Jotham Reigns in Judah

27 ^(A)Jotham was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for sixteen years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Jerushah the daughter of Zadok. ² And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord according to all that his father Uzziah had done, ^(B)except he did not enter the temple of the Lord. But the people still followed corrupt practices. ³ He built the upper gate of the house of the Lord and did much building on the wall of ^(C)Ophel. ⁴ Moreover, he built cities in the hill country of Judah, and forts and towers on the wooded hills. ⁵ He fought with the king of the Ammonites and prevailed against them. And the Ammonites gave him that year 100 talents^[a] of silver, and 10,000 cors^[b] of wheat and 10,000 of barley. The Ammonites paid him the same amount in the second and the third years. ⁶ So Jotham became mighty, because he ordered his ways before the Lord his God. ^7 (D)Now the rest of the acts of Jotham, and all his wars and his ways, behold, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah. ⁸ He was ^(E)twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for sixteen years in Jerusalem. ⁹ And Jotham slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David, and Ahaz his son reigned in his place.

Ahaz Reigns in Judah

28 ^(A)Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for sixteen years in Jerusalem. And he did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord, as his father David had done, ² but he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel. He even made ^(B)metal images for ^(C)the Baals, ³ and ^(D)he made offerings in the ^(E)Valley of the Son of Hinnom and ^(F)burned his sons as an offering,^[a] according to ^(G)the abominations of the nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel. ⁴ And he sacrificed and ^(H)made offerings on the high places and on the hills and under every green tree.

Judah Defeated

^5 (I)Therefore the Lord his God gave him into the hand of the king of Syria, who defeated him and took captive a great number of his people and brought them to Damascus. He was also given into the hand of the king of Israel, who struck him with great force. ⁶ For ^(J)Pekah the son of Remaliah killed 120,000 from Judah in one day, all of them men of valour, because they had forsaken the Lord, the God of their fathers. ⁷ And Zichri, a mighty man of Ephraim, killed Maaseiah the king's son and Azrikam the commander of the palace and Elkanah the next in authority to the king.

⁸ The men of Israel took captive 200,000 ^(K)of their relatives, women, sons, and daughters. They also took much spoil from them and brought the spoil to Samaria. ⁹ But a prophet of the Lord was there, whose name was Oded, and he went out to meet the army that came to Samaria and said to them, “Behold, because the Lord, the God of your fathers, ^(L)was angry with Judah, he gave them into your hand, but you have killed them in a rage ^(M)that has reached up to heaven. ¹⁰ And now you intend to subjugate the people of Judah and Jerusalem, male and female, as your slaves. Have you not sins of your own against the Lord your God? ¹¹ Now hear me, and send back the captives ^(N)from your relatives whom you have taken, for the fierce wrath of the Lord is upon you.”

¹² Certain chiefs also of the men of Ephraim, Azariah the son of Johanan, Berechiah the son of Meshillemoth, Jehizkiah the son of Shallum, and Amasa the son of Hadlai, stood up against those who were coming from the war ¹³ and said to them, “You shall not bring the captives in here, for you propose to bring upon us guilt against the Lord in addition to our present sins and guilt. For our guilt is already great, and there is fierce wrath against Israel.” ¹⁴ So the armed men left the captives and the spoil before the princes and all the assembly. ¹⁵ And ^(O)the men who have been mentioned by name rose and took the captives, and with the spoil they clothed all who were naked among them. They clothed them, gave them sandals, ^(P)provided them with food and drink, and anointed them, and carrying all the feeble among them on donkeys, they brought them to their kinsfolk at Jericho, ^(Q)the city of palm trees. Then they returned to Samaria.

^16 (R)At that time King Ahaz sent to the king^[b] of Assyria for help. ¹⁷ For the Edomites had again invaded and defeated Judah and carried away captives. ^18 (S)And the Philistines had made raids on ^(T)the cities in the Shephelah and the Negeb of Judah, and had taken Beth-shemesh, Aijalon, Gederoth, Soco ^(U)with its villages, Timnah with its villages, and Gimzo with its villages. And they settled there. ¹⁹ For the Lord humbled Judah because of Ahaz king of Israel, for he had made ^(V)Judah act sinfully^[c] and had been very unfaithful to the Lord. ²⁰ So ^(W)Tiglath-pileser^[d] king of Assyria came against him and afflicted him instead of strengthening him. ^21 (X)For Ahaz took a portion from the house of the Lord and the house of the king and of the princes, and gave tribute to the king of Assyria, but it did not help him.

Ahaz's Idolatry

²² In the time of his distress he became yet more faithless to the Lord—this same King Ahaz. ²³ For ^(Y)he sacrificed to the gods of Damascus, which had defeated him and said, ^(Z)“Because the gods of the kings of Syria helped them, I will sacrifice to them that they may help me.” But they were the ruin of him and of all Israel. ²⁴ And Ahaz gathered together the vessels of the house of God and ^(AA)cut in pieces the vessels of the house of God, and he shut up the doors of the house of the Lord, and he made himself ^(AB)altars in every corner of Jerusalem. ²⁵ In every city of Judah he made high places to ^(AC)make offerings to other gods, provoking to anger the Lord, the God of his fathers. ^26 (AD)Now the rest of his acts and all his ways, from first to last, behold, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel. ²⁷ And Ahaz slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city, in Jerusalem, for ^(AE)they did not bring him into the tombs of the kings of Israel. And Hezekiah his son reigned in his place.

The Lamb and the 144,000

14 Then I looked, and behold, on ^(A)Mount Zion ^(B)stood the Lamb, and with him ^(C)144,000 who ^(D)had his name and his Father's name written ^(E)on their foreheads. ² And I heard a voice from heaven ^(F)like the roar of many waters and ^(G)like the sound of loud thunder. The voice I heard was like the sound of ^(H)harpists playing on their harps, ³ and they were singing ^(I)a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and before the elders. ^(J)No one could learn that song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. ⁴ It is these who have not defiled themselves with women, for ^(K)they are virgins. It is these ^(L)who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These have been redeemed from mankind as ^(M)firstfruits for God and the Lamb, ⁵ and ^(N)in their mouth no lie was found, for they are ^(O)blameless.

The Messages of the Three Angels

⁶ Then I saw another angel ^(P)flying directly overhead, with an eternal gospel to proclaim to ^(Q)those who dwell on earth, to every nation and tribe and language and people. ⁷ And he said with a loud voice, ^(R)“Fear God and ^(S)give him glory, because the hour of his judgement has come, and ^(T)worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the ^(U)springs of water.”

⁸ Another angel, a second, followed, saying, ^(V)“Fallen, fallen is ^(W)Babylon the great, ^(X)she who made all nations drink ^(Y)the wine of the passion^[a] of her sexual immorality.”

⁹ And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone ^(Z)worships the beast and its image and receives ^(AA)a mark on his forehead or on his hand, ¹⁰ he also will drink ^(AB)the wine of God's wrath, ^(AC)poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and ^(AD)he will be tormented with fire and sulphur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. ¹¹ And ^(AE)the smoke of their torment goes up for ever and ever, and ^(AF)they have no rest, day or night, these ^(AG)worshippers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name.”

^12 (AH)Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who ^(AI)keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.^[b]

¹³ And I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write this: ^(AJ)Blessed are the dead ^(AK)who die in the Lord from now on.” “Blessed indeed,” says the Spirit, ^(AL)“that they may rest from their labours, for their deeds follow them!”

The Harvest of the Earth

¹⁴ Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and seated on the cloud one ^(AM)like a son of man, ^(AN)with a golden crown on his head, and a sharp sickle in his hand. ¹⁵ And another angel ^(AO)came out of the temple, calling with a loud voice to him who sat on the cloud, ^(AP)“Put in your sickle, and reap, for the hour to reap has come, for ^(AQ)the harvest of the earth is fully ripe.” ¹⁶ So he who sat on the cloud swung his sickle across the earth, and the earth was reaped.

¹⁷ Then another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle. ¹⁸ And another angel came out from the altar, ^(AR)the angel who has authority over the fire, and he called with a loud voice to the one who had the sharp sickle, “Put in your sickle and gather the clusters from the vine of the earth, ^(AS)for its grapes are ripe.” ¹⁹ So the angel swung his sickle across the earth and gathered the grape harvest of the earth and threw it into the great ^(AT)wine press of the wrath of God. ²⁰ And ^(AU)the wine press was trodden ^(AV)outside the city, and blood flowed from the wine press, as high as ^(AW)a horse's bridle, for 1,600 stadia.^[c]

The Restoration for Judah and Israel