Jeremiah Threatened with Death
1 In the beginning of the reign of lJehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came from the Lord: 2 “Thus says the Lord: mStand nin the court of the Lord’s house, and speak to all the cities of Judah that come to worship in the house of the Lord all the words that I command you to speak to them; do not hold back a word. 3 oIt may be they will listen, and every one turn from his evil way, that I may prelent of the disaster that I intend to do to them because of their evil deeds. 4 You shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord: If you will not listen to me, to walk in my law that I have set before you, 5 and to listen to the words of my servants the prophets whom I send to you qurgently, though you have not listened, 6 then I will make this house rlike Shiloh, and I will make this city a curse for all the nations of the earth.’”
7 The priests and the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of the Lord. 8 And swhen Jeremiah had finished speaking all that the Lord had commanded him to speak to all the people, then the priests and the prophets and all the people laid hold of him, saying, “You shall die! 9 Why have you prophesied in the name of the Lord, saying, ‘This house shall be like Shiloh, and this city shall be desolate, twithout inhabitant’?” And all the people gathered around Jeremiah in the house of the Lord.
10 When the officials of Judah heard these things, they came up from the king’s house to the house of the Lord and took their seat in the entry of the uNew Gate of the house of the Lord. 11 Then the priests and the prophets said to the officials and to all the people, v“This man deserves the sentence of death, because he has prophesied against this city, as you have heard with your own ears.”
12 Then Jeremiah spoke to all the officials and all the people, saying, “The Lord sent me to prophesy against this house and this city all the words you have heard. 13 Now therefore wmend your ways and your deeds, and obey the voice of the Lord your God, and the Lord will xrelent of the disaster that he has pronounced against you. 14 But as for me, behold, I am in your hands. Do with me as seems good and right to you. 15 Only know for certain that if you put me to death, you will bring innocent blood upon yourselves and upon this city and its inhabitants, for in truth the Lord sent me to you to speak all these words in your ears.”
Jeremiah Spared from Death
16 Then the officials and all the people said to the priests and the prophets, “This man does not deserve the sentence of death, for he has spoken to us in the name of the Lord our God.” 17 And certain of the elders of the land arose and spoke to all the assembled people, saying, 18 y“Micah of Moresheth prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and said to all the people of Judah: ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts,
z“‘Zion shall be plowed as a field;
Jerusalem shall become a heap of ruins,
and the mountain of the house a wooded height.’
19 aDid Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah put him to death? Did he not fear the Lord and entreat the favor of the Lord, and did not the Lord relent of the disaster that he had pronounced against them? But we are about to bring great disaster upon ourselves.”
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:
10 iIf anyone is to be taken captive,
to captivity he goes;
if anyone is to be slain with the sword,
with the sword must he be slain.
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
20 pWhen it was evening, he reclined at table with the twelve.1 21 And as they were eating, he said, “Truly, I say to you, qone of you will betray me.” 22 And they were very sorrowful and began to say to him one after another, “Is it I, Lord?” 23 He answered, “He who has dipped his hand in the dish with me will betray me. 24 The Son of Man goes ras it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is sbetrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born.” 25 Judas, who would betray him, answered, “Is it I, Rabbi?” He said to him, “You have said so.”
Institution of the Lord’s Supper
26 tNow as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; uthis is my body.” 27 And he took a vcup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, 28 for wthis is my xblood of the2 covenant, which is poured out for ymany for the forgiveness of sins. 29 I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”
Jesus Foretells Peter’s Denial
30 zAnd when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. 31 Then Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away because of me this night. For it is written, a‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’ 32 But after I am raised up, I will bgo before you to Galilee.” 33 Peter answered him, “Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away.” 34 Jesus said to him, “Truly, I tell you, this very night, cbefore the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” 35 Peter said to him, “Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you!” And all the disciples said the same.
