Jeremiah’s Letter to the Exiles
1 These are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to ithe surviving elders of the exiles, and to jthe priests, jthe prophets, and jall the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. 2 This was after kKing Jeconiah and the queen mother, the eunuchs, the officials of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen, and the metal workers had departed from Jerusalem. 3 The letter was sent by the hand of Elasah the son of lShaphan and Gemariah the son of mHilkiah, whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. It said: 4 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: 5 nBuild houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. 6 Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. 7 But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and opray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare. 8 For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: pDo not let your prophets and qyour diviners who are among you deceive you, and do not listen to the dreams that they dream,1 9 for rit is a lie that they are prophesying to you in my name; sI did not send them, declares the Lord.
10 “For thus says the Lord: tWhen seventy years are completed for Babylon, uI will visit you, vand I will fulfill to you my promise vand bring you back to this place. 11 wFor I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare2 and not for evil, xto give you a future and a hope. 12 yThen you will call upon me and come and pray to me, yand I will hear you. 13 zYou will seek me and find me, when you seek me awith all your heart. 14 I will be found by you, declares the Lord, band I will restore your fortunes and cgather you from all the nations and all the places dwhere I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.
15 “Because you have said, ‘The Lord has raised up prophets for us in Babylon,’ 16 thus says the Lord concerning ethe king who sits on the throne of David, and concerning all the people who dwell in this city, your kinsmen who did not go out with you into exile: 17 ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, behold, I am sending on them fsword, famine, and pestilence, and I will make them like gvile figs that are so rotten they cannot be eaten. 18 I will pursue them with fsword, famine, and pestilence, hand will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth, ito be a curse, a terror, a hissing, and a reproach among all the nations dwhere I have driven them, 19 because they did not pay attention to my words, declares the Lord, jthat I persistently sent to you by my servants the prophets, but you would not listen, declares the Lord.’
The Lamb and the 144,000
1 Then I looked, and behold, on vMount Zion wstood the Lamb, and with him x144,000 who yhad his name and his Father’s name written zon their foreheads. 2 And I heard a voice from heaven alike the roar of many waters and blike the sound of loud thunder. The voice I heard was like the sound of charpists playing on their harps, 3 and they were singing da new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and before the elders. eNo one could learn that song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. 4 It is these who have not defiled themselves with women, for fthey are virgins. It is these gwho follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These have been redeemed from mankind as hfirstfruits for God and the Lamb, 5 and iin their mouth no lie was found, for they are jblameless.
The Messages of the Three Angels
6 Then I saw another angel kflying directly overhead, with an eternal gospel to proclaim to lthose who dwell on earth, to every nation and tribe and language and people. 7 And he said with a loud voice, m“Fear God and ngive him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come, and oworship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the psprings of water.”
8 Another angel, a second, followed, saying, q“Fallen, fallen is rBabylon the great, sshe who made all nations drink tthe wine of the passion1 of her sexual immorality.”
9 And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone uworships the beast and its image and receives va mark on his forehead or on his hand, 10 he also will drink wthe wine of God’s wrath, xpoured full strength into the cup of his anger, and yhe will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. 11 And zthe smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and athey have no rest, day or night, these uworshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name.”
12 bHere is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who ckeep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.2
13 And I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write this: dBlessed are the dead ewho die in the Lord from now on.” “Blessed indeed,” says the Spirit, f“that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!”
The Harvest of the Earth
14 Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and seated on the cloud one glike a son of man, hwith a golden crown on his head, and a sharp sickle in his hand. 15 And another angel icame out of the temple, calling with a loud voice to him who sat on the cloud, j“Put in your sickle, and reap, for the hour to reap has come, for kthe 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, lthe 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, mfor 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 nwinepress of the wrath of God. 20 And othe winepress was trodden poutside the city, and blood flowed from the winepress, as high as qa horse’s bridle, for 1,600 stadia.3
Jesus Prays in Gethsemane
36 mThen Jesus went with them eto a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, “Sit here, while I go over there and pray.” 37 And taking with him nPeter and othe two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled. 38 Then he said to them, p“My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and qwatch1 with me.” 39 And going a little farther he fell on his face rand prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let sthis cup pass from me; tnevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” 40 And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping. And he said to Peter, “So, could you not watch with me one hour? 41 qWatch and upray that you vmay not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” 42 Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, wyour will be done.” 43 And again he came and found them sleeping, for xtheir eyes were heavy. 44 So, leaving them again, he went away and prayed for ythe third time, saying the same words again. 45 Then he came to the disciples and said to them, “Sleep and take your rest later on.2 See, zthe hour is at hand, and athe Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 46 Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand.”
Betrayal and Arrest of Jesus
47 bWhile he was still speaking, cJudas came, one of the twelve, and with him a great crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and the elders of the people. 48 Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, “The one I will kiss is the man; seize him.” 49 And he came up to Jesus at once and said, “Greetings, dRabbi!” And he kissed him. 50 Jesus said to him, e“Friend, fdo what you came to do.”3 Then they came up and laid hands on Jesus and seized him. 51 And behold, one of those who were with Jesus stretched out his hand and drew his gsword and struck the servant4 of the high priest and cut off his ear. 52 Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place. For hall who take the sword will perish by the sword. 53 iDo you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me jmore than twelve klegions of angels? 54 lBut how then should the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must be so?” 55 At that hour Jesus said to the crowds, “Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs to capture me? Day after day mI sat in the temple nteaching, and you did not seize me. 56 But lall this has taken place that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled.” oThen all the disciples left him and fled.
