¹¹ For I know the ^(A)plans that I ^[a]have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for ^[b](B)prosperity and not for disaster, to give you a future and a ^(C)hope.

^13 (A)Come now, you who say, “^(B)Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.” ^14 [a]Yet you do not know ^[b]what your life will be like tomorrow. ^(C)For you are just a vapor that appears for a little while, and then vanishes away. ^15 [c]Instead, you ought to say, “^(D)If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.” ¹⁶ But as it is, you boast in your ^[d]arrogance; ^(E)all such boasting is evil. ¹⁷ So ^(F)for one who knows the ^[e]right thing to do and does not do it, for him it is sin.

⁸ When He had taken the scroll, the ^(A)four living creatures and the ^(B)twenty-four elders ^(C)fell down before the ^(D)Lamb, each one holding a ^(E)harp and ^(F)golden bowls full of incense, which are the ^(G)prayers of the ^[a]saints.

¹⁷ for the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their ^(A)shepherd, and will guide them to springs of the ^[a](B)water of life; and ^(C)God will wipe every tear from their eyes.”