The Reign of the Lord’s Anointed.

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. ² 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. ³ Then the Lord will go forth and ^(E)fight against those nations, as ^[a]when He fights on a day of battle. ⁴ 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. ⁵ 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!

⁶ On that day there will be ^(J)no light; the ^[d]luminaries will die out. ⁷ 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.

⁸ 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

⁹ 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.

¹⁰ All the land will change into a plain from ^(Q)Geba to ^(R)Rimmon south of Jerusalem; but ^[e]Jerusalem will ^(S)rise and ^(T)remain on its site from ^(U)Benjamin’s Gate as far as the place of the First Gate to the ^(V)Corner Gate, and from the ^(W)Tower of Hananel to the king’s wine presses. ¹¹ People will live in it, and there will ^(X)no longer be a curse, for Jerusalem will ^(Y)live in security.

¹² Now this will be the plague with which the Lord will strike all the peoples who have gone to war against Jerusalem; their flesh will ^(Z)rot while they stand on their feet, and their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongue will rot in their mouth. ¹³ And it will come about on that day that a great panic from the Lord will ^[f]fall on them; and they will ^(AA)seize one another’s hand, and the hand of one will ^[g]be raised against the hand of another. ^14 (AB)Judah also will fight at Jerusalem; and the ^(AC)wealth of all the surrounding nations will be gathered, gold, silver, and garments in great abundance. ¹⁵ And just like this ^(AD)plague, there will be a plague on the horse, the mule, the camel, the donkey, and all the cattle that will be in those camps.

The Coming of Christ

¹¹ And I saw ^(A)heaven opened, and behold, a ^(B)white horse, and He who sat on it is called ^(C)Faithful and True, and in ^(D)righteousness He judges and wages war. ¹² His ^(E)eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many ^(F)crowns; and He has a ^(G)name written on Him which no one knows except Himself. ¹³ He is clothed with a ^(H)robe dipped in blood, and His name is called ^(I)The Word of God. ¹⁴ And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in ^(J)fine linen, ^(K)white and clean, were following Him on white horses. ^15 (L)From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that ^(M)with it He may strike down the nations, and He will ^[a](N)rule them with a rod of iron; and ^(O)He treads the ^[b]wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty. ¹⁶ And on His robe and on His thigh He has ^(P)a name written: “^(Q)KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”

¹⁷ Then I saw ^[c]an angel standing in the sun, and he cried out with a loud voice, saying to ^(R)all the birds that fly in ^(S)midheaven, “^(T)Come, assemble for the great feast of God, ¹⁸ so that you may ^(U)eat the flesh of kings and the flesh of commanders, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them, and the flesh of all people, ^(V)both free and slaves, and ^(W)small and great.”

¹⁹ And I saw ^(X)the beast and ^(Y)the kings of the earth and their armies, assembled to make war against Him who ^(Z)sat on the horse, and against His army.

Doom of the Beast and False Prophet

²⁰ And the beast was seized, and with him the ^(AA)false prophet who ^(AB)performed the signs ^[d](AC)in his presence, by which he ^(AD)deceived those who had received the ^(AE)mark of the beast and those who ^(AF)worshiped his image; these two were thrown alive into the ^(AG)lake of ^(AH)fire, which burns with ^[e]brimstone. ²¹ And the rest were killed with the sword which ^(AI)came from the mouth of Him who ^(AJ)sat on the horse, and ^(AK)all the birds were filled with their flesh.

⁴ As a result, we ourselves ^(A)speak proudly of you among ^(B)the churches of God for your ^[a]perseverance and faith ^[b](C)in the midst of all your persecutions and afflictions which you endure. ⁵ This is ^[c]a ^(D)plain indication of God’s righteous judgment so that you will be ^(E)considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you indeed are suffering. ^6 [d]For after all ^(F)it is only right ^[e]for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, ⁷ and to give relief to you who are afflicted, along with us, ^[f](G)when the Lord Jesus will be revealed ^(H)from heaven ^(I)with ^[g]His mighty angels ^8 (J)in flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who ^(K)do not know God, and to those who ^(L)do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. ⁹ These people will pay the penalty of ^(M)eternal destruction, ^(N)away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, ¹⁰ when He comes to be ^(O)glorified among His ^[h]saints on that ^(P)day, and to be marveled at among all who have believed—because our ^(Q)testimony to you was believed. ¹¹ To this end also we ^(R)pray for you always, that our God will ^(S)consider you worthy of your ^(T)calling, and fulfill every desire for ^(U)goodness and the ^(V)work of faith with power, ¹² so that the ^(W)name of our Lord Jesus will be glorified in you, and you in Him, in accordance with the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Man of Lawlessness

2 Now we ask you, ^(A)brothers and sisters, regarding the ^[a](B)coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our ^(C)gathering together to Him, ² that you not be quickly shaken from your ^[b]composure or be disturbed either by a ^(D)spirit, or a ^[c](E)message, or a ^(F)letter as if from us, to the effect that ^(G)the day of the Lord ^(H)has come. ^3 (I)No one is to deceive you in any way! For it will not come unless the ^[d](J)apostasy comes first, and the ^(K)man of lawlessness is revealed, the ^(L)son of destruction, ⁴ who opposes and exalts himself above ^[e](M)every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, ^(N)displaying himself as being God. ⁵ Do you not remember that ^(O)while I was still with you, I was telling you these things? ⁶ And you know ^(P)what restrains him now, so that he will be revealed in his time. ⁷ For ^(Q)the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only ^[f](R)He who now restrains will do so until ^[g]He is ^[h]removed. ⁸ Then that lawless one ^(S)will be revealed, whom the Lord will eliminate ^(T)with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the ^(U)appearance of His ^[i]coming; ⁹ that is, the one whose ^[j]coming is in accord with the activity of ^(V)Satan, with all power and false ^[k](W)signs and wonders, ¹⁰ and with ^[l]all the deception of wickedness for ^(X)those who perish, because they did not accept the love of ^(Y)the truth so as to be saved. ¹¹ For this reason ^(Z)God ^[m]will send upon them ^[n]a ^(AA)deluding influence so that they will believe ^[o]what is false, ¹² in order that they all may be ^[p]judged who ^(AB)did not believe the truth, but ^[q](AC)took pleasure in wickedness.

The Judgment

³¹ “But when ^(A)the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then ^(B)He will sit on His glorious throne. ³² And all the nations will be ^(C)gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, ^(D)just as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; ³³ and He will put the sheep ^(E)on His right, but the goats ^(F)on the left.

³⁴ “Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, ^(G)inherit the kingdom prepared for you ^(H)from the foundation of the world. ³⁵ For ^(I)I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; ^(J)I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; ^36 (K)naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you ^(L)visited Me; ^(M)I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ ³⁷ Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? ³⁸ And when did we see You as a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? ³⁹ And when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ ⁴⁰ And ^(N)the King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, ^(O)to the extent that you did it for one of the least of these brothers or sisters of Mine, you did it for Me.’

⁴¹ “Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘^(P)Depart from Me, you accursed people, into the ^(Q)eternal fire which has been prepared for ^(R)the devil and his angels; ⁴² for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; ⁴³ I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’ ⁴⁴ Then they themselves also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or as a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not ^[a]take care of You?’ ⁴⁵ Then He will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it for one of the least of these, you did not do it for Me, either.’ ⁴⁶ These will go away into ^(S)eternal punishment, but the righteous into ^(T)eternal life.”