Psalm 117

The Voice

Psalm 117

¹Praise the Eternal, all nations.
Raise your voices, all people.^[a]
²For His unfailing love is great, and it is intended for us,
and His faithfulness to His promises knows no end.
Praise the Eternal!

Notas al pie

117:1 Romans 15:11

Jeremiah 30:1-17

The Voice

The words of Jeremiah are often dark prophecies of destruction, for Judah willingly betrayed and disobeyed God. Clearly, a major aspect of his call is foreshadowing the coming judgment of God. But in the following oracles, Jeremiah delivers a strong message of hope to those in exile. The next three chapters are often called the “Book of Consolation.” Tucked in the middle of vivid declarations of God’s punishment of the unjust, these promises speak of hope and restoration. These, too, are part of the prophet’s message.

30 The word of the Eternal again came to Jeremiah.

Eternal One: ²Write in a book all the words I, the Eternal, the God of Israel, have said to you. ³Look! the days are coming when I will restore the fortunes of My people—both Israel and Judah. I will bring them home to the land I gave their ancestors, and they will again possess it.

⁴So says the Eternal in a message about Israel and Judah.

⁵Eternal One: A cry of fear is heard—
        it is the sound of panic, not of peace.
⁶    Ask and see for yourself:
        can a man give birth to a child?
    Then why do I see strong men clutching themselves,
        their hands on their abdomens as if they are in labor?
    Why has every face paled, looking sickly?
⁷    I will tell you why:
        for that great and awesome day is like no other.
    It will be a time of suffering for Jacob’s descendants;
        still they will be rescued from it.

⁸For on that day of deliverance, declares the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies, I will break Nebuchadnezzar’s yoke off their necks and tear off their shackles; no longer will foreigners force them into slavery. ⁹Instead, they will serve the Eternal their God, and I will raise up a descendant of David their king to rule over them.

¹⁰    So do not be afraid, O Jacob, My servant;
        do not be troubled, O Israel.
    For I, the Eternal One, promise to liberate you from that distant place,
        to bring your children home from where they are in exile.
    Jacob will return home to peace and quiet,
        and no one will make him afraid,
¹¹    Because I am with you, and I will deliver you.
        I will completely destroy all the nations where I have scattered you,
    But I will not destroy you completely.
        I will discipline you, but My discipline will be just.
    I will not let you go unpunished.

¹²    Your wound is incurable;
        your shattered pieces are beyond repair.
¹³    There is no one to plead your case—
        no healing for your injury,
        no relief for your affliction.
¹⁴    All of those allies you loved have forgotten about you;
        they care nothing about you.
    For I have struck you as an enemy would
        and punished you like the cruelest of foes.
    Why? Because your sins abound
        and your evil actions are abundant and brazen.
¹⁵    Why do you cry out over this wound,
        this pain that won’t go away?
    I have done these things to you because your sins abound
        and your wicked acts are abundant and brazen.
¹⁶    But all those who devour you will be devoured.
        Exile awaits each of your enemies.
    Those who plunder you will be turned into plunder,
        and all who prey upon you will be turned into prey.
¹⁷    For I will make you well again and heal your wounds
        I, the Eternal One, declare to you,
    Because they have called you an outcast:
        “Look, it is Zion, the one for whom no one cares.”

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Revelation 21:5-27

The Voice

⁵And the One who sat on the throne announced to His creation,

The One: See, I am making all things new. (turning to me) Write what you hear and see, for these words are faithful and true. ⁶It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will see to it that the thirsty drink freely from the fountain of the water of life. ⁷To the victors will go this inheritance: I will be their God, and they will be My children. ⁸It will not be so for the cowards, the faithless, the sacrilegious, the murderers, the sexually immoral, the sorcerers, the idolaters, and all those who deal in deception. They will inherit an eternity in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.

John sees an amazing sight. It is something no one had ever seen nor will ever see until that day arrives. Scene by blessed scene passes before the prophet. Finally he is transported to the end of history only to discover it is no end at all; it is a new beginning. The prophecies—every last one of them—are coming true. God’s plan will be accomplished on earth as it is in heaven when the new Jerusalem comes down and He lives among His people. All things will become new.

⁹And then one of the seven messengers in charge of the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues came over to me.

Heavenly Messenger: Come with me, and I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.

¹⁰He took me away in the Spirit and set me on top of a great, high mountain. As I waited for what I thought was a bride, he showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God. ¹¹It gleamed and shined with the glory of God; its radiance was like the most precious of jewels, like jasper, and it was as clear as crystal. ¹²It was surrounded with a wall, great and high. There were twelve gates. Assigned to each gate was a messenger, twelve in all. And on the gates were inscribed the names of the twelve tribes of Israel’s sons. ¹³On the east wall were three gates. On the north wall were three gates. On the south wall were three gates. On the west wall were three gates. ¹⁴And the city wall sat perfectly on twelve foundation stones, and on them were inscribed the names of the twelve emissaries^[a] of the Lamb.

¹⁵My guide held a golden measuring rod. With it he measured the city and the gates and the walls. ¹⁶And the city is laid out with four corners in a perfect square, the length the same as its width. He measured the city with his measuring rod, and the result was that its length and width and height are equal: 1,444 miles, a perfect cube. ¹⁷And my guide measured the wall; it was nearly 72 yards high, in human measurements, which was the instrument the guide was using. ¹⁸The wall was made of jasper, while the city itself was made of pure gold, yet it was as clear as glass. ¹⁹The foundation stones of the wall of the city were decorated with every kind of jewel: the first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, ²⁰the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst. ²¹The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate expertly crafted from a single beautiful pearl. And the city street was pure gold, yet it was as transparent as glass.

²²And in the city, I found no temple because the Lord God, the All Powerful, and the Lamb are the temple. ²³And in the city, there is no need for the sun to light the day or moon the night because the resplendent glory of the Lord provides the city with warm, beautiful light and the Lamb illumines every corner of the new Jerusalem. ²⁴And all peoples of all the nations will walk by its unfailing light, and the rulers of the earth will stream into the city bringing with them the symbols of their grandeur and power. ²⁵During the day, its gates will not be closed; the darkness of night will never settle in. ²⁶The glory and grandeur of the nations will be on display there, carried to the holy city by people from every corner of the world. ²⁷Nothing that defiles or is defiled can enter into its glorious gates. Those who practice sacrilege or deception will never walk its streets. Only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life can enter.