The Lord’s Anger Against Israel

Jesus Forgives and Heals a Paralyzed Man^(A)

2 A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. ² They gathered in such large numbers^(B) that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. ³ Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man,^(C) carried by four of them. ⁴ Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on. ⁵ When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”^(D)

⁶ Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, ⁷ “Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”^(E)

⁸ Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, “Why are you thinking these things? ⁹ Which is easier: to say to this paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk’? ¹⁰ But I want you to know that the Son of Man^(F) has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the man, ¹¹ “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” ¹² He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God,^(G) saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”^(H)

Jesus Calls Levi and Eats With Sinners^(I)

¹³ Once again Jesus went out beside the lake. A large crowd came to him,^(J) and he began to teach them. ¹⁴ As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,”^(K) Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him.

¹⁵ While Jesus was having dinner at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. ¹⁶ When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees^(L) saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?”^(M)

¹⁷ On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”^(N)

Jesus Questioned About Fasting^(O)

¹⁸ Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting.^(P) Some people came and asked Jesus, “How is it that John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees are fasting, but yours are not?”

¹⁹ Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? They cannot, so long as they have him with them. ²⁰ But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them,^(Q) and on that day they will fast.

²¹ “No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. Otherwise, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse. ²² And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins.”

God’s Judgment on Assyria

¹² When the Lord has finished all his work^(U) against Mount Zion^(V) and Jerusalem, he will say, “I will punish the king of Assyria^(W) for the willful pride^(X) of his heart and the haughty look^(Y) in his eyes. ¹³ For he says:

The Remnant of Israel

The Seventh Seal and the Golden Censer

8 When he opened the seventh seal,^(A) there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.

² And I saw the seven angels^(B) who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them.^(C)

³ Another angel,^(D) who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all God’s people,^(E) on the golden altar^(F) in front of the throne. ⁴ The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of God’s people, went up before God^(G) from the angel’s hand. ⁵ Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar,^(H) and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder,^(I) rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake.^(J)

The Trumpets

⁶ Then the seven angels who had the seven trumpets^(K) prepared to sound them.

⁷ The first angel^(L) sounded his trumpet, and there came hail and fire^(M) mixed with blood, and it was hurled down on the earth. A third^(N) of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.^(O)

⁸ The second angel sounded his trumpet, and something like a huge mountain,^(P) all ablaze, was thrown into the sea. A third^(Q) of the sea turned into blood,^{(R) 9} a third^(S) of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.

¹⁰ The third angel sounded his trumpet, and a great star, blazing like a torch, fell from the sky^(T) on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water^(U)— ¹¹ the name of the star is Wormwood.^[a] A third^(V) of the waters turned bitter, and many people died from the waters that had become bitter.^(W)

¹² The fourth angel sounded his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third^(X) of them turned dark.^(Y) A third of the day was without light, and also a third of the night.^(Z)

¹³ As I watched, I heard an eagle that was flying in midair^(AA) call out in a loud voice: “Woe! Woe! Woe^(AB) to the inhabitants of the earth,^(AC) because of the trumpet blasts about to be sounded by the other three angels!”