Deuteronomy 12

Good News Translation

The One Place for Worship

12 “Here are the laws that you are to obey as long as you live in the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, is giving you. Listen to them! ²In the land that you are taking, destroy all the places where the people worship their gods on high mountains, on hills, and under green trees. ³^(A)Tear down their altars and smash their sacred stone pillars to pieces. Burn their symbols of the goddess Asherah and chop down their idols, so that they will never again be worshiped at those places.

⁴“Do not worship the Lord your God in the way that these people worship their gods. ⁵Out of the territory of all your tribes the Lord will choose the one place where the people are to come into his presence and worship him. ⁶There you are to offer your sacrifices that are to be burned and your other sacrifices, your tithes and your offerings, the gifts that you promise to the Lord, your freewill offerings, and the first-born of your cattle and sheep. ⁷There, in the presence of the Lord your God, who has blessed you, you and your families will eat and enjoy the good things that you have worked for.

⁸“When that time comes, you must not do as you have been doing. Until now you have all been worshiping as you please, ⁹because you have not yet entered the land that the Lord your God is giving you, where you can live in peace. ¹⁰When you cross the Jordan River, the Lord will let you occupy the land and live there. He will keep you safe from all your enemies, and you will live in peace. ¹¹The Lord will choose a single place where he is to be worshiped, and there you must bring to him everything that I have commanded: your sacrifices that are to be burned and your other sacrifices, your tithes and your offerings, and those special gifts that you have promised to the Lord. ¹²Be joyful there in his presence, together with your children, your servants, and the Levites who live in your towns; remember that the Levites will have no land of their own. ¹³You are not to offer your sacrifices wherever you choose; ¹⁴you must offer them only in the one place that the Lord will choose in the territory of one of your tribes. Only there are you to offer your sacrifices that are to be burned and do all the other things that I have commanded you.

¹⁵“But you are free to kill and eat your animals wherever you live. You may eat as many as the Lord gives you. All of you, whether ritually clean or unclean, may eat them, just as you would eat the meat of deer or antelope. ¹⁶^(B)But you must not eat their blood; you must pour it out on the ground like water. ¹⁷Nothing that you offer to the Lord is to be eaten in the places where you live: neither the tithes of your grain, your wine, or your olive oil, nor the first-born of your cattle and sheep, the gifts that you promise to the Lord, your freewill offerings, or any other offerings. ¹⁸You and your children, together with your servants and the Levites who live in your towns, are to eat these offerings only in the presence of the Lord your God, in the one place of worship chosen by the Lord your God. And you are to be happy there over everything that you have done. ¹⁹Be sure, also, not to neglect the Levites, as long as you live in your land.

²⁰“When the Lord your God enlarges your territory, as he has promised, you may eat meat whenever you want to. ²¹If the one place of worship is too far away, then, whenever you wish, you may kill any of the cattle or sheep that the Lord has given you, and you may eat the meat at home, as I have told you. ²²Anyone, ritually clean or unclean, may eat that meat, just as he would eat the meat of deer or antelope. ²³^(C)Only do not eat meat with blood still in it, for the life is in the blood, and you must not eat the life with the meat. ²⁴Do not use the blood for food; instead, pour it out on the ground like water. ²⁵If you obey this command, the Lord will be pleased, and all will go well for you and your descendants. ²⁶Take to the one place of worship your offerings and the gifts that you have promised the Lord. ²⁷Offer there the sacrifices which are to be completely burned on the Lord's altar. Also offer those sacrifices in which you eat the meat and pour the blood out on the altar. ²⁸Obey faithfully everything that I have commanded you, and all will go well for you and your descendants forever, because you will be doing what is right and what pleases the Lord your God.

Warning against Idolatry

²⁹“The Lord your God will destroy the nations as you invade their land, and you will occupy it and settle there. ³⁰After the Lord destroys those nations, make sure that you don't follow their religious practices, because that would be fatal. Don't try to find out how they worship their gods, so that you can worship in the same way. ³¹Do not worship the Lord your God in the way they worship their gods, for in the worship of their gods they do all the disgusting things that the Lord hates. They even sacrifice their children in the fires on their altars.

³²^(D)“Do everything that I have commanded you; do not add anything to it or take anything from it.

Psalm 97

Good News Translation

God the Supreme Ruler

97 The Lord is king! Earth, be glad!
    Rejoice, you islands of the seas!
²Clouds and darkness surround him;
    he rules with righteousness and justice.
³Fire goes in front of him
    and burns up his enemies around him.
⁴His lightning lights up the world;
    the earth sees it and trembles.
⁵The hills melt like wax before the Lord,
    before the Lord of all the earth.
⁶The heavens proclaim his righteousness,
    and all the nations see his glory.

⁷Everyone who worships idols is put to shame;
    all the gods bow down^[a] before the Lord.
⁸The people of Zion are glad,
    and the cities of Judah rejoice
    because of your judgments, O Lord.
⁹Lord Almighty, you are ruler of all the earth;
    you are much greater than all the gods.

¹⁰The Lord loves those who hate evil;^[b]
    he protects the lives of his people;
    he rescues them from the power of the wicked.
¹¹Light shines on the righteous,
    and gladness on the good.
¹²All you that are righteous be glad
    because of what the Lord has done!
Remember what the holy God has done,
    and give thanks to him.

Notas al pie

Psalm 97:7 all the gods bow down; or bow down, all gods.
Psalm 97:10 Probable text The Lord loves those who hate evil; Hebrew Hate evil, you who love the Lord.

Psalm 98

Good News Translation

God the Ruler of the World^[a]

98 Sing a new song to the Lord;
    he has done wonderful things!
By his own power and holy strength
    he has won the victory.
²The Lord announced his victory;
    he made his saving power known to the nations.
³He kept his promise to the people of Israel
    with loyalty and constant love for them.
All people everywhere have seen the victory of our God.

⁴Sing for joy to the Lord, all the earth;
    praise him with songs and shouts of joy!
⁵Sing praises to the Lord!
    Play music on the harps!
⁶Blow trumpets and horns,
    and shout for joy to the Lord, our king.

⁷Roar, sea, and every creature in you;
    sing, earth, and all who live on you!
⁸Clap your hands, you rivers;
    you hills, sing together with joy before the Lord,
⁹    because he comes to rule the earth.
He will rule the peoples of the world
    with justice and fairness.

Notas al pie

Psalm 98:1 HEBREW TITLE: A psalm.

Isaiah 40

Good News Translation

Words of Hope

40 “Comfort my people,” says our God. “Comfort them!
²Encourage the people of Jerusalem.
Tell them they have suffered long enough
and their sins are now forgiven.^[a]
I have punished them in full for all their sins.”

³^(A)A voice cries out,
“Prepare in the wilderness a road for the Lord!
    Clear the way in the desert for our God!
⁴Fill every valley;
    level every mountain.
The hills will become a plain,
    and the rough country will be made smooth.
⁵Then the glory of the Lord will be revealed,
    and all people will see it.
The Lord himself has promised this.”

⁶^(B)A voice cries out, “Proclaim a message!”
“What message shall I proclaim?” I ask.
“Proclaim that all human beings are like grass;
    they last no longer than wild flowers.
⁷Grass withers and flowers fade
    when the Lord sends the wind blowing over them.
    People are no more enduring than grass.
⁸Yes, grass withers and flowers fade,
    but the word of our God endures forever.”

⁹Jerusalem, go up on a high mountain
    and proclaim the good news!
Call out with a loud voice, Zion;
    announce the good news!^[b]
Speak out and do not be afraid.
Tell the towns of Judah
    that their God is coming!

¹⁰^(C)The Sovereign Lord is coming to rule with power,
    bringing with him the people he has rescued.^[c]
¹¹^(D)He will take care of his flock like a shepherd;
    he will gather the lambs together
    and carry them in his arms;
    he will gently lead their mothers.

Israel's Incomparable God

¹²Can anyone measure the ocean by handfuls
    or measure the sky with his hands?
Can anyone hold the soil of the earth in a cup
    or weigh the mountains and hills on scales?
¹³^(E)Can anyone tell the Lord what to do?
    Who can teach him or give him advice?
¹⁴With whom does God consult
    in order to know and understand
    and to learn how things should be done?

¹⁵^(F)To the Lord the nations are nothing,
    no more than a drop of water;
    the distant islands are as light as dust.
¹⁶All the animals in the forests of Lebanon
    are not enough for a sacrifice to our God,
    and its trees are too few to kindle the fire.
¹⁷The nations are nothing at all to him.

¹⁸^(G)To whom can God be compared?
    How can you describe what he is like?
¹⁹He is not like an idol that workers make,
    that metalworkers cover with gold
    and set in a base of silver.
²⁰^(H)Anyone who cannot afford silver or gold^[d]
    chooses wood that will not rot.
He finds a skillful worker
    to make an image that won't fall down.

²¹Do you not know?
    Were you not told long ago?
    Have you not heard how the world began?
²²It was made by the one who sits on his throne
    above the earth and beyond the sky;
    the people below look as tiny as ants.
He stretched out the sky like a curtain,
    like a tent in which to live.

²³He brings down powerful rulers
    and reduces them to nothing.
²⁴They are like young plants,
    just set out and barely rooted.
When the Lord sends a wind,
    they dry up and blow away like straw.

²⁵To whom can the holy God be compared?
    Is there anyone else like him?
²⁶^(I)Look up at the sky!
Who created the stars you see?
    The one who leads them out like an army,
    he knows how many there are
    and calls each one by name!
His power is so great—
    not one of them is ever missing!

²⁷Israel, why then do you complain
    that the Lord doesn't know your troubles
    or care if you suffer injustice?
²⁸Don't you know? Haven't you heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God;
    he created all the world.
He never grows tired or weary.
    No one understands his thoughts.
²⁹He strengthens those who are weak and tired.
³⁰Even those who are young grow weak;
    young people can fall exhausted.
³¹But those who trust in the Lord for help
    will find their strength renewed.
They will rise on wings like eagles;
    they will run and not get weary;
    they will walk and not grow weak.

Notas al pie

Isaiah 40:2 and their sins are now forgiven; or they have paid for what they did.
Isaiah 40:9 Jerusalem, go up … news!; or Go up on a high mountain and proclaim the good news to Jerusalem! Call out with a loud voice and announce the good news to Zion!
Isaiah 40:10 the people he has rescued; or the rewards he has for his people.
Isaiah 40:20 Verses 19-20a in Hebrew are unclear.

Revelation 10

Good News Translation

The Angel and the Little Scroll

10 Then I saw another mighty angel coming down out of heaven. He was wrapped in a cloud and had a rainbow around his head; his face was like the sun, and his legs were like columns of fire. ²He had a small scroll open in his hand. He put his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land, ³and called out in a loud voice that sounded like the roar of lions. After he had called out, the seven thunders answered with a roar. ⁴As soon as they spoke, I was about to write. But I heard a voice speak from heaven, “Keep secret what the seven thunders have said; do not write it down!”

⁵^(A)Then the angel that I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven ⁶and took a vow in the name of God, who lives forever and ever, who created heaven, earth, and the sea, and everything in them. The angel said, “There will be no more delay! ⁷But when the seventh angel blows his trumpet, then God will accomplish his secret plan, as he announced to his servants, the prophets.”

⁸^(B)Then the voice that I had heard speaking from heaven spoke to me again, saying, “Go and take the open scroll which is in the hand of the angel standing on the sea and on the land.”

⁹I went to the angel and asked him to give me the little scroll. He said to me, “Take it and eat it; it will turn sour in your stomach, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey.”

¹⁰I took the little scroll from his hand and ate it, and it tasted sweet as honey in my mouth. But after I swallowed it, it turned sour in my stomach. ¹¹Then I was told, “Once again you must proclaim God's message about many nations, races, languages, and kings.”