17 and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called The Place of a Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. 18 There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, and Jesus between them. 19 Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” 20 Many of the Jews read this inscription, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and it was written in Aramaic, in Latin, and in Greek. 21 So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but rather, ‘This man said, I am King of the Jews.’” 22 Pilate answered, “What I have written I have written.”
23 When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his garments and divided them into four parts, one part for each soldier; also his tunic.1 But the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom, 24 so they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it shall be.” This was qto fulfill the Scripture which says,
r“They divided my garments among them,
and for my clothing they cast lots.”
So the soldiers did these things, 25 sbut standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus saw his mother and tthe disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” 27 Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.
The Lamb and the 144,000
1 Then I looked, and behold, on Mount Zion stood the tLamb, and with him u144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name vwritten on their foreheads. 2 And I heard a voice from heaven wlike the roar of many waters and xlike the sound of loud thunder. The voice I heard was like the sound of harpists playing on their harps, 3 and they were singing a ynew song before the throne and before the zfour living creatures and before the elders. No one could learn that song except the 144,000 who had been aredeemed from the earth. 4 It is these who have not defiled themselves with women, for they are virgins. It is these who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These have been redeemed from mankind as bfirstfruits for God and the Lamb, 5 and cin their mouth no lie was found, for they are blameless.
The Messages of the Three Angels
6 Then I saw another angel flying directly overhead, with an eternal gospel dto proclaim to those who dwell on earth, to every enation and tribe and language and people. 7 And he said with a loud voice, f“Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come, and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water.”
8 Another angel, a second, followed, saying, g“Fallen, fallen is hBabylon the great, she who made all nations drink the iwine of the passion1 of her sexual immorality.”
9 And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his jforehead or on his hand, 10 he also will drink the kwine of God’s wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with lfire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. 11 And mthe smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, nday or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives othe mark of its name.”
12 pHere is a call for the endurance of the saints, qthose who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.2
13 And I heard a voice from heaven saying, r“Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Blessed indeed,” says the Spirit, “that they may srest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!”
The Harvest of the Earth
14 Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, tand seated on the cloud uone like a son of man, with a golden crown on his head, and a sharp sickle in his hand. 15 And another angel came out of the temple, calling with a loud voice to him who sat on the cloud, v“Put in your sickle, and reap, for the hour to reap has come, for the 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, the 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, for 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 wwinepress of the wrath of God. 20 And the winepress was trodden outside the city, and blood flowed from the winepress, as high as a horse’s bridle, for 1,600 stadia.3
16 He also allured you out of distress
into a ybroad place where there was no cramping,
and what was set on your ztable was full of fatness.
17 “But you are full of the judgment on the wicked;
judgment and justice seize you.
18 Beware lest wrath entice you into scoffing,
and let not the greatness of the ransom turn you aside.
19 Will your cry for help avail to keep you from distress,
or all the force of your strength?
20 Do not long for the night,
when peoples vanish in their place.
21 Take care; do not turn to iniquity,
for this you have chosen rather than affliction.
22 Behold, God is exalted in his power;
who is a teacher like him?
23 aWho has prescribed for him his way,
or who can say, b‘You have done wrong’?
24 “Remember to extol his work,
of which men have sung.
25 All mankind has looked on it;
man beholds it from afar.
26 Behold, cGod is great, and we know him not;
dthe number of his years is eunsearchable.
27 For he draws up the drops of water;
they distill his mist in rain,
28 which the skies pour down
and drop on mankind abundantly.
29 fCan anyone understand the spreading of the clouds,
the thunderings of his pavilion?
30 Behold, he scatters his lightning about him
and covers the roots of the sea.
31 For by these he gjudges peoples;
hhe gives food in abundance.
32 He covers his hands with the lightning
and commands it to strike the mark.
33 Its crashing declares his presence;1
the cattle also declare that he rises.
1 An aoracle concerning bNineveh. The book of the cvision of Nahum of Elkosh.
God’s Wrath Against Nineveh
2 The Lord is a djealous and eavenging God;
the Lord is avenging and wrathful;
the Lord takes vengeance on his adversaries
and keeps wrath for his enemies.
3 The Lord is fslow to anger and great in power,
and the Lord will by no means clear the guilty.
His way is in whirlwind and storm,
and the clouds are the dust of his feet.
4 He rebukes the sea and makes it dry;
he dries up all the rivers;
gBashan and Carmel wither;
the bloom of Lebanon withers.
5 The mountains quake before him;
hthe hills melt;
the earth heaves before him,
the world and all who dwell in it.
6 Who can stand before his indignation?
Who can endure the heat of his anger?
iHis wrath is poured out like fire,
and the rocks are broken into pieces by him.
7 The Lord is good,
a jstronghold in the day of trouble;
khe knows those who take refuge in him.
8 But with an overflowing flood
he will make a complete end of the adversaries,1
and will pursue his enemies into darkness.
9 What do you plot against the Lord?
He will make a complete end;
trouble will not rise up a second time.
10 For they are like entangled thorns,
like drunkards as they drink;
they are consumed like stubble fully dried.
11 From you came one
who plotted evil against the Lord,
a worthless counselor.
12 Thus says the Lord,
“Though they are at full strength and many,
they will be cut down and pass away.
Though I have afflicted you,
I will afflict you no more.
13 And now lI will break his yoke from off you
and will mburst your bonds apart.”
14 The Lord has given commandment about you:
“No more shall your name be perpetuated;
from the house of your gods I will cut off
the carved image and the metal image.
I will make your ngrave, for you are vile.”
15 2 Behold, oupon the mountains, pthe feet of him
who brings good news,
who publishes peace!
Keep your feasts, O Judah;
fulfill your vows,
for qnever again shall the worthless pass through you;
he is utterly cut off.
The Destruction of Nineveh
1 The scatterer has come up against you.
Man the ramparts;
watch the road;
dress for battle;3
collect all your strength.
2 For the Lord is restoring the majesty of Jacob
as the majesty of Israel,
for plunderers have plundered them
and ruined their branches.
3 The shield of his mighty men is red;
rhis soldiers are clothed in scarlet.
The chariots come with flashing metal
on the day he musters them;
the cypress spears are brandished.
4 The chariots race madly through the streets;
they rush to and fro through the squares;
they gleam like torches;
they dart like lightning.
5 He remembers his officers;
they stumble as they go,
they hasten to the wall;
the siege tower4 is set up.
6 The river sgates are opened;
the palace melts away;
7 its mistress5 is stripped;6 she is carried off,
her slave girls lamenting,
moaning tlike doves
and beating their breasts.
8 Nineveh is like a pool
whose waters run away.7
“Halt! Halt!” they cry,
but none turns back.
9 Plunder the silver,
plunder the gold!
There is no end of the treasure
or of the wealth of all precious things.
10 Desolate! Desolation and ruin!
uHearts melt and knees tremble;
anguish is in all loins;
vall faces grow pale!
11 Where is the lions’ den,
the feeding place of the young lions,
where the lion and lioness went,
where his cubs were, with none to disturb?
12 The lion tore enough for his cubs
and strangled prey for his lionesses;
he filled his caves with prey
and his dens with torn flesh.
13 wBehold, I am against you, declares the Lord of hosts, and I will burn your8 chariots in smoke, and the sword shall devour your young lions. I will cut off your prey from the earth, and the voice of your messengers shall no longer be heard.
Woe to Nineveh
1 Woe to the xbloody city,
all full of lies and plunder—
no end to the prey!
2 The crack of the whip, and rumble of the wheel,
galloping horse and bounding chariot!
3 Horsemen charging,
flashing sword and yglittering spear,
hosts of slain,
heaps of corpses,
dead bodies without end—
they stumble over the bodies!
4 And all for the countless whorings of the zprostitute,
graceful and of deadly acharms,
who betrays nations with her whorings,
and peoples with her charms.
5 bBehold, I am against you,
declares the Lord of hosts,
and will clift up your skirts over your face;
and I will make nations look at your nakedness
and kingdoms at your shame.
6 I will throw filth at you
and treat you with contempt
and make you a spectacle.
7 And all who look at you will shrink from you and say,
“Wasted is Nineveh; dwho will grieve for her?”
Where shall I seek comforters for you?
8 eAre you better than fThebes9
that sat by the Nile,
with water around her,
her rampart a sea,
and water her wall?
9 Cush was her strength;
Egypt too, and that without limit;
Put and the Libyans were her10 helpers.
10 Yet gshe became an exile;
she went into captivity;
hher infants were dashed in pieces
at the head of every street;
for her honored men ilots were cast,
and all her great men were bound in chains.
11 You also will be drunken;
you will go into hiding;
you will seek a refuge from the enemy.
12 All your fortresses are like fig trees
with jfirst-ripe figs—
if shaken they fall
into the mouth of the eater.
13 Behold, your troops
are kwomen in your midst.
The lgates of your land
are wide open to your enemies;
fire has devoured your bars.
14 Draw water for the siege;
strengthen your forts;
go into the clay;
tread the mortar;
take hold of the brick mold!
15 There will the fire devour you;
the sword will cut you off.
It will devour you like the locust.
Multiply yourselves like the locust;
multiply like the grasshopper!
16 You increased your merchants
more than the stars of the heavens.
The locust spreads its wings and flies away.
17 Your princes11 are like grasshoppers,
your scribes12 like clouds of locusts
settling on the fences
in a day of cold—
when the sun rises, they fly away;
no one knows where they are.
18 Your shepherds are asleep,
O king of Assyria;
your nobles slumber.
mYour people are scattered on the mountains
with none to gather them.
19 There is no easing your hurt;
nyour wound is grievous.
All who hear the news about you
oclap their hands over you.
For upon whom has not come
your unceasing evil?
