Isaiah 60–66; Revelation 20–22; Zephaniah 1–3; Psalm 147

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Isaiah 60–66

The Future Glory of Israel

bArise, shine, for your light has come,

and cthe glory of the Lord has risen upon you.

For behold, darkness shall cover the earth,

and thick darkness the peoples;

but the Lord will arise upon you,

and his glory will be seen upon you.

dAnd nations shall come to your light,

and kings to the brightness of your rising.

eLift up your eyes all around, and see;

they all gather together, they come to you;

fyour sons shall come from afar,

and your daughters shall be carried on the hip.

Then you shall see and gbe radiant;

your heart shall thrill and exult,1

because the abundance of the sea shall be turned to you,

hthe wealth of the nations shall come to you.

A multitude of camels shall cover you,

the young camels of iMidian and jEphah;

all those from kSheba shall come.

lThey shall bring gold and frankincense,

and shall bring good news, the praises of the Lord.

All the flocks of mKedar shall be gathered to you;

the rams of nNebaioth shall minister to you;

othey shall come up with acceptance on my altar,

pand I will beautify my beautiful house.

Who are these that fly like a cloud,

and qlike doves to their windows?

For rthe coastlands shall hope for me,

sthe ships of Tarshish first,

tto bring your children from afar,

their silver and gold with them,

for the name of the Lord your God,

and for the Holy One of Israel,

because uhe has made you beautiful.

10  vForeigners shall build up your walls,

and vtheir kings shall minister to you;

for in my wrath I struck you,

but in my favor I have had mercy on you.

11  wYour gates shall be open continually;

day and night they shall not be shut,

wthat people may bring to you the wealth of the nations,

with their kings led in procession.

12  xFor the nation and kingdom

that will not serve you shall perish;

those nations shall be utterly laid waste.

13  yThe glory of Lebanon shall come to you,

the cypress, the plane, and zthe pine,

to beautify the place of my sanctuary,

and I will make the place of my feet glorious.

14  aThe sons of those who afflicted you

shall come bending low to you,

band all who despised you

shall bow down at your feet;

cthey shall call you the City of the Lord,

the Zion of the Holy One of Israel.

15  dWhereas you have been forsaken and hated,

with no one passing through,

eI will make you majestic forever,

a joy from age to age.

16  fYou shall suck the milk of nations;

you shall nurse at the breast of kings;

and you shall know that gI, the Lord, am your Savior

and your Redeemer, hthe Mighty One of Jacob.

17  Instead of bronze I will bring gold,

and instead of iron I will bring silver;

instead of wood, bronze,

instead of stones, iron.

I will make your overseers peace

iand your taskmasters righteousness.

18  jViolence shall no more be heard in your land,

devastation or destruction within your borders;

kyou shall call your walls Salvation,

and your gates Praise.

19  lThe sun shall be no more

your light by day,

nor for brightness shall the moon

give you light;2

but the Lord will be your everlasting light,

and your God will be your glory.3

20  Your sun shall no more go down,

nor your moon withdraw itself;

for the Lord will be your everlasting light,

and myour days of mourning shall be ended.

21  nYour people shall all be righteous;

othey shall possess the land forever,

pthe branch of my planting, the work of my hands,

that I might be glorified.4

22  qThe least one shall become a clan,

and the smallest one a mighty nation;

rI am the Lord;

in its time I will hasten it.

The Year of the Lord’s Favor

sThe Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,

because the Lord has tanointed me

to bring good news to the poor;5

he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,

to proclaim liberty to the captives,

and uthe opening of the prison to those who are bound;6

vto proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor,

wand the day of vengeance of our God;

to comfort all who mourn;

to grant to those who mourn in Zion

xto give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes,

ythe oil of gladness instead of mourning,

the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit;

zthat they may be called oaks of righteousness,

the planting of the Lord, athat he may be glorified.7

bThey shall build up the ancient ruins;

they shall raise up the former devastations;

they shall repair the ruined cities,

the devastations of many generations.

cStrangers shall stand and tend your flocks;

foreigners shall be your plowmen and vinedressers;

dbut you shall be called the priests of the Lord;

they shall speak of you as the ministers of our God;

eyou shall eat the wealth of the nations,

and in their glory you shall boast.

fInstead of your shame there shall be a double portion;

instead of dishonor they shall rejoice in their lot;

therefore in their land they shall possess a double portion;

they shall have everlasting joy.

gFor I the Lord love justice;

I hate robbery and wrong;8

hI will faithfully give them their recompense,

iand I will make an everlasting covenant with them.

Their offspring shall be known among the nations,

and their descendants in the midst of the peoples;

all who see them shall acknowledge them,

that they are an offspring the Lord has blessed.

10  jI will greatly rejoice in the Lord;

my soul shall exult in my God,

kfor he has clothed me with the garments of salvation;

he has covered me with the robe of righteousness,

as a bridegroom decks himself llike a priest with a beautiful headdress,

mand as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

11  For as the earth brings forth its sprouts,

and as a garden causes what is sown in it to sprout up,

so the Lord God will cause nrighteousness and praise

to sprout up before all the nations.

Zion’s Coming Salvation

oFor Zion’s sake I will not keep silent,

and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not be quiet,

puntil her righteousness goes forth as brightness,

and her salvation as a burning torch.

qThe nations shall see your righteousness,

and all the kings your glory,

rand you shall be called by a new name

that the mouth of the Lord will give.

You shall be sa crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord,

and a royal diadem in the hand of your God.

tYou shall no more be termed uForsaken,9

and your land shall no more be termed Desolate,10

rbut you shall be called vMy Delight Is in Her,11

and your land Married;12

for the Lord delights in you,

and your land shall be married.

For as a young man marries a young woman,

so wshall your sons marry you,

and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride,

so xshall your God rejoice over you.

On your walls, O Jerusalem,

I have set ywatchmen;

all the day and all the night

they shall never be silent.

You who put the Lord in remembrance,

take no rest,

and give him no rest

until he establishes Jerusalem

and makes it za praise in the earth.

The Lord has sworn aby his right hand

and by his mighty arm:

I will not again give byour grain

to be food for your enemies,

cand foreigners shall not drink your wine

for which you have labored;

but dthose who garner it shall eat it

and praise the Lord,

and dthose who gather it shall drink it

in the courts of my sanctuary.13

10  Go through, go through the gates;

eprepare the way for the people;

fbuild up, build up the highway;

clear it of stones;

glift up a signal over the peoples.

11  Behold, the Lord has proclaimed

to the end of the earth:

hSay to the daughter of Zion,

iBehold, your salvation comes;

behold, his reward is with him,

and his recompense before him.

12  jAnd they shall be called The Holy People,

The Redeemed of the Lord;

kand you shall be called Sought Out,

A City Not Forsaken.

The Lord’s Day of Vengeance

Who is this who comes from lEdom,

in crimsoned garments from lBozrah,

he who is splendid in his apparel,

mmarching in the greatness of his strength?

It is I, speaking in righteousness,

mighty to save.

Why is your napparel red,

and your garments like his owho treads in the winepress?

pI have trodden the winepress alone,

qand from the peoples no one was with me;

I trod them in my anger

and trampled them in my wrath;

their lifeblood14 spattered on my garments,

and stained all my apparel.

rFor the day of vengeance was in my heart,

and my year of redemption15 had come.

I looked, but sthere was no one to help;

I was appalled, but there was no one to uphold;

so my own arm brought me salvation,

and my wrath upheld me.

I trampled down the peoples in my anger;

tI made them drunk in my wrath,

and I poured out their lifeblood on the earth.

The Lord’s Mercy Remembered

I will recount the steadfast love of the Lord,

the praises of the Lord,

according to all that the Lord has granted us,

uand the great goodness to the house of Israel

that he has granted them according to his compassion,

according to the abundance of his steadfast love.

For he said, Surely they are my people,

children who will not deal falsely.

And he became their Savior.

vIn all their affliction he was afflicted,16

and the angel of his presence saved them;

win his love and in his pity he redeemed them;

xhe lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.

10  yBut they rebelled

zand grieved his Holy Spirit;

therefore he turned to be their enemy,

and himself fought against them.

11  Then he remembered athe days of old,

of Moses and his people.17

bWhere is he who brought them up out of the sea

with the shepherds of his flock?

Where is he who put in the midst of them

his Holy Spirit,

12  who caused his glorious arm

to go at the right hand of Moses,

cwho divided the waters before them

dto make for himself an everlasting name,

13  who led them through the depths?

Like a horse in the desert,

they did not stumble.

14  Like livestock that go down into the valley,

ethe Spirit of the Lord gave them rest.

So you led your people,

dto make for yourself a glorious name.

Prayer for Mercy

15  fLook down from heaven and see,

gfrom your holy and beautiful18 habitation.

Where are hyour zeal and your might?

The stirring of your inner parts and your compassion

are held back from me.

16  For iyou are our Father,

though Abraham does not know us,

and Israel does not acknowledge us;

you, O Lord, are our Father,

jour Redeemer from of old is your name.

17  O Lord, why do you make us wander from your ways

and kharden our heart, so that we fear you not?

lReturn for the sake of your servants,

the tribes of your heritage.

18  mYour holy people held possession for a little while;19

nour adversaries have trampled down your sanctuary.

19  oWe have become like those over whom you have never ruled,

like those who are not called by your name.

pOh that you would rend the heavens and come down,

qthat the mountains might quake at your presence

20 as when fire kindles brushwood

and the fire causes water to boil

rto make your name known to your adversaries,

and that the nations might tremble at your presence!

sWhen you did awesome things that we did not look for,

you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence.

tFrom of old no one has heard

or perceived by the ear,

uno eye has seen a God besides you,

who acts for those who wait for him.

You meet him who joyfully works righteousness,

those who remember you in your ways.

Behold, you were angry, and we sinned;

in our sins we have been a long time, and shall we be saved?21

vWe have all become like one who is unclean,

and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.

wWe all fade like a leaf,

and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.

xThere is no one who calls upon your name,

who rouses himself to take hold of you;

for you have hidden your face from us,

and have made us melt in22 the hand of our iniquities.

yBut now, O Lord, you are our Father;

zwe are the clay, and you are our potter;

awe are all the work of your hand.

bBe not so terribly angry, O Lord,

cand remember not iniquity forever.

Behold, please look, we are all your people.

10  dYour holy cities have become a wilderness;

Zion has become a wilderness,

Jerusalem a desolation.

11  eOur holy and beautiful23 house,

where our fathers praised you,

has been burned by fire,

and all our pleasant places have become ruins.

12  fWill you restrain yourself at these things, O Lord?

Will you keep silent, and afflict us so terribly?

Judgment and Salvation

gI was ready to be sought by hthose who did not ask for me;

I was ready to be found by those who did not seek me.

I said, Here I am, here I am,

to a nation that was not called by24 my name.

iI spread out my hands all the day

to a rebellious people,

who walk in a way that is not good,

following their own devices;

a people who provoke me

to my face continually,

jsacrificing in gardens

and making offerings on bricks;

who sit in tombs,

and spend the night in secret places;

kwho eat pig’s flesh,

and broth of tainted meat is in their vessels;

who say, Keep to yourself,

do not come near me, for I am too holy for you.

lThese are a smoke in my nostrils,

a fire that burns all the day.

Behold, mit is written before me:

nI will not keep silent, but I will repay;

oI will indeed repay into their lap

both your iniquities pand your fathers’ iniquities together,

says the Lord;

qbecause they made offerings on the mountains

qand insulted me on the hills,

I will measure into their lap

payment for their former deeds.25

Thus says the Lord:

rAs the new wine is found in the cluster,

and they say, Do not destroy it,

for there is a blessing in it,

so I will do for my servants’ sake,

sand not destroy them all.

tI will bring forth offspring from Jacob,

and from Judah possessors of my mountains;

my chosen shall possess it,

and my servants shall dwell there.

10  uSharon shall become a pasture for flocks,

and vthe Valley of Achor a place for herds to lie down,

for my people wwho have sought me.

11  But xyou who forsake the Lord,

who forget ymy holy mountain,

who zset a table for Fortune

and zfill cups of mixed wine for Destiny,

12  I will destine you to the sword,

and all of you shall bow down to the slaughter,

abecause, when I called, you did not answer;

when I spoke, you did not listen,

bbut you did what was evil in my eyes

and chose what I did not delight in.

13  Therefore thus says the Lord God:

Behold, cmy servants shall eat,

but you shall be hungry;

behold, my servants shall drink,

but you shall be thirsty;

behold, my servants shall rejoice,

but you shall be put to shame;

14  behold, dmy servants shall sing for gladness of heart,

but you shall cry out for pain of heart

and shall wail for breaking of spirit.

15  You shall leave your name to emy chosen ffor a curse,

and the Lord God will put you to death,

but his servants ghe will call by another name,

16  so that he who hblesses himself in the land

shall bless himself by hthe God of truth,

and he who takes an oath in the land

shall swear by ithe God of truth;

jbecause the former troubles are forgotten

and are hidden from my eyes.

New Heavens and a New Earth

17  For behold, kI create new heavens

and a new earth,

and the former things shall not be remembered

or come into mind.

18  But be glad and rejoice forever

in that which I create;

for behold, lI create Jerusalem to be a joy,

and her people to be a gladness.

19  mI will rejoice in Jerusalem

and be glad in my people;

nno more shall be heard in it the sound of weeping

and the cry of distress.

20  No more shall there be in it

an infant who lives but a few days,

or an old man who does not fill out his days,

for othe young man shall die a hundred years old,

and pthe sinner a hundred years old shall be accursed.

21  qThey shall build houses and inhabit them;

they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.

22  qThey shall not build and another inhabit;

they shall not plant and another eat;

rfor like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be,

and my chosen shall long enjoy26 the work of their hands.

23  sThey shall not labor in vain

tor bear children for calamity,27

for uthey shall be the offspring of the blessed of the Lord,

and their descendants with them.

24  vBefore they call I will answer;

wwhile they are yet speaking I will hear.

25  xThe wolf and the lamb shall graze together;

the lion shall eat straw like the ox,

and ydust shall be the serpent’s food.

zThey shall not hurt or destroy

in all my holy mountain,

says the Lord.

The Humble and Contrite in Spirit

aThus says the Lord:

bHeaven is my throne,

and the earth is my footstool;

what is the house that you would build for me,

and what is the place of my rest?

cAll these things my hand has made,

and so all these things came to be,

declares the Lord.

dBut this is the one to whom I will look:

he who is humble and contrite in spirit

and trembles at my word.

eHe who slaughters an ox is like one who kills a man;

he who sacrifices a lamb, like one who breaks a dog’s neck;

he who presents a grain offering, like one who offers fpig’s blood;

he who makes a memorial offering of frankincense, like one who blesses an idol.

gThese have chosen their own ways,

and their soul delights in their abominations;

hI also will choose harsh treatment for them

and bring itheir fears upon them,

jbecause when I called, no one answered,

when I spoke, they did not listen;

kbut they did what was evil in my eyes

and chose that in which I did not delight.

Hear the word of the Lord,

you who tremble at his word:

Your brothers who hate you

and cast you out for my name’s sake

have said, lLet the Lord be glorified,

that we may see your joy;

but it is they who shall be put to shame.

The sound of an uproar from the city!

A sound from the temple!

The sound of the Lord,

mrendering recompense to his enemies!

Rejoice with Jerusalem

nBefore she was in labor

she gave birth;

before her pain came upon her

she delivered a son.

Who has heard such a thing?

Who has seen such things?

Shall a land be born in one day?

Shall a nation be brought forth in one moment?

For nas soon as Zion was in labor

she brought forth her children.

Shall I bring to the point of birth and not cause to bring forth?

says the Lord;

shall I, who cause to bring forth, shut the womb?

says your God.

10  oRejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad for her,

all you who love her;

rejoice with her in joy,

all you who mourn over her;

11  that you may nurse and be satisfied

from her consoling breast;

that you may drink deeply with delight

from her glorious abundance.28

12  For thus says the Lord:

pBehold, I will extend peace to her like a river,

and the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream;

and qyou shall nurse, you shall be carried upon her hip,

and bounced upon her knees.

13  As one whom his mother comforts,

so rI will comfort you;

you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.

14  You shall see, and your heart shall rejoice;

syour bones shall flourish like the grass;

and tthe hand of the Lord shall be known to his servants,

and he shall show his indignation against his enemies.

Final Judgment and Glory of the Lord

15  For behold, uthe Lord will come in fire,

and vhis chariots like the whirlwind,

to render his anger in fury,

and his rebuke with flames of fire.

16  For wby fire xwill the Lord enter into judgment,

and by his sword, with all flesh;

and those slain by the Lord shall be many.

17 yThose who sanctify and purify themselves to go into the gardens, following one in the midst, zeating pig’s flesh and the abomination and mice, shall come to an end together, declares the Lord.

18 For I know29 their works and their thoughts, and the time is coming30 ato gather all nations and tongues. And they shall come and shall see my glory, 19 and I will set a sign among them. And from them bI will send survivors to the nations, to cTarshish, dPul, and dLud, who draw the bow, to eTubal and eJavan, fto the coastlands far away, gthat have not heard my fame or seen my glory. And they shall declare my glory among the nations. 20 hAnd they shall bring all your brothers from all the nations ias an offering to the Lord, on horses and in chariots and in litters and on mules and on dromedaries, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, says the Lord, just as the Israelites bring their grain offering in a clean vessel to the house of the Lord. 21 jAnd some of them also I will take for priests and for Levites, says the Lord.

22  For as kthe new heavens and the new earth

that I make

shall remain before me, says the Lord,

so lshall your offspring and your name remain.

23  mFrom new moon to new moon,

and from Sabbath to Sabbath,

all flesh shall come to worship before me,

declares the Lord.

24 And they shall go out and look on the dead bodies of the men who have rebelled against me. For ntheir worm shall not die, otheir fire shall not be quenched, and they shall be an abhorrence to all flesh.


Revelation 20–22

The Thousand Years

Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, nholding in his hand the key to othe bottomless pit1 and a great chain. And he seized pthe dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and qbound him for a thousand years, and threw him into othe pit, and shut it and rsealed it over him, so that she might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be released for a little while.

Then I saw tthrones, and useated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw vthe souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those wwho had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. xThey came to life and yreigned with Christ for a thousand years. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection. zBlessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such athe second death has no power, but they will be bpriests of God and of Christ, and they cwill reign with him for a thousand years.

The Defeat of Satan

And when the thousand years are ended, dSatan will be released from his prison and will come out eto deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, fGog and Magog, gto gather them for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea. And hthey marched up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded ithe camp of the saints and jthe beloved city, but kfire came down from heaven2 and consumed them, 10 and the devil lwho had deceived them was mthrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where nthe beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

Judgment Before the Great White Throne

11 Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence oearth and sky fled away, and pno place was found for them. 12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and qbooks were opened. Then another book was opened, which is rthe book of life. And sthe dead were judged by what was written in the books, taccording to what they had done. 13 And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, uDeath and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, taccording to what they had done. 14 Then uDeath and Hades vwere thrown into the lake of fire. This is wthe second death, the lake of fire. 15 And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, xhe was thrown into the lake of fire.

The New Heaven and the New Earth

Then I saw ya new heaven and a new earth, for zthe first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw athe holy city, bnew Jerusalem, ccoming down out of heaven from God, dprepared eas a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, Behold, fthe dwelling place3 of God is with man. He will gdwell with them, and they will be his people,4 and God himself will be with them as their God.5 hHe will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and ideath shall be no more, jneither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.

And khe who was seated on the throne said, Behold, I lam making all things new. Also he said, Write this down, for mthese words are trustworthy and true. And he said to me, nIt is done! oI am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. pTo the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. qThe one who conquers will have this heritage, and rI will be his God and she will be my son. tBut as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, utheir portion will be in vthe lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is wthe second death.

The New Jerusalem

Then came xone of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of ythe seven last plagues and spoke to me, saying, Come, I will show you zthe Bride, the wife of the Lamb. 10 And ahe carried me away in the Spirit to ba great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, 11 chaving the glory of God, dits radiance elike a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. 12 It had a great, high wall, fwith twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel were inscribed 13 on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. 14 And the wall of the city had twelve gfoundations, and hon them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

15 And the one who spoke with me ihad a measuring rod of gold to measure the city and its gates and walls. 16 The city lies foursquare, its length the same as its width. And he measured the city with his rod, 12,000 stadia.6 Its length and width and height are equal. 17 He also measured its wall, 144 cubits7 by jhuman measurement, which is also kan angel’s measurement. 18 The wall was built of ljasper, while the city was pure gold, like lclear glass. 19 mThe foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every kind of jewel. The first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, 20 the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst. 21 And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, each of the gates made of a single pearl, and nthe street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.

22 And oI saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. 23 And the city phas no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for qthe glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. 24 By its light rwill the nations walk, and the kings of the earth swill bring their glory into it, 25 and tits gates will never be shut by dayand uthere will be no night there. 26 They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. 27 But vnothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s wbook of life.

The River of Life

Then the angel8 showed me xthe river of ythe water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of zthe street of the city; aalso, on either side of the river, bthe tree of life9 with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were cfor the healing of the nations. dNo longer will there be anything accursed, but ethe throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and fhis servants will worship him. gThey will see his face, and hhis name will be on their foreheads. And inight will be no more. They will need no light of lamp jor sun, for kthe Lord God will be their light, and lthey will reign forever and ever.

Jesus Is Coming

And he said to me, mThese words are trustworthy and true. And the Lord, the God of nthe spirits of the prophets, ohas sent his angel to show his servants what must soon take place.

And behold, pI am coming soon. qBlessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.

I, rJohn, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw them, sI fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed them to me, sbut he said to me, You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers the prophets, and with those mwho keep the words of this book. Worship God.

10 And he said to me, tDo not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near. 11 uLet the evildoer still do evil, and the filthy still be filthy, and the righteous still do right, and the holy still be holy.

12 Behold, vI am coming soon, wbringing my recompense with me, xto repay each one for what he has done. 13 yI am the Alpha and the Omega, zthe first and the last, athe beginning and the end.

14 Blessed are those who bwash their robes,10 so that they may have the right to cthe tree of life and that dthey may enter the city by the gates. 15 eOutside are fthe dogs gand sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.

16 hI, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things ifor the churches. I am jthe root and kthe descendant of David, lthe bright morning star.

17 The Spirit and mthe Bride say, Come. And let the one who hears say, Come. And nlet the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the owater of life without price.

18 I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: pif anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, 19 and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in qthe tree of life and in rthe holy city, which are described in this book.

20 He who testifies to these things says, Surely sI am coming soon. Amen. tCome, Lord Jesus!

21 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all.11 Amen.


Zephaniah 1–3

The word of the Lord that came to Zephaniah the son of Cushi, son of Gedaliah, son of Amariah, son of Hezekiah, ain the days of bJosiah the son of Amon, king of Judah.

The Coming Judgment on Judah

cI will utterly sweep away everything

from the face of the earth, declares the Lord.

I will sweep away dman and beast;

I will sweep away the birds of the heavens

and dthe fish of the sea,

and ethe rubble1 with the wicked.

I will fcut off mankind

from the face of the earth, declares the Lord.

I will stretch out my hand against Judah

and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem;

gand I will cut off from this place the remnant of Baal

and the name of the idolatrous priests along with the priests,

hthose who bow down on the roofs

to the host of the heavens,

ithose who bow down and swear to the Lord

and yet swear by jMilcom,2

kthose who have turned back from following the Lord,

lwho do not seek the Lord or inquire of him.

The Day of the Lord Is Near

mBe silent before the Lord God!

For nthe day of the Lord is near;

othe Lord has prepared a sacrifice

and pconsecrated his guests.

And on the day of the Lord’s sacrifice

qI will punish the officials and the king’s sons

and rall who array themselves in foreign attire.

On that day I will punish

everyone swho leaps over the threshold,

and those who fill their master’s3 house

with violence and fraud.

10  On that day, declares the Lord,

a cry will be heard from tthe Fish Gate,

ua wail from vthe Second Quarter,

a loud crash from the hills.

11  wWail, O inhabitants of the Mortar!

For all the traders4 are no more;

all who weigh out silver are cut off.

12  At that time xI will search Jerusalem with lamps,

and I will punish the men

ywho are complacent,5

zthose who say in their hearts,

The Lord will not do good,

nor will he do ill.

13  Their goods shall be aplundered,

and their houses laid waste.

bThough they build houses,

they shall not inhabit them;

cthough they plant vineyards,

they shall not drink wine from them.

14  dThe great day of the Lord is near,

near and hastening fast;

the sound of the day of the Lord is bitter;

ethe mighty man cries aloud there.

15  fA day of wrath is that day,

a day of distress and anguish,

a day of gruin and devastation,

ha day of darkness and gloom,

ha day of clouds and thick darkness,

16  ia day of trumpet blast and battle cry

jagainst the fortified cities

and against the lofty battlements.

17  kI will bring distress on mankind,

so that they shall walk llike the blind,

because they have sinned against the Lord;

mtheir blood shall be poured out like dust,

and their flesh nlike dung.

18  oNeither their silver nor their gold

shall be able to deliver them

on the day of the wrath of the Lord.

pIn the fire of his jealousy,

qall the earth shall be consumed;

rfor a full and sudden end

he will make of all the inhabitants of the earth.

Judgment on Judah’s Enemies

Gather together, yes, gather,

O sshameless nation,

tbefore the decree takes effect6

before the day passes away ulike chaff

vbefore there comes upon you

the burning anger of the Lord,

before there comes upon you

the day of the anger of the Lord.

wSeek the Lord, xall you humble of the land,

who do his just commands;7

yseek righteousness; seek humility;

yperhaps zyou may be hidden

on the day of the anger of the Lord.

aFor Gaza shall be deserted,

and Ashkelon shall become a desolation;

Ashdod’s people shall be driven out at noon,

and Ekron shall be uprooted.

Woe to byou inhabitants of the seacoast,

you nation of cthe Cherethites!

dThe word of the Lord is against you,

eO Canaan, land of the Philistines;

and I will destroy you funtil no inhabitant is left.

gAnd you, O seacoast, hshall be pastures,

with meadows8 for shepherds

and folds for flocks.

iThe seacoast shall become the possession

of jthe remnant of the house of Judah,

hon which they shall graze,

and in the houses of Ashkelon

they shall lie down at evening.

For the Lord their God kwill be mindful of them

and lrestore their fortunes.

I have heard mthe taunts of Moab

and nthe revilings of the Ammonites,

how they have taunted my people

and made boasts oagainst their territory.

Therefore, pas I live, declares the Lord of hosts,

the God of Israel,

Moab shall become qlike Sodom,

and the Ammonites qlike Gomorrah,

a land possessed by nettles and salt pits,

and a waste forever.

The remnant of my people shall plunder them,

and the survivors of my nation shall possess them.

10  This shall be their lot in return rfor their pride,

because they taunted and boasted

against the people of the Lord of hosts.

11  The Lord will be awesome against them;

sfor he will famish all the gods of the earth,

and tto him shall bow down,

each in its place,

all uthe lands of the nations.

12  vYou also, O Cushites,

shall be slain by my sword.

13  And he will stretch out his hand against the north

wand destroy Assyria,

and he xwill make Nineveh a desolation,

a dry waste like the desert.

14  yHerds shall lie down in her midst,

all kinds of beasts;9

zeven the owl and the hedgehog10

shall lodge in her capitals;

a voice shall hoot in the window;

devastation will be on the threshold;

for aher cedar work will be laid bare.

15  This is the exultant city

bthat lived securely,

that said in her heart,

I am, and there is no one else.

What a desolation she has become,

ca lair for wild beasts!

dEveryone who passes by her

hisses and eshakes his fist.

Judgment on Jerusalem and the Nations

Woe to her who is rebellious and defiled,

fthe oppressing city!

She listens to no voice;

gshe accepts no correction.

hShe does not trust in the Lord;

she does not draw near to her God.

iHer officials within her

are roaring lions;

her judges are jevening wolves

that leave nothing till the morning.

kHer prophets are fickle, treacherous men;

kher priests lprofane what is holy;

they do violence to the law.

The Lord within her mis righteous;

he does no injustice;

every morning he shows forth his justice;

each dawn he does not fail;

but nthe unjust knows no shame.

oI have cut off nations;

their battlements are in ruins;

I have laid waste their streets

pso that no one walks in them;

their cities have been made desolate,

without a man, without an inhabitant.

qI said, Surely you will fear me;

ryou will accept correction.

Then your11 dwelling would not be cut off

according to all that I have appointed against you.12

But sall the more they were eager

to make all their deeds corrupt.

Therefore twait for me, declares the Lord,

for the day when I rise up to seize the prey.

For my decision is uto gather nations,

to assemble kingdoms,

to pour out upon them my indignation,

all my burning anger;

for in the fire of my jealousy

vall the earth shall be consumed.

The Conversion of the Nations

For at that time I will change the speech of the peoples

to wa pure speech,

that all of them may call upon the name of the Lord

and serve him with one accord.

10  xFrom beyond the rivers yof Cush

my worshipers, the daughter of my dispersed ones,

shall bring my offering.

11  zOn that day ayou shall not be put to shame

because of the deeds by which you have rebelled against me;

for then bI will remove from your midst

your proudly exultant ones,

and cyou shall no longer be haughty

in my holy mountain.

12  But I will leave in your midst

a people dhumble and lowly.

eThey shall seek refuge in the name of the Lord,

13  fthose who are left in Israel;

they gshall do no injustice

and speak no lies,

hnor shall there be found in their mouth

a deceitful tongue.

iFor they shall graze and lie down,

and none shall make them afraid.

Israel’s Joy and Restoration

14  jSing aloud, O daughter of Zion;

shout, O Israel!

Rejoice and exult with all your heart,

O daughter of Jerusalem!

15  The Lord has taken away the judgments against you;

he has cleared away your enemies.

kThe King of Israel, lthe Lord, is in your midst;

you shall never again fear evil.

16  zOn that day it shall be said to Jerusalem:

Fear not, O Zion;

mlet not your hands grow weak.

17  lThe Lord your God is in your midst,

na mighty one who will save;

ohe will rejoice over you with gladness;

he will quiet you by his love;

he will exult over you with loud singing.

18  I will gather those of you who mourn pfor the festival,

so that you will no longer suffer reproach.13

19  Behold, at that time qI will deal

with all your oppressors.

And rI will save the lame

and gather the outcast,

and I will change stheir shame into tpraise

and renown in all the earth.

20  uAt that time I will bring you in,

at the time when I gather you together;

for I will make you renowned and praised

among all the peoples of the earth,

vwhen I restore your fortunes

before your eyes, says the Lord.


Psalm 147

He Heals the Brokenhearted

iPraise the Lord!

For jit is good to sing praises to our God;

for kit is pleasant,1 and la song of praise is fitting.

The Lord mbuilds up Jerusalem;

he ngathers the outcasts of Israel.

He heals othe brokenhearted

and pbinds up their wounds.

He qdetermines the number of the stars;

he rgives to all of them their names.

sGreat is our Lord, and tabundant in power;

uhis understanding is beyond measure.

The Lord vlifts up the humble;2

he casts the wicked to the ground.

wSing to the Lord with thanksgiving;

make melody to our God on xthe lyre!

He covers the heavens with clouds;

he prepares yrain for the earth;

he makes zgrass grow on the hills.

He agives to the beasts their food,

and to bthe young ravens that cry.

10  His delight is not in cthe strength of the horse,

nor his pleasure in the legs of a man,

11  but the Lord dtakes pleasure in those who fear him,

in those who ehope in his steadfast love.

12  Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem!

Praise your God, O Zion!

13  For he strengthens fthe bars of your gates;

he blesses your children within you.

14  He gmakes peace in your borders;

he hfills you with the ifinest of the wheat.

15  He jsends out his command to the earth;

his word runs swiftly.

16  He gives ksnow like wool;

he scatters lfrost like ashes.

17  He hurls down his crystals of mice like crumbs;

who can stand before his ncold?

18  He osends out his word, and melts them;

he makes his wind blow and the waters flow.

19  He declares his word to Jacob,

his pstatutes and rules3 to Israel.

20  He qhas not dealt thus with any other nation;

they do not know his rules.4

rPraise the Lord!