The Seven Bowls of God’s Wrath

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

² The first angel went and poured out his bowl on the land,^(D) and ugly, festering sores^(E) broke out on the people who had the mark of the beast and worshiped its image.^(F)

³ The second angel poured out his bowl on the sea, and it turned into blood like that of a dead person, and every living thing in the sea died.^(G)

⁴ The third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and springs of water,^(H) and they became blood.^{(I) 5} Then I heard the angel in charge of the waters say:

⁷ And I heard the altar^(O) respond:

⁸ The fourth angel^(R) poured out his bowl on the sun,^(S) and the sun was allowed to scorch people with fire.^{(T) 9} They were seared by the intense heat and they cursed the name of God,^(U) who had control over these plagues, but they refused to repent^(V) and glorify him.^(W)

¹⁰ The fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast,^(X) and its kingdom was plunged into darkness.^(Y) People gnawed their tongues in agony ¹¹ and cursed^(Z) the God of heaven^(AA) because of their pains and their sores,^(AB) but they refused to repent of what they had done.^(AC)

¹² The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates,^(AD) and its water was dried up to prepare the way^(AE) for the kings from the East.^{(AF) 13} Then I saw three impure spirits^(AG) that looked like frogs;^(AH) they came out of the mouth of the dragon,^(AI) out of the mouth of the beast^(AJ) and out of the mouth of the false prophet.^{(AK) 14} They are demonic spirits^(AL) that perform signs,^(AM) and they go out to the kings of the whole world,^(AN) to gather them for the battle^(AO) on the great day^(AP) of God Almighty.

¹⁶ Then they gathered the kings together^(AT) to the place that in Hebrew^(AU) is called Armageddon.^(AV)

¹⁷ The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air,^(AW) and out of the temple^(AX) came a loud voice^(AY) from the throne, saying, “It is done!”^{(AZ) 18} Then there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder^(BA) and a severe earthquake.^(BB) No earthquake like it has ever occurred since mankind has been on earth,^(BC) so tremendous was the quake. ¹⁹ The great city^(BD) split into three parts, and the cities of the nations collapsed. God remembered^(BE) Babylon the Great^(BF) and gave her the cup filled with the wine of the fury of his wrath.^{(BG) 20} Every island fled away and the mountains could not be found.^{(BH) 21} From the sky huge hailstones,^(BI) each weighing about a hundred pounds,^[a] fell on people. And they cursed God^(BJ) on account of the plague of hail,^(BK) because the plague was so terrible.

Psalm 55^[a]

For the director of music. With stringed instruments. A maskil^[b] of David.

Ish-Bosheth Murdered

4 When Ish-Bosheth son of Saul heard that Abner^(A) had died in Hebron, he lost courage, and all Israel became alarmed. ² Now Saul’s son had two men who were leaders of raiding bands. One was named Baanah and the other Rekab; they were sons of Rimmon the Beerothite from the tribe of Benjamin—Beeroth^(B) is considered part of Benjamin, ³ because the people of Beeroth fled to Gittaim^(C) and have resided there as foreigners to this day.

⁴ (Jonathan^(D) son of Saul had a son who was lame in both feet. He was five years old when the news^(E) about Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel. His nurse picked him up and fled, but as she hurried to leave, he fell and became disabled.^(F) His name was Mephibosheth.)^(G)

⁵ Now Rekab and Baanah, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, set out for the house of Ish-Bosheth,^(H) and they arrived there in the heat of the day while he was taking his noonday rest.^{(I) 6} They went into the inner part of the house as if to get some wheat, and they stabbed^(J) him in the stomach. Then Rekab and his brother Baanah slipped away.

⁷ They had gone into the house while he was lying on the bed in his bedroom. After they stabbed and killed him, they cut off his head. Taking it with them, they traveled all night by way of the Arabah.^{(K) 8} They brought the head^(L) of Ish-Bosheth to David at Hebron and said to the king, “Here is the head of Ish-Bosheth son of Saul,^(M) your enemy, who tried to kill you. This day the Lord has avenged^(N) my lord the king against Saul and his offspring.”

⁹ David answered Rekab and his brother Baanah, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, “As surely as the Lord lives, who has delivered^(O) me out of every trouble, ¹⁰ when someone told me, ‘Saul is dead,’ and thought he was bringing good news, I seized him and put him to death in Ziklag.^(P) That was the reward I gave him for his news! ¹¹ How much more—when wicked men have killed an innocent man in his own house and on his own bed—should I not now demand his blood^(Q) from your hand and rid the earth of you!”

¹² So David gave an order to his men, and they killed them.^(R) They cut off their hands and feet and hung the bodies by the pool in Hebron. But they took the head of Ish-Bosheth and buried it in Abner’s tomb at Hebron.

David Becomes King Over Israel^(S)

5 All the tribes of Israel^(T) came to David at Hebron and said, “We are your own flesh and blood.^{(U) 2} In the past, while Saul was king over us, you were the one who led Israel on their military campaigns.^(V) And the Lord said^(W) to you, ‘You will shepherd^(X) my people Israel, and you will become their ruler.^(Y)’”

³ When all the elders of Israel had come to King David at Hebron, the king made a covenant^(Z) with them at Hebron before the Lord, and they anointed^(AA) David king over Israel.

⁴ David was thirty years old^(AB) when he became king, and he reigned^(AC) forty^(AD) years. ⁵ In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months,^(AE) and in Jerusalem he reigned over all Israel and Judah thirty-three years.

David Conquers Jerusalem^(AF)(AG)

⁶ The king and his men marched to Jerusalem^(AH) to attack the Jebusites,^(AI) who lived there. The Jebusites said to David, “You will not get in here; even the blind and the lame can ward you off.” They thought, “David cannot get in here.” ⁷ Nevertheless, David captured the fortress of Zion^(AJ)—which is the City of David.^(AK)

⁸ On that day David had said, “Anyone who conquers the Jebusites will have to use the water shaft^(AL) to reach those ‘lame and blind’^(AM) who are David’s enemies.^[a]” That is why they say, “The ‘blind and lame’ will not enter the palace.”

⁹ David then took up residence in the fortress and called it the City of David. He built up the area around it, from the terraces^[b](AN) inward. ¹⁰ And he became more and more powerful,^(AO) because the Lord God Almighty^(AP) was with him.^(AQ)

¹¹ Now Hiram^(AR) king of Tyre sent envoys to David, along with cedar logs and carpenters and stonemasons, and they built a palace for David. ¹² Then David knew that the Lord had established him as king over Israel and had exalted his kingdom^(AS) for the sake of his people Israel.

¹³ After he left Hebron, David took more concubines and wives^(AT) in Jerusalem, and more sons and daughters were born to him. ¹⁴ These are the names of the children born to him there:^(AU) Shammua, Shobab, Nathan,^(AV) Solomon, ¹⁵ Ibhar, Elishua, Nepheg, Japhia, ¹⁶ Elishama, Eliada and Eliphelet.

David Defeats the Philistines^(AW)

¹⁷ When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king over Israel, they went up in full force to search for him, but David heard about it and went down to the stronghold.^{(AX) 18} Now the Philistines had come and spread out in the Valley of Rephaim;^{(AY) 19} so David inquired^(AZ) of the Lord, “Shall I go and attack the Philistines? Will you deliver them into my hands?”

The Lord answered him, “Go, for I will surely deliver the Philistines into your hands.”

²⁰ So David went to Baal Perazim, and there he defeated them. He said, “As waters break out, the Lord has broken out against my enemies before me.” So that place was called Baal Perazim.^{[c](BA) 21} The Philistines abandoned their idols there, and David and his men carried them off.^(BB)

²² Once more the Philistines came up and spread out in the Valley of Rephaim; ²³ so David inquired of the Lord, and he answered, “Do not go straight up, but circle around behind them and attack them in front of the poplar trees. ²⁴ As soon as you hear the sound^(BC) of marching in the tops of the poplar trees, move quickly, because that will mean the Lord has gone out in front^(BD) of you to strike the Philistine army.” ²⁵ So David did as the Lord commanded him, and he struck down the Philistines^(BE) all the way from Gibeon^[d](BF) to Gezer.^(BG)

The Ark Brought to Jerusalem^(BH)(BI)

6 David again brought together all the able young men of Israel—thirty thousand. ² He and all his men went to Baalah^[e](BJ) in Judah to bring up from there the ark^(BK) of God, which is called by the Name,^[f](BL) the name of the Lord Almighty, who is enthroned^(BM) between the cherubim^(BN) on the ark. ³ They set the ark of God on a new cart^(BO) and brought it from the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill.^(BP) Uzzah and Ahio, sons of Abinadab, were guiding the new cart ⁴ with the ark of God on it,^[g] and Ahio was walking in front of it. ⁵ David and all Israel were celebrating^(BQ) with all their might before the Lord, with castanets,^[h] harps, lyres, timbrels, sistrums and cymbals.^(BR)

⁶ When they came to the threshing floor of Nakon, Uzzah reached out and took hold of^(BS) the ark of God, because the oxen stumbled. ⁷ The Lord’s anger burned against Uzzah because of his irreverent act;^(BT) therefore God struck him down,^(BU) and he died there beside the ark of God.

⁸ Then David was angry because the Lord’s wrath^(BV) had broken out against Uzzah, and to this day that place is called Perez Uzzah.^[i](BW)

⁹ David was afraid of the Lord that day and said, “How^(BX) can the ark of the Lord ever come to me?” ¹⁰ He was not willing to take the ark of the Lord to be with him in the City of David. Instead, he took it to the house of Obed-Edom^(BY) the Gittite. ¹¹ The ark of the Lord remained in the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite for three months, and the Lord blessed him and his entire household.^(BZ)

¹² Now King David^(CA) was told, “The Lord has blessed the household of Obed-Edom and everything he has, because of the ark of God.” So David went to bring up the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the City of David with rejoicing. ¹³ When those who were carrying the ark of the Lord had taken six steps, he sacrificed^(CB) a bull and a fattened calf. ¹⁴ Wearing a linen ephod,^(CC) David was dancing^(CD) before the Lord with all his might, ¹⁵ while he and all Israel were bringing up the ark of the Lord with shouts^(CE) and the sound of trumpets.^(CF)

¹⁶ As the ark of the Lord was entering the City of David,^(CG) Michal^(CH) daughter of Saul watched from a window. And when she saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, she despised him in her heart.

¹⁷ They brought the ark of the Lord and set it in its place inside the tent that David had pitched for it,^(CI) and David sacrificed burnt offerings^(CJ) and fellowship offerings before the Lord. ¹⁸ After he had finished sacrificing^(CK) the burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, he blessed^(CL) the people in the name of the Lord Almighty. ¹⁹ Then he gave a loaf of bread, a cake of dates and a cake of raisins^(CM) to each person in the whole crowd of Israelites, both men and women.^(CN) And all the people went to their homes.

²⁰ When David returned home to bless his household, Michal daughter of Saul came out to meet him and said, “How the king of Israel has distinguished himself today, going around half-naked^(CO) in full view of the slave girls of his servants as any vulgar fellow would!”

²¹ David said to Michal, “It was before the Lord, who chose me rather than your father or anyone from his house when he appointed^(CP) me ruler^(CQ) over the Lord’s people Israel—I will celebrate before the Lord. ²² I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes. But by these slave girls you spoke of, I will be held in honor.”

²³ And Michal daughter of Saul had no children to the day of her death.