Cities for the Levites

35 The Lord spoke to Moses in ^(A)the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying, ^2 (B)“Command the people of Israel to give to the Levites some of the inheritance of their possession as cities for them to dwell in. And you shall give to the Levites pasturelands around the cities. ³ The cities shall be theirs to dwell in, and their pasturelands shall be for their cattle and for their livestock and for all their beasts. ⁴ The pasturelands of the cities, which you shall give to the Levites, shall reach from the wall of the city outward a thousand cubits^[a] all around. ⁵ And you shall measure, outside the city, on the east side two thousand cubits, and on the south side two thousand cubits, and on the west side two thousand cubits, and on the north side two thousand cubits, the city being in the middle. This shall belong to them as pastureland for their cities.

⁶ “The cities that you give to the Levites shall be ^(C)the six cities of refuge, where you shall permit the manslayer to flee, and in addition to them you shall give forty-two cities. ⁷ All the cities that you give to the Levites shall be ^(D)forty-eight, with their pasturelands. ⁸ And as for the cities that you shall give ^(E)from the possession of the people of Israel, ^(F)from the larger tribes you shall take many, and from the smaller tribes you shall take few; each, in proportion to the inheritance that it inherits, shall give of its cities to the Levites.”

Cities of Refuge

⁹ And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁰ “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, ^(G)When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, ^11 (H)then you shall select cities to be cities of refuge for you, that the manslayer who kills any person without intent may flee there. ¹² The cities shall be for you a refuge from the avenger, that the manslayer may not die until he stands before the congregation for judgment. ¹³ And the cities that you give shall be your ^(I)six cities of refuge. ^14 (J)You shall give three cities beyond the Jordan, and three cities in the land of Canaan, to be cities of refuge. ¹⁵ These six cities shall be for refuge for the people of Israel, and ^(K)for the stranger and for the sojourner among them, that anyone who kills any person without intent may flee there.

^16 (L)“But if he struck him down with an iron object, so that he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall be put to death. ¹⁷ And if he struck him down with a stone tool that could cause death, and he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall be put to death. ¹⁸ Or if he struck him down with a wooden tool that could cause death, and he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall be put to death. ^19 (M)The avenger of blood shall himself put the murderer to death; when he meets him, he shall put him to death. ²⁰ And if he pushed him out of hatred or hurled something at him, ^(N)lying in wait, so that he died, ²¹ or in enmity struck him down with his hand, so that he died, then he who struck the blow shall be put to death. He is a murderer. ^(O)The avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death when he meets him.

²² “But if he pushed him suddenly without enmity, or hurled anything on him ^(P)without lying in wait ²³ or used a stone that could cause death, and without seeing him dropped it on him, so that he died, though he was not his enemy and did not seek his harm, ²⁴ then ^(Q)the congregation shall judge between the manslayer and ^(R)the avenger of blood, in accordance with these rules. ²⁵ And the congregation shall rescue the manslayer from the hand of the avenger of blood, and the congregation shall restore him to his city of refuge to which he had fled, and he shall live in it ^(S)until the death of the high priest ^(T)who was anointed with the holy oil. ²⁶ But if the manslayer shall at any time go beyond the boundaries of his city of refuge to which he fled, ²⁷ and ^(U)the avenger of blood finds him outside the boundaries of his city of refuge, and the avenger of blood kills the manslayer, he shall not be guilty of blood. ²⁸ For he must remain in his city of refuge ^(V)until the death of the high priest, but after the death of the high priest the manslayer may return to the land of his possession. ²⁹ And these things shall be for ^(W)a statute and rule for you throughout your generations in all your dwelling places.

³⁰ “If anyone kills a person, the murderer shall be put to death on the ^(X)evidence of witnesses. But no person shall be put to death on the testimony of one witness. ³¹ Moreover, you shall accept no ransom for the life of a murderer, who is guilty of death, but he shall be put to death. ³² And you shall accept no ransom for him who has fled to his city of refuge, that he may return to dwell in the land before the death of the high priest. ³³ You shall not ^(Y)pollute the land in which you live, for blood ^(Z)pollutes the land, and no atonement can be made for the land for the blood that is shed in it, except ^(AA)by the blood of the one who shed it. ^34 (AB)You shall not defile the land in which you live, in the midst of which I dwell, ^(AC)for I the Lord dwell in the midst of the people of Israel.”

The Seven Bowls of God's Wrath

16 Then I heard a loud voice from the temple telling ^(A)the seven angels, “Go and ^(B)pour out on the earth ^(C)the seven bowls of the wrath of God.”

² So the first angel went and poured out his bowl on the earth, and harmful and painful ^(D)sores came upon the people who bore ^(E)the mark of the beast and worshiped its image.

³ The second angel poured out his bowl into the sea, and ^(F)it became like the blood of a corpse, and ^(G)every living thing died that was in the sea.

⁴ The third angel poured out his bowl into ^(H)the rivers and the springs of water, and ^(I)they became blood. ⁵ And I heard the angel in charge of the waters^[a] say,

⁷ And I heard ^(P)the altar saying,

⁸ The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and it was allowed to scorch people ^(R)with fire. ⁹ They were scorched by the fierce heat, and ^(S)they cursed^[b] the name of God who had power over these plagues. ^(T)They did not repent ^(U)and give him glory.

¹⁰ The fifth angel poured out his bowl on ^(V)the throne of the beast, and ^(W)its kingdom was plunged into darkness. People gnawed their tongues in anguish ¹¹ and cursed ^(X)the God of heaven for their pain and ^(Y)sores. ^(Z)They did not repent of their deeds.

¹² The sixth angel poured out his bowl on ^(AA)the great river Euphrates, and ^(AB)its water was dried up, ^(AC)to prepare the way for the kings ^(AD)from the east. ¹³ And I saw, coming out of the mouth of ^(AE)the dragon and out of the mouth of ^(AF)the beast and out of the mouth of ^(AG)the false prophet, three ^(AH)unclean spirits like ^(AI)frogs. ¹⁴ For they are ^(AJ)demonic spirits, ^(AK)performing signs, who go abroad to the kings of the whole world, ^(AL)to assemble them for battle on ^(AM)the great day of God the Almighty. ¹⁵ (“Behold, ^(AN)I am coming like a thief! ^(AO)Blessed is the one who stays awake, keeping his garments on, ^(AP)that he may not go about naked and be seen exposed!”) ¹⁶ And ^(AQ)they assembled them at the place that in Hebrew is called ^(AR)Armageddon.

The Seventh Bowl

¹⁷ The seventh angel poured out his bowl into ^(AS)the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple, from the throne, saying, ^(AT)“It is done!” ¹⁸ And there were ^(AU)flashes of lightning, rumblings,^[c] peals of thunder, and ^(AV)a great earthquake ^(AW)such as there had never been since man was on the earth, so great was that earthquake. ^19 (AX)The great city ^(AY)was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell, and God ^(AZ)remembered ^(BA)Babylon the great, ^(BB)to make her drain the cup of the wine of the fury of his wrath. ²⁰ And ^(BC)every island fled away, and no mountains were to be found. ²¹ And ^(BD)great hailstones, about one hundred pounds^[d] each, fell from heaven on people; and ^(BE)they cursed God for ^(BF)the plague of the hail, because the plague was so severe.

The Great Prostitute and the Beast

17 Then ^(BG)one of the seven angels who had ^(BH)the seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the judgment of ^(BI)the great prostitute ^(BJ)who is seated on many waters, ^2 (BK)with whom the kings of the earth have committed sexual immorality, and ^(BL)with the wine of whose sexual immorality ^(BM)the dwellers on earth have become drunk.” ³ And ^(BN)he carried me away in the Spirit ^(BO)into a wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on ^(BP)a scarlet beast that was full of ^(BQ)blasphemous names, and ^(BR)it had seven heads and ten horns. ⁴ The woman ^(BS)was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned ^(BT)with gold and jewels and pearls, holding in her hand ^(BU)a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her sexual immorality. ⁵ And on her forehead was written a name of ^(BV)mystery: ^(BW)“Babylon the great, mother of prostitutes and of earth's abominations.” ⁶ And I saw the woman, drunk ^(BX)with the blood of the saints, the blood of ^(BY)the martyrs of Jesus.^[e]

When I saw her, I marveled greatly. ⁷ But the angel said to me, “Why do you marvel? I will tell you ^(BZ)the mystery of the woman, and of the beast with seven heads and ten horns that carries her. ⁸ The beast that you saw ^(CA)was, and is not, and ^(CB)is about to rise from ^(CC)the bottomless pit^[f] and ^(CD)go to destruction. And ^(CE)the dwellers on earth whose names have not been written in ^(CF)the book of life from the foundation of the world will marvel to see the beast, because ^(CG)it was and is not and is to come. ^9 (CH)This calls for a mind with wisdom: the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman is seated; ¹⁰ they are also seven kings, five of whom have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come, and when he does come he must remain only a little while. ¹¹ As for the beast ^(CI)that was and is not, it is an eighth but it belongs to the seven, and it goes to destruction. ¹² And ^(CJ)the ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received royal power, but they are to receive authority as kings ^(CK)for one hour, together with the beast. ¹³ These are of one mind, and they hand over their power and authority to the beast. ¹⁴ They ^(CL)will make war on the Lamb, and ^(CM)the Lamb will conquer them, for he is ^(CN)Lord of lords and ^(CO)King of kings, and those with him are ^(CP)called and chosen and faithful.”

¹⁵ And the angel^[g] said to me, ^(CQ)“The waters that you saw, where the prostitute is seated, are peoples and multitudes and nations and languages. ¹⁶ And ^(CR)the ten horns that you saw, they and the beast ^(CS)will hate the prostitute. They will make her ^(CT)desolate and ^(CU)naked, and ^(CV)devour her flesh and ^(CW)burn her up with fire, ¹⁷ for ^(CX)God has put it into their hearts to carry out his purpose by being of one mind and ^(CY)handing over their royal power to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled. ¹⁸ And the woman that you saw is ^(CZ)the great city that has dominion over the kings of the earth.”

The Fall of Babylon

18 After this I saw ^(DA)another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and ^(DB)the earth was made bright with his glory. ² And he called out with a mighty voice,

⁴ Then I heard another voice from heaven saying,

⁹ And ^(DU)the kings of the earth, who committed sexual immorality and lived in luxury with her, ^(DV)will weep and wail over her ^(DW)when they see the smoke of her burning. ^10 (DX)They will stand far off, in fear of her torment, and say,

¹¹ And ^(EA)the merchants of the earth weep and mourn for her, since no one buys their cargo anymore, ¹² cargo of gold, silver, jewels, pearls, fine linen, purple cloth, silk, scarlet cloth, all kinds of scented wood, all kinds of articles of ivory, all kinds of articles of costly wood, bronze, iron and marble, ¹³ cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh, frankincense, wine, oil, fine flour, wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, and slaves, that is, human souls.^[i]

^15 (EB)The merchants of these wares, who gained wealth from her, ^(EC)will stand far off, in fear of her torment, weeping and mourning aloud,

And ^(EG)all shipmasters and seafaring men, sailors and all whose trade is on the sea, stood far off ¹⁸ and ^(EH)cried out ^(EI)as they saw the smoke of her burning,

¹⁹ And they threw ^(EK)dust on their heads as they wept and mourned, crying out,

²¹ Then ^(EQ)a mighty angel ^(ER)took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying,