Isaiah 13:3
New King James Version
3 I have commanded My [a]sanctified ones;
I have also called (A)My mighty ones for My anger—
Those who (B)rejoice in My exaltation.”
Footnotes
- Isaiah 13:3 consecrated or set apart
Joel 3:11
New King James Version
11 Assemble and come, all you nations,
And gather together all around.
Cause (A)Your mighty ones to go down there, O Lord.
Revelation 17:12-18
New King James Version
12 (A)“The ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have received no kingdom as yet, but they receive authority for one hour as kings with the beast. 13 These are of one mind, and they will give their power and authority to the beast. 14 (B)These will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will (C)overcome them, (D)for He is Lord of lords and King of kings; (E)and those who are with Him are called, chosen, and faithful.”
15 Then he said to me, (F)“The waters which you saw, where the harlot sits, (G)are peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues. 16 And the ten horns which you [a]saw on the beast, (H)these will hate the harlot, make her (I)desolate (J)and naked, eat her flesh and (K)burn her with fire. 17 (L)For God has put it into their hearts to fulfill His purpose, to be of one mind, and to give their kingdom to the beast, (M)until the words of God are fulfilled. 18 And the woman whom you saw (N)is that great city (O)which reigns over the kings of the earth.”
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Revelation 17:16 NU, M saw, and the beast
Jeremiah 51:20-24
New King James Version
20 “You(A) are My battle-ax and weapons of war:
For with you I will break the nation in pieces;
With you I will destroy kingdoms;
21 With you I will break in pieces the horse and its rider;
With you I will break in pieces the chariot and its rider;
22 With you also I will break in pieces man and woman;
With you I will break in pieces (B)old and young;
With you I will break in pieces the young man and the maiden;
23 With you also I will break in pieces the shepherd and his flock;
With you I will break in pieces the farmer and his yoke of oxen;
And with you I will break in pieces governors and rulers.
24 “And(C) I will repay Babylon
And all the inhabitants of Chaldea
For all the evil they have done
In Zion in your sight,” says the Lord.
Revelation 18:20-19:7
New King James Version
20 (A)“Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you [a]holy apostles and prophets, for (B)God has avenged you on her!”
Finality of Babylon’s Fall
21 Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, (C)“Thus with violence the great city Babylon shall be thrown down, and (D)shall not be found anymore. 22 (E)The sound of harpists, musicians, flutists, and trumpeters shall not be heard in you anymore. No craftsman of any craft shall be found in you anymore, and the sound of a millstone shall not be heard in you anymore. 23 (F)The light of a lamp shall not shine in you anymore, (G)and the voice of bridegroom and bride shall not be heard in you anymore. For (H)your merchants were the great men of the earth, (I)for by your sorcery all the nations were deceived. 24 And (J)in her was found the blood of prophets and saints, and of all who (K)were slain on the earth.”
Heaven Exults over Babylon
19 After these things (L)I [b]heard a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, “Alleluia! (M)Salvation and glory and honor and power belong to [c]the Lord our God! 2 For (N)true and righteous are His judgments, because He has judged the great harlot who corrupted the earth with her fornication; and He (O)has avenged on her the blood of His servants shed by her.” 3 Again they said, “Alleluia! (P)Her smoke rises up forever and ever!” 4 And (Q)the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who sat on the throne, saying, (R)“Amen! Alleluia!” 5 Then a voice came from the throne, saying, (S)“Praise our God, all you His servants and those who fear Him, (T)both[d] small and great!”
6 (U)And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, as the sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty thunderings, saying, “Alleluia! For (V)the[e] Lord God Omnipotent reigns! 7 Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for (W)the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.”
Footnotes
- Revelation 18:20 NU, M saints and apostles
- Revelation 19:1 NU, M add something like
- Revelation 19:1 NU, M omit the Lord
- Revelation 19:5 NU, M omit both
- Revelation 19:6 NU, M our
Revelation 18:4-8
New King James Version
4 And I heard another voice from heaven saying, (A)“Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues. 5 (B)For her sins [a]have reached to heaven, and (C)God has remembered her iniquities. 6 (D)Render to her just as she rendered [b]to you, and repay her double according to her works; (E)in the cup which she has mixed, (F)mix double for her. 7 (G)In the measure that she glorified herself and lived [c]luxuriously, in the same measure give her torment and sorrow; for she says in her heart, ‘I sit as (H)queen, and am no widow, and will not see sorrow.’ 8 Therefore her plagues will come (I)in one day—death and mourning and famine. And (J)she will be utterly burned with fire, (K)for strong is the Lord God who [d]judges her.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Revelation 18:5 NU, M have been heaped up
- Revelation 18:6 NU, M omit to you
- Revelation 18:7 sensually
- Revelation 18:8 NU, M has judged
Jeremiah 50:21-46
New King James Version
21 “Go up against the land of Merathaim, against it,
And against the inhabitants of (A)Pekod.
[a]Waste and utterly destroy them,” says the Lord,
“And do (B)according to all that I have commanded you.
22 (C)A sound of battle is in the land,
And of great destruction.
23 How (D)the hammer of the whole earth has been cut apart and broken!
How Babylon has become a desolation among the nations!
24 I have laid a snare for you;
You have indeed been (E)trapped, O Babylon,
And you were not aware;
You have been found and also caught,
Because you have (F)contended against the Lord.
25 The Lord has opened His armory,
And has brought out (G)the weapons of His indignation;
For this is the work of the Lord God of hosts
In the land of the Chaldeans.
26 Come against her from the farthest border;
Open her storehouses;
Cast her up as heaps of ruins,
And destroy her utterly;
Let nothing of her be left.
27 Slay all her (H)bulls,
Let them go down to the slaughter.
Woe to them!
For their day has come, the time of (I)their punishment.
28 The voice of those who flee and escape from the land of Babylon
(J)Declares in Zion the vengeance of the Lord our God,
The vengeance of His temple.
29 “Call together the archers against Babylon.
All you who bend the bow, encamp against it all around;
Let none of them [b]escape.
(K)Repay her according to her work;
According to all she has done, do to her;
(L)For she has been proud against the Lord,
Against the Holy One of Israel.
30 (M)Therefore her young men shall fall in the streets,
And all her men of war shall be cut off in that day,” says the Lord.
31 “Behold, I am against you,
O most haughty one!” says the Lord God of hosts;
“For your day has come,
[c]The time that I will punish you.
32 The most (N)proud shall stumble and fall,
And no one will raise him up;
(O)I will kindle a fire in his cities,
And it will devour all around him.”
33 Thus says the Lord of hosts:
“The children of Israel were oppressed,
Along with the children of Judah;
All who took them captive have held them fast;
They have refused to let them go.
34 (P)Their Redeemer is strong;
(Q)The Lord of hosts is His name.
He will thoroughly plead their (R)case,
That He may give rest to the land,
And disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon.
35 “A sword is against the Chaldeans,” says the Lord,
“Against the inhabitants of Babylon,
And (S)against her princes and (T)her wise men.
36 A sword is (U)against the soothsayers, and they will be fools.
A sword is against her mighty men, and they will be dismayed.
37 A sword is against their horses,
Against their chariots,
And against all (V)the mixed peoples who are in her midst;
And (W)they will become like women.
A sword is against her treasures, and they will be robbed.
38 (X)A [d]drought is against her waters, and they will be dried up.
For it is the land of carved images,
And they are insane with their idols.
39 “Therefore(Y) the wild desert beasts shall dwell there with the jackals,
And the ostriches shall dwell in it.
(Z)It shall be inhabited no more forever,
Nor shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation.
40 (AA)As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah
And their neighbors,” says the Lord,
“So no one shall reside there,
Nor son of man (AB)dwell in it.
41 “Behold,(AC) a people shall come from the north,
And a great nation and many kings
Shall be raised up from the ends of the earth.
42 (AD)They shall hold the bow and the lance;
(AE)They are cruel and shall not show mercy.
(AF)Their voice shall roar like the sea;
They shall ride on horses,
Set in array, like a man for the battle,
Against you, O daughter of Babylon.
43 “The king of Babylon has (AG)heard the report about them,
And his hands grow feeble;
Anguish has taken hold of him,
Pangs as of a woman in (AH)childbirth.
44 “Behold,(AI) he shall come up like a lion from the [e]floodplain of the Jordan
Against the dwelling place of the strong;
But I will make them suddenly run away from her.
And who is a chosen man that I may appoint over her?
For who is like Me?
Who will arraign Me?
And (AJ)who is that shepherd
Who will withstand Me?”
45 Therefore hear (AK)the counsel of the Lord that He has taken against Babylon,
And His (AL)purposes that He has proposed against the land of the Chaldeans:
(AM)Surely the least of the flock shall draw them out;
Surely He will make their dwelling place desolate with them.
46 (AN)At the noise of the taking of Babylon
The earth trembles,
And the cry is heard among the nations.
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 50:21 Or Attack with the sword
- Jeremiah 50:29 Qr., some Heb. mss., LXX, Tg. add to her
- Jeremiah 50:31 So with MT, Tg.; LXX, Vg. The time of your punishment
- Jeremiah 50:38 So with MT, Tg., Vg.; Syr. sword; LXX omits A drought is
- Jeremiah 50:44 Or thicket
Isaiah 45:4-5
New King James Version
4 For (A)Jacob My servant’s sake,
And Israel My elect,
I have even called you by your name;
I have named you, though you have not known Me.
5 I (B)am the Lord, and (C)there is no other;
There is no God besides Me.
(D)I will gird you, though you have not known Me,
Isaiah 44:27-28
New King James Version
27 (A)Who says to the deep, ‘Be dry!
And I will dry up your rivers’;
28 Who says of (B)Cyrus, ‘He is My shepherd,
And he shall perform all My pleasure,
Saying to Jerusalem, (C)“You shall be built,”
And to the temple, “Your foundation shall be laid.” ’
Isaiah 23:11
New King James Version
11 He stretched out His hand over the sea,
He shook the kingdoms;
The Lord has given a commandment (A)against Canaan
To destroy its strongholds.
Psalm 149:5-9
New King James Version
5 Let the saints be joyful in glory;
Let them (A)sing aloud on their beds.
6 Let the high praises of God be in their mouth,
And (B)a two-edged sword in their hand,
7 To execute vengeance on the nations,
And punishments on the peoples;
8 To bind their kings with chains,
And their nobles with fetters of iron;
9 (C)To execute on them the written judgment—
(D)This honor have all His saints.
[a]Praise the Lord!
Footnotes
- Psalm 149:9 Heb. Hallelujah
Psalm 149:2
New King James Version
2 Let Israel rejoice in their Maker;
Let the children of Zion be joyful in their (A)King.
Ezra 7:12-26
New King James Version
To Ezra the priest, a scribe of the Law of the God of heaven:
13 I issue a decree that all those of the people of Israel and the priests and Levites in my realm, who volunteer to go up to Jerusalem, may go with you. 14 And whereas you are being sent [c]by the king and his (C)seven counselors to inquire concerning Judah and Jerusalem, with regard to the Law of your God which is in your hand; 15 and whereas you are to carry the silver and gold which the king and his counselors have freely offered to the God of Israel, (D)whose dwelling is in Jerusalem; 16 (E)and whereas all the silver and gold that you may find in all the province of Babylon, along with the freewill offering of the people and the priests, are to be (F)freely offered for the [d]house of their God in Jerusalem— 17 now therefore, be careful to buy with this money bulls, rams, and lambs, with their (G)grain offerings and their drink offerings, and (H)offer them on the altar of the house of your God in Jerusalem.
18 And whatever seems good to you and your brethren to do with the rest of the silver and the gold, do it according to the will of your God. 19 Also the articles that are given to you for the service of the house of your God, deliver in full before the God of Jerusalem. 20 And whatever more may be needed for the house of your God, which you may have occasion to provide, pay for it from the king’s treasury.
21 And I, even I, Artaxerxes the king, issue a decree to all the treasurers who are in the region beyond the River, that whatever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the Law of the God of heaven, may require of you, let it be done diligently, 22 up to one hundred talents of silver, one hundred kors of wheat, one hundred baths of wine, one hundred baths of oil, and salt without prescribed limit. 23 Whatever [e]is commanded by the God of heaven, let it diligently be done for the [f]house of the God of heaven. For why should there be wrath against the realm of the king and his sons?
24 Also we inform you that it shall not be lawful to impose tax, tribute, or custom on any of the priests, Levites, singers, gatekeepers, Nethinim, or servants of this house of God. 25 And you, Ezra, according to your God-given wisdom, (I)set magistrates and judges who may judge all the people who are in the region beyond the River, all such as know the laws of your God; and (J)teach those who do not know them. 26 Whoever will not observe the law of your God and the law of the king, let judgment be executed speedily on him, whether it be death, or [g]banishment, or confiscation of goods, or imprisonment.
Ezra 6
New King James Version
The Decree of Darius
6 Then King Darius issued a decree, (A)and a search was made in the [a]archives, where the treasures were stored in Babylon. 2 And at [b]Achmetha, in the palace that is in the province of (B)Media, a scroll was found, and in it a record was written thus:
3 In the first year of King Cyrus, King Cyrus issued a (C)decree concerning the house of God at Jerusalem: “Let the house be rebuilt, the place where they offered sacrifices; and let the foundations of it be firmly laid, its height sixty cubits and its width sixty cubits, 4 (D)with three rows of heavy stones and one row of new timber. Let the (E)expenses be paid from the king’s treasury. 5 Also let (F)the gold and silver articles of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took from the temple which is in Jerusalem and brought to Babylon, be restored and taken back to the temple which is in Jerusalem, each to its place; and deposit them in the house of God”—
6 (G)Now therefore, Tattenai, governor of the region beyond the River, and Shethar-Boznai, and your companions the Persians who are beyond the River, keep yourselves far from there. 7 Let the work of this house of God alone; let the governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews build this house of God on its site.
8 Moreover I issue a decree as to what you shall do for the elders of these Jews, for the building of this [c]house of God: Let the cost be paid at the king’s expense from taxes on the region beyond the River; this is to be given immediately to these men, so that they are not hindered. 9 And whatever they need—young bulls, rams, and lambs for the burnt offerings of the God of heaven, wheat, salt, wine, and oil, according to the request of the priests who are in Jerusalem—let it be given them day by day without fail, 10 (H)that they may offer sacrifices of sweet aroma to the God of heaven, and pray for the life of the king and his sons.
11 Also I issue a decree that whoever alters this edict, let a timber be pulled from his house and erected, and let him be hanged on it; (I)and let his house be made a refuse heap because of this. 12 And may the God who causes His (J)name to dwell there destroy any king or people who put their hand to alter it, or to destroy this [d]house of God which is in Jerusalem. I Darius issue a decree; let it be done diligently.
The Temple Completed and Dedicated
13 Then Tattenai, governor of the region beyond the River, Shethar-Boznai, and their companions diligently did according to what King Darius had sent. 14 (K)So the elders of the Jews built, and they prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. And they built and finished it, according to the commandment of the God of Israel, and according to the [e]command of (L)Cyrus, (M)Darius, and (N)Artaxerxes king of Persia. 15 Now the temple was finished on the third day of the month of Adar, which was in the sixth year of the reign of King Darius. 16 Then the children of Israel, the priests and the Levites and the rest of the descendants of the captivity, celebrated (O)the dedication of this [f]house of God with joy. 17 And they (P)offered sacrifices at the dedication of this house of God, one hundred bulls, two hundred rams, four hundred lambs, and as a sin offering for all Israel twelve male goats, according to the number of the tribes of Israel. 18 They assigned the priests to their (Q)divisions and the Levites to their (R)divisions, over the service of God in Jerusalem, (S)as it is written in the Book of Moses.
The Passover Celebrated(T)
19 [g]And the descendants of the captivity kept the Passover (U)on the fourteenth day of the first month. 20 For the priests and the Levites had (V)purified themselves; all of them were ritually clean. And they (W)slaughtered the Passover lambs for all the descendants of the captivity, for their brethren the priests, and for themselves. 21 Then the children of Israel who had returned from the captivity ate together with all who had separated themselves from the (X)filth[h] of the nations of the land in order to seek the Lord God of Israel. 22 And they kept the (Y)Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days with joy; for the Lord made them joyful, and (Z)turned the heart (AA)of the king of Assyria toward them, to strengthen their hands in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel.
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Ezra 1
New King James Version
End of the Babylonian Captivity(A)
1 Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord (B)by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, (C)so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying,
2 Thus says Cyrus king of Persia:
All the kingdoms of the earth the Lord God of heaven has given me. And He has (D)commanded me to build Him a [a]house at Jerusalem which is in Judah. 3 Who is among you of all His people? May his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem which is in Judah, and build the house of the Lord God of Israel (E)(He is God), which is in Jerusalem. 4 And whoever is left in any place where he dwells, let the men of his place help him with silver and gold, with goods and livestock, besides the freewill offerings for the house of God which is in Jerusalem.
5 Then the heads of the fathers’ houses of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and the Levites, with all whose spirits (F)God [b]had moved, arose to go up and build the house of the Lord which is in Jerusalem. 6 And all those who were around them [c]encouraged them with articles of silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with precious things, besides all that was (G)willingly offered.
7 (H)King Cyrus also brought out the articles of the house of the Lord, (I)which Nebuchadnezzar had taken from Jerusalem and put in the [d]temple of his gods; 8 and Cyrus king of Persia brought them out by the hand of Mithredath the treasurer, and counted them out to (J)Sheshbazzar the prince of Judah. 9 This is the number of them: thirty gold platters, one thousand silver platters, twenty-nine knives, 10 thirty gold basins, four hundred and ten silver basins of a similar kind, and one thousand other articles. 11 All the articles of gold and silver were five thousand four hundred. All these Sheshbazzar took with the captives who were brought from Babylon to Jerusalem.
Read full chapterScripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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