War against Jerusalem

Now it came about in the days of (A)Ahaz, the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that (B)Rezin the king of Aram and (C)Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up to Jerusalem to wage war against it, but (D)could not [a]conquer it. When it was reported to the (E)house of David, saying, “The Arameans (F)have taken a stand by (G)Ephraim,” his heart and the hearts of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake from the wind.

Then the Lord said to Isaiah, “Go out now to meet Ahaz, you and your son [b]Shear-jashub, at the end of the (H)conduit of the upper pool, on the road to the [c]fuller’s field, and say to him, ‘Take care and be (I)calm, have no (J)fear and (K)do not be fainthearted because of these two stumps of smoldering (L)logs, on account of the fierce anger of Rezin and Aram and the (M)son of Remaliah. Because (N)Aram, with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah, has planned evil against you, saying, “Let’s go up against Judah and [d]terrorize it, and take it for ourselves by assault and set up the son of Tabeel as king in the midst of it,” this is what the Lord [e]God says: “(O)It shall not stand nor shall it come to pass. For the head of Aram is (P)Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin (now within another sixty-five years Ephraim will be broken to pieces, so that it is no longer a people), and the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah. (Q)If you will not believe, you certainly shall not [f]last.”’”

The Child Immanuel

10 Then the Lord spoke again to Ahaz, saying, 11 “Ask for a (R)sign for yourself from the Lord your God; [g]make it deep as Sheol or high as [h]heaven.” 12 But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, nor will I put the Lord to the test!” 13 Then he said, “Listen now, (S)house of David! Is it too trivial a thing for you to [i]try the patience of men, that you will [j](T)try the patience of (U)my God as well? 14 Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, (V)the [k]virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and she will name Him [l](W)Immanuel. 15 He will eat [m](X)curds and honey [n]at the time He knows enough to refuse evil and choose good. 16 (Y)For before the boy knows enough to refuse evil and choose good, (Z)the land whose two kings you dread will be abandoned.

Trials to Come for Judah

17 The Lord will bring on you, on your people, and on your father’s house such days as have not come since the day that (AA)Ephraim separated from Judah—the days of the (AB)king of Assyria.”

18 On that day the Lord will (AC)whistle for the fly that is in the [o](AD)remotest part of the canals of Egypt and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria. 19 They will all come and settle on the steep [p]ravines, on the (AE)ledges of the cliffs, (AF)on all the thorn bushes, and on all the watering places.

20 On that day the Lord will (AG)shave with a (AH)razor, (AI)hired from regions beyond (AJ)the Euphrates River (that is, with the king of Assyria), the head and the hair of the legs; and it will also remove the beard.

21 Now on that day a person may keep alive only a (AK)heifer and a pair of sheep; 22 and because of the abundance of the milk produced he will eat [q]curds, for everyone who is left within the land will eat [r](AL)curds and honey.

23 And it will come about on that day, (AM)that every place where there used to be a thousand vines, valued at a thousand shekels of silver, will become (AN)briars and thorns. 24 People will come there with bows and arrows, because all the land will be briars and thorns. 25 As for all the hills which used to be cultivated with the plow, you will not go there for fear of briars and thorns; but they will become a place for [s](AO)pasturing oxen and for sheep to trample.

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 7:1 Lit fight against
  2. Isaiah 7:3 I.e., a remnant shall return
  3. Isaiah 7:3 I.e., launderer’s
  4. Isaiah 7:6 Or demolish
  5. Isaiah 7:7 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord
  6. Isaiah 7:9 Or endure
  7. Isaiah 7:11 As in most ancient versions; MT make the request deep or high
  8. Isaiah 7:11 Lit heights
  9. Isaiah 7:13 Lit make men weary
  10. Isaiah 7:13 Lit make my God weary
  11. Isaiah 7:14 As in LXX; MT young unmarried woman
  12. Isaiah 7:14 I.e., God is with us
  13. Isaiah 7:15 Possibly butter
  14. Isaiah 7:15 Lit with respect to his knowing
  15. Isaiah 7:18 Or mouth of the rivers; i.e., the Nile Delta
  16. Isaiah 7:19 Or wadis
  17. Isaiah 7:22 Possibly butter
  18. Isaiah 7:22 Possibly butter
  19. Isaiah 7:25 Lit pastureland of

(A)Proclaim this among the nations:
(B)Prepare for holy war; (C)stir up the warriors!
Have all the soldiers come forward, have them come up!
10 (D)Beat your plowshares into swords,
And your pruning hooks into spears;
(E)Let the weak man say, “I am a warrior.”
11 [a](F)Hurry and come, all you surrounding nations,
And gather yourselves there.
Bring down, Lord, Your (G)warriors.
12 Let the nations be awakened
And come up to the (H)Valley of [b]Jehoshaphat,
For there I will sit to (I)judge
All the surrounding nations.
13 (J)Put in the sickle, for the (K)harvest is ripe.
Come, (L)tread the grapes, for the (M)wine press is full;
The vats overflow, for their (N)wickedness is great.
14 (O)Multitudes, multitudes in the (P)valley of [c]decision!
For the (Q)day of the Lord is near in the valley of [d]decision.
15 The (R)sun and moon have become dark,
And the stars have lost their brightness.
16 The Lord (S)roars from Zion
And (T)utters His voice from Jerusalem,
And the (U)heavens and the earth quake.
But the Lord is a (V)refuge for His people,
And a (W)stronghold for the sons of Israel.
17 Then you will (X)know that I am the Lord your God,
Dwelling on Zion, My (Y)holy mountain.
So Jerusalem will be (Z)holy,
And (AA)strangers will no longer pass through it.

Judah Will Be Blessed

18 And on that day
The (AB)mountains will drip with [e]sweet wine,
And the hills will (AC)flow with milk,
And all the (AD)brooks of Judah will flow with water;
And a (AE)spring will go out from the house of the Lord
And water the Valley of [f]Shittim.
19 Egypt will become a wasteland,
And Edom will become a desolate wilderness,
Because of the (AF)violence [g]done to the sons of Judah,
In whose land they have shed innocent blood.
20 But Judah will be (AG)inhabited forever,
And Jerusalem for all generations.
21 And I will (AH)avenge their blood which I have not avenged,
For the Lord dwells in Zion.

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Footnotes

  1. Joel 3:11 Or Come help
  2. Joel 3:12 I.e., YHWH judges
  3. Joel 3:14 I.e., God’s verdict
  4. Joel 3:14 I.e., God’s verdict
  5. Joel 3:18 Lit freshly pressed-out grape juice
  6. Joel 3:18 Or acacias
  7. Joel 3:19 Lit of the sons

God Will Battle Jerusalem’s Enemies

14 Behold, a (A)day is coming for the Lord when (B)the spoils taken from you will be divided among you. For I will (C)gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city will be taken, the (D)houses plundered, the women raped, and half of the city exiled, but the rest of the people will not be eliminated from the city. Then the Lord will go forth and (E)fight against those nations, as [a]when He fights on a day of battle. On that day His feet will (F)stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives will be (G)split [b]in its middle from east to west forming a very large valley. Half of the mountain will move toward the north, and the other half toward the south. And you will flee by the valley of My mountains, for the valley of the mountains will reach to Azel; yes, you will flee just as you fled from the (H)earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. (I)Then the Lord, my God, will come, and all the holy ones with [c]Him!

On that day there will be (J)no light; the [d]luminaries will die out. For it will be (K)a unique day which is (L)known to the Lord, neither day nor night, but it will come about that at the (M)time of evening there will be light.

And on that day (N)living waters will flow out of Jerusalem, half of them toward the eastern sea and the other half toward the western sea; it will be in summer as well as in winter.

God Will Be King over All

And the Lord will be (O)King over all the earth; on that day the Lord will be the only (P)one, and His name the only one.

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Footnotes

  1. Zechariah 14:3 Lit a day of His fighting
  2. Zechariah 14:4 Lit from
  3. Zechariah 14:5 As in many mss and ancient versions; MT You
  4. Zechariah 14:6 Lit glorious ones will congeal

Perilous Times

15 “Therefore when you see the (A)abomination of desolation which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in (B)the holy place—[a](C)let the [b]reader understand— 16 then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains. 17 [c]Whoever is on (D)the [d]housetop must not go down to get things out of his house. 18 And [e]whoever is in the field must not turn back to get his cloak. 19 But (E)woe to those women who are pregnant, and to those who are nursing babies in those days! 20 Moreover, pray that [f]when you flee, it will not be in the winter, or on a Sabbath. 21 For then there will be a (F)great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will again. 22 And if those days had not been cut short, no [g]life would have been saved; but for (G)the sake of the [h]elect those days will be cut short. 23 (H)Then if anyone says to you, ‘Behold, here is the [i]Christ,’ or ‘He is over here,’ do not believe him. 24 For false christs and (I)false prophets will arise and will provide great [j](J)signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even (K)the [k]elect. 25 Behold, I have told you in advance. 26 So if they say to you, ‘Behold, He is in the wilderness,’ do not go out; or, ‘Behold, He is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe them. 27 (L)For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes as far as the west, so will the (M)coming of the (N)Son of Man [l]be. 28 (O)Wherever the corpse is, there the [m]vultures will gather.

The Glorious Return

29 “But immediately after the (P)tribulation of those days (Q)the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and (R)the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30 And then (S)the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see (T)the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. 31 And (U)He will send forth His angels with (V)a great trumpet blast, and they will gather together His [n](W)elect from (X)the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.

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Footnotes

  1. Matthew 24:15 Or the reader is to understand
  2. Matthew 24:15 I.e., the reader of Daniel
  3. Matthew 24:17 Lit The one who
  4. Matthew 24:17 Housetops were flat living areas
  5. Matthew 24:18 Lit the one who
  6. Matthew 24:20 Lit your flight will not be
  7. Matthew 24:22 Lit flesh
  8. Matthew 24:22 Or chosen ones
  9. Matthew 24:23 I.e., Messiah
  10. Matthew 24:24 I.e., confirming miracles
  11. Matthew 24:24 Or chosen ones
  12. Matthew 24:27 I.e., be visible everywhere
  13. Matthew 24:28 Or eagles
  14. Matthew 24:31 Or chosen ones

12 The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the (A)great river, the Euphrates; and (B)its water was dried up, so that (C)the way would be prepared for the kings (D)from the [a]east.

Har-Magedon (Armageddon)

13 And I saw coming out of the mouth of the (E)dragon, and out of the mouth of the (F)beast, and out of the mouth of the (G)false prophet, three (H)unclean spirits like (I)frogs; 14 for they are (J)spirits of demons, (K)performing signs, which go out to the kings of the (L)entire [b]world, to (M)gather them together for the war of the (N)great day of God, the Almighty. 15 (“Behold, (O)I am coming like a thief. (P)Blessed is the one who stays awake and keeps his clothes, (Q)so that he will not walk about naked and people will not see his shame.”) 16 And they (R)gathered them together to the place which (S)in Hebrew is called (T)Har-Magedon.

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Footnotes

  1. Revelation 16:12 Lit rising of the sun
  2. Revelation 16:14 Lit inhabited earth

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