The Lord Is My Light and My Salvation
Of David.
1 The Lord is my hlight and my isalvation;
jwhom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold1 of my life;
of whom shall I be afraid?
2 When evildoers assail me
to keat up my flesh,
my adversaries and foes,
it is they who stumble and fall.
3 lThough an army encamp against me,
my heart shall not fear;
though war arise against me,
yet2 I will be confident.
4 mOne thing have I asked of the Lord,
that will I seek after:
that I may ndwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life,
to gaze upon othe beauty of the Lord
and to inquire3 in his temple.
5 For he will phide me in his shelter
in the day of trouble;
he will conceal me under the cover of his tent;
he will qlift me high upon a rock.
6 And now my rhead shall be lifted up
above my enemies all around me,
and I will offer in his tent
sacrifices with shouts of sjoy;
tI will sing and make melody to the Lord.
7 uHear, O Lord, when I cry aloud;
be gracious to me and answer me!
8 You have said, v“Seek4 my face.”
My heart says to you,
“Your face, Lord, do I seek.”5
9 wHide not your face from me.
Turn not your servant away in anger,
O you who have been my help.
Cast me not off; forsake me not,
xO God of my salvation!
10 For ymy father and my mother have forsaken me,
but the Lord will ztake me in.
11 aTeach me your way, O Lord,
and lead me on ba level path
because of my enemies.
12 cGive me not up to the will of my adversaries;
for dfalse witnesses have risen against me,
and they ebreathe out violence.
13 I believe that I shall look6 upon fthe goodness of the Lord
in gthe land of the living!
14 hWait for the Lord;
ibe strong, and let your heart take courage;
wait for the Lord!
The Sign of Immanuel
10 Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz: 11 “Ask aa sign of the Lord your1 God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven.” 12 But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, and I will not put the Lord to the test.” 13 And he2 said, “Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary men, that you bweary my God also? 14 Therefore the cLord himself will give you a sign. dBehold, the evirgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name fImmanuel.3 15 He shall eat gcurds and honey when he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. 16 hFor before the boy knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land whose two kings you dread will be ideserted. 17 jThe Lord will bring upon you and upon your people and upon your father’s house such days as have not come since the day that kEphraim departed from Judah—the king of Assyria!”
18 In that day the Lord will lwhistle for the fly that is at the end of the streams of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria. 19 And they will all come and settle in the steep ravines, and min the clefts of the rocks, and on all the thornbushes, and on all the pastures.4
20 In that day nthe Lord will oshave with a razor that is phired beyond qthe River5—with the king of Assyria—the head and the hair of the feet, and it will sweep away the beard also.
The Angel and the Little Scroll
1 Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven, wrapped in a cloud, with ya rainbow over his head, and zhis face was like the sun, and ahis legs like pillars of fire. 2 bHe 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, clike 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, d“Seal up what the seven thunders have said, and do not write it down.” 5 And the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land eraised his right hand to heaven 6 and swore by fhim who lives forever and ever, gwho 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 hin the days of the trumpet call to be sounded by the seventh angel, the mystery of God would be fulfilled, ijust 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, j“Take and keat it; it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet 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, l“You must again prophesy about many peoples and nations and languages and kings.”
