Zechariah 8

New King James Version

Jerusalem, Holy City of the Future

8 Again the word of the Lord of hosts came, saying, ²“Thus says the Lord of hosts:

^(A)‘I am ^[a]zealous for Zion with great ^[b]zeal;
With great ^[c]fervor I am zealous for her.’

³“Thus says the Lord:

^(B)‘I will return to Zion,
And ^(C)dwell in the midst of Jerusalem.
Jerusalem ^(D)shall be called the City of Truth,
^(E)The Mountain of the Lord of hosts,
^(F)The Holy Mountain.’

⁴“Thus says the Lord of hosts:

^(G)‘Old men and old women shall again sit
In the streets of Jerusalem,
Each one with his staff in his hand
Because of ^[d]great age.
⁵The streets of the city
Shall be ^(H)full of boys and girls
Playing in its streets.’

⁶“Thus says the Lord of hosts:

‘If it is ^[e]marvelous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in these days,
^(I)Will it also be marvelous in My eyes?’
Says the Lord of hosts.

⁷“Thus says the Lord of hosts:

‘Behold, ^(J)I will save My people from the land of the ^[f]east
And from the land of the ^[g]west;
⁸I will ^(K)bring them back,
And they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem.
^(L)They shall be My people
And I will be their God,
^(M)In truth and righteousness.’

⁹“Thus says the Lord of hosts:

^(N)‘Let your hands be strong,
You who have been hearing in these days
These words by the mouth of ^(O)the prophets,
Who spoke in ^(P)the day the foundation was laid
For the house of the Lord of hosts,
That the temple might be built.
¹⁰For before these days
There were no ^(Q)wages for man nor any hire for beast;
There was no peace from the enemy for whoever went out or came in;
For I set all men, everyone, against his neighbor.

¹¹^(R)But now I will not treat the remnant of this people as in the former days,’ says the Lord of hosts.

¹²‘For^(S) the ^[h]seed shall be prosperous,
The vine shall give its fruit,
^(T)The ground shall give her increase,
And ^(U)the heavens shall give their dew—
I will cause the remnant of this people
To possess all these.
¹³And it shall come to pass
That just as you were ^(V)a curse among the nations,
O house of Judah and house of Israel,
So I will save you, and ^(W)you shall be a blessing.
Do not fear,
Let your hands be strong.’

¹⁴“For thus says the Lord of hosts:

^(X)‘Just as I determined to ^[i]punish you
When your fathers provoked Me to wrath,’
Says the Lord of hosts,
^(Y)‘And I would not relent,
¹⁵So again in these days
I am determined to do good
To Jerusalem and to the house of Judah.
Do not fear.
¹⁶These are the things you shall ^(Z)do:
^(AA)Speak each man the truth to his neighbor;
Give judgment in your gates for truth, justice, and peace;
¹⁷^(AB)Let none of you think evil in ^[j]your heart against your neighbor;
And do not love a false oath.
For all these are things that I hate,’
Says the Lord.”

¹⁸Then the word of the Lord of hosts came to me, saying, ¹⁹“Thus says the Lord of hosts:

^(AC)‘The fast of the fourth month,
^(AD)The fast of the fifth,
^(AE)The fast of the seventh,
^(AF)And the fast of the tenth,
Shall be ^(AG)joy and gladness and cheerful feasts
For the house of Judah.
^(AH)Therefore love truth and peace.’

²⁰“Thus says the Lord of hosts:

‘Peoples shall yet come,
Inhabitants of many cities;
²¹The inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying,
^(AI)“Let us continue to go and pray before the Lord,
And seek the Lord of hosts.
I myself will go also.”
²²Yes, ^(AJ)many peoples and strong nations
Shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem,
And to pray before the Lord.’

²³“Thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘In those days ten men ^(AK)from every language of the nations shall ^(AL)grasp the ^[k]sleeve of a Jewish man, saying, “Let us go with you, for we have heard ^(AM)that God is with you.” ’ ”

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Footnotes

Zechariah 8:2 Or jealous
Zechariah 8:2 Or jealousy
Zechariah 8:2 Lit. heat or rage
Zechariah 8:4 Lit. many days
Zechariah 8:6 Or wonderful
Zechariah 8:7 Lit. rising sun
Zechariah 8:7 Lit. setting sun
Zechariah 8:12 Lit. seed of peace
Zechariah 8:14 Lit. bring calamity to you
Zechariah 8:17 Lit. his
Zechariah 8:23 Lit. wing, corner of a garment

Revelation 16

New King James Version

The Seven Bowls

16 Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying ^(A)to the seven angels, “Go and pour out the ^[a]bowls ^(B)of the wrath of God on the earth.”

First Bowl: Loathsome Sores

²So the first went and poured out his bowl ^(C)upon the earth, and a ^[b]foul and ^(D)loathsome sore came upon the men ^(E)who had the mark of the beast and those ^(F)who worshiped his image.

Second Bowl: The Sea Turns to Blood

³Then the second angel poured out his bowl ^(G)on the sea, and ^(H)it became blood as of a dead man; ^(I)and every living creature in the sea died.

Third Bowl: The Waters Turn to Blood

⁴Then the third angel poured out his bowl ^(J)on the rivers and springs of water, ^(K)and they became blood. ⁵And I heard the angel of the waters saying:

^(L)“You are righteous, ^[c]O Lord,
The One ^(M)who is and who ^[d]was and who is to be,
Because You have judged these things.
⁶For ^(N)they have shed the blood ^(O)of saints and prophets,
^(P)And You have given them blood to drink.
^[e]For it is their just due.”

⁷And I heard ^[f]another from the altar saying, “Even so, ^(Q)Lord God Almighty, ^(R)true and righteous are Your judgments.”

Fourth Bowl: Men Are Scorched

⁸Then the fourth angel poured out his bowl ^(S)on the sun, ^(T)and power was given to him to scorch men with fire. ⁹And men were scorched with great heat, and they ^(U)blasphemed the name of God who has power over these plagues; ^(V)and they did not repent ^(W)and give Him glory.

Fifth Bowl: Darkness and Pain

¹⁰Then the fifth angel poured out his bowl ^(X)on the throne of the beast, ^(Y)and his kingdom became full of darkness; ^(Z)and they gnawed their tongues because of the pain. ¹¹They blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and did not repent of their deeds.

Sixth Bowl: Euphrates Dried Up

¹²Then the sixth angel poured out his bowl ^(AA)on the great river Euphrates, ^(AB)and its water was dried up, ^(AC)so that the way of the kings from the east might be prepared. ¹³And I saw three unclean ^(AD)spirits like frogs coming out of the mouth of ^(AE)the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of ^(AF)the false prophet. ¹⁴For they are spirits of demons, ^(AG)performing signs, which go out to the kings ^[g]of the earth and of ^(AH)the whole world, to gather them to ^(AI)the battle of that great day of God Almighty.

¹⁵^(AJ)“Behold, I am coming as a thief. Blessed is he who watches, and keeps his garments, ^(AK)lest he walk naked and they see his shame.”

¹⁶^(AL)And they gathered them together to the place called in Hebrew, ^[h]Armageddon.

Seventh Bowl: The Earth Utterly Shaken

¹⁷Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, ^(AM)“It is done!” ¹⁸And ^(AN)there were noises and thunderings and lightnings; ^(AO)and there was a great earthquake, such a mighty and great earthquake ^(AP)as had not occurred since men were on the earth. ¹⁹Now ^(AQ)the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. And ^(AR)great Babylon ^(AS)was remembered before God, ^(AT)to give her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of His wrath. ²⁰Then ^(AU)every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. ²¹And great hail from heaven fell upon men, each hailstone about the weight of a talent. Men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, since that plague was exceedingly great.

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Footnotes

Revelation 16:1 NU, M seven bowls
Revelation 16:2 severe and malignant, lit. bad and evil
Revelation 16:5 NU, M omit O Lord
Revelation 16:5 NU, M was, the Holy One
Revelation 16:6 NU, M omit For
Revelation 16:7 NU, M omit another from
Revelation 16:14 NU, M omit of the earth and
Revelation 16:16 Lit. Mount Megiddo; M Megiddo

Psalm 144

New King James Version

A Song to the Lord Who Preserves and Prospers His People

A Psalm of David.

144 Blessed be the Lord my Rock,
^(A)Who trains my hands for war,
And my fingers for battle—
²My lovingkindness and my fortress,
My high tower and my deliverer,
My shield and the One in whom I take refuge,
Who subdues ^[a]my people under me.

³^(B)Lord, what is man, that You take knowledge of him?
Or the son of man, that You are mindful of him?
⁴^(C)Man is like a breath;
^(D)His days are like a passing shadow.

⁵^(E)Bow down Your heavens, O Lord, and come down;
^(F)Touch the mountains, and they shall smoke.
⁶^(G)Flash forth lightning and scatter them;
Shoot out Your arrows and destroy them.
⁷Stretch out Your hand from above;
Rescue me and deliver me out of great waters,
From the hand of foreigners,
⁸Whose mouth ^(H)speaks ^[b]lying words,
And whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood.

⁹I will ^(I)sing a new song to You, O God;
On a harp of ten strings I will sing praises to You,
¹⁰The One who gives ^[c]salvation to kings,
^(J)Who delivers David His servant
From the deadly sword.

¹¹Rescue me and deliver me from the hand of foreigners,
Whose mouth speaks lying words,
And whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood—
¹²That our sons may be ^(K)as plants grown up in their youth;
That our daughters may be as ^[d]pillars,
Sculptured in palace style;
¹³That our barns may be full,
Supplying all kinds of produce;
That our sheep may bring forth thousands
And ten thousands in our fields;
¹⁴That our oxen may be well laden;
That there be no ^[e]breaking in or going out;
That there be no outcry in our streets.
¹⁵^(L)Happy are the people who are in such a state;
Happy are the people whose God is the Lord!

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Footnotes

Psalm 144:2 So with MT, LXX, Vg.; Syr., Tg. the peoples (cf. 18:47)
Psalm 144:8 empty or worthless
Psalm 144:10 deliverance
Psalm 144:12 corner pillars
Psalm 144:14 Lit. breach

Proverbs 30:29-31

New King James Version

²⁹There are three things which are majestic in pace,
Yes, four which are stately in walk:
³⁰A lion, which is mighty among beasts
And does not turn away from any;
³¹A ^[a]greyhound,
A male goat also,
And ^[b]a king whose troops are with him.