The Lord Will Fight the Nations

14 A day is going to come for the Lord when the loot you have taken will be divided among you. ² I will gather all the nations to Jerusalem for battle. The city will be captured, the houses looted, and the women raped. Half of the people in the city will go into exile, but the rest of the people won’t be taken from the city.

³ Then the Lord will go out and fight against those nations as he does when he fights a battle. ⁴ On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, just east of Jerusalem. The Mount of Olives will be split in two, forming a very large valley from east to west. Half of the mountain will move toward the north, and the other half will move toward the south. ⁵ Then you will flee to the valley of my mountains, because this valley between the mountains will go as far as Azel. You will flee as you did from the earthquake at the time of King Uzziah of Judah. The Lord my God will come, and all the holy ones will be with him.

⁶ On that day there will be neither heat nor freezing cold. ⁷ There will be one day—a day known to the Lord—with no difference between day and night. It will be light even in the evening.

Living Water from Jerusalem

⁸ On that day living water will flow out from Jerusalem, half of it to the Dead Sea and the other half to the Mediterranean Sea. It will continue in summer and in winter.

⁹ The Lord will be king over all the earth. On that day the Lord will be the only Lord and his name the only name.

¹⁰ The whole earth will become like the plains from Geba to Rimmon, south of Jerusalem. Jerusalem will rise and remain on its site, from Benjamin Gate to the place of First Gate, Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the king’s winepresses. ¹¹ People will live there, and it will never be threatened with destruction. Jerusalem will live securely.

¹² This will be the plague the Lord will use to strike all the people from the nations that have gone to war against Jerusalem. Their flesh will rot while they are standing on their feet. Their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongues will rot in their mouths.

¹³ On that day a large-scale panic from the Lord will spread among them. One person will grab the hand of another, and one will attack the other. ¹⁴ Judah will also fight in Jerusalem. The wealth of all the surrounding nations will be collected, a very large amount of gold, silver, and clothes. ¹⁵ A similar plague will also affect horses, mules, camels, donkeys, and all other animals in those camps.

¹⁶ Everyone who is left from all the nations that attacked Jerusalem will come every year to worship the king, the Lord of Armies, and to celebrate the Festival of Booths. ¹⁷ If any of the families on the earth won’t go to Jerusalem to worship the king, the Lord of Armies, then rain won’t fall on them. ¹⁸ If the people of Egypt won’t go or enter Jerusalem, then ⌞rain won’t fall⌟ on them. The plague the Lord uses to strike the nations will affect those who won’t come to celebrate the Festival of Booths. ¹⁹ This will be ⌞the punishment⌟ for Egypt’s sin and for the sin of all the nations that won’t go to celebrate the Festival of Booths.

²⁰ On that day “Holy to the Lord” will be written on the bells of the horses. And the cooking pots in the house of the Lord will be like the bowls in front of the altar. ²¹ Yes, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah will be holy to the Lord of Armies. All who come to sacrifice will take some of them and cook in them. On that day there will no longer be any Canaanite ^[a] in the house of the Lord of Armies.

⁷ Always set an example by doing good things. When you teach, be an example of moral purity and dignity. ⁸ Speak an accurate message that cannot be condemned. Then those who oppose us will be ashamed because they cannot say anything bad about us.

⁹ Tell slaves who are believers to place themselves under their masters’ authority in everything they do. Tell them to please their masters, not to argue with them ¹⁰ or steal from them. Instead, tell slaves to show their masters how good and completely loyal they can be. Then they will show the beauty of the teachings about God our Savior in everything they do.

¹¹ After all, God’s saving kindness ^[a] has appeared for the benefit of all people. ¹² It trains us to avoid ungodly lives filled with worldly desires so that we can live self-controlled, moral, and godly lives in this present world. ¹³ At the same time we can expect what we hope for—the appearance of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. ¹⁴ He gave himself for us to set us free from every sin and to cleanse us so that we can be his special people who are enthusiastic about doing good things.

¹⁵ Tell these things to the believers. Encourage and correct them, using your full authority. Don’t let anyone ignore you.

3 Remind believers to willingly place themselves under the authority of government officials. Believers should obey them and be ready to help them with every good thing they do. ² Believers shouldn’t curse anyone or be quarrelsome, but they should be gentle and show courtesy to everyone.

What God Did for Us

³ Indeed, we, too, were once stupid, disobedient, and misled. We were slaves to many kinds of lusts and pleasures. We were mean and jealous. We were hated, and we hated each other.

⁴ However, when God our Savior made his kindness and love for humanity appear, ⁵ he saved us, but not because of anything we had done to gain his approval. Instead, because of his mercy he saved us through the washing in which the Holy Spirit gives us new birth and renewal. ⁶ God poured a generous amount of the Spirit on us through Jesus Christ our Savior. ⁷ As a result, God in his kindness ^[b] has given us his approval and we have become heirs who have the confidence that we have everlasting life. ⁸ This is a statement that can be trusted. I want you to insist on these things so that those who believe in God can concentrate on setting an example by doing good things. This is good and helps other people.

Advice for Titus

⁹ Avoid foolish controversies, arguments about genealogies, quarrels, and fights about Moses’ Teachings. This is useless and worthless. ¹⁰ Have nothing to do with people who continue to teach false doctrine after you have warned them once or twice. ¹¹ You know that people like this are corrupt. They are sinners condemned by their own actions.

Farewell

¹² When I send Artemas or Tychicus to you, hurry to visit me in the city of Nicopolis. I have decided to spend the winter there. ¹³ Give Zenas the lawyer and Apollos your best support for their trip so that they will have everything they need.

¹⁴ Our people should also learn how to set an example by doing good things when urgent needs arise so that they can live productive lives.

¹⁵ Everyone with me sends you greetings. Greet our faithful friends.

⌞God’s⌟ good will ^[c] be with all of you.