The Folly of Not Trusting God

God Will Deliver Jerusalem

⁴ For thus the Lord has spoken to me:

⁶ Return to Him against whom the children of Israel have ^(H)deeply revolted. ⁷ For in that day every man shall ^(I)throw away his idols of silver and his idols of gold—^(J)sin, which your own hands have made for yourselves.

John the Baptist Beheaded^(A)

^14 (B)Now King Herod heard of Him, for His name had become well known. And he said, “John the Baptist is risen from the dead, and therefore ^(C)these powers are at work in him.”

^15 (D)Others said, “It is Elijah.”

And others said, “It is ^[a]the Prophet, ^(E)or like one of the prophets.”

^16 (F)But when Herod heard, he said, “This is John, whom I beheaded; he has been raised from the dead!” ¹⁷ For Herod himself had sent and laid hold of John, and bound him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife; for he had married her. ¹⁸ Because John had said to Herod, ^(G)“It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.”

¹⁹ Therefore Herodias ^[b]held it against him and wanted to kill him, but she could not; ²⁰ for Herod ^(H)feared John, knowing that he was a just and holy man, and he protected him. And when he heard him, he ^[c]did many things, and heard him gladly.

^21 (I)Then an opportune day came when Herod ^(J)on his birthday gave a feast for his nobles, the high officers, and the chief men of Galilee. ²² And when Herodias’ daughter herself came in and danced, and pleased Herod and those who sat with him, the king said to the girl, “Ask me whatever you want, and I will give it to you.” ²³ He also swore to her, ^(K)“Whatever you ask me, I will give you, up to half my kingdom.”

²⁴ So she went out and said to her mother, “What shall I ask?”

And she said, “The head of John the Baptist!”

²⁵ Immediately she came in with haste to the king and asked, saying, “I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.”

^26 (L)And the king was exceedingly sorry; yet, because of the oaths and because of those who sat with him, he did not want to refuse her. ²⁷ Immediately the king sent an executioner and commanded his head to be brought. And he went and beheaded him in prison, ²⁸ brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl; and the girl gave it to her mother. ²⁹ When his disciples heard of it, they came and ^(M)took away his corpse and laid it in a tomb.

Hezekiah’s Life Extended^(A)

38 In ^(B)those days Hezekiah was sick and near death. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, went to him and said to him, “Thus says the Lord: ^(C)‘Set your house in order, for you shall die and not live.’ ”

² Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, and prayed to the Lord, ³ and said, ^(D)“Remember now, O Lord, I pray, how I have walked before You in truth and with a ^[a]loyal heart, and have done what is good in Your ^(E)sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.

⁴ And the word of the Lord came to Isaiah, saying, ⁵ “Go and tell Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father: “I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; surely I will add to your days fifteen years. ⁶ I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria, and ^(F)I will defend this city.” ’ ⁷ And this is ^(G)the sign to you from the Lord, that the Lord will do this thing which He has spoken: ⁸ Behold, I will bring the shadow on the sundial, which has gone down with the sun on the sundial of Ahaz, ten degrees backward.” So the sun returned ten degrees on the dial by which it had gone down.

⁹ This is the writing of Hezekiah king of Judah, when he had been sick and had recovered from his sickness:

The Seven Bowls

16 Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying ^(A)to the seven angels, “Go and pour out the ^[a]bowls ^(B)of the wrath of God on the earth.”

First Bowl: Loathsome Sores

² So the first went and poured out his bowl ^(C)upon the earth, and a ^[b]foul and ^(D)loathsome sore came upon the men ^(E)who had the mark of the beast and those ^(F)who worshiped his image.

Second Bowl: The Sea Turns to Blood

³ Then the second angel poured out his bowl ^(G)on the sea, and ^(H)it became blood as of a dead man; ^(I)and every living creature in the sea died.

Third Bowl: The Waters Turn to Blood

⁴ Then the third angel poured out his bowl ^(J)on the rivers and springs of water, ^(K)and they became blood. ⁵ And I heard the angel of the waters saying:

⁷ And I heard ^[f]another from the altar saying, “Even so, ^(Q)Lord God Almighty, ^(R)true and righteous are Your judgments.”

Fourth Bowl: Men Are Scorched

⁸ Then the fourth angel poured out his bowl ^(S)on the sun, ^(T)and power was given to him to scorch men with fire. ⁹ And men were scorched with great heat, and they ^(U)blasphemed the name of God who has power over these plagues; ^(V)and they did not repent ^(W)and give Him glory.

Fifth Bowl: Darkness and Pain

¹⁰ Then the fifth angel poured out his bowl ^(X)on the throne of the beast, ^(Y)and his kingdom became full of darkness; ^(Z)and they gnawed their tongues because of the pain. ¹¹ They blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and did not repent of their deeds.

Sixth Bowl: Euphrates Dried Up

¹² Then the sixth angel poured out his bowl ^(AA)on the great river Euphrates, ^(AB)and its water was dried up, ^(AC)so that the way of the kings from the east might be prepared. ¹³ And I saw three unclean ^(AD)spirits like frogs coming out of the mouth of ^(AE)the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of ^(AF)the false prophet. ¹⁴ For they are spirits of demons, ^(AG)performing signs, which go out to the kings ^[g]of the earth and of ^(AH)the whole world, to gather them to ^(AI)the battle of that great day of God Almighty.

^15 (AJ)“Behold, I am coming as a thief. Blessed is he who watches, and keeps his garments, ^(AK)lest he walk naked and they see his shame.”

^16 (AL)And they gathered them together to the place called in Hebrew, ^[h]Armageddon.

Seventh Bowl: The Earth Utterly Shaken

¹⁷ Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, ^(AM)“It is done!” ¹⁸ And ^(AN)there were noises and thunderings and lightnings; ^(AO)and there was a great earthquake, such a mighty and great earthquake ^(AP)as had not occurred since men were on the earth. ¹⁹ Now ^(AQ)the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. And ^(AR)great Babylon ^(AS)was remembered before God, ^(AT)to give her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of His wrath. ²⁰ Then ^(AU)every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. ²¹ And great hail from heaven fell upon men, each hailstone about the weight of a talent. Men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, since that plague was exceedingly great.