Arad Destroyed
1 When the Canaanite, the king of Arad, who lived in the Negeb, uheard that Israel was coming by the way of Atharim, he fought against Israel, and took some of them captive. 2 And Israel vvowed a vow to the Lord and said, “If you will indeed give this people into my hand, then I will devote their cities to destruction.”1 3 And the Lord heeded the voice of Israel and gave over the Canaanites, and they devoted them and their cities to destruction. wSo the name of the place was called xHormah.2
The Bronze Serpent
4 From Mount Hor they set out by the way to the Red Sea, yto go around the land of Edom. zAnd the people became impatient on the way. 5 And athe people spoke against God and against Moses, b“Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and cwe loathe this worthless food.” 6 Then the Lord sent dfiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. 7 And the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you. ePray to the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. 8 fAnd the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.” 9 So Moses made a gbronze3 serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.
The Song of the Well
10 And the people of Israel set out and hcamped in Oboth. 11 iAnd they set out from Oboth and camped at Iye-abarim, in the wilderness that is opposite Moab, toward the sunrise. 12 From there they set out and camped in the Valley of jZered. 13 From there they set out and kcamped on the other side of the Arnon, which is in the wilderness that extends from the border of the Amorites, for the Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites. 14 Therefore it is said in the Book of the Wars of the Lord,
“Waheb in Suphah, and the valleys of the Arnon,
15 and the slope of the valleys
that extends to the seat of lAr,
and leans to the border of Moab.”
16 And from there they continued to Beer;4 that is the well of which the Lord said to Moses, “Gather the people together, so that I may give them water.” 17 Then Israel sang this song:
“Spring up, O well!—Sing to it!—
18 the well that the princes made,
that the nobles of the people dug,
with the scepter and with their staffs.”
And from the wilderness they went on to Mattanah, 19 and from Mattanah to Nahaliel, and from Nahaliel to Bamoth, 20 and from Bamoth to the valley lying in the region of Moab by the top of mPisgah that looks down on the desert.5
King Sihon Defeated
21 nThen Israel osent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, saying, 22 p“Let me pass through your land. We will not turn aside into field or vineyard. We will not drink the water of a well. We will go by the King’s Highway until we have passed through your territory.” 23 But Sihon qwould not allow Israel to pass through his territory. He gathered all his people together and went out against Israel to the wilderness and came to Jahaz and fought against Israel. 24 And Israel defeated him with the edge of the sword and took possession of his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, ras far as to the Ammonites, for the border of the Ammonites was strong. 25 And Israel took all these cities, and Israel settled in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon, and in all its villages. 26 For Heshbon was the city of Sihon the king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab and taken all his land out of his hand, as far as the Arnon. 27 Therefore the ballad singers say,
“Come to Heshbon, let it be built;
let the city of Sihon be established.
28 sFor fire came out from Heshbon,
flame from the city of Sihon.
It devoured Ar of Moab,
and swallowed6 the heights of the Arnon.
29 Woe to you, O Moab!
You are undone, O people of tChemosh!
He has made his sons fugitives,
and his daughters captives,
to an Amorite king, Sihon.
30 So we overthrew them;
Heshbon, as far as Dibon, perished;
and we laid waste as far as Nophah;
fire spread as far as Medeba.”7
King Og Defeated
31 Thus Israel lived in the land of the Amorites. 32 And Moses sent to spy out uJazer, and they captured its villages and dispossessed the Amorites who were there. 33 vThen they turned and went up by the way to Bashan. And Og the king of Bashan came out against them, he and all his people, to battle at Edrei. 34 But the Lord said to Moses, w“Do not fear him, for I have given him into your hand, and all his people, and his land. And you shall do to him as you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon.” 35 So they defeated him and his sons and all his people, until he had no survivor left. And they possessed his land.
Practical Warnings
1 My son, if you have fput up security for your neighbor,
have given your pledge for a stranger,
2 if you are gsnared in the words of your mouth,
caught in the words of your mouth,
3 then do this, my son, and save yourself,
for you have come into the hand of your neighbor:
go, hasten,1 and plead urgently with your neighbor.
and your eyelids no slumber;
5 save yourself like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter,2
like a bird from the hand of the fowler.
6 jGo to the kant, O sluggard;
consider her ways, and be wise.
7 lWithout having any chief,
officer, or ruler,
8 she prepares her bread min summer
and gathers her food in harvest.
9 How long will you lie there, O sluggard?
When will you arise from your sleep?
10 nA little sleep, a little slumber,
a little ofolding of the hands to rest,
11 and ppoverty will come upon you like a robber,
and want like an armed man.
12 A worthless person, a wicked man,
goes about with qcrooked speech,
13 rwinks with his eyes, signals3 with his feet,
spoints with his finger,
14 with perverted heart tdevises evil,
continually sowing udiscord;
15 therefore calamity will come upon him suddenly;
vin a moment he will be broken beyond healing.
16 There are wsix things that the Lord hates,
seven that are an abomination to him:
17 haughty eyes, a lying tongue,
and hands that shed innocent blood,
18 a heart that devises wicked plans,
xfeet that make haste to run to evil,
19 a false witness who ybreathes out lies,
and one who sows discord among brothers.
Warnings Against Adultery
20 My son, keep your zfather’s commandment,
and aforsake not byour mother’s teaching.
21 cBind them on your heart always;
tie them around your neck.
22 dWhen you walk, they4 will lead you;
when you lie down, they will watch over you;
and when you awake, they will talk with you.
23 For the commandment is a elamp and the teaching a light,
and the freproofs of gdiscipline are the way of life,
24 hto preserve you from the evil woman,5
from the smooth tongue of the adulteress.6
25 Do not desire her beauty in your heart,
and do not let her capture you iwith her eyelashes;
26 for the price of a prostitute is only a loaf of bread,7
but a married woman8 hunts down a precious life.
27 Can a man carry jfire next to his chest
and his clothes not be burned?
28 Or can one walk on hot coals
and his feet not be scorched?
29 So is he who goes in to khis neighbor’s wife;
none who touches her will go unpunished.
30 People do not despise a thief if he steals
to satisfy his appetite when he is hungry,
31 but lif he is caught, he will pay msevenfold;
he will give all the goods of his house.
32 He who ncommits adultery lacks sense;
he who does it destroys himself.
33 He will get wounds and dishonor,
and his disgrace will not be wiped away.
34 For ojealousy makes a man furious,
and he will not spare when he takes revenge.
35 He will accept no compensation;
he will refuse though you multiply gifts.
Prologue
1 The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants1 athe things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his bangel to his servant cJohn, 2 who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. 3 dBlessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, efor the time is fnear.
Greeting to the Seven Churches
4 John to the seven churches that are in Asia:
Grace to you and peace from him gwho is and who was and who is to come, and from hthe seven spirits who are before his throne, 5 and from Jesus Christ the ifaithful witness, jthe firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth.
To him who kloves us land has freed us from our sins by his blood 6 and made us a kingdom, mpriests to his God and Father, nto him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. 7 oBehold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who ppierced him, and qall tribes of the earth will wail2 on account of him. Even so. Amen.
8 r“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”
Vision of the Son of Man
9 I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. 10 I was sin the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice tlike a trumpet 11 saying, “Write what you see in a book and usend it to the seven churches, to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.”
12 Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw vseven golden wlampstands, 13 and in the midst of the lampstands xone like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and ywith a golden sash around his chest. 14 zThe hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. aHis eyes were like a flame of fire, 15 his feet were like bburnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was clike the roar of many waters. 16 In his right hand he held seven stars, dfrom his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and ehis face was like the sun shining in full strength.
17 When I saw him, I ffell at his feet as though dead. gBut he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, hI am the first and the last, 18 and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have ithe keys jof Death and Hades. 19 kWrite therefore the things that you have seen, those that are and those that are to take place after this. 20 As for the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands, the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.
To the Church in Ephesus
1 “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: ‘The words of him who holds lthe seven stars in his right hand, mwho walks among the seven golden lampstands.
2 “‘I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. 3 I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name’s sake, and nyou have onot grown weary. 4 But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. 5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen; prepent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. 6 Yet this you have: you hate the works of the qNicolaitans, which I also hate. 7 rHe who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the stree of life, which is in the tparadise of God.’
To the Church in Smyrna
8 “And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write: ‘The words of uthe first and the last, who vdied and came to life.
9 “‘I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are wrich) and the slander3 of those who say that they are Jews and are not, but are a xsynagogue of Satan. 10 Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the ydevil is about to throw some of you into zprison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have atribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the bcrown of life. 11 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who conquers will not be hurt by cthe second death.’
To the Church in Pergamum
12 “And to the angel of the church in Pergamum write: ‘The words of him who has the sharp dtwo-edged sword.
13 “‘I know where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is. Yet you hold fast my name, and you did not deny my faith4 even in the days of Antipas my faithful witness, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells. 14 But I have a few things against you: you have some there who hold ethe teaching of fBalaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, so that they might eat food sacrificed to gidols and practice hsexual immorality. 15 So also you have some who hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans. 16 Therefore repent. If not, I will come to you soon and war against them iwith the sword of my mouth. 17 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden jmanna, and I will give him a white stone, with a knew name written on the stone lthat no one knows except the one who receives it.’
To the Church in Thyatira
18 “And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write: ‘The words of the Son of God, mwho has eyes like a flame of fire, and whose feet are like nburnished bronze.
19 “‘I know your works, your love and faith and service and patient endurance, and that your latter works exceed the first. 20 But I have this against you, that you tolerate that woman oJezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and seducing my servants to practice sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols. 21 I gave her time to repent, but she prefuses to repent of her sexual immorality. 22 Behold, I will throw her onto a sickbed, and qthose who commit adultery with her I will throw into great tribulation, unless they repent of her works, 23 and I will strike her children dead. And all the churches will know that I am he who rsearches mind and heart, and I will give to each of you according to your works. 24 But to the rest of you in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who have not learned what some call the deep things of Satan, to you I say, I do not lay on you any other burden. 25 Only shold fast what you have tuntil I come. 26 The one who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, to him uI will give vauthority over the nations, 27 and whe will rule5 them xwith a rod of iron, as when earthen pots are broken in pieces, even as I myself have received yauthority from my Father. 28 And I will give him the zmorning star. 29 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’
To the Church in Sardis
1 “And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: ‘The words of him who has athe seven spirits of God and bthe seven stars.
“‘I know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead. 2 Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God. 3 Remember, then, what you received and heard. Keep it, and crepent. If you will not wake up, I will come dlike a thief, and eyou will not know at what hour I will come against you. 4 Yet you have still a few names in Sardis, people who have not fsoiled their garments, and they will walk with me in gwhite, for they are hworthy. 5 The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the ibook of life. I will jconfess his name before my Father and before his angels. 6 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’
To the Church in Philadelphia
7 “And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: ‘The words of the holy one, the ktrue one, who has the lkey of David, who opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens.
8 “‘I know your works. Behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut. I know that you have but little power, and yet you have mkept my word and have not denied my name. 9 Behold, I will make those of the nsynagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie—behold, I will make them come and obow down before your feet, and they will learn that I have ploved you. 10 Because you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell on the earth. 11 qI am coming soon. rHold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your scrown. 12 The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. Never shall he go out of it, and I will twrite on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, uthe new Jerusalem, which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own vnew name. 13 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’
To the Church in Laodicea
14 “And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: ‘The words of the Amen, the wfaithful and true witness, xthe beginning of God’s creation.
15 “‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! 16 So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. 17 For you say, y“I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing,” not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. 18 I counsel you to zbuy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself aand the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. 19 bThose whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent. 20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, cI will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. 21 The one who conquers, dI will grant him to esit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. 22 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’”
