Let Justice Roll Down
18 Woe to you who desire the hday of the Lord!
Why would you have the day of the Lord?
iIt is darkness, and not light,
19 jas if a man fled from a lion,
and a bear met him,
or went into the house and leaned his hand against the wall,
and a serpent bit him.
20 Is not the day of the Lord darkness, and not light,
and gloom with no brightness in it?
21 k“I hate, I despise your feasts,
and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.
22 Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings,
lI will not accept them;
and the peace offerings of your fattened animals,
I will not look upon them.
23 Take away from me the noise of your songs;
to the melody of your harps I will not listen.
24 But let mjustice roll down like waters,
and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
O Lord, Do Not Delay
To the choirmaster. Of David, wfor the memorial offering.
1 xMake haste, O God, to deliver me!
O Lord, ymake haste to help me!
2 zLet them be put to shame and confusion
who seek my life!
Let them be turned back and brought to dishonor
who delight in my hurt!
3 Let them turn back because of their shame
who say, a“Aha, Aha!”
4 May all who seek you
rejoice and be bglad in you!
May those who love your salvation
say evermore, “God is great!”
5 But cI am poor and needy;
hasten to me, O God!
You are my help and my deliverer;
O Lord, do not delay!
The Coming of the Lord
13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are sasleep, that you may not grieve as others do who thave no uhope. 14 For vsince we believe wthat Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. 15 For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord,1 that xwe who are alive, who are left until the ycoming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For zthe Lord himself will descend afrom heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the btrumpet of God. And cthe dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them din the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. 18 eTherefore encourage one another with these words.
The Parable of the Ten Virgins
1 z“Then the kingdom of heaven will be like aten virgins who took their lamps1 and went to meet the bbridegroom.2 2 Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. 3 For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, 4 but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. 5 As the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept. 6 But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ 7 Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. 8 And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ 9 But the wise answered, saying, ‘Since there will not be enough for us and for you, go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.’ 10 And while they were going to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the cmarriage feast, and the door was shut. 11 Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, d‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ 12 But he answered, ‘Truly, I say to you, eI do not know you.’ 13 fWatch therefore, for you know neither the gday nor the hour.
