10 “Hear the word of the Lord, O nations,
and declare it in the coastlands far away;
say, ‘He who scattered Israel will gather him,
and will keep him bas a shepherd keeps his flock.’
11 For the Lord chas ransomed Jacob
and has dredeemed him from hands too strong for him.
12 They shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion,
and they shall be radiant over the goodness of the Lord,
over the grain, the wine, and the oil,
and over the young of the flock and the herd;
their life shall be elike a watered garden,
and they shall languish no more.
13 Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance,
and the young men and the old shall be merry.
I will turn their mourning into fjoy;
I will gcomfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow.
14 I will feast the soul of the priests with abundance,
and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness,
declares the Lord.”
15 Thus says the Lord:
h“A voice is heard in Ramah,
lamentation and bitter weeping.
Rachel is weeping for her children;
she refuses to be comforted for her children,
because ithey are no more.”
16 Thus says the Lord:
“Keep your voice from weeping,
and your eyes from tears,
for there is a reward for your work,
declares the Lord,
and they shall come back from the land of the enemy.
17 There is jhope for your future,
declares the Lord,
and your children shall come back to their own country.
18 I have heard Ephraim grieving,
‘You have kdisciplined me, and I was disciplined,
like an untrained calf;
lbring me back that I may be restored,
for you are the Lord my God.
19 For after I had turned away, I relented,
and after I was instructed, I struck my thigh;
I was ashamed, and I was confounded,
because I bore the disgrace of my youth.’
20 Is Ephraim my dear son?
Is he my darling child?
For as often as I speak against him,
I do remember him still.
Therefore my heart1 yearns for him;
I will surely have mercy on him,
declares the Lord.
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 Flight to Egypt
13 Now when they had departed, behold, an qangel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and rflee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, sto destroy him.” 14 And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt 15 and remained there until the death of Herod. This was tto fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, u“Out of Egypt I called vmy son.”
Herod Kills the Children
16 Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the wmale children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men. 17 Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah:
18 x“A voice was heard in Ramah,
weeping and loud lamentation,
Rachel weeping for her children;
she refused to be comforted, because they are no more.”
The Return to Nazareth
19 But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, 20 saying, “Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for ythose who sought the child’s life are dead.” 21 And he rose and took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there, and being warned in a dream he withdrew to the district of Galilee. 23 And he went and lived in a city called Nazareth, so that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled, that he would be called a zNazarene.
