Men and Vows
1 Moses spoke to the heads of the tribes of the people of Israel, saying, “This is what the Lord has commanded. 2 If a man vows a vow to the Lord, or swears an oath to bind himself by a pledge, lhe shall not break his word. He shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.
Women and Vows
3 “If a woman vows a vow to the Lord and binds herself by a pledge, while within her father’s house in her youth, 4 and her father hears of her vow and of her pledge by which she has bound herself and says nothing to her, then all her vows shall stand, and every pledge by which she has bound herself shall stand. 5 But if her father opposes her on the day that he hears of it, no vow of hers, no pledge by which she has bound herself shall stand. And the Lord will forgive her, because her father opposed her.
6 “If she marries a husband, while under her vows or any thoughtless utterance of her lips by which she has bound herself, 7 and her husband hears of it and says nothing to her on the day that he hears, then her vows shall stand, and her pledges by which she has bound herself shall stand. 8 But if, on the day that her husband comes to hear of it, he opposes her, then he makes void her vow that was on her, and the thoughtless utterance of her lips by which she bound herself. And the Lord will forgive her. 9 (But any vow of a widow or of a divorced woman, anything by which she has bound herself, shall stand against her.) 10 And if she vowed in her husband’s house or bound herself by a pledge with an oath, 11 and her husband heard of it and said nothing to her and did not oppose her, then all her vows shall stand, and every pledge by which she bound herself shall stand. 12 But if her husband makes them null and void on the day that he hears them, then whatever proceeds out of her lips concerning her vows or concerning her pledge of herself shall not stand. Her husband has made them void, and the Lord will forgive her. 13 Any vow and any binding oath to afflict herself,1 her husband may establish,2 or her husband may make void. 14 But if her husband says nothing to her from day to day, then he establishes all her vows or all her pledges that are upon her. He has established them, because he said nothing to her on the day that he heard of them. 15 But if he makes them null and void after he has heard of them, then he shall bear her iniquity.”
16 These are the statutes that the Lord commanded Moses about a man and his wife and about a father and his daughter while she is in her youth within her father’s house.
1 zA soft answer turns away wrath,
but a harsh word stirs up anger.
2 aThe tongue of the wise commends knowledge,
but the mouths of fools pour out folly.
3 bThe eyes of the Lord are in every place,
keeping watch on the evil and the good.
4 cA gentle1 tongue is a dtree of life,
but perverseness in it breaks the spirit.
5 A fool edespises his father’s finstruction,
but whoever gheeds reproof is prudent.
6 In hthe house of the righteous there is much treasure,
but trouble befalls the income of the wicked.
7 The lips of the wise spread knowledge;
not so the hearts of fools.2
8 iThe sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord,
jbut the prayer of the upright is acceptable to him.
9 The way of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord,
but he loves him who pursues righteousness.
10 There is severe discipline for him who forsakes the way;
whoever khates reproof will die.
11 Sheol and Abaddon lie lopen before the Lord;
how much more mthe hearts of the children of man!
12 A scoffer does not like to be reproved;
he will not go to the wise.
13 nA glad heart makes a cheerful face,
but oby sorrow of heart the spirit is pcrushed.
14 The heart of him who has understanding seeks knowledge,
but the mouths of fools feed on folly.
15 All the days of the afflicted are evil,
but the cheerful of heart has a continual feast.
16 qBetter is a little with the fear of the Lord
than great treasure and trouble with it.
17 rBetter is a dinner of herbs where love is
than a fattened ox and hatred with it.
18 sA hot-tempered man stirs up strife,
but he who is tslow to anger quiets contention.
19 The way of a sluggard is like a hedge of thorns,
but the path of the upright is a level highway.
20 uA wise son makes a glad father,
but a foolish man despises his mother.
21 Folly is a joy to him who lacks sense,
but a man of vunderstanding walks straight ahead.
22 wWithout counsel plans fail,
but with many advisers they succeed.
23 To make an apt answer is a joy to a man,
and xa word in season, how good it is!
24 The path of life leads upward for the prudent,
that he may turn away from Sheol beneath.
25 The Lord tears down the house of the proud
but maintains the widow’s boundaries.
26 The thoughts of the wicked are an abomination to the Lord,
but ygracious words are pure.
27 Whoever is zgreedy for unjust gain atroubles his own household,
but he who hates bbribes will live.
28 The heart of the righteous ponders how to answer,
but the mouth of the wicked pours out evil things.
29 The Lord is far from the wicked,
but he hears the prayer of the righteous.
30 The light of the eyes rejoices the heart,
and cgood news refreshes3 the bones.
31 The ear that listens to life-giving reproof
will dwell among the wise.
32 Whoever dignores einstruction despises himself,
but he who listens to reproof fgains intelligence.
33 gThe fear of the Lord is hinstruction in wisdom,
and ihumility comes before honor.
The Angel and the Little Scroll
1 Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven, wrapped in a cloud, with a rainbow over his head, and his aface was like the sun, and his legs like pillars of fire. 2 He had a little scroll open in his hand. And he set his right foot on the sea, and his left foot on the land, 3 and called out with a loud voice, like a lion roaring. When he called out, the seven thunders sounded. 4 And when the seven thunders had sounded, I was about to write, but I heard a voice from heaven saying, b“Seal up what the seven thunders have said, and cdo not write it down.” 5 And the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land draised his right hand to heaven 6 and swore by him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and what is in it, the earth and what is in it, and the sea and what is in it, that there would be no more delay, 7 but that in the days of the etrumpet call to be sounded by the seventh angel, the mystery of God would be fulfilled, just as he announced to his servants the prophets.
8 Then the voice that I had heard from heaven spoke to me again, saying, “Go, take the scroll that is open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.” 9 So I went to the angel and told him to give me the little scroll. And he said to me, “Take and feat it; it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be gsweet as honey.” 10 And I took the little scroll from the hand of the angel and ate it. It was sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it my stomach was made bitter. 11 And I was told, “You must again prophesy about many peoples and nations and languages and kings.”
The Two Witnesses
1 Then I was given a hmeasuring rod like a staff, and I was told, “Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship there, 2 but do not measure ithe court outside the temple; leave that out, for it is given over to the nations, and they will jtrample the holy city for kforty-two months. 3 And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for l1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.”
4 These are mthe two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. 5 And if anyone would harm them, nfire pours from their mouth and consumes their foes. If anyone would harm them, this is how he is doomed to be killed. 6 They have othe power to shut the sky, that no rain may fall during the days of their prophesying, and they have power over the waters to pturn them into blood and qto strike the earth with every kind of plague, as often as they desire. 7 And when they have finished their testimony, the beast that rrises from the bottomless pit1 swill make war on them and tconquer them and kill them, 8 and their dead bodies will lie in the street of uthe great city that symbolically2 is called vSodom and Egypt, where their Lord was crucified. 9 For three and a half days some from the wpeoples and tribes and languages and nations will gaze at their dead bodies and refuse to let them be placed in a tomb, 10 and those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and make merry and exchange presents, because these two prophets had been a torment to those who dwell on the earth. 11 But after the three and a half days xa breath of life from God entered them, and they stood up on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them. 12 Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, y“Come up here!” And they zwent up to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies watched them. 13 And at that hour there was a agreat earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.
14 The second bwoe has passed; behold, the third woe is soon to come.
The Seventh Trumpet
15 Then the seventh angel blew his ctrumpet, and there were dloud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord eand of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.” 16 And the ftwenty-four elders who sit on their thrones before God gfell on their faces and worshiped God, 17 saying,
“We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty,
hwho is and who was,
for you have taken your great power
and ibegun to reign.
18 jThe nations raged,
but your wrath came,
and the time for the dead to be judged,
and for rewarding your servants, the prophets and saints,
and those who fear your name,
kboth small and great,
and for destroying the destroyers of the earth.”
19 Then God’s temple in heaven lwas opened, and the mark of his covenant was seen within his temple. There were nflashes of lightning, rumblings,3 peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy ohail.
The Woman and the Dragon
1 And a great psign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. 2 She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth. 3 And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great red qdragon, with rseven heads and sten horns, and on his heads seven diadems. 4 His tail swept down ta third of the stars of heaven and ucast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her child he might devour it. 5 She gave birth to a male child, one who is vto rule4 all the nations wwith a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne, 6 and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, in which she is to be nourished for x1,260 days.
Satan Thrown Down to Earth
7 Now war arose in heaven, yMichael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, 8 but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. 9 And the great dragon was zthrown down, athat ancient serpent, who is called the bdevil and Satan, the cdeceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. 10 And I heard a dloud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the eauthority of fhis Christ have come, for the gaccuser of our brothers5 has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. 11 And they have hconquered him by the blood of the iLamb and by the word of their testimony, for jthey loved not their lives even kunto death. 12 Therefore, lrejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them! But mwoe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!”
13 And when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. 14 But the woman was given the two nwings of the great eagle so that she might fly from the serpent into the wilderness, to the place where she is to be nourished ofor a time, and times, and half a time. 15 The serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, to sweep her away with a flood. 16 But the earth came to the help of the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed the river that the dragon had poured from his mouth. 17 Then the dragon became furious with the woman and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on pthose who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus. And he stood6 on the sand of the sea.
