The Steadfast Love of God Endures

To the choirmaster. A Maskil^[a] of David, when ^(A)Doeg, the Edomite, came and told Saul, “David has come to the house of Ahimelech.”

Joshua's Charge to Israel's Leaders

23 A long time afterward, when the Lord had given ^(A)rest to Israel from all their surrounding enemies, and Joshua ^(B)was old and well advanced in years, ² Joshua ^(C)summoned all Israel, its elders and heads, its judges and officers, and said to them, “I am now old and well advanced in years. ³ And you have seen all that the Lord your God has done to all these nations for your sake, ^(D)for it is the Lord your God who has fought for you. ⁴ Behold, ^(E)I have allotted to you as an inheritance for your tribes those nations that remain, along with all the nations that I have already cut off, from the Jordan to the Great Sea in the west. ⁵ The Lord your God ^(F)will push them back before you and drive them out of your sight. And you shall possess their land, ^(G)just as the Lord your God promised you. ⁶ Therefore, ^(H)be very strong to keep and to do all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, ^(I)turning aside from it neither to the right hand nor to the left, ^7 (J)that you may not mix with these nations remaining among you ^(K)or make mention of the names of their gods ^(L)or swear by them or serve them or bow down to them, ^8 (M)but you shall cling to the Lord your God just as you have done to this day. ^9 (N)For the Lord has driven out before you great and strong nations. And as for you, ^(O)no man has been able to stand before you to this day. ^10 (P)One man of you puts to flight a thousand, since it is the Lord your God ^(Q)who fights for you, just as he promised you. ^11 (R)Be very careful, therefore, to love the Lord your God. ¹² For if you turn back and cling to the remnant of these nations remaining among you ^(S)and make marriages with them, so that you associate with them and they with you, ¹³ know for certain that ^(T)the Lord your God will no longer drive out these nations before you, ^(U)but they shall be a snare and a trap for you, a whip on your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from off this good ground that the Lord your God has given you.

¹⁴ “And now ^(V)I am about to go the way of all the earth, and you know in your hearts and souls, all of you, that ^(W)not one word has failed of all the good things^[a] that the Lord your God promised concerning you. All have come to pass for you; not one of them has failed. ¹⁵ But just as all the good things that the Lord your God promised concerning you have been fulfilled for you, so the Lord will bring upon you ^(X)all the evil things, until he has destroyed you from off this good land that the Lord your God has given you, ¹⁶ if you transgress the covenant of the Lord your God, which he commanded you, and go and serve other gods and bow down to them. Then the anger of the Lord will be kindled against you, and you shall perish quickly from off the good land that he has given to you.”

The Woman and the Dragon

12 And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman ^(A)clothed with ^(B)the sun, with ^(C)the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. ² She was pregnant and ^(D)was crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth. ³ And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great ^(E)red dragon, ^(F)with seven heads and ^(G)ten horns, and on his heads ^(H)seven diadems. ⁴ His tail swept down ^(I)a third of the stars of heaven and ^(J)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 ^(K)he might devour it. ⁵ She gave birth to a male child, ^(L)one who is to rule^[a] all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was ^(M)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 ^(N)1,260 days.

Satan Thrown Down to Earth

⁷ Now war arose in heaven, ^(O)Michael and ^(P)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 ^(Q)the great dragon was thrown down, ^(R)that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, ^(S)the deceiver of the whole world—^(T)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 ^(U)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^[b] has been thrown down, ^(V)who accuses them day and night before our God. ¹¹ And ^(W)they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for ^(X)they loved not their lives ^(Y)even unto death. ¹² Therefore, ^(Z)rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them! But ^(AA)woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because ^(AB)he knows that his time is short!”

¹³ And when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued ^(AC)the woman who had given birth to the male child. ¹⁴ But the woman was given the two ^(AD)wings of the great eagle so that she might fly from the serpent ^(AE)into the wilderness, to the place where she is to be nourished ^(AF)for a time, and times, and half a time. ¹⁵ The serpent poured water ^(AG)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 ^(AH)to make war on the rest of ^(AI)her offspring, ^(AJ)on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to ^(AK)the testimony of Jesus. And he stood^[c] on the sand of the sea.