¹⁶ “This day the Lord your God commands you to do these statutes and rules. You shall therefore be careful to do them with all your heart and with all your soul. ^17 (A)You have declared today that the Lord is your God, and that you will walk in his ways, and keep his statutes and his commandments and his rules, and will obey his voice. ¹⁸ And the Lord has declared today that you are ^(B)a people for his treasured possession, as he has promised you, and that you are to keep all his commandments, ¹⁹ and that he will set you in praise and in fame and in honor ^(C)high above all nations ^(D)that he has made, and that you shall be ^(E)a people holy to the Lord your God, as he promised.”

The Altar on Mount Ebal

27 Now Moses and the elders of Israel commanded the people, saying, “Keep the whole commandment that I command you today. ² And on the day ^(F)you cross over the Jordan to the land that the Lord your God is giving you, you shall set up large stones and plaster them with plaster. ^3 (G)And you shall write on them all the words of this law, when you cross over to enter the land that the Lord your God is giving you, ^(H)a land flowing with milk and honey, as the Lord, the God of your fathers, has promised you. ⁴ And when you have crossed over the Jordan, you shall set up these stones, concerning which I command you today, ^(I)on Mount Ebal, and you shall plaster them with plaster. ⁵ And there you shall build an altar to the Lord your God, an altar of stones. ^(J)You shall wield no iron tool on them; ⁶ you shall build an altar to the Lord your God of uncut^[a] stones. And you shall offer burnt offerings on it to the Lord your God, ⁷ and you shall sacrifice peace offerings and ^(K)shall eat there, and you ^(L)shall rejoice before the Lord your God. ⁸ And ^(M)you shall write on the stones all the words of this law very plainly.”

Curses from Mount Ebal

⁹ Then Moses and the Levitical priests said to all Israel, “Keep silence and hear, O Israel: ^(N)this day you have become the people of the Lord your God. ¹⁰ You shall therefore obey the voice of the Lord your God, keeping his commandments and his statutes, which I command you today.”

¹⁹ you ^(A)in your great mercies did not forsake them in the wilderness. ^(B)The pillar of cloud to lead them in the way did not depart from them by day, ^(C)nor the pillar of fire by night to light for them the way by which they should go. ^20 (D)You gave your good Spirit to instruct them ^(E)and did not withhold your manna from their mouth and gave them water for their thirst. ^21 (F)Forty years you sustained them in the wilderness, and they lacked nothing. Their clothes did not wear out and their feet did not swell.

²² “And you gave them kingdoms and peoples and allotted to them every corner. ^(G)So they took possession of the land of Sihon king of Heshbon ^(H)and the land of Og king of Bashan. ²³ You multiplied their children ^(I)as the stars of heaven, and you brought them into the land that you had told their fathers to enter and possess. ^24 (J)So the descendants went in and possessed the land, ^(K)and you subdued before them the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, and gave them into their hand, with their kings and the peoples of the land, that they might do with them as they would. ²⁵ And they captured ^(L)fortified cities and ^(M)a rich land, and took possession of ^(N)houses full of all good things, cisterns already hewn, vineyards, olive orchards and fruit trees in abundance. So they ate and were filled ^(O)and became fat and delighted themselves in ^(P)your great goodness.

^26 (Q)“Nevertheless, they were disobedient and rebelled against you ^(R)and cast your law behind their back ^(S)and killed your prophets, who ^(T)had warned them in order to turn them back to you, ^(U)and they committed great blasphemies. ^27 (V)Therefore you gave them into the hand of their enemies, who made them suffer. ^(W)And in the time of their suffering they cried out to you and you heard them from heaven, and according to your great mercies you gave them ^(X)saviors who saved them from the hand of their enemies. ^28 (Y)But after they had rest they did evil again before you, and you abandoned them to the hand of their enemies, so that they had dominion over them. Yet when they turned and cried to you, you heard from heaven, ^(Z)and many times you delivered them according to your mercies. ^29 (AA)And you warned them in order to turn them back to your law. Yet ^(AB)they acted presumptuously and did not obey your commandments, but sinned against your rules, ^(AC)which if a person does them, he shall live by them, ^(AD)and they turned a stubborn shoulder ^(AE)and stiffened their neck and would not obey. ³⁰ Many years ^(AF)you bore with them ^(AG)and warned them ^(AH)by your Spirit through your prophets. ^(AI)Yet they would not give ear. ^(AJ)Therefore you gave them into the hand of the peoples of the lands. ³¹ Nevertheless, ^(AK)in your great mercies ^(AL)you did not make an end of them or forsake them, ^(AM)for you are a gracious and merciful God.

³² “Now, therefore, our God, ^(AN)the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love, let not all the hardship seem little to you that has come upon us, upon our kings, our princes, our priests, our prophets, our fathers, and all your people, ^(AO)since the time of the kings of Assyria until this day. ^33 (AP)Yet you have been righteous in all that has come upon us, for you have dealt faithfully ^(AQ)and we have acted wickedly. ³⁴ Our kings, our princes, our priests, and our fathers have not kept your law or paid attention to your commandments and your warnings that you gave them. ³⁵ Even in their own kingdom, ^(AR)and amid your great goodness that you gave them, and in the large and ^(AS)rich land that you set before them, ^(AT)they did not serve you or turn from their wicked works. ³⁶ Behold, ^(AU)we are slaves this day; in the land that you gave to our fathers to enjoy its fruit and its good gifts, behold, we are slaves. ^37 (AV)And its rich yield goes to the kings whom you have set over us because of our sins. They rule over our bodies and over our livestock as they please, and we are in great distress.

A Vision of Horns and Craftsmen

^18 [a] And I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, ^(A)four horns! ¹⁹ And I said to ^(B)the angel who talked with me, “What are these?” And he said to me, ^(C)“These are the horns that have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.” ²⁰ Then the Lord showed me four craftsmen. ²¹ And I said, “What are these coming to do?” He said, ^(D)“These are the horns that scattered Judah, so that no one raised his head. And these have come ^(E)to terrify them, to cast down the horns of the nations ^(F)who lifted up their horns against the land of Judah to scatter it.”

A Vision of a Man with a Measuring Line

2 ^[b] And I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, ^(G)a man with a measuring line in his hand! ² Then I said, “Where are you going?” And he said to me, ^(H)“To measure Jerusalem, to see what is its width and what is its length.” ³ And behold, ^(I)the angel who talked with me came forward, and another angel came forward to meet him ⁴ and said to him, “Run, say to that young man, ^(J)‘Jerusalem shall be inhabited ^(K)as villages without walls, because of ^(L)the multitude of people and livestock in it. ⁵ And I will be to her ^(M)a wall of fire all around, declares the Lord, and I will be the glory in her midst.’”

⁶ Up! Up! ^(N)Flee from the land of the north, declares the Lord. For I have ^(O)spread you abroad as the four winds of the heavens, declares the Lord. ^7 (P)Up! Escape to Zion, you who dwell with the daughter of Babylon. ⁸ For thus said the Lord of hosts, after his glory sent me^[c] to the nations who plundered you, ^(Q)for he who touches you touches ^(R)the apple of his eye: ⁹ “Behold, ^(S)I will shake my hand over them, ^(T)and they shall become plunder for those who served them. Then ^(U)you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent me. ^10 (V)Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion, for ^(W)behold, I come ^(X)and I will dwell in your midst, declares the Lord. ^11 (Y)And many nations shall join themselves to the Lord in that day, and shall be my people. ^(Z)And I will dwell in your midst, and ^(AA)you shall know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you. ^12 (AB)And the Lord will inherit Judah as his portion in the holy land, and will again ^(AC)choose Jerusalem.”

¹³ Be silent, all flesh, before the Lord, for he has roused himself from his holy dwelling.

The Contrast of Wisdom and Folly

^14 (R)In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other, ^(S)so that man may not find out anything that will be after him.

Your Sorrow Will Turn into Joy

^16 (A)“A little while, and you will see me no longer; and ^(B)again a little while, and you will see me.” ¹⁷ So ^(C)some of his disciples said to one another, “What is this that he says to us, ^(D)‘A little while, and you will not see me, and again a little while, and you will see me’; and, ^(E)‘because I am going to the Father’?” ¹⁸ So they were saying, “What does he mean by ‘a little while’? ^(F)We do not know what he is talking about.” ^19 (G)Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him, so he said to them, “Is this what you are asking yourselves, what I meant by saying, ‘A little while and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me’? ²⁰ Truly, truly, I say to you, ^(H)you will weep and lament, but ^(I)the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but ^(J)your sorrow will turn into joy. ^21 (K)When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. ^22 (L)So also you have sorrow now, but ^(M)I will see you again, and ^(N)your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you. ^23 (O)In that day you will ^(P)ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, ^(Q)whatever you ask of the Father in my name, ^(R)he will give it to you. ²⁴ Until now you have asked nothing in my name. ^(S)Ask, and you will receive, ^(T)that your joy may be full.

The First Beast

13 And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, ^(A)with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems on its horns and ^(B)blasphemous names on its heads. ² And the beast that I saw was ^(C)like a leopard; its feet were like ^(D)a bear's, and its mouth was like ^(E)a lion's mouth. And to it ^(F)the dragon gave his power and ^(G)his throne and great authority. ³ One of its heads seemed to have a mortal wound, but its mortal wound was healed, and ^(H)the whole earth marveled as they followed the beast. ⁴ And they worshiped the dragon, for he had given his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, ^(I)“Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?”

⁵ And the beast was given ^(J)a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for ^(K)forty-two months. ⁶ It opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling,^[a] that is, those who dwell in heaven. ⁷ Also it was allowed ^(L)to make war on the saints and to conquer them.^[b] And authority was given it over every tribe and people and language and nation, ⁸ and all ^(M)who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in ^(N)the book of life of ^(O)the Lamb ^(P)who was slain. ^9 (Q)If anyone has an ear, let him hear:

^(T)Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints.