Isaiah 25:1-9

New King James Version

Praise to God

25 O Lord, You are my God.
^(A)I will exalt You,
I will praise Your name,
^(B)For You have done wonderful things;
^(C)Your counsels of old are faithfulness and truth.
²For You have made ^(D)a city a ruin,
A fortified city a ruin,
A palace of foreigners to be a city no more;
It will never be rebuilt.
³Therefore the strong people will ^(E)glorify You;
The city of the ^[a]terrible nations will fear You.
⁴For You have been a strength to the poor,
A strength to the needy in his distress,
^(F)A refuge from the storm,
A shade from the heat;
For the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall.
⁵You will reduce the noise of aliens,
As heat in a dry place;
As heat in the shadow of a cloud,
The song of the terrible ones will be ^[b]diminished.

⁶And in ^(G)this mountain
^(H)The Lord of hosts will make for ^(I)all people
A feast of ^[c]choice pieces,
A feast of ^[d]wines on the lees,
Of fat things full of marrow,
Of well-refined wines on the lees.
⁷And He will destroy on this mountain
The surface of the covering cast over all people,
And ^(J)the veil that is spread over all nations.
⁸He will ^(K)swallow up death forever,
And the Lord God will ^(L)wipe away tears from all faces;
The rebuke of His people
He will take away from all the earth;
For the Lord has spoken.

⁹And it will be said in that day:
“Behold, this is our God;
^(M)We have waited for Him, and He will save us.
This is the Lord;
We have waited for Him;
^(N)We will be glad and rejoice in His salvation.”

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Footnotes

Isaiah 25:3 terrifying
Isaiah 25:5 humbled
Isaiah 25:6 Lit. fat things
Isaiah 25:6 wines matured on the sediment

Isaiah 28:9-22

New King James Version

⁹“Whom^(A) will he teach knowledge?
And whom will he make to understand the message?
Those just weaned from milk?
Those just drawn from the breasts?
¹⁰^(B)For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept,
Line upon line, line upon line,
Here a little, there a little.”

¹¹For with ^(C)stammering lips and another tongue
He will speak to this people,
¹²To whom He said, “This is the ^(D)rest with which
You may cause the weary to rest,”
And, “This is the refreshing”;
Yet they would not hear.
¹³But the word of the Lord was to them,
“Precept upon precept, precept upon precept,
Line upon line, line upon line,
Here a little, there a little,”
That they might go and fall backward, and be broken
And snared and caught.

¹⁴Therefore hear the word of the Lord, you scornful men,
Who rule this people who are in Jerusalem,
¹⁵Because you have said, “We have made a covenant with death,
And with Sheol we are in agreement.
When the overflowing scourge passes through,
It will not come to us,
^(E)For we have made lies our refuge,
And under falsehood we have hidden ourselves.”

A Cornerstone in Zion

¹⁶Therefore thus says the Lord God:

“Behold, I lay in Zion ^(F)a stone for a foundation,
A tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation;
Whoever believes will not act hastily.
¹⁷Also I will make justice the measuring line,
And righteousness the plummet;
The hail will sweep away the refuge of lies,
And the waters will overflow the hiding place.
¹⁸Your covenant with death will be annulled,
And your agreement with Sheol will not stand;
When the overflowing scourge passes through,
Then you will be trampled down by it.
¹⁹As often as it goes out it will take you;
For morning by morning it will pass over,
And by day and by night;
It will be a terror just to understand the report.”

²⁰For the bed is too short to stretch out on,
And the covering so narrow that one cannot wrap himself in it.
²¹For the Lord will rise up as at Mount ^(G)Perazim,
He will be angry as in the Valley of ^(H)Gibeon—
That He may do His work, ^(I)His awesome work,
And bring to pass His act, His ^[a]unusual act.
²²Now therefore, do not be mockers,
Lest your bonds be made strong;
For I have heard from the Lord God of hosts,
^(J)A ^[b]destruction determined even upon the whole earth.

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Footnotes

Isaiah 28:21 Lit. foreign
Isaiah 28:22 Lit. complete end

Matthew 25:1-30

New King James Version

The Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins

25 “Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet ^(A)the bridegroom. ²^(B)Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish. ³Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, ⁴but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. ⁵But while the bridegroom was delayed, ^(C)they all slumbered and slept.

⁶“And at midnight ^(D)a cry was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom ^[a]is coming; go out to meet him!’ ⁷Then all those virgins arose and ^(E)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, ‘No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.’ ¹⁰And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and ^(F)the door was shut.

¹¹“Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ^(G)‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ ¹²But he answered and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, ^(H)I do not know you.’

¹³^(I)“Watch therefore, for you ^(J)know neither the day nor the hour ^[b]in which the Son of Man is coming.

The Parable of the Talents^(K)

¹⁴^(L)“For the kingdom of heaven is ^(M)like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them. ¹⁵And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, ^(N)to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey. ¹⁶Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents. ¹⁷And likewise he who had received two gained two more also. ¹⁸But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord’s money. ¹⁹After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them.

²⁰“So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, ‘Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides them.’ ²¹His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were ^(O)faithful over a few things, ^(P)I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into ^(Q)the joy of your lord.’ ²²He also who had received two talents came and said, ‘Lord, you delivered to me two talents; look, I have gained two more talents besides them.’ ²³His lord said to him, ^(R)‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into ^(S)the joy of your lord.’

²⁴“Then he who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed. ²⁵And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.’

²⁶“But his lord answered and said to him, ‘You ^(T)wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed. ²⁷So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest. ²⁸So take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents.

²⁹^(U)‘For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. ³⁰And cast the unprofitable servant ^(V)into the outer darkness. ^(W)There will be weeping and ^(X)gnashing of teeth.’

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Footnotes

Matthew 25:6 NU omits is coming
Matthew 25:13 NU omits the rest of v. 13.

Revelation 3:7-22

New King James Version

The Faithful Church

⁷“And to the ^[a]angel of the church in Philadelphia write,

‘These things says ^(A)He who is holy, ^(B)He who is true, ^(C)“He who has the key of David, ^(D)He who opens and no one shuts, and ^(E)shuts and no one opens”: ⁸^(F)“I know your works. See, I have set before you ^(G)an open door, ^[b]and no one can shut it; for you have a little strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name. ⁹Indeed I will make ^(H)those of the synagogue of Satan, who say they are Jews and are not, but lie—indeed ^(I)I will make them come and worship before your feet, and to know that I have loved you. ¹⁰Because you have kept ^[c]My command to persevere, ^(J)I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon ^(K)the whole world, to test those who dwell ^(L)on the earth. ¹¹^[d]Behold, ^(M)I am coming quickly! ^(N)Hold fast what you have, that no one may take ^(O)your crown. ¹²He who overcomes, I will make him ^(P)a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall ^(Q)go out no more. ^(R)I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the ^(S)New Jerusalem, which ^(T)comes down out of heaven from My God. ^(U)And I will write on him My new name.

¹³^(V)“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” ’

The Lukewarm Church

¹⁴“And to the ^[e]angel of the church ^[f]of the Laodiceans write,

^(W)‘These things says the Amen, ^(X)the Faithful and True Witness, ^(Y)the Beginning of the creation of God: ¹⁵^(Z)“I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. ¹⁶So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither ^[g]cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth. ¹⁷Because you say, ^(AA)‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked— ¹⁸I counsel you ^(AB)to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and ^(AC)white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. ¹⁹^(AD)As many as I love, I rebuke and ^(AE)chasten.^[h] Therefore be ^[i]zealous and repent. ²⁰Behold, ^(AF)I stand at the door and knock. ^(AG)If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, ^(AH)I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. ²¹To him who overcomes ^(AI)I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.