27 Behold, the name of the Lord comes from afar,
burning with his anger, and in thick rising smoke;1
his lips are full of fury,
and his tongue is like a devouring fire;
28 his ebreath is like an overflowing stream
that freaches up to the neck;
to sift the nations with the sieve of destruction,
and to place on the jaws of the peoples a gbridle that leads astray.
29 You shall have a song as in the night when a holy feast is kept, and gladness of heart, as when one sets out to the sound of the flute to go to the hmountain of the Lord, to the Rock of Israel. 30 And the Lord will cause his majestic voice to be heard and the descending blow of his arm to be seen, in furious anger and a iflame of devouring fire, with a cloudburst and jstorm and hailstones. 31 The Assyrians will be terror-stricken at the voice of the Lord, when he strikes with his rod. 32 And every stroke of the appointed staff that the Lord lays on them will be to the sound of tambourines and lyres. Battling with brandished arm, he will fight with them. 33 For a burning place2 has long been prepared; indeed, for the king it is made ready, its pyre made deep and wide, with fire and wood in abundance; the breath of the Lord, like a stream of sulfur, kindles it.
Woe to Those Who Go Down to Egypt
1 Woe3 to those who kgo down to Egypt for help
and lrely on horses,
who trust in chariots because they are many
and in horsemen because they are very strong,
but do not look to the Holy One of Israel
or consult the Lord!
2 And yet he is wise and brings disaster;
he does not call back his words,
but will arise against the house of the evildoers
and against the helpers of those who work iniquity.
3 The Egyptians are man, and not God,
and their horses are flesh, and not spirit.
When the Lord stretches out his hand,
the helper will stumble, and he who is helped will fall,
and they will all perish together.
4 For thus the Lord said to me,
“As a lion or a young lion growls over his prey,
and when a band of shepherds is called out against him
he is not terrified by their shouting
or daunted at their noise,
so the Lord of hosts will come down
to fight4 on Mount Zion and on its hill.
5 mLike birds hovering, so the Lord of hosts
will nprotect Jerusalem;
he will protect and deliver it;
he will spare and rescue it.”
6 Turn to him from whom people5 have deeply revolted, O children of Israel. 7 For oin that day everyone shall cast away his idols of silver and his idols of gold, which your hands have sinfully made for you.
8 “And the Assyrian shall fall by a sword, not of man;
and a sword, not of man, shall devour him;
and he shall flee from the sword,
and his young men shall be put to forced labor.
9 His rock shall pass away in terror,
and his officers desert the standard in panic,”
declares the Lord, whose fire is in Zion,
and whose furnace is in Jerusalem.
To the Church in Sardis
1 “And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: ‘The words of him who has athe seven spirits of God and bthe seven stars.
“‘I know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead. 2 Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God. 3 Remember, then, what you received and heard. Keep it, and crepent. If you will not wake up, I will come dlike a thief, and eyou will not know at what hour I will come against you. 4 Yet you have still a few names in Sardis, people who have not fsoiled their garments, and they will walk with me in gwhite, for they are hworthy. 5 The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the ibook of life. I will jconfess his name before my Father and before his angels. 6 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’
To the Church in Philadelphia
7 “And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: ‘The words of the holy one, the ktrue one, who has the lkey of David, who opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens.
8 “‘I know your works. Behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut. I know that you have but little power, and yet you have mkept my word and have not denied my name. 9 Behold, I will make those of the nsynagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie—behold, I will make them come and obow down before your feet, and they will learn that I have ploved you. 10 Because you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell on the earth. 11 qI am coming soon. rHold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your scrown. 12 The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. Never shall he go out of it, and I will twrite on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, uthe new Jerusalem, which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own vnew name. 13 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’
To the Church in Laodicea
14 “And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: ‘The words of the Amen, the wfaithful and true witness, xthe beginning of God’s creation.
15 “‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! 16 So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. 17 For you say, y“I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing,” not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. 18 I counsel you to zbuy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself aand the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. 19 bThose whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent. 20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, cI will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. 21 The one who conquers, dI will grant him to esit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. 22 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’”
