Psalm 82

A psalm of Asaph.

³¹ “Your Majesty looked, and there before you stood a large statue—an enormous, dazzling statue,^(A) awesome^(B) in appearance. ³² The head of the statue was made of pure gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, ³³ its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of baked clay. ³⁴ While you were watching, a rock was cut out, but not by human hands.^(C) It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed^(D) them.^{(E) 35} Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were all broken to pieces and became like chaff on a threshing floor in the summer. The wind swept them away^(F) without leaving a trace. But the rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain^(G) and filled the whole earth.^(H)

³⁶ “This was the dream, and now we will interpret it to the king.^{(I) 37} Your Majesty, you are the king of kings.^(J) The God of heaven has given you dominion^(K) and power and might and glory; ³⁸ in your hands he has placed all mankind and the beasts of the field and the birds in the sky. Wherever they live, he has made you ruler over them all.^(L) You are that head of gold.

³⁹ “After you, another kingdom will arise, inferior to yours. Next, a third kingdom, one of bronze, will rule over the whole earth.^{(M) 40} Finally, there will be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron—for iron breaks and smashes everything—and as iron breaks things to pieces, so it will crush and break all the others.^{(N) 41} Just as you saw that the feet and toes were partly of baked clay and partly of iron, so this will be a divided kingdom; yet it will have some of the strength of iron in it, even as you saw iron mixed with clay. ⁴² As the toes were partly iron and partly clay, so this kingdom will be partly strong and partly brittle. ⁴³ And just as you saw the iron mixed with baked clay, so the people will be a mixture and will not remain united, any more than iron mixes with clay.

⁴⁴ “In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush^(O) all those kingdoms^(P) and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever.^{(Q) 45} This is the meaning of the vision of the rock^(R) cut out of a mountain, but not by human hands^(S)—a rock that broke the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold to pieces.

“The great God has shown the king what will take place in the future.^(T) The dream is true^(U) and its interpretation is trustworthy.”

⁴⁶ Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell prostrate^(V) before Daniel and paid him honor and ordered that an offering^(W) and incense be presented to him. ⁴⁷ The king said to Daniel, “Surely your God is the God of gods^(X) and the Lord of kings^(Y) and a revealer of mysteries,^(Z) for you were able to reveal this mystery.^(AA)”

⁴⁸ Then the king placed Daniel in a high^(AB) position and lavished many gifts on him. He made him ruler over the entire province of Babylon and placed him in charge of all its wise men.^{(AC) 49} Moreover, at Daniel’s request the king appointed Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego administrators over the province of Babylon,^(AD) while Daniel himself remained at the royal court.^(AE)

Warnings Against Denying the Son

¹⁸ Dear children, this is the last hour;^(A) and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming,^(B) even now many antichrists have come.^(C) This is how we know it is the last hour. ¹⁹ They went out from us,^(D) but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.^(E)

²⁰ But you have an anointing^(F) from the Holy One,^(G) and all of you know the truth.^{[a](H) 21} I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it^(I) and because no lie comes from the truth. ²² Who is the liar? It is whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a person is the antichrist—denying the Father and the Son.^{(J) 23} No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.^(K)

²⁴ As for you, see that what you have heard from the beginning^(L) remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father.^{(M) 25} And this is what he promised us—eternal life.^(N)

²⁶ I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray.^{(O) 27} As for you, the anointing^(P) you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things^(Q) and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit—just as it has taught you, remain in him.^(R)

God’s Children and Sin

²⁸ And now, dear children,^(S) continue in him, so that when he appears^(T) we may be confident^(U) and unashamed before him at his coming.^(V)

²⁹ If you know that he is righteous,^(W) you know that everyone who does what is right has been born of him.^(X)

John the Baptist Prepares the Way^(A)(B)

3 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar—when Pontius Pilate^(C) was governor of Judea, Herod^(D) tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and Traconitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene— ² during the high-priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas,^(E) the word of God came to John^(F) son of Zechariah^(G) in the wilderness. ³ He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.^{(H) 4} As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet:

⁷ John said to the crowds coming out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers!^(J) Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?^{(K) 8} Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’^(L) For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. ⁹ The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”^(M)

¹⁰ “What should we do then?”^(N) the crowd asked.

¹¹ John answered, “Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.”^(O)

¹² Even tax collectors came to be baptized.^(P) “Teacher,” they asked, “what should we do?”

¹³ “Don’t collect any more than you are required to,”^(Q) he told them.

¹⁴ Then some soldiers asked him, “And what should we do?”

He replied, “Don’t extort money and don’t accuse people falsely^(R)—be content with your pay.”