The Lord Judges the Nations
1 “For behold, iin those days and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, 2 jI will gather all the nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. And kI will enter into judgment with them there, on behalf of my people and my heritage Israel, because they have scattered them among the nations and have divided up my land, 3 and lhave cast lots for my people, and have traded a boy for a prostitute, and have sold a girl for wine and have drunk it.
4 “What are you to me, mO Tyre and Sidon, and all nthe regions of Philistia? Are you paying me back for something? If you are paying me back, oI will return your payment on your own head swiftly and speedily. 5 For pyou have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried my rich treasures into your temples.1 6 You have sold qthe people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks in order to remove them far from their own border. 7 Behold, I will stir them up from the place to which you have sold them, and oI will return your payment on your own head. 8 I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the people of Judah, and they will sell them to the rSabeans, to a nation far away, for the Lord has spoken.”
9 Proclaim this among the nations:
stir up the mighty men.
Let all the men of war draw near;
let them come up.
10 tBeat your plowshares into swords,
and tyour pruning hooks into spears;
let the weak say, “I am a warrior.”
11 uHasten and come,
all you surrounding nations,
and gather yourselves there.
vBring down your warriors, O Lord.
12 Let the nations stir themselves up
and come up to wthe Valley of Jehoshaphat;
xfor there I will sit to judge
all the surrounding nations.
13 yPut in the sickle,
zfor the harvest is ripe.
aGo in, tread,
afor the winepress is full.
The vats overflow,
for their evil is great.
14 Multitudes, multitudes,
in the valley of decision!
For bthe day of the Lord is near
in the valley of decision.
15 cThe sun and the moon are darkened,
and the stars withdraw their shining.
16 dThe Lord roars from Zion,
and dutters his voice from Jerusalem,
eand the heavens and the earth quake.
But the Lord is fa refuge to his people,
a stronghold to the people of Israel.
The Glorious Future of Judah
17 g“So you shall know that I am the Lord your God,
hwho dwells in Zion, imy holy mountain.
And Jerusalem shall be holy,
and jstrangers shall never again pass through it.
18 “And in that day
kthe mountains shall drip sweet wine,
and the hills shall flow with milk,
and lall the streambeds of Judah
shall flow with water;
mand a fountain shall come forth from the house of the Lord
and water the Valley of nShittim.
19 o“Egypt shall become a desolation
and pEdom a desolate wilderness,
qfor the violence done to the people of Judah,
because they have shed innocent blood in their land.
20 rBut Judah shall be inhabited forever,
and Jerusalem to all generations.
21 sI will avenge their blood,
blood I have not avenged,3
hfor the Lord dwells in Zion.”
14 eBless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. 15 fRejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. 16 gLive in harmony with one another. hDo not be haughty, but associate with the lowly.1 iNever be wise in your own sight. 17 jRepay no one evil for evil, but kgive thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. 18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, llive peaceably with all. 19 Beloved, mnever avenge yourselves, but leave it2 to the wrath of God, for it is written, n“Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” 20 To the contrary, o“if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Submission to the Authorities
1 Let every person pbe subject to the governing authorities. For qthere is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you rwill receive his approval, 4 for she is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, tan avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also ufor the sake of conscience. 6 For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. 7 vPay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.
Fulfilling the Law Through Love
8 wOwe no one anything, except to love each other, for xthe one who loves another has fulfilled the law. 9 For the commandments, y“You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: z“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore alove is the fulfilling of the law.
11 Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you bto wake from sleep. cFor salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. 12 dThe night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us ecast off fthe works of darkness and gput on the armor of light. 13 hLet us walk properly as in the daytime, inot in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, jnot in quarreling and jealousy. 14 But kput on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, lto gratify its desires.
