A King Will Reign in Righteousness
1 Behold, a king will reign in prighteousness,
and princes will rule in justice.
2 Each will be like a hiding place from the wind,
a shelter from the storm,
like streams of water in a dry place,
like the shade of a great rock in a weary land.
3 Then the qeyes of those who see will not be closed,
and the ears of those who hear will give attention.
4 The heart of the hasty will understand and know,
and the tongue of the stammerers will hasten to speak distinctly.
5 The fool will no more be called noble,
nor the scoundrel said to be honorable.
6 For the fool speaks folly,
and his heart is busy with iniquity,
to practice ungodliness,
to utter error concerning the Lord,
to leave the craving of the hungry unsatisfied,
and to deprive the thirsty of drink.
7 As for the scoundrel—his devices are evil;
he plans wicked schemes
to ruin the poor with lying words,
even when the plea of the needy is right.
8 But he who is noble plans noble things,
and on noble things he stands.
Complacent Women Warned of Disaster
9 Rise up, you women who are rat ease, hear my voice;
you complacent daughters, give ear to my speech.
10 In little more than a year
you will shudder, you complacent women;
for the grape harvest fails,
the fruit harvest will not come.
11 Tremble, you women who are at ease,
shudder, you complacent ones;
strip, and make yourselves bare,
and tie sackcloth around your waist.
12 Beat your breasts for the pleasant fields,
for the fruitful vine,
13 for the soil of my people
growing up in thorns and briers,
yes, for all the joyous houses
in the exultant city.
14 For the palace is forsaken,
the populous city deserted;
the hill and the watchtower
will become dens forever,
a joy of wild donkeys,
a pasture of flocks;
15 until sthe Spirit is poured upon us from on high,
and the wilderness tbecomes a fruitful field,
and the fruitful field is deemed a forest.
16 Then justice will dwell in the wilderness,
and righteousness abide in the fruitful field.
17 And the effect of righteousness will be peace,
and the result of righteousness, quietness and trust1 forever.
18 My people will abide in a peaceful habitation,
in secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places.
19 And it will hail when the forest falls down,
and the city will be utterly laid low.
20 Happy are you who sow beside all waters,
who let the feet of the ox and the donkey range free.
The Throne in Heaven
1 After this I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven! And the first voice, fwhich I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, g“Come up here, and I will show you hwhat must take place after this.” 2 At once I was iin the Spirit, jand behold, a kthrone stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne. 3 And he who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian, and around the throne was a lrainbow that had the appearance of an emerald. 4 Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones were mtwenty-four elders, clothed in white garments, with golden crowns on their heads. 5 From the throne came nflashes of lightning, and rumblings1 and peals of thunder, and before the throne were burning seven torches of fire, which are othe seven spirits of God, 6 and before the throne there was as it were a psea of glass, like qcrystal.
And around the throne, on each side of the throne, are rfour living creatures, sfull of eyes in front and behind: 7 tthe first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with the face of a man, and the fourth living creature like an eagle in flight. 8 And the four living creatures, ueach of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and vday and night they never cease to say,
w“Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty,
xwho was and is and is to come!”
9 And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, 10 the twenty-four elders yfall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying,
11 z“Worthy are you, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they existed and were created.”
