The Lord Will Turn Mourning to Joy
1 z“At that time, declares the Lord, aI will be the God of all the clans of Israel, and they shall be my people.”
2 Thus says the Lord:
“The people who survived the sword
found grace in the wilderness;
bwhen Israel sought for rest,
3 the Lord appeared to him1 from far away.
cI have loved you with an everlasting love;
therefore dI have continued emy faithfulness to you.
4 fAgain I will build you, and you shall be built,
O virgin Israel!
gAgain you shall adorn yourself with tambourines
and shall go forth in hthe dance of the merrymakers.
5 iAgain you shall plant vineyards
on the mountains of Samaria;
the planters shall plant
and shall enjoy the fruit.
6 For there shall be a day when watchmen will call
in jthe hill country of Ephraim:
k‘Arise, and let us go up to Zion,
to the Lord our God.’”
7 For thus says the Lord:
l“Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob,
and raise shouts for mthe chief of the nations;
proclaim, give praise, and say,
n‘O Lord, save your people,
the remnant of Israel.’
8 Behold, I will bring them ofrom the north country
and pgather them from qthe farthest parts of the earth,
among them rthe blind and the lame,
the pregnant woman and she who is in labor, together;
a great company, they shall return here.
9 sWith weeping they shall come,
tand with pleas for mercy I will lead them back,
I will make them uwalk by brooks of water,
vin a straight path in which they shall not stumble,
for wI am a father to Israel,
and Ephraim is xmy firstborn.
10 “Hear the word of the Lord, O nations,
and declare it in the coastlands far away;
say, ‘He who scattered Israel will pgather him,
and will keep him yas a shepherd keeps his flock.’
11 zFor the Lord has ransomed Jacob
and has redeemed him from ahands too strong for him.
12 They shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion,
band they shall be radiant cover the goodness of the Lord,
dover the grain, the wine, and the oil,
and over the young of the flock and the herd;
etheir life shall be like a watered garden,
fand they shall languish no more.
13 gThen shall the young women rejoice in the dance,
and the young men and the old shall be merry.
hI will turn their mourning into joy;
I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow.
14 iI 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:
lamentation and bitter weeping.
lRachel is weeping for her children;
she refuses to be comforted for her children,
mbecause they 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 nthey shall come back from the land of the enemy.
17 oThere is hope for your future,
declares the Lord,
and your children shall come back to their own country.
23 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “Once more they shall use these words in the land of Judah and in its cities, awhen I restore their fortunes:
b“‘The Lord bless you, cO habitation of righteousness,
dO holy hill!’
24 eAnd Judah and all its cities shall dwell there together, and ethe farmers and those who wander with their flocks. 25 For I will fsatisfy the weary soul, and every languishing soul I will replenish.”
26 At this I awoke and looked, and my sleep was pleasant to me.
27 g“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when hI will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with ithe seed of man and the seed of beast. 28 And it shall come to pass that jas I have watched over them kto pluck up and break down, to overthrow, destroy, and bring harm, jso I will watch over them lto build and to plant, declares the Lord. 29 In those days they shall no longer say:
m“‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes,
and the children’s teeth are set on edge.’
30 nBut everyone shall die for his own iniquity. Each man who eats sour grapes, his teeth shall be set on edge.
The New Covenant
31 o“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make pa new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when qI took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, rthough I was their husband, declares the Lord. 33 sFor this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: sI will put my law within them, and I will write it ton their hearts. uAnd I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ vfor they shall all know me, wfrom the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For xI will forgive their iniquity, and yI will remember their sin no more.”
The Seven Bowls of God’s Wrath
1 Then I heard a loud voice from the temple telling pthe seven angels, “Go and qpour out on the earth rthe seven bowls of the wrath of God.”
2 So the first angel went and poured out his bowl on the earth, and harmful and painful ssores came upon the people who bore tthe mark of the beast and worshiped its image.
3 The second angel poured out his bowl into the sea, and uit became like the blood of a corpse, and vevery living thing died that was in the sea.
4 The third angel poured out his bowl into wthe rivers and the springs of water, and xthey became blood. 5 And I heard the angel in charge of the waters1 say,
y“Just are you, zO Holy One, awho is and who was,
for you brought these judgments.
6 For bthey have shed the blood of csaints and prophets,
and dyou have given them blood to drink.
It is what they deserve!”
7 And I heard ethe altar saying,
“Yes, Lord God the Almighty,
ftrue and just are your judgments!”
8 The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and it was allowed to scorch people gwith fire. 9 They were scorched by the fierce heat, and hthey cursed2 the name of God who had power over these plagues. iThey did not repent jand give him glory.
10 The fifth angel poured out his bowl on kthe throne of the beast, and lits kingdom was plunged into darkness. People gnawed their tongues in anguish 11 and cursed mthe God of heaven for their pain and nsores. oThey did not repent of their deeds.
12 The sixth angel poured out his bowl on pthe great river Euphrates, and qits water was dried up, rto prepare the way for the kings sfrom the east. 13 And I saw, coming out of the mouth of tthe dragon and out of the mouth of uthe beast and out of the mouth of vthe false prophet, three wunclean spirits like xfrogs. 14 For they are ydemonic spirits, zperforming signs, who go abroad to the kings of the whole world, ato assemble them for battle on bthe great day of God the Almighty. 15 (“Behold, cI am coming like a thief! dBlessed is the one who stays awake, keeping his garments on, ethat he may not go about naked and be seen exposed!”) 16 And fthey assembled them at the place that in Hebrew is called gArmageddon.
The Seventh Bowl
17 The seventh angel poured out his bowl into hthe air, and a loud voice came out of the temple, from the throne, saying, i“It is done!” 18 And there were jflashes of lightning, rumblings,3 peals of thunder, and ka great earthquake lsuch as there had never been since man was on the earth, so great was that earthquake. 19 mThe great city nwas split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell, and God oremembered pBabylon the great, qto make her drain the cup of the wine of the fury of his wrath. 20 And revery island fled away, and no mountains were to be found. 21 And sgreat hailstones, about one hundred pounds4 each, fell from heaven on people; and tthey cursed God for uthe plague of the hail, because the plague was so severe.
Jesus Delivered to Pilate
1 wWhen morning came, all the chief priests and the elders of the people xtook counsel against Jesus to put him to death. 2 And they bound him and yled him away and zdelivered him over to aPilate the governor.
Judas Hangs Himself
3 Then when bJudas, his betrayer, saw that Jesus1 was condemned, che changed his mind and brought back dthe thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders, 4 saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” They said, “What is that to us? eSee to it yourself.” 5 And throwing down the pieces of silver into the temple, fhe departed, and he went and hanged himself. 6 But the chief priests, taking the pieces of silver, said, “It is not lawful to put them into gthe treasury, since it is blood money.” 7 So they took counsel and bought with them the potter’s field as a burial place for strangers. 8 Therefore hthat field has been called the Field of Blood ito this day. 9 jThen was fulfilled what had been spoken by the prophet Jeremiah, saying, k“And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him on whom a price had been set by some of the sons of Israel, 10 and they gave them for the potter’s field, as the Lord directed me.”
