Babylon to Be Destroyed

¹⁴ This is what the Lord your ^(A)Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel says:

¹⁶ This is what the Lord says,

The Shortcomings of Israel

The Blessings of Israel

The Syrophoenician Woman

^24 (A)Now Jesus got up and went from there to the region of ^(B)Tyre^[a]. And when He had entered a house, He wanted no one to know about it; and yet He could not escape notice. ²⁵ But after hearing about Him, a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately came and fell at His feet. ²⁶ Now the woman was a ^[b]Gentile, of Syrophoenician descent. And she repeatedly asked Him to cast the demon out of her daughter. ²⁷ And He was saying to her, “Let the children be satisfied first, for it is not ^[c]good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the ^[d]dogs.” ²⁸ But she answered and *said to Him, “Yes, Lord, but even the dogs under the table feed on the children’s crumbs.” ²⁹ And He said to her, “Because of this ^[e]answer, go; the demon has gone out of your daughter.” ³⁰ And after going back to her home, she found the child ^[f]lying on the bed, and the demon gone.

^31 (C)Again He left the region of ^(D)Tyre and came through Sidon to ^(E)the Sea of Galilee, within the region of ^(F)Decapolis. ³² And they *brought to Him one who was deaf and had difficulty speaking, and they *begged Him to ^(G)lay His hand on him. ³³ And Jesus ^(H)took him aside from the crowd, by himself, and put His fingers in his ears, and after ^(I)spitting, He touched his tongue with the saliva; ³⁴ and looking up to heaven with a deep ^(J)sigh, He *said to him, “Ephphatha!” that is, “Be opened!” ³⁵ And his ears were opened, and the ^[g]impediment of his tongue was ^[h]removed, and he began speaking plainly. ³⁶ And ^(K)He gave them orders not to tell anyone; but the more He ordered them, the more widely they ^(L)continued to proclaim it. ³⁷ And they were utterly astonished, saying, “He has done all things well; He makes even those who are deaf hear, and those who are unable to talk, speak.”

Four Thousand Men Fed

8 In those days, ^(M)when there was again a large crowd and they had nothing to eat, Jesus summoned His disciples and *said to them, ² “^(N)I feel compassion for the ^[i]people because they have remained with Me for three days already and have nothing to eat. ³ And if I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way; and some of them have come from a great distance.” ⁴ And His disciples replied to Him, “Where will anyone be able to find enough ^[j]bread here in this desolate place to satisfy these people?” ⁵ And He was asking them, “How many loaves do you have?” And they said, “Seven.” ⁶ And He *directed the ^[k]people to recline on the ground; and taking the seven loaves, He gave thanks and broke them, and started giving them to His disciples to serve, and they served them to the ^[l]people. ⁷ They also had a few small fish; and ^(O)after He had blessed them, He told the disciples to serve these as well. ⁸ And they ate and were satisfied; and they picked up seven large ^(P)baskets full of what was left over of the broken pieces. ⁹ About four thousand ^[m]men were there; and He dismissed them. ¹⁰ And immediately He got into the boat with His disciples and came to the region of ^(Q)Dalmanutha.

⁶ “This is what the Lord says, He who is the ^(A)King of Israel and his ^(B)Redeemer, the Lord of armies:

The Foolishness of Idolatry

⁹ Those who fashion an idol are all futile, and their treasured things are of no benefit; even their own witnesses fail to see or know, so that they will be ^(J)put to shame. ¹⁰ Who has fashioned a god or cast an idol to ^(K)no benefit? ¹¹ Behold, all his companions will be ^(L)put to shame, for the craftsmen themselves are mere men. Let them all assemble themselves, let them stand up, let them tremble, let them be put to shame together.

¹² The ^(M)craftsman of iron shapes a cutting tool and does his work over the coals, ^[c]fashioning it with hammers and working it with his strong arm. He also gets hungry and ^[d]his strength fails; he drinks no water and becomes weary. ^13 (N)The craftsman of wood extends a measuring line; he outlines it with a marker. He works it with carving knives and outlines it with a compass, and makes it like the form of a man, like the beauty of ^(O)mankind, so that it may sit in a ^(P)house. ¹⁴ He will cut cedars for himself, and he takes a holm-oak or another oak and lets it grow strong for himself among the trees of the forest. He plants a laurel tree, and the rain makes it grow. ¹⁵ Then it becomes something for a person to burn, so he takes one of them and gets warm; he also makes a fire and bakes bread. He also ^(Q)makes a god and worships it; he makes it a carved image and ^(R)bows down before it. ¹⁶ Half of it he burns in the fire; over this half he eats meat, he roasts a roast, and is satisfied. He also warms himself and says, “Aha! I am warm, I have seen the fire.” ¹⁷ Yet the rest of it he ^(S)makes into a god, his carved image. He bows down before it and worships; he also ^(T)prays to it and says, “Save me, for you are my god.”

¹⁸ They do not ^(U)know, nor do they understand, for He has ^(V)smeared over their eyes so that they cannot see, and their hearts so that they cannot comprehend. ¹⁹ No one ^[e]remembers, nor is there ^(W)knowledge or understanding to say, “I have burned half of it in the fire and also have baked bread over its coals. I roast meat and eat it. Then ^[f]I make the rest of it into an ^(X)abomination, ^[g]I bow down before a block of wood!” ²⁰ He ^[h](Y)feeds on ashes; a ^(Z)deceived heart has misled him. And he cannot save ^[i]himself, nor say, “^(AA)Is there not a lie in my right hand?”

God Forgives and Redeems

The Fourfold Hallelujah

19 After these things I heard something like a ^(A)loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying,

“^(B)Hallelujah! ^(C)Salvation, ^(D)glory, and power belong to our God, ^2 (E)because His ^(F)judgments are ^(G)true and righteous; for He has judged the ^(H)great prostitute who was corrupting the earth with her sexual immorality, and He has ^(I)avenged the blood of His bond-servants ^[a]on her.” ³ And a second time they said, “^(J)Hallelujah! ^(K)Her smoke rises forever and ever.” ⁴ And the ^(L)twenty-four elders and the ^(M)four living creatures ^(N)fell down and worshiped God who sits on the throne, saying, “^(O)Amen. ^(P)Hallelujah!” ⁵ And a voice came from the throne, saying,

“^(Q)Give praise to our God, all you His bond-servants, ^(R)you who fear Him, the small and the great.” ⁶ Then I heard something like ^(S)the voice of a great multitude and like ^(T)the sound of many waters, and like the ^(U)sound of mighty peals of thunder, saying,

“^(V)Hallelujah! For the ^(W)Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns.

Marriage of the Lamb

⁷ Let’s rejoice and be glad and ^(X)give the glory to Him, because ^(Y)the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His ^[b](Z)bride has prepared herself.” ⁸ It was given to her to clothe herself in ^(AA)fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the ^(AB)righteous acts of the ^[c]saints.

⁹ Then ^(AC)he *said to me, “^(AD)Write: ‘^(AE)Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb.’” And he *said to me, “^(AF)These are the true words of God.” ¹⁰ Then ^(AG)I fell at his feet to worship him. ^(AH)But he *said to me, “^[d]Do not do that; I am a ^(AI)fellow servant of yours and your brothers and sisters who ^(AJ)hold the testimony of Jesus; worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”

The Coming of Christ

¹¹ And I saw ^(AK)heaven opened, and behold, a ^(AL)white horse, and He who sat on it is called ^(AM)Faithful and True, and in ^(AN)righteousness He judges and wages war. ¹² His ^(AO)eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many ^(AP)crowns; and He has a ^(AQ)name written on Him which no one knows except Himself. ¹³ He is clothed with a ^(AR)robe dipped in blood, and His name is called ^(AS)The Word of God. ¹⁴ And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in ^(AT)fine linen, ^(AU)white and clean, were following Him on white horses. ^15 (AV)From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that ^(AW)with it He may strike down the nations, and He will ^[e](AX)rule them with a rod of iron; and ^(AY)He treads the ^[f]wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty. ¹⁶ And on His robe and on His thigh He has ^(AZ)a name written: “^(BA)KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”

¹⁷ Then I saw ^[g]an angel standing in the sun, and he cried out with a loud voice, saying to ^(BB)all the birds that fly in ^(BC)midheaven, “^(BD)Come, assemble for the great feast of God, ¹⁸ so that you may ^(BE)eat the flesh of kings and the flesh of commanders, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them, and the flesh of all people, ^(BF)both free and slaves, and ^(BG)small and great.”

¹⁹ And I saw ^(BH)the beast and ^(BI)the kings of the earth and their armies, assembled to make war against Him who ^(BJ)sat on the horse, and against His army.

Doom of the Beast and False Prophet

²⁰ And the beast was seized, and with him the ^(BK)false prophet who ^(BL)performed the signs ^[h](BM)in his presence, by which he ^(BN)deceived those who had received the ^(BO)mark of the beast and those who ^(BP)worshiped his image; these two were thrown alive into the ^(BQ)lake of ^(BR)fire, which burns with ^[i]brimstone. ²¹ And the rest were killed with the sword which ^(BS)came from the mouth of Him who ^(BT)sat on the horse, and ^(BU)all the birds were filled with their flesh.