The Lord Judges the Nations
1 “For behold, in those days and at that time, when I qrestore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, 2 I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the rValley of Jehoshaphat. And I will senter 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 have tcast lots for my people, and have utraded a boy for a prostitute, and have sold a girl for wine and have drunk it.
4 “What are you to me, O Tyre and Sidon, and all the regions of Philistia? Are you paying me back for something? If you are paying me back, I will return your payment on your own head swiftly and speedily. 5 For you have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried my rich treasures into your temples.1 6 You have sold the 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 I 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 vSabeans, to a nation far away, for the Lord has spoken.”
9 Proclaim this among the nations:
Consecrate for war;2
stir up the mighty men.
Let all the men of war draw near;
let them come up.
10 Beat your wplowshares into swords,
and your pruning hooks into spears;
let the weak say, “I am a warrior.”
11 Hasten and come,
all you surrounding nations,
and gather yourselves there.
Bring down your warriors, O Lord.
12 Let the nations stir themselves up
and come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat;
for there I will sit to judge
all the surrounding nations.
13 Put in the sickle,
for the xharvest is ripe.
Go in, tread,
for the ywinepress is full.
The vats overflow,
for their evil is great.
14 Multitudes, multitudes,
in the valley of decision!
For the zday of the Lord is near
in the valley of decision.
15 aThe sun and the moon are darkened,
and the stars withdraw their shining.
16 bThe Lord roars from Zion,
and utters his voice from Jerusalem,
and cthe heavens and the earth quake.
But the Lord is a drefuge to his people,
a stronghold to the people of Israel.
The Glorious Future of Judah
17 “So eyou shall know that I am the Lord your God,
fwho dwells in Zion, gmy holy mountain.
And Jerusalem shall be holy,
and hstrangers shall never again pass through it.
18 “And in that day
ithe mountains shall drip sweet wine,
and the hills shall flow with milk,
and all the streambeds of Judah
shall flow with water;
and ja fountain shall come forth from the house of the Lord
and water the Valley of Shittim.
19 “Egypt shall become a desolation
and Edom a desolate wilderness,
kfor the violence done to the people of Judah,
because they have shed innocent blood in their land.
20 But lJudah shall be inhabited forever,
and Jerusalem to all generations.
21 I will avenge their blood,
blood I have not avenged,3
for the Lord dwells in Zion.”
14 lBless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. 15 mRejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. 16 nLive in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly.1 Never be wise in your own sight. 17 oRepay no one evil for evil, but pgive thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. 18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, qlive peaceably with all. 19 Beloved, rnever avenge yourselves, but leave it2 to the wrath of God, for it is written, s“Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” 20 To the contrary, t“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 be subject uto the governing authorities. For vthere 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 will receive his approval, 4 for he 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, an wavenger 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 for the sake of xconscience. 6 For because of this you also ypay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. 7 Pay 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, zhonor to whom honor is owed.
Fulfilling the Law Through Love
8 Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for athe one who loves another has fulfilled the law. 9 For the commandments, b“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: c“You shall dlove your neighbor as yourself.” 10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the efulfilling of the law.
11 Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to fwake from sleep. For gsalvation is hnearer to us now than when we first believed. 12 iThe night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the jworks of darkness and kput on the armor of light. 13 lLet us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. 14 But mput on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its ndesires.
