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Social Injustice Denounced

Woe to those who join house to house,
    who add field to field,
until there is room for no one,
    and you are left to live alone
    in the midst of the land!(A)
The Lord of hosts has sworn in my hearing:
Surely many houses shall be desolate,
    large and beautiful houses, without inhabitant.(B)
10 For ten acres of vineyard shall yield but one bath,
    and a homer of seed shall yield a mere ephah.[a](C)

11 Woe to those who rise early in the morning
    in pursuit of strong drink,
who linger in the evening
    to be inflamed by wine,(D)
12 whose feasts consist of lyre and harp,
    tambourine and flute and wine,
but who do not regard the deeds of the Lord
    or see the work of his hands!(E)

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Footnotes

  1. 5.10 The Heb bath, homer, and ephah are measures of quantity

18 Woe to those who drag iniquity along with cords of falsehood,
    who drag sin along as with cart ropes,(A)
19 who say, “Let him make haste;
    let him speed his work
    that we may see it;
let the plan of the Holy One of Israel hasten to fulfillment,
    that we may know it!”(B)
20 Woe to those who call evil good
    and good evil,
who put darkness for light
    and light for darkness,
who put bitter for sweet
    and sweet for bitter!(C)
21 Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes
    and shrewd in their own sight!(D)
22 Woe to those who are heroes in drinking wine
    and valiant at mixing drink,(E)
23 who acquit the guilty for a bribe
    and deprive the innocent of their rights!(F)

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Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers and sisters, you do not need to have anything written to you.(A) For you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.(B) When they say, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them, as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and there will be no escape!(C) But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness, for that day to surprise you like a thief;(D) for you are all children of light and children of the day; we are not of the night or of darkness. So, then, let us not fall asleep as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober,(E) for those who sleep sleep at night, and those who are drunk get drunk at night.(F) But since we belong to the day, let us be sober and put on the breastplate of faith and love and for a helmet the hope of salvation.(G) For God has destined us not for wrath but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,(H) 10 who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep we may live with him.(I) 11 Therefore encourage one another and build up each other, as indeed you are doing.

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The Destruction of Jerusalem Foretold

20 “When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near.[a](A) 21 Then those in Judea must flee to the mountains, and those inside the city must leave it, and those out in the country must not enter it,(B) 22 for these are days of vengeance, as a fulfillment of all that is written.(C) 23 Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing infants in those days! For there will be great distress on the earth and wrath against this people; 24 they will fall by the edge of the sword and be taken away as captives among all nations, and Jerusalem will be trampled on by the nations, until the times of the nations are fulfilled.(D)

The Coming of the Son of Man

25 “There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars and on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves.(E) 26 People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 27 Then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in a cloud’ with power and great glory.(F) 28 Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”[b](G)

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Footnotes

  1. 21.20 Or is at hand
  2. 21.28 Or at hand