The Multitude from Every Nation

⁹ After this I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands.^{(A) 10} They cried out in a loud voice, saying,

¹¹ And all the angels stood around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, ¹² singing,

¹³ Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, robed in white, and where have they come from?” ¹⁴ I said to him, “Sir, you are the one who knows.” Then he said to me, “These are they who have come out of the great ordeal; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.^(D)

Psalm 34

Praise for Deliverance from Trouble

Of David, when he feigned madness before Abimelech, so that he drove him out, and he went away.

3 ¹ See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God, and that is what we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. ² Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he^[a] is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is.^{(A) 3} And all who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.

The Beatitudes

5 When Jesus^[a] saw the crowds, he went up the mountain, and after he sat down, his disciples came to him.^{(A) 2} And he began to speak and taught them, saying:

³ “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.^(B)

⁴ “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.^(C)

⁵ “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

⁶ “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.^(D)

⁷ “Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.

⁸ “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.^(E)

⁹ “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.^(F)

¹⁰ “Blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.^(G)

¹¹ “Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely^[b] on my account.^{(H) 12} Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.^(I)

Prayer for the Readers

¹⁴ For this reason I bow my knees before the Father,^{[a] 15} from whom every family^[b] in heaven and on earth takes its name. ¹⁶ I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit^{(A) 17} and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. ¹⁸ I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth^{(B) 19} and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.^(C)

²⁰ Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine,^{(D) 21} to him be glory in the church and^[c] in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.