The Coming Day of the Lord
1 Behold, a day is coming for the Lord, when the spoil taken from you will be divided in your midst. 2 For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city shall be taken and the ehouses plundered and the women raped. Half of the city shall go out into exile, but the rest of the people shall not be cut off from the city. 3 Then the Lord will go out and fight against those nations as when he fights on a day of battle. 4 On that day his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives that lies before Jerusalem fon the east, and the Mount of Olives shall be split in two from east to west by a very wide valley, so that one half of the Mount shall move northward, and the other half southward. 5 And you shall flee to the valley of my mountains, for the valley of the mountains shall reach to Azal. And you shall flee as you fled from the gearthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then hthe Lord my God will come, and all the holy ones with him.1
6 On that day there shall be no light, cold, or frost.2 7 And there shall be a unique3 day, iwhich is known to the Lord, neither day nor night, but at evening time there shall be light.
8 On that day jliving waters shall kflow out from Jerusalem, half of them to the eastern sea4 and half of them to the western sea.5 It shall continue in summer as in winter.
9 And the Lord will be king over all the earth. On that day lthe Lord will be one and his name one.
10 The whole land shall be turned into a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem. But Jerusalem shall remain aloft on its site from the Gate of Benjamin to the place of the former gate, to the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the king’s winepresses. 11 And it shall be inhabited, for there shall never again be a decree of utter destruction.6 Jerusalem shall dwell in msecurity.
12 And this shall be the plague with which the Lord will strike all the peoples that wage war against Jerusalem: their flesh will rot while they are still standing on their feet, their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongues will rot in their mouths.
13 And on that day a great panic from the Lord shall fall on them, so that each will seize the hand of another, and the hand of the one will be raised against the hand of the other. 14 Even Judah will fight at Jerusalem.7 And the wealth of all the surrounding nations shall be collected, gold, silver, and garments in great abundance. 15 And a plague like this plague shall fall on the horses, the mules, the camels, the donkeys, and whatever beasts may be in those camps.
16 Then everyone who survives of all the nations that have come against Jerusalem shall go up year after year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the nFeast of Booths. 17 And if any of the families of the earth do not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, there will be no rain on them. 18 And if the family of Egypt does not go up and present themselves, then on them there shall be no rain;8 there shall be the plague with which the Lord afflicts the nations that do not go up to keep the Feast of Booths. 19 This shall be the punishment to Egypt and the punishment to all the nations that do not go up to keep the Feast of Booths.
20 And on that day there shall be inscribed on the bells of the horses, o“Holy to the Lord.” And the ppots in the house of the Lord shall be as the bowls before the altar. 21 And every pot in Jerusalem and Judah shall be holy to the Lord of hosts, so that all who sacrifice may come and take of them and boil the meat of the sacrifice in them. And there shall no longer be a trader9 in the house of the Lord of hosts on that day.
7 Show yourself in all respects to be a pmodel of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity, 8 and sound speech that cannot be condemned, qso that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us. 9 rBondservants1 are to be submissive to their own masters in everything; they are to be well-pleasing, not argumentative, 10 not pilfering, but showing all good faith, so that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior.
11 For sthe grace of God has appeared, bringing tsalvation ufor all people, 12 training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly vpassions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and wgodly lives in xthe present age, 13 ywaiting for our blessed hope, the zappearing of the glory of aour great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself ba people for his own possession who are zealous cfor good works.
15 Declare these things; dexhort and erebuke with all authority. fLet no one disregard you.
Be Ready for Every Good Work
1 Remind them to be gsubmissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be hready for every good work, 2 to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people. 3 For iwe ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, jslaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. 4 But kwhen the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, lnot because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the mwashing of nregeneration and orenewal of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he ppoured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that being justified qby his grace we might become rheirs according to the shope of eternal life. 8 tThe saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have ubelieved in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and vprofitable for people. 9 But wavoid foolish xcontroversies, ygenealogies, dissensions, and zquarrels about the law, for they are unprofitable and aworthless. 10 As for a person who bstirs up division, cafter warning him once and then twice, have nothing more to do with him, 11 knowing that such a person is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned.
Final Instructions and Greetings
12 When I send Artemas or dTychicus to you, edo your best to come to me at Nicopolis, for I have decided to spend the winter there. 13 Do your best to speed Zenas the lawyer and fApollos on their way; see that they lack nothing. 14 And let our people learn to gdevote themselves to good works, so as to help cases of urgent need, and not be hunfruitful.
15 All who are with me send greetings to you. Greet those who love us in the faith.
iGrace be with you all.
