The Exiles Return

1 ^lNow these were the people of the province who came up out of the captivity of those exiles ^mwhom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried captive to Babylonia. They returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his own town. 2 They came with ⁿZerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah, Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum, and ^oBaanah.

The number of the men of the people of Israel: 3 the sons of ^pParosh, 2,172. 4 The sons of ^qShephatiah, 372. 5 The sons of Arah, 775. 6 The sons of ^rPahath-moab, namely the sons of Jeshua and ^sJoab, 2,812. 7 The sons of ^tElam, 1,254. 8 The sons of ^uZattu, 945. 9 The sons of Zaccai, 760. 10 The sons of Bani, 642. 11 The sons of ^vBebai, 623. 12 The sons of ^wAzgad, 1,222. 13 The sons of ^xAdonikam, 666. 14 The sons of ^yBigvai, 2,056. 15 The sons of ^zAdin, 454. 16 The sons of ^aAter, namely of Hezekiah, 98. 17 The sons of ^bBezai, 323. 18 The sons of Jorah, 112. 19 The sons of Hashum, 223. 20 The sons of Gibbar, 95. 21 The sons of Bethlehem, 123. 22 The men of Netophah, 56. 23 The men of Anathoth, 128. 24 The sons of Azmaveth, 42. 25 The sons of Kiriath-arim, Chephirah, and Beeroth, 743. 26 The sons of Ramah and Geba, 621. 27 The men of Michmas, 122. 28 The men of Bethel and Ai, 223. 29 The sons of Nebo, 52. 30 The sons of Magbish, 156. 31 The sons of the other Elam, 1,254. 32 The sons of Harim, 320. 33 The sons of Lod, Hadid, and Ono, 725. 34 The sons of Jericho, 345. 35 The sons of Senaah, 3,630.

36 The priests: the sons of ^cJedaiah, of the house of Jeshua, 973. 37 The sons of Immer, 1,052. 38 The sons of ^dPashhur, 1,247. 39 The sons of Harim, 1,017.

40 The Levites: the sons of ^eJeshua and Kadmiel, of the sons of Hodaviah, 74. 41 The singers: the ^fsons of Asaph, 128. 42 The sons of the gatekeepers: the sons of ^gShallum, the sons of Ater, the sons of ^hTalmon, the sons of ⁱAkkub, the sons of Hatita, and the sons of Shobai, in all 139.

43 The temple servants: the sons of ^jZiha, the sons of Hasupha, the sons of Tabbaoth, 44 the sons of Keros, the sons of Siaha, the sons of Padon, 45 the sons of Lebanah, the sons of Hagabah, the sons of Akkub, 46 the sons of Hagab, the sons of Shamlai, the sons of Hanan, 47 the sons of Giddel, the sons of Gahar, the sons of Reaiah, 48 the sons of Rezin, the sons of ^kNekoda, the sons of Gazzam, 49 the sons of Uzza, the sons of Paseah, the sons of Besai, 50 the sons of Asnah, the sons of Meunim, the sons of Nephisim, 51 the sons of Bakbuk, the sons of Hakupha, the sons of Harhur, 52 the sons of Bazluth, the sons of Mehida, the sons of Harsha, 53 the sons of Barkos, the sons of Sisera, the sons of Temah, 54 the sons of Neziah, and the sons of Hatipha.

55 The ^lsons of Solomon’s servants: the sons of Sotai, the sons of Hassophereth, the sons of Peruda, 56 the sons of Jaalah, the sons of Darkon, the sons of Giddel, 57 the sons of Shephatiah, the sons of Hattil, the sons of Pochereth-hazzebaim, and the sons of Ami.

58 All the temple servants and the sons of Solomon’s servants were 392.

59 The following were those who came up from Tel-melah, Tel-harsha, Cherub, Addan, and Immer, though they could not prove their fathers’ houses or their descent, whether they belonged to Israel: 60 the sons of Delaiah, the sons of Tobiah, and the sons of Nekoda, 652. 61 Also, of the sons of the priests: the sons of Habaiah, the sons of ^mHakkoz, and the sons of Barzillai (who had taken a wife from the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite, and was called by their name). 62 These sought their registration among those ⁿenrolled in the genealogies, but they were not found there, ^oand so they were excluded from the priesthood as unclean. 63 The ^pgovernor told them that they were ^qnot to partake of the most holy food, until there should be a priest to consult ^rUrim and Thummim.

64 The whole assembly together was 42,360, 65 besides their male and female servants, of whom there were 7,337, and they had 200 male and female singers. 66 Their horses were 736, their mules were 245, 67 their camels were 435, and their donkeys were 6,720.

68 Some of the heads of families, when they came to the house of the Lord that is in Jerusalem, made freewill offerings for the house of God, to erect it on its site. 69 According to their ability they gave to the treasury of the work 61,000 darics¹ of gold, 5,000 minas² of silver, and 100 priests’ garments.

70 Now the priests, the Levites, some of the people, the singers, the gatekeepers, and the temple servants ^slived in their towns, and all the rest of Israel³ in their towns.

My Soul Thirsts for You

A Psalm of David.

The First Beast

1 And I saw a beast rising ^qout of the sea, with ten horns and ^rseven heads, with ten diadems on its horns and blasphemous names on its heads. 2 And the beast that I saw was ^slike a leopard; its feet were ^tlike a bear’s, and its mouth was ^ulike a lion’s mouth. And to it the ^vdragon gave his power and ^whis throne and great authority. 3 One of its heads seemed to have a mortal wound, but its mortal wound was healed, and the whole earth ^xmarveled as they followed the beast. 4 And they ^yworshiped the dragon, for he had given his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, ^z“Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?”

5 And the beast was given ^aa mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for ^bforty-two months. 6 It opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling,¹ that is, those who dwell in heaven. 7 Also it was allowed ^cto make war on the saints and to ^dconquer them.² And authority was given it over every ^etribe and people and language and nation, 8 and all who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the ^fbook of life of the ^gLamb who was slain. 9 If anyone has an ^hear, let him hear:

^jHere is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints.

The Second Beast

11 Then I saw another beast rising out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb and ^kit spoke like a dragon. 12 It exercises all the authority of the first beast in its presence,³ and makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose mortal wound was healed. 13 It performs great ^lsigns, even making fire ^mcome down from heaven to earth in front of people, 14 and by the signs that it is allowed to work in the presence of⁴ the beast it deceives those who dwell on earth, telling them to make an image for the beast that was wounded by the sword and yet lived. 15 And it was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast might even speak and might cause those who would not ⁿworship the image of the beast ^oto be slain. 16 Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave,⁵ to be marked on the right hand or the ^pforehead, 17 so that no one can buy or sell unless he has ^qthe mark, that is, the name of the beast or ^rthe number of its name. 18 ^sThis calls for wisdom: let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and his number is 666.⁶

The Lamb and the 144,000

1 Then I looked, and behold, on Mount Zion stood the ^tLamb, and with him ^u144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name ^vwritten on their foreheads. 2 And I heard a voice from heaven ^wlike the roar of many waters and ^xlike the sound of loud thunder. The voice I heard was like the sound of harpists playing on their harps, 3 and they were singing a ^ynew song before the throne and before the ^zfour living creatures and before the elders. No one could learn that song except the 144,000 who had been ^aredeemed from the earth. 4 It is these who have not defiled themselves with women, for they are virgins. It is these who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These have been redeemed from mankind as ^bfirstfruits for God and the Lamb, 5 and ^cin their mouth no lie was found, for they are blameless.

The Messages of the Three Angels

6 Then I saw another angel flying directly overhead, with an eternal gospel ^dto proclaim to those who dwell on earth, to every ^enation and tribe and language and people. 7 And he said with a loud voice, ^f“Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come, and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water.”

8 Another angel, a second, followed, saying, ^g“Fallen, fallen is ^hBabylon the great, she who made all nations drink the ⁱwine of the passion⁷ of her sexual immorality.”

9 And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his ^jforehead or on his hand, 10 he also will drink the ^kwine of God’s wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with ^lfire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. 11 And ^mthe smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, ⁿday or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives ^othe mark of its name.”

12 ^pHere is a call for the endurance of the saints, ^qthose who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.⁸

13 And I heard a voice from heaven saying, ^r“Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Blessed indeed,” says the Spirit, “that they may ^srest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!”

The Harvest of the Earth

14 Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, ^tand seated on the cloud ^uone like a son of man, with a golden crown on his head, and a sharp sickle in his hand. 15 And another angel came out of the temple, calling with a loud voice to him who sat on the cloud, ^v“Put in your sickle, and reap, for the hour to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is fully ripe.” 16 So he who sat on the cloud swung his sickle across the earth, and the earth was reaped.

17 Then another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle. 18 And another angel came out from the altar, the angel who has authority over the fire, and he called with a loud voice to the one who had the sharp sickle, “Put in your sickle and gather the clusters from the vine of the earth, for its grapes are ripe.” 19 So the angel swung his sickle across the earth and gathered the grape harvest of the earth and threw it into the great ^wwinepress of the wrath of God. 20 And the winepress was trodden outside the city, and blood flowed from the winepress, as high as a horse’s bridle, for 1,600 stadia.⁹