⁴ Then Moses said, “This is what the Lord says: ‘About ^(A)midnight I am going out into the midst of Egypt, ⁵ and ^(B)all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of the Pharaoh who sits on his throne, to the firstborn of the slave girl who is behind the millstones; all the firstborn of the cattle as well. ⁶ So there shall be ^(C)a great cry in all the land of Egypt, such as there has not been before and such as shall never be again.

²⁹ Now it came about at ^(A)midnight that ^(B)the Lord struck all ^(C)the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of ^(D)cattle. ³⁰ And Pharaoh got up in the night, he and all his servants and all the Egyptians, and there was ^(E)a great cry in Egypt, for there was no home where there was not someone dead. ³¹ Then ^(F)he called for Moses and Aaron at night and said, “Rise up, ^(G)get out from among my people, both you and the sons of Israel; and go, ^[a]worship the Lord, as you have said.

Jesus Is Buried

^42 (A)When evening had already come, since it was ^(B)the preparation day, that is, the day before the Sabbath, ⁴³ Joseph of Arimathea came, a ^(C)prominent member of the Council, who was himself also ^(D)waiting for the kingdom of God; and he ^(E)gathered up courage and went in before Pilate, and asked for the body of Jesus. ⁴⁴ Now Pilate wondered if He was dead by this time, and summoning the centurion, he questioned him as to whether He was already dead. ⁴⁵ And after learning this from ^(F)the centurion, he granted the body to Joseph. ⁴⁶ Joseph bought a linen cloth, took Him down, wrapped Him in the linen cloth, and laid Him in a tomb which had been cut out in the rock; and he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. ^47 (G)Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses were watching to see where He was laid.

The Resurrection

16 ^(A)When the Sabbath was over, ^(B)Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of ^[a]James, and Salome ^(C)bought spices so that they might come and anoint Him. ² And very early on the first day of the week, they *came to the tomb when the sun had risen. ³ They were saying to one another, “Who will roll away ^(D)the stone from the entrance of the tomb for us?” ⁴ And looking up, they *noticed that the stone had been rolled away; ^[b]for it was extremely large. ⁵ And ^(E)entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting at the right, wearing a white robe; and they ^(F)were amazed. ⁶ But he *said to them, “^(G)Do not be amazed; you are looking for Jesus the ^(H)Nazarene, who has been crucified. ^(I)He has risen; He is not here; see, here is the place where they laid Him. ⁷ But go, tell His disciples and Peter, ‘^(J)He is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see Him, just as He told you.’”

³⁷ And He said, “The one who sows the good seed is ^(A)the Son of Man, ³⁸ and the field is the world; and as for the good seed, these are ^(B)the sons of the kingdom; and the weeds are ^(C)the sons of ^(D)the evil one; ³⁹ and the enemy who sowed them is the devil, and the harvest is ^(E)the ^[a]end of the age; and the reapers are angels. ⁴⁰ So just as the weeds are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be at ^(F)the ^[b]end of the age. ^41 (G)The Son of Man ^(H)will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom ^[c]all ^(I)stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, ⁴² and they ^(J)will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place ^(K)there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. ^43 (L)Then the righteous will shine forth like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. ^(M)The one who has ears, ^[d]let him hear.

⁷ For ^(A)the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only ^[a](B)He who now restrains will do so until ^[b]He is ^[c]removed. ⁸ Then that lawless one ^(C)will be revealed, whom the Lord will eliminate ^(D)with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the ^(E)appearance of His ^[d]coming; ⁹ that is, the one whose ^[e]coming is in accord with the activity of ^(F)Satan, with all power and false ^[f](G)signs and wonders, ¹⁰ and with ^[g]all the deception of wickedness for ^(H)those who perish, because they did not accept the love of ^(I)the truth so as to be saved. ¹¹ For this reason ^(J)God ^[h]will send upon them ^[i]a ^(K)deluding influence so that they will believe ^[j]what is false,

²⁶ So if they say to you, ‘Behold, He is in the wilderness,’ do not go out; or, ‘Behold, He is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe them. ^27 (A)For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes as far as the west, so will the ^(B)coming of the ^(C)Son of Man ^[a]be. ^28 (D)Wherever the corpse is, there the ^[b]vultures will gather.

The Glorious Return

²⁹ “But immediately after the ^(E)tribulation of those days ^(F)the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and ^(G)the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. ³⁰ And then ^(H)the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see ^(I)the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. ³¹ And ^(J)He will send forth His angels with ^(K)a great trumpet blast, and they will gather together His ^[c](L)elect from ^(M)the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.

² “The Lord of armies says this: ‘I am ^(A)exceedingly jealous for Zion, yes, with great wrath I am jealous for her.’ ³ The Lord says this: ‘I will return to Zion and ^(B)dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. Then Jerusalem will be called the City of ^(C)Truth, and the mountain of the Lord of armies will be called the Holy Mountain.’ ⁴ The Lord of armies says this: ‘^(D)Old men and old women will again sit in the public squares of Jerusalem, each person with his staff in his hand because of ^[a]age.

¹⁵ so I have again determined in these days to ^(A)do good to Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. ^(B)Do not fear! ¹⁶ These are the things which you shall do: speak the ^(C)truth to one another; ^(D)judge with truth and judgment for peace at your ^[a]gates. ¹⁷ Also let none of you ^(E)devise evil in your heart against another, and do not love ^[b](F)perjury; for all these things are what I ^(G)hate,’ declares the Lord.”