Isaiah 25:1-9

English Standard Version

God Will Swallow Up Death Forever

25 O Lord, ^(A)you are my God;
    ^(B)I will exalt you; I will praise your name,
for you have done wonderful things,
    ^(C)plans formed of old, faithful and sure.
²For you have made the city ^(D)a heap,
    the fortified city a ruin;
the foreigners' palace is a city no more;
    it will never be rebuilt.
³^(E)Therefore strong peoples will glorify you;
    cities of ruthless nations will fear you.
⁴^(F)For you have been a stronghold to the poor,
    a stronghold to the needy in his distress,
    ^(G)a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat;
^(H)for the breath of the ruthless is like a storm against a wall,
⁵    ^(I)like heat in a dry place.
You subdue the noise of the foreigners;
    as heat by the shade of a cloud,
    so the song of the ruthless is put down.

⁶^(J)On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples
    a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine,
    ^(K)of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined.
⁷And he will swallow up ^(L)on this mountain
    the covering that is cast over all peoples,
    ^(M)the veil that is spread over all nations.
⁸    ^(N)He will swallow up death forever;
and ^(O)the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces,
    and ^(P)the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth,
    ^(Q)for the Lord has spoken.
⁹It will be said on that day,
    “Behold, this is our God; ^(R)we have waited for him, that he might save us.
    This is the Lord; we have waited for him;
    ^(S)let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”

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Isaiah 28:9-22

English Standard Version

⁹^(A)“To whom will he teach knowledge,
    and to whom will he explain the message?
Those who are weaned from the milk,
    those taken from the breast?
¹⁰For it is precept upon precept, precept upon precept,
    line upon line, line upon line,
    here a little, there a little.”

¹¹^(B)For by people of strange lips
    and with a foreign tongue
the Lord will speak to this people,
¹²    to whom he has said,
^(C)“This is rest;
    give rest to the weary;
and this is repose”;
    yet they would not hear.
¹³And the word of the Lord will be to them
precept upon precept, precept upon precept,
    line upon line, line upon line,
    here a little, there a little,
^(D)that they may go, and fall backward,
    and be broken, and snared, and taken.

A Cornerstone in Zion

¹⁴Therefore hear the word of the Lord, you ^(E)scoffers,
    who rule this people in Jerusalem!
¹⁵Because you have said, “We have made a covenant with death,
    and with Sheol we have an agreement,
when the ^(F)overwhelming whip passes through
    it will not come to us,
for we have made ^(G)lies our refuge,
    and in falsehood we have taken shelter”;
¹⁶therefore thus says the Lord God,
^(H)“Behold, I am the one who has laid^[a] as a foundation ^(I)in Zion,
    a stone, a tested stone,
a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation:
    ‘Whoever believes will not be in haste.’
¹⁷And I will make justice ^(J)the line,
    and righteousness ^(K)the plumb line;
and hail will sweep away the refuge of lies,
    and waters will overwhelm the shelter.”
¹⁸Then ^(L)your covenant with death will be annulled,
    and your agreement with Sheol will not stand;
when the overwhelming scourge passes through,
    you will be beaten down by it.
¹⁹As often as it passes through it will take you;
    ^(M)for morning by morning it will pass through,
    by day and by night;
and it will be ^(N)sheer terror to understand the message.
²⁰For the bed is too short to stretch oneself on,
    and the covering too narrow to wrap oneself in.
²¹For the Lord will rise up ^(O)as on Mount Perazim;
    ^(P)as in the Valley of ^(Q)Gibeon he will be roused;
to do his deed—strange is his deed!
    and to work his work—alien is his work!
²²Now therefore do not ^(R)scoff,
    lest your bonds be made strong;
for I have heard ^(S)a decree of destruction
    from the Lord God of hosts against the whole land.

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Footnotes

Isaiah 28:16 Dead Sea Scroll I am laying

Matthew 25:1-30

English Standard Version

The Parable of the Ten Virgins

25 “Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ^(A)ten virgins who took their lamps^[a] and went to meet ^(B)the bridegroom.^[b] ²Five of them were foolish, and five were ^(C)wise. ³For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, ⁴but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. ⁵As the bridegroom ^(D)was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept. ⁶But ^(E)at midnight there was a cry, ‘Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ ⁷Then all those virgins rose and ^(F)trimmed their lamps. ⁸And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ ⁹But the wise answered, saying, ‘Since there will not be enough for us and for you, go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.’ ¹⁰And while they were going to buy, the bridegroom came, and ^(G)those who were ready went in with him to ^(H)the marriage feast, and ^(I)the door was shut. ¹¹Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ^(J)‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ ¹²^(K)But he answered, ‘Truly, I say to you, ^(L)I do not know you.’ ¹³^(M)Watch therefore, for you ^(N)know neither the day nor the hour.

The Parable of the Talents

¹⁴^(O)“For ^(P)it will be like a man ^(Q)going on a journey, who called his servants^[c] and entrusted to them his property. ¹⁵To one he gave five ^(R)talents,^[d] to another two, to another one, ^(S)to each according to his ability. Then he ^(T)went away. ¹⁶He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. ¹⁷So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. ¹⁸But he who had received the one talent went and ^(U)dug in the ground and hid his master's money. ¹⁹Now ^(V)after a long time the master of those servants came and ^(W)settled accounts with them. ²⁰And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me five talents; here, I have made five talents more.’ ²¹His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and ^(X)faithful servant.^[e] ^(Y)You have been faithful over a little; ^(Z)I will set you over much. Enter into ^(AA)the joy of your master.’ ²²And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me two talents; here, I have made two talents more.’ ²³His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ ²⁴He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be ^(AB)a hard man, reaping ^(AC)where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, ²⁵so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, ^(AD)you have what is yours.’ ²⁶But his master answered him, ‘You ^(AE)wicked and ^(AF)slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? ²⁷Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. ²⁸So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. ²⁹^(AG)For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. ³⁰And ^(AH)cast ^(AI)the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place ^(AJ)there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

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Footnotes

Matthew 25:1 Or torches
Matthew 25:1 Some manuscripts add and the bride
Matthew 25:14 Or bondservants; also verse 19
Matthew 25:15 A talent was a monetary unit worth about twenty years' wages for a laborer
Matthew 25:21 Or bondservant; also verses 23, 26, 30

Revelation 3:7-22

English Standard Version

To the Church in Philadelphia

⁷“And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: ‘The words of ^(A)the holy one, ^(B)the true one, ^(C)who has the key of David, ^(D)who opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens.

⁸“‘I know your works. Behold, I have set before you ^(E)an open door, which no one is able to shut. I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. ⁹Behold, I will make those of ^(F)the synagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie—behold, ^(G)I will make them come and bow down before your feet, and they will learn that ^(H)I have loved you. ¹⁰^(I)Because you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try ^(J)those who dwell on the earth. ¹¹^(K)I am coming soon. ^(L)Hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize ^(M)your crown. ¹²^(N)The one who conquers, I will make him ^(O)a pillar in the temple of my God. Never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him ^(P)the name of my God, and ^(Q)the name of the city of my God, ^(R)the new Jerusalem, ^(S)which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own ^(T)new name. ¹³^(U)He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’

To the Church in Laodicea

¹⁴“And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: ‘The words of the ^(V)Amen, ^(W)the faithful and true witness, ^(X)the beginning of God's creation.

¹⁵“‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. ^(Y)Would that you were either cold or hot! ¹⁶So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. ¹⁷^(Z)For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, ^(AA)blind, and naked. ¹⁸I counsel you ^(AB)to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and ^(AC)white garments so that you may clothe yourself and ^(AD)the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, ^(AE)so that you may see. ¹⁹^(AF)Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent. ²⁰Behold, I stand at the door and ^(AG)knock. ^(AH)If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, ^(AI)I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. ²¹^(AJ)The one who conquers, ^(AK)I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as ^(AL)I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. ²²^(AM)He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’”