴ The nations will walk in its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it.

¹² He will raise a banner for the nations and will assemble the dispersed of Israel; he will gather the scattered people of Judah from the corners of the earth.

⁶ “I’ve called you in righteousness. I’ll take hold of your hand. I’ll preserve you and appoint you as a covenant to the people, as a light for the nations,

⁶ I’ll say to the north, ‘Give them up’! and to the south, ‘Don’t keep them back!’ Bring my sons from far away and my daughters from the ends of the earth—

¹⁸ Lift up your eyes and look around— they have all gathered together and are coming to you. “As surely as I live,” says the LORD, “you will clothe yourself with all of them like ornaments, and tie them on like a bride.

²⁰ “The children who are grieving at present will yet say in your hearing, ‘This place is too crowded for me; make room for me, so I may have a place to live.’ ²¹ Then you’ll ask in your heart, ‘Who bore these children for me, although I was childless and barren, and an exile and cast aside? Who brought these up? Look! For my part I was left all alone; but as for these, where have they come from?’ ²² “For this what the LORD says, ‘Watch! I’ll lift up my hand to the nations and raise my banner to the peoples. They will bring your sons in their arms, and your daughters will be carried on their shoulders.’

¹¹ so that you may nurse and be satisfied at her consoling breasts, and so that you may drink deeply and take delight from her glorious bosom.”
¹² The Rule of GodThis is what the LORD says: “See, I will extend prosperity to her like a river, and the wealth of nations like a flooding stream; and you will nurse, and you will be carried on her hip, and bounced upon her knees.

¹¹ I tell all of you, many will come from east and west and will feast with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom from heaven.

³⁵ You say, don’t you, ‘In four more months the harvest will begin?’ Look, I tell you, open your eyes and observe that the fields are ready for harvesting now!

⁴⁴ The next Sabbath almost the whole town gathered to hear the word of the Lord.

²⁸ Because all of you are one in the Messiah Jesus, a person is no longer a Jew or a Greek, a slave or a free person, a male or a female. ²⁹ And if you belong to the Messiah, then you are Abraham’s descendants indeed, and heirs according to the promise.

¹ Hannah’s Thanksgiving PsalmThen Hannah prayed: “My heart exults in the LORD; my strength is increased by the LORD. I will open my mouth to speak against my enemies, because I rejoice in your deliverance.

⁵ Look to him and be radiant; and you will not be ashamed.

⁷ Ascribe to the LORD, you families of peoples, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength! ⁸ Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name, bring an offering and enter his courts! ⁹ Worship the LORD in holy splendor; tremble before him, all the earth.

⁷ Let the sea and everything in it shout, along with the world and its inhabitants; ⁸ let the rivers clap their hands in unison; and let the mountains sing for joy ⁹ in the LORD’s presence, who comes to judge the earth; He’ll judge the world righteously; and its people fairly.

¹⁸ Nevertheless, her profits and her earnings will be dedicated to the LORD; they will not be stored up or hoarded—but her profits will go to those who live in the LORD’s presence, for abundant food and choice clothing.

¹⁴ Glorifying God“They raise their voices; they shout for joy; from the west they shout aloud over the LORD’s majesty. ¹⁵ Therefore, you in the east, give glory to the LORD! You in the coastlands of the sea, give glory to the name of the LORD God of Israel!

² “Enlarge the location of your tent, let the curtains of your dwellings be stretched wide, and don’t hold back. Lengthen your cords; strengthen your stakes.

¹¹ Your gates will always stand open by day or night, and they will not be shut, so that nations will bring you their wealth, with their kings led in procession.

⁶ But as for you, you will be called priests of the LORD, and you will be named ministers of our God. You will feed on the wealth of the nations, and you will boast about their riches.

⁹ Jerusalem will be for me a name of joy, praise, and glory to all the nations of the earth that hear about all the good that I’m doing for them. They’ll fear and tremble because of all the good and because of all the peace that I’m bringing to Jerusalem.’

¹⁰ Despite this, the number of the people of Israel will be like ocean sand, which can neither be measured nor counted. And the time will come when instead of it being said, ‘You are not my people,’ it will be said, ‘You are children of the living God.’ ¹¹ And the people of Judah and the people of Israel will be united as one. They will appoint for themselves a single leader and will take dominion over the land, for great will be the day of Jezreel.

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

⁴⁵ Then the circumcised believers who had come with Peter were amazed that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the gentiles, too,

¹⁷ Now if God gave them the same gift that he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus, the Messiah, who was I to try to stop God?”

¹⁷ After many years, I have come back to my people to bring gifts for the poor and to offer sacrifices.

²⁵ The Restoration of IsraelFor I want to let you know about this secret, brothers, so that you will not claim to be wiser than you are: Stubbornness has come to part of Israel until the full number of the gentiles comes to faith.

²⁶ because the believers in Macedonia and Achaia have been eager to share their resources with the poor among the saints in Jerusalem.

¹ Workers with GodSince, then, we are working with God, we plead with you not to accept God’s grace in vain. ² For he says, “At the right time I heard you, and on a day of salvation I helped you.” Listen, now is really the “right time”! Now is the “day of salvation”!
³ We are God’s ServantsWe do not put an obstacle in anyone’s way. Otherwise, fault may be found with our ministry. ⁴ Instead, in every way we demonstrate that we are God’s servants by tremendous endurance in the midst of difficulties, hardships, and calamities; ⁵ in beatings, imprisonments, and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights, and hunger; ⁶ with purity, knowledge, patience, and kindness; with the Holy Spirit, genuine love, ⁷ truthful speech, and divine power; through the weapons of righteousness in the right and left hands; ⁸ through honor and dishonor; through ill repute and good repute; perceived as deceivers and yet true, ⁹ as unknown and yet well-known, as dying and yet—as you see—very much alive, as punished and yet not killed, ¹⁰ as sorrowful and yet always rejoicing, as poor and yet enriching many, as having nothing and yet possessing everything.
¹¹ We have spoken frankly to you, Corinthians. Our hearts are wide open. ¹² We have not cut you off, but you have cut off your own feelings toward us. ¹³ Do us a favor—I ask you as my children—and open wide your hearts.

¹⁵ We are not boasting about work done by others that cannot be evaluated. On the contrary, we cherish the hope that your faith may continue to grow and enlarge our sphere of action among you until it overflows.

²⁶ People will bring the glory and wealth of the nations into it.

⁷ Cush’s descendants included Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabteca.
Raamah’s descendants included Sheba and Dedan.

³ Jokshan was the father of Sheba and Dedan. Dedan’s sons were the Asshurites, Letushites, and Leummites. ⁴ Midian’s sons were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah. All of these were Keturah’s descendants.

¹³ Here’s a list of the names of Ishmael’s sons, recorded by their names and descendants: Nebaioth was the firstborn, followed by Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam,

⁵ They would invade with their livestock and tents, swooping in as numerous as locusts. It was impossible to count them or their camels—and they came into the land to destroy it.

¹² The Midianites, the Amalekites, and certain groups from the east lay encamped in the valley, as thick as locusts. The number of their camels couldn’t be calculated—they seemed as numerous as the sand on the seashore.

² She brought along a large retinue, camels laden with spices, and lots of gold and precious stones. Upon her arrival, she spoke with Solomon about everything that was on her mind.

⁹ So Hazael went out to meet with him and took a gift with him—40 camel loads filled with samples of everything good in Damascus. He approached the man of God and said, “Your son King Ben-hadad from Aram has sent me to you to ask you, ‘Will I recover from this sickness?’”

¹ The Queen of Sheba Visits Jerusalem
When the queen of Sheba heard about Solomon’s reputation, she traveled to Jerusalem and tested him with difficult questions. She brought along a large retinue, camels laden with spices, and lots of gold and precious stones. Upon her arrival, she spoke with Solomon about everything that was on her mind.

¹⁰ May the kings of Tarshish and of distant shores bring gifts, and may the kings of Sheba and Seba offer tribute.

¹⁵ Prayer for the KingMay he live long and be given gold from Sheba, and may prayer be offered for him continuously, and may he be blessed every day.

⁶ The Animals of the NegevAn oracle about the animals of the Negev: “Through a land of trouble, dryness, and distress, of lionesses and roaring lions, where there is no water, a land of vipers and darting snakes, he carries their riches on donkeys’ backs, and their treasures on the humps of camels, to a nation that cannot benefit them,

¹⁰ Praise in Song to GodSing to the LORD a new song, and his praise from the ends of the earth, you who sail down the sea and by everything in it, you coastlands and their inhabitants.

¹¹ Even so, from where the sun rises to where it sets my name will be great among the Gentiles. Incense will be brought to me everywhere, along with pure offerings, because my name will be great among the Gentiles,” says the LORD of the Heavenly Armies.

¹¹ After they went into the house and saw the child with his mother Mary, they fell down and worshipped him. Then they opened their treasure sacks and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

⁹ so that the gentiles may glorify God for his mercy. As it is written, “That is why I will praise you among the gentiles; I will sing praises to your name.”

¹⁷ Yet even if I am being poured out like an offering as part of the sacrifice and service I offer for your faith, I rejoice, and I share my joy with all of you.

⁵ you, too, as living stones, are building yourselves up into a spiritual house and a holy priesthood, so that you may offer spiritual sacrifices that are acceptable to God through Jesus, the Messiah.

⁹ They sang a new song: “You are worthy to take the scroll and open its seals, because you were slaughtered. With your blood you purchased people for God from every tribe, language, people, and nation. ¹⁰ You made them a kingdom and priests for our God, and they will reign on the earth.”

⁹ The Vision of Tribulation SaintsAfter these things, I looked, and there was a crowd so large that no one was able to count it! They were from every nation, tribe, people, and language. They were standing in front of the throne and the lamb and were wearing white robes, with palm branches in their hands. ¹⁰ They cried out in a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the lamb!” ¹¹ All the angels stood around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell on their faces in front of the throne and worshipped God, ¹² saying, “Amen! Praise, glory, wisdom, thanks, honor, power, and strength be to our God forever and ever! Amen!”

⁸ So take seven bulls and seven rams and bring them to my servant Job. And bring a whole burnt offering for yourselves and my servant Job will pray for you. I’ll encourage him by not responding as your disgraceful folly deserves, since you didn’t speak about me correctly as did my servant Job.

¹¹ Let the desert cry out, its towns and the villages where Kedar lives; and let those who live in Sela sing for joy. Let them shout aloud from the mountaintops.

⁷ these I will bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer. Their burnt-offerings and their sacrifices will rise up to be accepted on my altar; for my house will be called a house of prayer for everyone.”

¹³ “He has given you the glory of Lebanon, and it will come to you, the cypress, and the plane tree, and the pine, to adorn the place of my sanctuary; and I will make the place of my feet glorious.

¹ Dedicate Your Lives to GodI therefore urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercies, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices that are holy and pleasing to God, for this is the reasonable way for you to worship.

¹⁶ to be a minister of the Messiah Jesus to the gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the offering brought by gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

¹⁰ We have an altar, and those who serve in the tent have no right to eat at it.

¹⁵ Therefore, through him let us always bring God a sacrifice of praise, that is, the fruit of our lips that confess his name. ¹⁶ Do not neglect to do good and to be generous, for God is pleased with such sacrifices.

⁸ Later, he sent a dove out from the ark to see whether the water that covered the land’s surface had completely receded, ⁹ but the dove could not yet find a place to rest, so it returned to Noah on the ark, since water still covered the land. Noah reached out his hand and took the dove back into the ark with him.
¹⁰ Noah waited another seven days and sent the dove out from the ark again. ¹¹ The dove returned to him in the evening, but in its beak there was an olive leaf that it had plucked! So Noah knew that the flood waters had decreased on the land.

²² Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth. For I am God, and there is no other.

²¹ Then you’ll ask in your heart, ‘Who bore these children for me, although I was childless and barren, and an exile and cast aside? Who brought these up? Look! For my part I was left all alone; but as for these, where have they come from?’

⁴ “Lift up your eyes and look around: They all gather together, they come to you; your sons will come from far away, and your daughters will be carried on the hip.”

²⁹ People will come from east and west, and from north and south, and will eat in the kingdom of God.

¹ We Must Look Off to JesusTherefore, having so vast a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, and throwing off everything that hinders us and especially the sin that so easily entangles us, let us keep running with endurance the race set before us,

⁹ The Vision of Tribulation SaintsAfter these things, I looked, and there was a crowd so large that no one was able to count it! They were from every nation, tribe, people, and language. They were standing in front of the throne and the lamb and were wearing white robes, with palm branches in their hands.

²⁷ May God make room for Japheth; may God live in Shem’s tents, and may Canaan serve him.”

² Japheth’s descendants included Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras.
³ Gomer’s descendants included Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah.
⁴ Javan’s descendants included Elisha, Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim, ⁵ from whom the coastal peoples spread into their own lands and nations, each with their own language and family groups.

¹⁹ God said, “I’ll cause all my goodness to pass before you, and I’ll proclaim the name ‘the LORD’ before you. I’ll be gracious to whom I’ll be gracious, and I’ll show compassion on whom I’ll show compassion.

⁵ The LORD came down in a cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed the name of the LORD. ⁶ The LORD passed in front of him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and filled with gracious love and truth. ⁷ He graciously loves thousands, and forgives iniquity, transgression, and sin. But he does not leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of the ancestors on their children, and on their children’s children to the third and fourth generation.”

⁹ They answered, “Your servants have arrived from a very distant land, because of the reputation of the LORD your God, because we’ve heard a report about all that he did in Egypt,

⁴¹ “Now concerning the foreigner who is not from your people Israel, when he comes from a land far away for the sake of your name

¹ The Queen of Sheba Visits Solomon
When the queen of Sheba heard about Solomon’s reputation with the LORD, she came to test him with difficult questions.

²² because the king had ships that sailed to Tarshish accompanied by Hiram’s ships. Once every three years ships from Tarshish returned, bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks.

⁴⁸ Jehoshaphat had ocean-going vessels from Tarshish sail to Ophir for gold, but they never made it because they were shipwrecked at Ezion-geber.

³⁰ Rebuke the wildlife that lives among the reeds, the nations that congregate like bulls and cows, humbling themselves with pieces of silver, for God scatters the nations that delight in battle. ³¹ Envoys will come from Egypt. Let the Ethiopians stretch out their hands to God.

²⁰ The positive words that a man speaks fill his stomach; he will be satisfied with what his lips produce.

¹⁶ against all the ships from Tarshish, and against all their impressive watercraft.

¹¹ At that time, the LORD will reach out his hand yet a second time to recover the remnant that is left of his people, from Assyria, from Lower Egypt, from Upper Egypt, from Cush, from Elam, from Shinar, from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea.

¹ Israel Mocks Babylon’s KingHowever, the LORD will have compassion on Jacob and will once again choose Israel. He will settle them in their own land, and foreigners will join them, affiliating themselves with the house of Jacob. ² Many nations will take them and bring them to their land and their own place. The house of Israel will put those nations to conscripted labor in the LORD’s land. They will take captive those who were their captors, and will rule continually over those who oppressed them.

⁴ And he won’t grow faint or be crushed until he establishes justice on the mainland, and the coastlands take ownership of his Law.”

⁴ Since you’re precious in my sight and honored, and because I love you, I’m giving up people in your place, and nations in exchange for your life.”

¹ The Servant of the LORD “Listen to me, you coastlands! Pay attention, you people from far away! The LORD called me from the womb; while I was still in my mother’s body, he pronounced my name.

⁵ my deliverance near; my salvation is on the way. His arm will bring justice to the nations; the coastlands will hope for him, and they will wait for his arm.

¹ The Redemption of Zion Awake, awake! Clothe yourself with strength, O Zion! Put on your beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city, for the uncircumcised and the unclean won’t enter you. ² Shake yourself from the dust and arise, and sit on your throne, O Jerusalem! Loosen the bonds from your neck, O captive daughter of Zion.
³ For this is what the LORD says: “You were sold for nothing, and you’ll be redeemed without money.”
⁴ For this is what the LORD says: “My people went down long ago into Egypt to live there; the Assyrian, too, has oppressed them without cause.
⁵ “Now therefore, what am I doing here,” asks the LORD, “seeing that my people are taken away without cause? Those who rule over them are deluded,” says the LORD, “and continuously, all the day long, my name is blasphemed. ⁶ Therefore my people will know my name; in that day they’ll know that it is I who speaks, ‘Here I am!’

⁵ “Look! You will call a nation that you do not know, and a nation that does not know you will run to you, because of the LORD your God, even the Holy One of Israel, for he has glorified you.”

¹⁷ Because of his wicked greed I was angry, so I punished him; and I hid my face, and was angry— but he kept turning back to his stubborn will.

¹⁷ At that time people will call Jerusalem, “The Throne of the LORD,” and all the nations will be gathered to it, to the name of the LORD, to Jerusalem. They’ll no longer stubbornly follow their own evil desires.

¹⁹ Thanksgiving and the sounds of laughter will come out of them. I’ll cause them to increase in numbers and not decrease. I’ll honor them and not make them insignificant.

¹¹ The LORD will incite them to terror, because he will cause all the gods of the earth to waste away. They will worship him, every person in his own home, including even the coastlands of the nations.”
The LORD’s Rebuke to Cush and Nineveh

¹⁴ Judah, too, will fight at Jerusalem. Then the wealth of the surrounding nations will be gathered up: gold, silver, and clothing in great abundance.

²⁶ I made your name known to them, and will continue to make it known, so that the love you have for me may be in them and I myself may be in them.”

¹⁵ But the Lord told him, “Go, because he’s my chosen instrument to carry my name to unbelievers, to their kings, and to the descendants of Israel.

⁴ They begged us earnestly for the privilege of participating in this ministry to the saints. ⁵ We did not expect that! They gave themselves to the Lord first and then to us, since this was God’s will.

²⁶ You are God’s ChildrenFor all of you are God’s children through faith in the Messiah Jesus.

²⁶ But the heavenly Jerusalem is the free woman, and she is our spiritual mother.

³ DATE: First year of Cyrus the King FROM: King Cyrus SUBJECT: The Temple of God in Jerusalem Let the Temple be rebuilt where they offered sacrifices. Let the foundations thereof be laid with a height of 60 cubits and a width of 60 cubits, ⁴ constructed with three layers of foundation stone interlaced with a row of new timber, the expenses for which are to be paid from the king’s treasury. ⁵ Furthermore, let the gold and silver utensils from the Temple of God (that Nebuchadnezzar took from the Temple in Jerusalem and carried off to Babylon) be brought back to the Temple at Jerusalem and restored to their respective places in the Temple of God.
⁶ King Darius Confirms the DecreeTo: Tattenai, Trans-Euphrates Governor, Shethar-bozenai, and your colleagues living beyond the Euphrates River. Stay away from there! ⁷ Leave the work on this Temple of God alone! Let the Jewish governor and the Jewish leaders build this Temple of God on its site. ⁸ Furthermore, I hereby decree what you are to do for the Jewish leaders who are building this Temple of God: you are to pay the expenses of these men out of the king’s assets from taxes collected beyond the River so that they are not hindered. ⁹ And be sure that you don’t fail to provide their daily needs—including young bulls, rams, and lambs for the burnt offerings of the God of Heaven, along with wheat, salt, wine, and oil, as the priests in Jerusalem tell you— ¹⁰ so they may approach the God of Heaven with fragrant sacrifices and pray for the life of this king and his sons. ¹¹ I hereby also decree that whoever shall alter the wording of this edict, let his residence be torn down for timber to build a gallows, hang him on it, and turn his home into an outhouse. ¹² And may the God who causes his Name to rest there destroy any king or people who might attempt to destroy this Temple of God in Jerusalem. I, Darius, have issued this decree. Let it be carried out quickly.

¹² From: Artaxerxes, King of Kings To: Ezra, the Priest, a scholar in matters concerning the laws of the God of Heaven Greetings! ¹³ I hereby decree that all of the people of Israel— along with their priests and descendants of Levi in my kingdom—who are determined to return to Jerusalem with you may do so. ¹⁴ You have authority to act for the king and for his Council of Seven to conduct an inquiry concerning Judah and Jerusalem in accordance with the Law of your God, which is in your possession. ¹⁵ You are carrying silver and gold that the King and his advisors have freely given to the God of Israel, whose Temple is in Jerusalem, ¹⁶ together with all of the silver and gold that you can raise in the province of Babylon, plus the freewill offerings given by the people and the priests, contributed for the Temple of their God, which is in Jerusalem. ¹⁷ Accordingly, you are to exercise due diligence to utilize this money to purchase bulls, rams, lambs, grain offerings, and drink offerings, and to offer them upon the altar of the Temple of your God, which is in Jerusalem. ¹⁸ Furthermore, the balance remaining of the silver and gold may be used for whatever other purpose you and your people desire, as long as such use is consistent with the will of your God. ¹⁹ Furthermore, you are to deliver to the God of Jerusalem the vessels for the service of the Temple of your God that have been given to you. ²⁰ Furthermore, provide from the royal treasury whatever else may be needed for the Temple of your God. ²¹ I, Artaxerxes, in my capacity as king, hereby decree to all royal treasuries beyond the Euphrates River that whatever Ezra the priest-scribe of the Law of the God of Heaven, may require of you are to be performed with all due diligence, ²² up to 100 silver talents, 100 measures of wheat, 100 measures of wine, 100 measures of oil, and salt without limitation. ²³ Whatever is commanded by the God of Heaven is to be done with all due diligence for the Temple of the God of Heaven, or wrath will come against the king’s realm and his sons. ²⁴ Furthermore, we decree that with respect to any of the priests, descendants of Levi, singers, gatekeepers, Temple Servants, or other servants of this Temple of God, it is not to be lawful to impose any tribute, tax, or toll on them. ²⁵ And you, Ezra, in accordance with the wisdom given to you by your God, are to appoint magistrates and judges to administer justice to all the people beyond the Euphrates River. All of them are to know the laws of your God, and you are to instruct those who do not know them. ²⁶ Whoever refuses to practice the law of your God and the law of the king is to see judgment executed quickly, whether to death, banishment, confiscation of goods, or imprisonment.
²⁷ Ezra’s Response to the LetterBlessed be the LORD God of our ancestors, who placed this decree into the king’s heart to beautify the Temple of the LORD in Jerusalem ²⁸ and who showed gracious love to me before the king, before his advisors, and before all of the king’s mighty officials.
And I was strengthened because the hand of the LORD my God was upon me. So I gathered together the leaders of Israel to go with me.

⁷ I also asked the king, “If it seems good to you, order that letters of authorization be given me for the Trans-Euphrates governors, so they will allow me to pass through to Judah, ⁸ along with a letter to Asaph, the royal Commissioner of Forests, so that he will supply me with timber to craft beams for the gatehouses of the Temple, for the city walls, and for the house in which I will be living.”
The king granted this for me, according to the good hand of my God. ⁹ So I went to the Trans-Euphrates governors and gave them the king’s letters of authorization. The king also sent army officers and cavalry to accompany me.

⁵ For his wrath is only momentary; yet his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may lodge for the night, but shouts of joy will come in the morning.

¹ Israel’s Praise to the LORD At that time, you will say: “I will praise you, LORD, for although you were angry with me, your anger has turned away, and you have comforted me.

⁷ “For a brief moment I abandoned you; but I’ll gather you with great compassion. ⁸ I hid my face from you for a moment in a surge of anger, but I will have compassion on you with my everlasting gracious love,” says the LORD your Redeemer.

¹⁷ Because of his wicked greed I was angry, so I punished him; and I hid my face, and was angry— but he kept turning back to his stubborn will. ¹⁸ I’ve seen his ways, yet I will heal him, and restore for him comfort to him and for those who mourn for him

³ Nations will come to your light, and kings before your dawn.

⁵ Strangers will stand and feed your flocks, and foreigners will work your land and dress your vines.

²¹ Then I will also select some of them for myself as priests and as Levites,” says the LORD.

¹⁵ Those who are now far away will come and do reconstruction work in the Temple of the LORD. Then you will know that the LORD of the Heavenly Armies has sent me to you. This will come about if you diligently obey the voice of the LORD your God.”’”

¹⁹ As the Sabbath approached and it began to get dark at the gates of Jerusalem, I gave word to shut the gates, charging that they should not be opened until after the Sabbath. I stationed some of my men at the gates to ensure that no loads would be brought in on the Sabbath day.

⁸ binding their kings with chains, their officials with iron bands,

⁵ Then you will look and be radiant; your heart will swell with joy, because the abundance of the seas will be diverted to you, and the riches of the nations will come to you.

¹⁸ Then violence will no longer be heard in your land, nor devastation or destruction within your borders; but you’ll call your walls ‘Salvation’, and your gates ‘Praise’.

¹⁰ The Coming of God to Reign“Pass through the gates! prepare the way for the people! Build up! Build up the highway! Clear it of stumbling stones, speak among the peoples.

²⁵ Its gates will never be shut at the end of the day—because there will be no night there. ²⁶ People will bring the glory and wealth of the nations into it.

¹² Kiss the son before he becomes angry, and you die where you stand. Indeed, his wrath can flare up quickly. How blessed are those who take refuge in him.

² Many nations will take them and bring them to their land and their own place. The house of Israel will put those nations to conscripted labor in the LORD’s land. They will take captive those who were their captors, and will rule continually over those who oppressed them.

¹¹ The Coming Defeat of God’s Enemies“Look! All who are enraged at you will be put to shame and disgraced; those who contend with you will all die.

¹⁵ Watch! If anyone does attack you, it will not be from me; whoever may attack you will fall because of you.

³⁵ Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were broken in pieces together and became like chaff from a summer threshing floor that the breeze carries away without leaving a trace. Then the rock that struck the statue grew into a huge mountain and filled the entire earth.

⁴⁴ “During the reigns of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor its sovereignty left in the hands of another people. It will shatter and crush all of these kingdoms, and it will stand forever. ⁴⁵ Now, just as you saw that the stone was cut out of the mountain without human hands—and that it crushed the iron, bronze, clay, silver, and gold to pieces—so also the great God has revealed to the king what will take place after this. Your dream will come true, and its meaning will prove trustworthy.”

² ‘Look, I am making Jerusalem an unstable cup toward all of its surrounding armies when they lay siege against Judah and Jerusalem. ³ It will come about at that time that I will make Jerusalem a heavy weight; so everyone who burdens themselves with it will be crushed, even though all of the nations of the earth gather themselves against it. ⁴ At that time,’ declares the LORD, ‘I will strike every horse with panic and every rider with insanity. I will keep my eyes on the house of Judah, but I will blind every horse of the invading armies.

¹² God’s Judgment on Jerusalem’s Attackers“This will be the plague with which the LORD inflicts all of the people who have attacked Jerusalem: he will cause their flesh to rot away, even while they’re standing on their feet. He will cause their eyes to rot away in their sockets, and their tongues to rot away in their mouths. ¹³ At that time, they will be stricken with a terrible panic from the LORD. Everyone will attack each other. ¹⁴ Judah, too, will fight at Jerusalem. Then the wealth of the surrounding nations will be gathered up: gold, silver, and clothing in great abundance. ¹⁵ A similar plague will also strike horses, mules, camels, donkeys, and all of the animals in those camps.”
¹⁶ Discipline of the Nations“It will come about that all of the survivors of the nations who came against Jerusalem will come there from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, and to observe the Festival of Tents. ¹⁷ If anyone from the families of the earth will not come to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, there will be no rain for them. ¹⁸ If the people of Egypt do not come to Jerusalem to take part, they will have no annual Nile overflow. A plague will come from the LORD to strike the nations who do not come to observe the Festival of Tents. ¹⁹ This will be the punishment for Egypt and all nations who do not come to observe the Festival of Tents.”

⁴⁴ The person who falls over this stone will be broken to pieces, but it will crush anyone on whom it falls.”

²⁷ But as for these enemies of mine who didn’t want me to be their king—bring them here and slaughter them in my presence!’”

²⁶ To the person who conquers and continues to do what I’ve commanded to the end, I will give authority over the nations. ²⁷ ‘He will rule them with an iron scepter; shattering them like clay pots.’

² King David rose to his feet and said, “My fellow citizens, may I have your attention. I intended to build a house of rest for the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD, for a footstool of our God, so I began preparations for its construction.

²⁷ Ezra’s Response to the LetterBlessed be the LORD God of our ancestors, who placed this decree into the king’s heart to beautify the Temple of the LORD in Jerusalem

⁶ Splendor and majesty are before him; might and beauty are in his sanctuary.

⁷ Let’s go to his dwelling place and worship at his footstool.

² it will burst into bloom, and rejoice with gladness and shouts of joy. 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’ll put cedar trees in the wilderness, along with acacia, myrtle, and olive trees. I’ll plant cypresses in the desert— box trees, and pine trees together— ²⁰ all so that people may see and recognize, perceive, consider, and comprehend at the same time, that the hand of the LORD has done this, and that the Holy One of Israel has created it.”

¹³ Instead of thornbushes, pine trees will grow, and instead of briers, myrtles will grow; and they will be a sign for the LORD, and an everlasting name that will not be cut off.”

¹ The Worship that God Commands This is what the LORD says: “Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. Where is the house that you would build for me, and where will my resting place be?

⁶ Israel’s branches will spread out, and its beauty will be like an olive tree, with its scent like that of Lebanon. ⁷ Those who live under its protection will surely return. Their grain will flourish; they will blossom like a vine, and Israel’s scent will be like wine from Lebanon.

³ Glorious things are spoken about you, city of God. Interlude

²⁶ Let me restore your judges as at the first, and your counselors as at the beginning. Afterward you’ll be called ‘The Righteous City’ and ‘The Faithful City of Zion’.

¹² People will call them, ‘The Holy People,’ ‘The Redeemed of the LORD’; and they will call you, ‘Sought After,’ ‘The City Not Deserted.’”

¹⁹ LORD, my strength and my stronghold, my refuge in a time of difficulty, to you the nations will come, and from the ends of the earth they’ll say, “Surely our ancestors inherited deception, things that are worthless, and in which there is no profit.”

²² Instead, you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, to the heavenly Jerusalem, to tens of thousands of angels joyfully gathered together,

⁹ I will make those who belong to the synagogue of Satan—those who claim to be Jews and aren’t, but are lying—come and bow down at your feet. Then they will realize that I have loved you.

¹² I will make the one who conquers to become a pillar in the sanctuary of my God, and he will never go out of it again. I will write on him the name of my God, the name of the city of my God (the new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God), and my own new name.

¹ The Vision of the New Song on Mount ZionThen I looked, and there was the lamb, standing on Mount Zion! With him were 144,000 people who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads.

⁶⁰ He abandoned the tent at Shiloh, the tent that he established among mankind. ⁶¹ Then he sent his might into captivity and his glory into the control of the adversary.

⁷ God’s Diagnosis“Your country lies desolate; your cities have been incinerated. Before your very eyes, foreigners are devouring your land— they’ve brought devastation on it, while the land is overthrown by foreigners. ⁸ “The daughter of Zion is left abandoned, like a booth in a vineyard, like a hut in a cucumber field, or like a city under siege. ⁹ If the Lord of the Heavenly Armies hadn’t left us a few survivors, we would be like Sodom; we would be like Gomorrah.

² The Future Glory of Jerusalem“At that time, the LORD’s branch will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land will be the pride and glory of the survivors of Israel and Judah.

¹² Until the LORD removes people far away, and there are many empty places in the middle of the land.

¹⁰ and the LORD’s ransomed ones will return and enter Zion with singing. Everlasting joy will rest upon their heads, gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and mourning will flee away.”

¹⁴ Zion Not Forgotten“But Zion said, ‘The LORD has abandoned me, and my God has forgotten me.’ ¹⁵ “Can a woman forget her nursing child, or have no compassion for the child of her womb? Even these mothers may forget; But as for me, I’ll never forget you! ¹⁶ Look! I’ve inscribed you on the palms of my hands, and your walls are forever before me. ¹⁷ Your builders are working faster than your destroyers, and those who devastated you go away from you. ¹⁸ Lift up your eyes and look around— they have all gathered together and are coming to you. “As surely as I live,” says the LORD, “you will clothe yourself with all of them like ornaments, and tie them on like a bride. ¹⁹ Indeed, your ruins, your desolate places, and your devastated land will now be too crowded for your inhabitants, while those who swallowed you up will be far away. ²⁰ “The children who are grieving at present will yet say in your hearing, ‘This place is too crowded for me; make room for me, so I may have a place to live.’ ²¹ Then you’ll ask in your heart, ‘Who bore these children for me, although I was childless and barren, and an exile and cast aside? Who brought these up? Look! For my part I was left all alone; but as for these, where have they come from?’ ²² “For this what the LORD says, ‘Watch! I’ll lift up my hand to the nations and raise my banner to the peoples. They will bring your sons in their arms, and your daughters will be carried on their shoulders.’ ²³ “Oh, yes! Kings will be your foster fathers, and their queens will be your nursing mothers. They will bow to you with their faces to the ground, and lick the dust from your feet. Then you will know that I am the LORD; those who hope in me will not be disappointed.

⁶ For the LORD has called you back like a wife deserted and grieved in spirit, like the wife of a man’s youth when she is cast off,” says the LORD your God. ⁷ “For a brief moment I abandoned you; but I’ll gather you with great compassion. ⁸ I hid my face from you for a moment in a surge of anger, but I will have compassion on you with my everlasting gracious love,” says the LORD your Redeemer.
⁹ God’s Reconciliation with Israel“For this is like the waters of Noah to me, when I swore that the waters of Noah would never again spread over the earth; so have I sworn that I won’t be angry with you again and that I won’t rebuke you. ¹⁰ For the mountains may collapse and the hills may reel, but my gracious love will not depart from you, neither will my covenant of peace totter,” says the LORD, who has compassion on you. ¹¹ “O afflicted one, passed back and forth, and not comforted, Look! I am about to set your stones in antimony, and lay your foundations with sapphires. ¹² And I’ll make your battlements of rubies, and your gates of jewels, and all your walls of precious stones. ¹³ Then all your children will be taught by the LORD, and great will be your children’s prosperity. ¹⁴ “In righteousness you’ll be established; you will be far from tyranny, for you won’t be afraid, and from terror, for it won’t come near you.

⁷ Instead of your shame you will receive double, and instead of disgrace people will shout with joy over your inheritance; therefore you will inherit a double portion in their land; everlasting joy will be yours.”

¹⁸ But be glad and rejoice forever in what I am creating, for I am about to create Jerusalem as a joy, and its people as a delight.

¹⁷ Indeed, I’ll bring you healing, and I’ll heal you of your wounds,’ declares the LORD, ‘because they have called you an outcast and have said, “It is Zion, no one cares for her!”’”

¹¹ the sounds of rejoicing and gladness, the sounds of the bridegroom and the bride, and the sounds of those saying, “Give thanks to the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, for the LORD is good, and his gracious love lasts forever,”
as they bring thanksgiving offerings to the LORD’s Temple. For I’ll restore the fortunes of the land as they were at first,’ declares the LORD.

¹ The Sorrowful City How lonely she lies, the city that thronged with people! Like a widow she has become, this great one among nations! The princess among provinces has become a vassal. ² Bitterly she cries in the night, as tears stream down her cheeks. No one consoles her of all her friends. All her neighbors have betrayed her; they have become her enemies.

² But don’t measure the courtyard outside the Temple. Leave that out, because it is given to the nations, and they will trample the Holy City for 42 months.

¹⁵ The Vision of the Seventh Angel Blowing His TrumpetWhen the seventh angel blew his trumpet, there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The world’s kingdom has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah, and he will rule forever and ever.”
¹⁶ Then the twenty-four elders who were sitting on their thrones in God’s presence fell on their faces and worshipped God. ¹⁷ They said, “We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, who is and who was, because you have taken your great power and have begun to rule.

³ “I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Redeemer. And I’ve given Egypt as your ransom, Cush and the people of Seba in exchange for you. ⁴ Since you’re precious in my sight and honored, and because I love you, I’m giving up people in your place, and nations in exchange for your life.”

²⁰ “And a Redeemer will come to Zion, to those in Jacob who turn from transgression,” says the LORD.

¹⁴ And when you look, your hearts will rejoice and your bodies will flourish like grass; and it will be made known that the LORD’s hand is with his servants, but his fury is with his enemies.

³⁰ That’s when they’ll learn that I, the LORD their God, am with them, and that they, the house of Israel, are my people,’ declares the Lord GOD.

²¹ All of King Solomon’s drinking vessels were made of gold, and all the vessels in his palace in the Lebanon forest were made of pure gold. None were of silver, because silver was never considered to be valuable during Solomon’s lifetime, ²² because the king had ships that sailed to Tarshish accompanied by Hiram’s ships. Once every three years ships from Tarshish returned, bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks. ²³ As a result, King Solomon became greater than all the kings of the earth in regards to wealth and wisdom. ²⁴ All the earth continued to seek audiences with Solomon so they could hear the wise things that God had put in his heart. ²⁵ Everyone kept on bringing gifts on an annual basis, including items made of silver and gold, garments, myrrh, spices, horses, and mules. ²⁶ Solomon accumulated chariots and cavalry. He had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 cavalry soldiers. He stationed them in various chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem. ²⁷ The king made silver as common as stones in Jerusalem, and made cedar trees as abundant as sycamore trees in the Shephelah.

²⁶ Moreover, the light of the moon will be like the light of the sun, and the sun’s light will be seven times brighter, like the light of seven full days, when the LORD binds up the bruises of his people and heals the wounds inflicted by his blow.

¹ The Government of Justice “Look, a king will reign in righteousness, and rulers will rule with justice. ² Each one will be like a shelter from the wind and a hiding place from storms, like streams of water in the desert, in the shadow of a great rock in an exhausted land.

⁸ At that time, the LORD will defend those who live in Jerusalem, and the one who is feeble among them at that time will be like David. The entire house of David will be like God—indeed, like the angel of the LORD in their midst!

⁴⁰ since God had planned something better for us, so that they would not be perfected without us.

¹³ But in keeping with his promise, we are looking forward to new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness is at home.

³ May the mountains bring prosperity to the people and the hills bring righteousness. ⁴ May he defend the afflicted of the people and deliver the children of the poor, but crush the oppressor. ⁵ May they fear you as long as the sun and moon shine— from generation to generation. ⁶ May he be like the rain that descends on mown grass, like showers sprinkling on the ground. ⁷ The righteous will flourish at the proper time and peace will prevail until the moon is no more.

⁴ He will judge between the nations, and will render verdicts for the benefit of many. “They will beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nations will not raise swords against nations, and they will not learn warfare anymore.

⁹ They will neither harm nor destroy on my holy mountain; for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.”

¹ The Song of Redeemed Judah At that time, people will sing this song in the land of Judah: “We have a strong city; God crafts victory, its walls and ramparts.

³ And he will judge among many people, rebuking strong nations far away; and they will reshape their swords as plowshares and their spears as pruning hooks. No nation will threaten another, nor will they train for war anymore.

⁸ I will set a garrison around my Temple, to hinder those who might come and go, and to guard against oppressors who intend to invade; for I have taken note of this with my eyes.”

¹ The Vision of WorshipAfter these things, I heard what sounded like the loud voice of a large crowd in heaven, saying, “Hallelujah! Salvation, glory, and power belong to our God. ² His judgments are true and just. He has condemned the notorious prostitute who corrupted the world with her immorality. He has taken revenge on her for the blood of his servants.” ³ A second time they said, “Hallelujah! The smoke goes up from her forever and ever.” ⁴ The twenty-four elders and the four living creatures bowed down and worshipped God, who was sitting on the throne. They said, “Amen! Hallelujah!” ⁵ A voice came from the throne, saying, “Praise our God, all who serve and fear him, from the least important to the most important.”
⁶ The Vision of the Marriage Supper of the LambThen I heard what sounded like the voice of a large crowd, like the sound of raging waters, and like the sound of powerful thunderclaps, saying, “Hallelujah! The Lord our God, the Almighty, is reigning.

³ But you, LORD, are a shield around me, my glory, and the one who lifts up my head.

² You people, how long will you malign my reputation? How long will you love what is vain and what is false? Interlude

⁹ For with you is a fountain of life, and in your light we will see light.

⁷ I rely on God who is my deliverance and my glory; he is my strong rock, and my refuge is in God.

⁵ I myself will be an encircling rampart of fire,’ declares the LORD, ‘and I will be the glory in her midst.’

¹ Davidic
Confidence in the LORD The LORD is my light and my salvation— whom will I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life; of whom will I be afraid?

¹¹ For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD grants grace and favor; the LORD will not withhold any good thing from those who walk blamelessly.

⁸ he has swallowed up death forever! Then the Lord GOD will wipe away the tears from all faces, and he will take away the disgrace of his people from the entire earth.” for the LORD has spoken.

¹⁹ Indeed, you people who live in Zion and in Jerusalem, you will weep no more. How gracious the LORD will be to you at the sound of your cry! As soon as he hears it, he will answer you.

¹⁹ I’ll rejoice over Jerusalem, and take delight in my people; no longer will the sound of weeping be heard in it, nor the cry of distress.

⁹ It will come about at that time,” declares the Lord GOD, “I will cause the sun to set at noon and the earth to darken in the daylight.

¹⁵ That is why: “They are in front of the throne of God and worship him night and day in his Temple. The one who sits on the throne will shelter them. ¹⁶ They will never be hungry or thirsty again. Neither the sun nor its heat will ever beat down on them, ¹⁷ because the lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd. He will lead them to springs filled with the water of life, and God will wipe every tear from their eyes.”

⁴ He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There won’t be death anymore. There won’t be any grief, crying, or pain, because the first things have disappeared.”

¹¹ The humble will inherit the land; they will take in abundant peace.

²² For those blessed by God will inherit the land, but those cursed by him will be cut off.

¹³ Planted in the LORD’s Temple, they will flourish in the courtyard of our God.

³ Whoever survives in Zion and whoever remains in Jerusalem will be called holy—everyone who has been appointed to survive in Jerusalem— ⁴ when the LORD will have washed away the filth of the women of Zion, cleaning up Jerusalem’s guilt by a spirit of judgment and a spirit of tempest.

²⁵ The LORD of the Heavenly Armies has blessed them, saying, “Blessed be Egypt my people, Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel my inheritance.”

²³ For when he sees in his midst his children, the work of my hands, they will keep my name holy; they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob and stand in awe of the God of Israel.

⁷ everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.

²¹ the people whom I formed for myself and so that they may speak my praise.”

²³ “Shout for joy, you heavens, for the LORD has done it! Shout aloud, you depths of the earth! Burst out with singing, you mountains, you forest, and all your trees! For the LORD has redeemed Jacob and will display his glory in Israel.

¹¹ This is what the Lord says, the Creator of the signs: “Question me about my children? Or give me orders about the work of my hands?

³ He said to me: ‘You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will glorify myself.’

² Look to Abraham your father, and to Sarah who gave you birth. For when he was only one person I called him, but I made him fruitful and made him many.

¹ The Redemption of Zion Awake, awake! Clothe yourself with strength, O Zion! Put on your beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city, for the uncircumcised and the unclean won’t enter you.

¹³ When you cry out, let your collection deliver you! The wind will carry them all off, and a mere breath will sweep them all away.”
God’s Reward for the Faithful “But whoever takes refuge in me will possess the land, and will inherit my holy mountain.

³ to provide for those who grieve in Zion— to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, a mantle of praise instead of a spirit of despair.” “Then people will call them “Oaks of Righteousness”, “The Planting of the LORD”, in order to display his splendor.

⁴ And you’ll no longer be called ‘Deserted,’ and your land will no longer be called ‘Desolate’; but people will call you ‘Hephzibah,’ and your land ‘Beulah’— for the LORD will take delight in you, and your land will be married.”

²⁰ Holiness to the LORD“At that time, there will be written on the bells of the horses: HOLINESS TO THE LORDand the pots in the Temple of the LORD will be like the bowls in front of the altar— ²¹ every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah will be consecrated to the LORD of the Heavenly Armies. Everyone who offers sacrifices will come, will take them, and will cook in them. Furthermore, at that time, there will no longer be a Canaanite in the Temple of the LORD of the Heavenly Armies.”

⁵ “How blessed are those who are humble, because it is they who will inherit the earth!

¹³ He replied, “Every plant that my heavenly Father did not plant will be pulled up by the roots.

² He cuts off every branch that does not produce fruit in me, and he cuts back every branch that does produce fruit, so that it might produce more fruit.

⁶ so that we would praise his glorious grace that he gave us in the Beloved One.

¹² so that we who had already fixed our hope on the Messiah might live for his praise and glory.

⁷ so that in the coming ages he might display the limitless riches of his grace that comes to us through his kindness in the Messiah Jesus.

¹⁰ For we are God’s masterpiece, created in the Messiah Jesus to perform good actions that God prepared long ago to be our way of life.

¹⁰ when he comes to be glorified by his saints and to be regarded with wonder on that day by all who have believed—including you, because you believed our testimony.

¹⁰ You made them a kingdom and priests for our God, and they will reign on the earth.”

⁷ The person who conquers will inherit these things. I will be his God, and he will be my son.

²⁷ Nothing unclean, or anyone who does anything detestable, and no one who tells lies will ever enter it. Only those whose names are written in the lamb’s Book of Life will enter it.

¹⁹ who say: ‘Let God be quick, let him speed up his work so we may see it! Let it happen! let the plan of the Holy One of Israel draw near, so we may recognize it!’”

⁸ Who has ever heard of such a thing? And who ever sees such things? Can a country be born in a single day, or can a nation be brought forth in a single moment? Yet no sooner was Zion in labor than she delivered her children.

⁴⁴ “During the reigns of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor its sovereignty left in the hands of another people. It will shatter and crush all of these kingdoms, and it will stand forever.

³ For the revelation pertains to an appointed time— it speaks truthfully about the end. Though it delays, wait for it, because it will surely come about— it will not be late!

³¹ The Parables about a Mustard Seed and Yeast
He presented another parable to them, saying, “The kingdom from heaven is like a mustard seed that a man took and planted in his field. ³² Although it is the smallest of all seeds, when it is fully grown it is larger than the garden plants and becomes a tree, and the birds in the sky come and nest in its branches.”

⁷ Won’t God grant his chosen people justice when they cry out to him day and night? Is he slow to help them?

⁴¹ So those who welcomed his message were baptized. That day about 3,000 people were added to their number.

¹⁴ Nevertheless, believers were being added to the Lord in increasing numbers—both men and women.

³⁶ For you need endurance, so that after you have done God’s will you can receive what he has promised.

⁸ Don’t forget this fact, dear friends: With the Lord a single day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a single day.