Old/New Testament
God’s Indictment of His People
6 Hear now what the Lord is saying,
“Arise, plead your case [a]before the mountains,
And let the hills hear your voice.
2 Listen, you mountains, to the indictment by the Lord,
And you enduring (A)foundations of the earth,
Because the (B)Lord has a case against His people;
And He will dispute with Israel.
3 (C)My people, (D)what have I done to you,
And (E)how have I wearied you? Answer Me.
4 Indeed, I (F)brought you up from the land of Egypt,
I (G)redeemed you from the house of slavery,
And I sent before you (H)Moses, Aaron, and (I)Miriam.
5 My people, remember now
What (J)Balak king of Moab planned
And what Balaam son of Beor answered him,
And what happened from (K)Shittim to (L)Gilgal,
[b]So that you might know the (M)righteous acts of the Lord.”
What God Requires of Mankind
6 (N)With what shall I come to the Lord
And bow myself before the God on high?
Shall I come to Him with (O)burnt offerings,
With yearling calves?
7 Does the Lord take pleasure in (P)thousands of rams,
In ten thousand rivers of [c]oil?
Shall I give Him my (Q)firstborn for my wrongdoings,
The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
8 He has (R)told you, mortal one, what is good;
And (S)what does the Lord require of you
But to (T)do justice, to (U)love [d]kindness,
And to walk [e](V)humbly with your God?
9 The voice of the Lord will call to the city—
And it is sound wisdom to fear Your name:
“[f]Hear, you tribe. Who has designated [g]its time?
10 Is there still a person in the wicked house,
Along with treasures of (W)wickedness,
And a [h](X)short measure that is cursed?
11 Can I justify dishonest (Y)balances,
And a bag of fraudulent weights?
12 For the rich people of [i]the city are full of (Z)violence,
Her residents speak (AA)lies,
And their (AB)tongue is deceitful in their mouth.
13 So also I will make you (AC)sick, striking you down,
(AD)Making you desolate because of your sins.
14 You will eat, but you will (AE)not be satisfied,
And your filth will be in your midst.
You will try to remove valuables for safekeeping,
But you will (AF)not save it all,
And what you do save I will turn over to the sword.
15 You will sow but you will (AG)not harvest.
You will tread the olive press but will not anoint yourself with oil;
And tread out sweet wine, but you will (AH)not drink any wine.
16 The statutes of (AI)Omri
And every work of the house of (AJ)Ahab are maintained,
And you (AK)walk by their plans.
Therefore I will give you up for (AL)destruction,
And [j]your inhabitants for [k](AM)derision,
And you will suffer the (AN)taunting of My people.”
The Prophet Acknowledges Injustice
7 Woe to me! For I am
Like harvests of summer fruit, like gleanings of (AO)grapes.
There is not a cluster of grapes left to eat,
Nor an (AP)early fig, which [l]I crave.
2 The [m]godly person has (AQ)perished from the land,
And there is no upright person among mankind.
All of them lie in wait for (AR)bloodshed;
Each of them hunts the other with a (AS)net.
3 As for evil, both hands do it (AT)well.
The leader asks for a (AU)bribe, also the judge,
And the great one speaks the capricious desire of his soul;
So they plot it together.
4 The best of them is like a (AV)thorn bush,
The most upright like a (AW)thorn hedge.
The day [n]when you post your watchmen,
Your (AX)punishment is coming.
Then their (AY)confusion will occur.
5 Do not (AZ)trust in a neighbor;
Do not have confidence in a close friend.
Guard [o]your lips
From her who lies [p]in your arms.
6 For (BA)son disavows father,
Daughter rises up against her mother,
Daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;
(BB)A person’s enemies are the people of his own household.
God Is the Source of Salvation and Light
7 But as for me, I will (BC)be on the watch for the Lord;
I will (BD)wait for the God of my salvation.
My (BE)God will hear me.
8 (BF)Do not rejoice over me, (BG)enemy of mine.
Though I fall I will (BH)rise;
Though I live in darkness, the Lord is a (BI)light for me.
9 I will endure the rage of the Lord
Because I have sinned against Him,
Until He (BJ)pleads my case and executes justice for me.
He will bring me out to the (BK)light,
And I will look at His [q](BL)righteousness.
10 Then my enemy will see,
And shame will cover her who (BM)said to me,
“Where is the Lord your God?”
My eyes will look at her;
[r]At that time she will [s]be (BN)trampled down
Like mud of the streets.
11 It will be a day for (BO)building your walls.
On that day your boundary will be extended.
12 It will be a day when [t]they will (BP)come to you
From Assyria and the cities of Egypt,
From Egypt even to the Euphrates River,
Even from sea to sea and mountain to mountain.
13 And the earth will become a (BQ)wasteland because of her inhabitants,
On account of the (BR)fruit of their deeds.
14 (BS)Shepherd Your people with Your (BT)scepter,
The flock of Your [u]possession
Which lives by itself in the woodland,
In the midst of [v]a fruitful field.
Let them feed in (BU)Bashan and Gilead
(BV)As in the days of old.
15 “As in the days when you went out from the land of Egypt,
I will show [w](BW)you miracles.”
16 Nations (BX)will see and be ashamed
Of all their might.
They will (BY)put their hand on their mouth,
Their ears will be deaf.
17 They will (BZ)lick up dust like a snake,
Like [x](CA)reptiles of the earth.
They will come (CB)trembling out of their [y]fortresses;
To the Lord our God they will come in (CC)trepidation,
And they will be afraid of You.
18 Who is a God like You, who (CD)pardons wrongdoing
And passes over a rebellious act of the (CE)remnant of His [z]possession?
He does not (CF)retain His anger forever,
Because He (CG)delights in mercy.
19 He will again take pity on us;
(CH)He will trample on our wrongdoings.
Yes, You will (CI)cast all [aa]their sins
Into the depths of the sea.
20 You will give [ab](CJ)truth to Jacob
And favor to Abraham,
Which You (CK)swore to our forefathers
From the days of old.
The Beast from the Sea
13 And the dragon stood on the sand of the [a]seashore.
Then I saw a (A)beast coming up out of the sea, having (B)ten horns and (C)seven heads, and on his horns were (D)ten crowns, and on his heads were (E)blasphemous names. 2 And the beast that I saw was (F)like a leopard, and his feet were like those of (G)a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of (H)a lion. And the (I)dragon gave him his power and his (J)throne, and great authority. 3 I saw one of his heads as if it had been [b]fatally wounded, and his (K)fatal wound was healed. And the whole earth (L)was amazed and followed after the beast; 4 they worshiped the (M)dragon because he (N)gave his authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, “(O)Who is like the beast, and who is able to wage war with him?” 5 A mouth was given to him (P)speaking [c]arrogant words and blasphemies, and authority to act for (Q)forty-two months was given to him. 6 And he opened his mouth in blasphemies against God, to blaspheme His name and His tabernacle, that is, (R)those who dwell in heaven.
7 It was also given to him to (S)make war with the [d]saints and to overcome them, and authority was given to him over (T)every tribe, people, language, and nation. 8 All who (U)live on the earth will worship him, everyone (V)whose name has not been [e]written (W)since the foundation of the world in the (X)book of life of (Y)the Lamb who has been slaughtered. 9 (Z)If anyone has an ear, let him hear. 10 (AA)If anyone [f]is destined for captivity, to captivity he goes; (AB)if anyone kills with the sword, with the sword he must be killed. Here is (AC)the [g]perseverance and the faith of the [h]saints.
The Beast from the Earth
11 Then (AD)I saw another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had (AE)two horns like a lamb, and he spoke as a (AF)dragon. 12 He (AG)exercises all the authority of the first beast [i](AH)in his presence. And he makes (AI)the earth and those who live on it (AJ)worship the first beast, whose (AK)fatal wound was healed. 13 He (AL)performs great signs, so that he even makes (AM)fire come down out of the sky to the earth in the presence of people. 14 And he (AN)deceives (AO)those who live on the earth because of (AP)the signs which it was given him to perform [j](AQ)in the presence of the beast, telling those who live on the earth to make an image to the beast who *had the (AR)wound of the sword and has come to life. 15 And it was given to him to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast would even [k]speak and cause (AS)all who do not (AT)worship the image of the beast to be killed. 16 And he causes all, (AU)the small and the great, the rich and the poor, and the free and the slaves, [l]to be given a (AV)mark on their right hands or on their foreheads, 17 and he decrees that no one will be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the (AW)mark, either (AX)the name of the beast or (AY)the number of his name. 18 (AZ)Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for the number is that (BA)of a [m]man; and his number is [n]six hundred and sixty-six.
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