Nehemiah's Final Reforms

13 On that day ^(A)they read from the Book of Moses in the hearing of the people. And in it was found written ^(B)that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever enter the assembly of God, ² for they did not meet the people of Israel with bread and water, but hired Balaam against them to curse them—yet our God turned the curse into a blessing. ³ As soon as the people heard the law, ^(C)they separated from Israel all ^(D)those of foreign descent.

⁴ Now before this, ^(E)Eliashib the priest, who ^(F)was appointed over the chambers of the house of our God, and who was related to ^(G)Tobiah, ⁵ prepared for Tobiah a large chamber where they had previously put the grain offering, the frankincense, the vessels, and the tithes of grain, wine, and oil, ^(H)which were given by commandment to the Levites, singers, and gatekeepers, and the contributions for the priests. ⁶ While this was taking place, I was not in Jerusalem, for ^(I)in the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes ^(J)king of Babylon I went to the king. And after some time I asked leave of the king ⁷ and came to Jerusalem, and I then discovered the evil that Eliashib had done for Tobiah, ^(K)preparing for him a chamber in the courts of the house of God. ⁸ And I was very angry, and I threw all the household furniture of Tobiah out of the chamber. ⁹ Then I gave orders, and they ^(L)cleansed the chambers, and I brought back there the vessels of the house of God, with the grain offering and the frankincense.

¹⁰ I also found out that ^(M)the portions of the Levites had not been given to them, so that the Levites and the singers, who did the work, had fled each ^(N)to his field. ^11 (O)So I confronted the officials and said, ^(P)“Why is the house of God forsaken?” And I gathered them together and set them in their stations. ¹² Then all Judah brought ^(Q)the tithe of the grain, wine, and oil into the storehouses. ¹³ And ^(R)I appointed as treasurers over the storehouses Shelemiah the priest, Zadok the scribe, and Pedaiah of the Levites, and as their assistant Hanan the son of Zaccur, son of Mattaniah, ^(S)for they were considered reliable, and their duty was to distribute to their brothers. ^14 (T)Remember me, O my God, concerning this, and do not wipe out my good deeds that I have done for the house of my God and for his service.

¹⁵ In those days I saw in Judah people treading winepresses ^(U)on the Sabbath, and bringing in heaps of grain and loading them on donkeys, and also wine, grapes, figs, and all kinds of loads, ^(V)which they brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. And ^(W)I warned them on the day when they sold food. ¹⁶ Tyrians also, who lived in the city, brought in fish and all kinds of goods and sold them on the Sabbath to the people of Judah, in Jerusalem itself! ^17 (X)Then I confronted the nobles of Judah and said to them, “What is this evil thing that you are doing, ^(Y)profaning the Sabbath day? ^18 (Z)Did not your fathers act in this way, and did not our God bring all this disaster^[a] on us and on this city? Now you are bringing more wrath on Israel by profaning the Sabbath.”

¹⁹ As soon as it ^(AA)began to grow dark at the gates of Jerusalem before the Sabbath, I commanded that the doors should be shut and gave orders that they should not be opened until after the Sabbath. And I stationed some of my servants at the gates, that no load might be brought in on the Sabbath day. ²⁰ Then the merchants and sellers of all kinds of wares lodged outside Jerusalem once or twice. ^21 (AB)But I warned them and said to them, “Why do you lodge outside the wall? If you do so again, I will lay hands on you.” From that time on they did not come on the Sabbath. ²² Then I commanded the Levites ^(AC)that they should purify themselves and come and guard the gates, to keep the Sabbath day holy. ^(AD)Remember this also in my favor, O my God, and spare me according to the greatness of your steadfast love.

²³ In those days also I saw the Jews ^(AE)who had married women ^(AF)of Ashdod, ^(AG)Ammon, and ^(AH)Moab. ²⁴ And half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod, and they could not speak the language of Judah, but only the language of each people. ^25 (AI)And I confronted them and cursed them and beat some of them and pulled out their hair. ^(AJ)And I made them take an oath in the name of God, saying, “You shall not give your daughters to their sons, or take their daughters for your sons or for yourselves. ^26 (AK)Did not Solomon king of Israel sin on account of such women? ^(AL)Among the many nations there was no king like him, and he was ^(AM)beloved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel. Nevertheless, foreign women made even him to sin. ²⁷ Shall we then listen to you and do all this great evil and ^(AN)act treacherously against our God by marrying foreign women?”

²⁸ And one of the sons of ^(AO)Jehoiada, the son of ^(AP)Eliashib the high priest, was the son-in-law of ^(AQ)Sanballat the Horonite. Therefore I chased him from me. ^29 (AR)Remember them, O my God, because they have desecrated the priesthood ^(AS)and the covenant of the priesthood and the Levites.

^30 (AT)Thus I cleansed them from everything foreign, and I established the duties of the priests and Levites, each in his work; ³¹ and I provided ^(AU)for the wood offering ^(AV)at appointed times, and for the firstfruits.

^(AW)Remember me, O my God, for good.

The Angel and the Little Scroll

10 Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven, wrapped in a cloud, with ^(A)a rainbow over his head, and ^(B)his face was like the sun, and ^(C)his legs like pillars of fire. ^2 (D)He had a little scroll open in his hand. And he set his right foot on the sea, and his left foot on the land, ³ and called out with a loud voice, ^(E)like a lion roaring. When he called out, the seven thunders sounded. ⁴ And when the seven thunders had sounded, I was about to write, but I heard a voice from heaven saying, ^(F)“Seal up what the seven thunders have said, and do not write it down.” ⁵ And the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land ^(G)raised his right hand to heaven ⁶ and swore by ^(H)him who lives forever and ever, ^(I)who created heaven and what is in it, the earth and what is in it, and the sea and what is in it, that there would be no more delay, ⁷ but that ^(J)in the days of the trumpet call to be sounded by the seventh angel, the mystery of God would be fulfilled, ^(K)just as he announced to his servants the prophets.

⁸ Then the voice that I had heard from heaven spoke to me again, saying, “Go, take the scroll that is open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.” ⁹ So I went to the angel and told him to give me the little scroll. And he said to me, ^(L)“Take and ^(M)eat it; it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey.” ¹⁰ And I took the little scroll from the hand of the angel and ate it. It was sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it my stomach was made bitter. ¹¹ And I was told, ^(N)“You must again prophesy about many peoples and nations and languages and kings.”

The Two Witnesses

11 Then I was given ^(O)a measuring rod like a staff, and I was told, “Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship there, ² but do not measure ^(P)the court outside the temple; leave that out, for ^(Q)it is given over to the nations, and they will trample the holy city for ^(R)forty-two months. ³ And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for ^(S)1,260 days, ^(T)clothed in sackcloth.”

⁴ These are ^(U)the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. ⁵ And if anyone would harm them, ^(V)fire pours from their mouth and consumes their foes. If anyone would harm them, ^(W)this is how he is doomed to be killed. ⁶ They have the power ^(X)to shut the sky, that no rain may fall during the days of their prophesying, and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood and ^(Y)to strike the earth with every kind of plague, as often as they desire. ⁷ And when they have finished their testimony, ^(Z)the beast that rises from ^(AA)the bottomless pit^{[a] (AB)}will make war on them and conquer them and kill them, ⁸ and their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city that symbolically^[b] is called ^(AC)Sodom and ^(AD)Egypt, where their Lord was crucified. ⁹ For three and a half days some from the peoples and tribes and languages and nations will gaze at their dead bodies and ^(AE)refuse to let them be placed in a tomb, ¹⁰ and ^(AF)those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and make merry and ^(AG)exchange presents, because these two prophets ^(AH)had been a torment to those who dwell on the earth. ¹¹ But after the three and a half days ^(AI)a breath of life from God entered them, and they stood up on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them. ¹² Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, ^(AJ)“Come up here!” And ^(AK)they went up to heaven ^(AL)in a cloud, and their enemies watched them. ¹³ And at that hour there was ^(AM)a great earthquake, and ^(AN)a tenth of the city fell. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and ^(AO)gave glory to ^(AP)the God of heaven.

^14 (AQ)The second woe has passed; behold, the third woe is soon to come.

The Seventh Trumpet

¹⁵ Then ^(AR)the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and ^(AS)there were loud voices in heaven, saying, ^(AT)“The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of ^(AU)his Christ, and ^(AV)he shall reign forever and ever.” ¹⁶ And the twenty-four elders ^(AW)who sit on their thrones before God ^(AX)fell on their faces and worshiped God, ¹⁷ saying,

¹⁹ Then ^(BE)God's temple in heaven was opened, and ^(BF)the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple. There were flashes of lightning, rumblings,^[c] peals of thunder, an earthquake, and ^(BG)heavy hail.

The Woman and the Dragon

12 And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman ^(BH)clothed with ^(BI)the sun, with ^(BJ)the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. ² She was pregnant and ^(BK)was crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth. ³ And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great ^(BL)red dragon, ^(BM)with seven heads and ^(BN)ten horns, and on his heads ^(BO)seven diadems. ⁴ His tail swept down ^(BP)a third of the stars of heaven and ^(BQ)cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her child ^(BR)he might devour it. ⁵ She gave birth to a male child, ^(BS)one who is to rule^[d] all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was ^(BT)caught up to God and to his throne, ⁶ and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, in which she is to be nourished for ^(BU)1,260 days.

Satan Thrown Down to Earth

⁷ Now war arose in heaven, ^(BV)Michael and ^(BW)his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, ⁸ but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. ⁹ And ^(BX)the great dragon was thrown down, ^(BY)that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, ^(BZ)the deceiver of the whole world—^(CA)he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. ¹⁰ And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now ^(CB)the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers^[e] has been thrown down, ^(CC)who accuses them day and night before our God. ¹¹ And ^(CD)they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for ^(CE)they loved not their lives ^(CF)even unto death. ¹² Therefore, ^(CG)rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them! But ^(CH)woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because ^(CI)he knows that his time is short!”

¹³ And when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued ^(CJ)the woman who had given birth to the male child. ¹⁴ But the woman was given the two ^(CK)wings of the great eagle so that she might fly from the serpent ^(CL)into the wilderness, to the place where she is to be nourished ^(CM)for a time, and times, and half a time. ¹⁵ The serpent poured water ^(CN)like a river out of his mouth after the woman, to sweep her away with a flood. ¹⁶ But the earth came to the help of the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed the river that the dragon had poured from his mouth. ¹⁷ Then the dragon became furious with the woman and went off ^(CO)to make war on the rest of ^(CP)her offspring, ^(CQ)on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to ^(CR)the testimony of Jesus. And he stood^[f] on the sand of the sea.