Zephaniah 2

New American Standard Bible

Judgments on Judah’s Enemies

2 Gather yourselves together, yes, ^(A)join together,
You nation ^(B)without ^[a]shame,
²Before the decree ^[b]takes effect—
The day passes ^(C)like chaff—
Before the ^(D)burning anger of the Lord comes upon you,
Before the ^(E)day of the Lord’s anger comes upon you.
³^(F)Seek the Lord,
All you ^(G)humble of the ^[c]earth
Who have practiced His ^[d]ordinances;
^(H)Seek righteousness, seek humility.
Perhaps you will ^(I)remain hidden
On the day of the Lord’s anger.

⁴For ^(J)Gaza will be abandoned,
And Ashkelon will become a desolation;
The inhabitants of ^(K)Ashdod will be driven out at noon,
And ^(L)Ekron will be uprooted.
⁵Woe to the inhabitants of the seacoast,
The nation of the ^[e]^(M)Cherethites!
The word of the Lord is ^(N)against you,
^(O)Canaan, land of the Philistines;
And I will ^(P)eliminate you
So that there will be ^(Q)no inhabitant.
⁶So the seacoast will become ^(R)grazing places,
With pastures for shepherds and folds for flocks.
⁷And the coast will be
For the ^(S)remnant of the house of Judah,
They will ^(T)drive sheep to pasture on it.
In the houses of Ashkelon they will lie down at evening;
For the Lord their God will ^(U)care for them
And ^(V)restore their fortunes.

⁸“I have heard the ^(W)taunting of Moab
And the ^(X)abusive speech of the sons of Ammon,
With which they have taunted My people
And ^(Y)boasted against their territory.
⁹Therefore, as I live,” declares the Lord of armies,
The God of Israel,
“^(Z)Moab will assuredly be like ^(AA)Sodom,
And the sons of ^(AB)Ammon like ^(AC)Gomorrah—
Ground overgrown with weeds and full of salt mines,
And a permanent desolation.
The remnant of My people will ^(AD)plunder them,
And the remainder of My nation will inherit them.”

¹⁰This they will have in return for their ^(AE)arrogance, because they have ^(AF)taunted and boasted against the people of the Lord of armies. ¹¹The Lord will be ^(AG)terrifying to them, for He will ^[f]starve ^(AH)all the gods of the earth; and all the ^(AI)coastlands of the nations will ^(AJ)bow down to Him, everyone from his own place.

¹²“You also, ^(AK)Ethiopians, will be slain by My sword.”
¹³And He will ^(AL)stretch out His hand against the north
And eliminate ^(AM)Assyria,
And He will make ^(AN)Nineveh a desolation,
Parched like the wilderness.
¹⁴Flocks will lie down in her midst,
^[g]All animals that range in herds;
Both the ^[h]^(AO)pelican and the hedgehog
Will spend their nights in ^[i]the tops of her pillars;
^[j]Birds will sing in the window,
Devastation will be on the threshold;
For He has uncovered the cedar work.
¹⁵This is the ^(AP)presumptuous city
That ^(AQ)dwells securely,
Who says in her heart,
“^(AR)I am, and there is no one besides me.”
How she has become a ^(AS)desolation,
A resting place for animals!
^(AT)Everyone who passes by her will ^[k]hiss
And wave his hand in contempt.

Footnotes

Zephaniah 2:1 Or longing
Zephaniah 2:2 Lit gives birth
Zephaniah 2:3 Or land
Zephaniah 2:3 Or justice
Zephaniah 2:5 I.e., a segment of the Philistines with roots in Crete
Zephaniah 2:11 Lit allow to dwindle
Zephaniah 2:14 Or All kinds of beasts in crowds; lit Every kind of beast of a nation
Zephaniah 2:14 Or owl; or jackdaw
Zephaniah 2:14 Lit her capitals
Zephaniah 2:14 Lit A voice
Zephaniah 2:15 Or whistle

Proverbs 16:21-27

New American Standard Bible

²¹The ^(A)wise in heart will be called understanding,
And sweetness of ^[a]speech ^(B)increases ^[b]persuasiveness.
²²Understanding is a fountain of life to those who have it,
But the discipline of fools is foolishness.
²³The ^(C)heart of the wise instructs his mouth
And adds ^[c]persuasiveness to his lips.
²⁴^(D)Pleasant words are a honeycomb,
Sweet to the soul and ^(E)healing to the bones.
²⁵^(F)There is a way which seems right to a person,
But its end is the way of death.
²⁶A worker’s appetite works for him,
For his ^[d]hunger urges him on.
²⁷A ^(G)worthless person digs up evil,
While ^[e]his words are like ^(H)scorching fire.

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Footnotes

Proverbs 16:21 Lit lips
Proverbs 16:21 Or learning
Proverbs 16:23 Or learning
Proverbs 16:26 Lit mouth
Proverbs 16:27 Lit on his lips

Matthew 28

New American Standard Bible

Jesus Is Risen!

28 ^(A)Now after the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, ^(B)Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to look at the tomb. ²And behold, a severe earthquake had occurred, for ^(C)an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled away ^(D)the stone, and sat upon it. ³And ^(E)his appearance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. ⁴The guards shook from fear of him and became like dead men. ⁵And the angel said to the women, “^[a]^(F)Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified. ⁶He is not here, for He has risen, ^(G)just as He said. Come, see the place where He was lying. ⁷And go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead; and behold, He is going ahead of you ^(H)to Galilee. There you will see Him; behold, I have told you.”

⁸And they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy, and ran to report to His disciples. ⁹And behold, Jesus met them ^[b]and said, “^[c]Rejoice!” And they came up and took hold of His feet, and worshiped Him. ¹⁰Then Jesus *said to them, “^[d]^(I)Do not be afraid; go, bring word to ^(J)My brothers to leave ^(K)for Galilee, and there they will see Me.”

¹¹Now while they were on their way, some of ^(L)the men from the guard came into the city and reported to the chief priests all that had happened. ¹²And when they had assembled with the elders and consulted together, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, ¹³and said, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came at night and stole Him while we were asleep.’ ¹⁴And if this comes to ^(M)the governor’s ears, we will appease him and ^[e]keep you out of trouble.” ¹⁵And they took the money and did as they had been instructed; and this story was widely ^(N)spread among the Jews and is ^(O)to this day.

The Great Commission

¹⁶But the eleven disciples proceeded ^(P)to Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had designated to them. ¹⁷And when they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but ^(Q)some ^[f]were doubtful. ¹⁸And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “^(R)All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. ¹⁹^[g]^(S)Go, therefore, and ^(T)make disciples of ^(U)all the nations, ^(V)baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, ²⁰teaching them to ^[h]follow all that I commanded you; and behold, ^(W)I am with you ^[i]always, to ^(X)the end of the age.”