The Daily Audio Bible
The Lord Will Save His People
8 The word of the Lord of Armies came:
2 This is what the Lord of Armies says. I am zealous for Zion with great zeal, and with great wrath I am zealous for her.
3 This is what the Lord says. I will certainly return to Zion, and I will dwell in the middle of Jerusalem. Jerusalem will be called the faithful city, and the mountain of the Lord of Armies will be called the holy mountain.
4 This is what the Lord of Armies says. Old men and old women will again sit in the streets of Jerusalem, all of them with canes[a] in their hand due to old age. 5 Then the streets of the city will be filled with boys and girls playing in its streets.
6 This is what the Lord of Armies says. Although in those days this may seem unattainable to the surviving remnant of this people, will it also seem unattainable to me? declares the Lord of Armies.
7 This is what the Lord of Armies says. Look, I will save my people from the land where the sun rises and from the land where the sun sets, 8 and I will bring them to settle in the midst of Jerusalem. They will be my people, and I will be their God, in faithfulness and in righteousness.
9 This is what the Lord of Armies says. Let your hands be strong so that the temple may be built—you who in these days are listening to these words from the mouths of the prophets, who were present on the day when the foundation of the house of the Lord of Armies was laid. 10 For before those days, there was no one who could pay for workmen or for animals. There was no peace from the adversary for anyone who went out or came in, because I had set every man against his neighbor. 11 But now I will not treat the surviving remnant of this people as in earlier days, declares the Lord of Armies.
12 Sowing will take place in peace. The vine will yield its fruit. The earth will yield its produce. The sky will provide its dew. I will give all these things as a possession to the surviving remnant of this people. 13 Just as you once were a curse among the nations, O house of Judah and house of Israel, so now I will save you. You will be a blessing. Do not be afraid. Let your hands be strong.
14 For this is what the Lord of Armies[b] says. Just as I planned to bring disaster upon you when your fathers made me angry, says the Lord of Armies, so that I did not relent, 15 so in these days I plan to do good to Jerusalem and to the house of Judah once again. Do not be afraid.
16 These are the things that you are to do: Speak the truth to one another. Render judgments that uphold truth, justice, and peace in your gates. 17 Do not plot evil in your hearts against each other. Do not love false oaths. Indeed I hate all these things, declares the Lord.
18 The word of the Lord of Armies came to me:
19 This is what the Lord of Armies says. The fasts of the fourth, fifth, seventh, and tenth months will become times of rejoicing, joy, and gladness for the house of Judah. Therefore, all of you are to love truth and peace.
20 This is what the Lord of Armies says. People will still come as the inhabitants of many cities. 21 Then the inhabitants of one city will go to another and say, “Let us go immediately to plead for the favor of the Lord and to seek the Lord of Armies. I myself will go.” 22 Then many peoples and mighty nations will come to seek the Lord of Armies in Jerusalem and to plead for the favor of the Lord.
23 This is what the Lord of Armies says. In those days, ten men from among the speakers of every language of the nations will take firm hold of the hem of a Jew’s garment and say, “Let us go along with you, because we have heard that God is with you.”
The First Five Bowls
16 I heard a loud voice from the temple say to the seven angels, “Go and pour out the seven bowls of God’s wrath on the earth.”
2 The first angel went and poured out his bowl on the earth, and horrible and painful sores came on the people who had the mark of the beast and who worshipped his image.
3 The second angel poured out his bowl on the sea, and it became blood like that of a dead man, and every living creature in the sea died.
4 The third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and the springs of water, and they[a] turned into blood. 5 And I heard the angel of the waters say:
You are righteous, the one who is and who was, the Holy One,[b]
because you have made these judgments.
6 Because they poured out the blood of saints and prophets,
you have given them blood to drink.
They deserve it.
7 And I heard the incense altar, saying,[c] “Yes, Lord God Almighty, true and just are your judgments.”
8 The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and it was allowed to burn people with fire. 9 People were scorched by the fierce heat. Then they blasphemed the name of God, who had authority over these plagues, but they did not repent and give him praise.
10 The fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast. The beast’s kingdom was darkened. People gnawed their tongues in their torment. 11 They blasphemed the God of heaven because of their torments and their sores. But they did not repent of their deeds.
The Sixth Bowl: The Battle of Armageddon
12 The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river, the Euphrates. Its water was dried up to prepare the way for the kings coming from the east. 13 I saw three unclean spirits, like frogs, which came out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. 14 They are, in fact, miracle-working, demonic spirits, which go out to the kings of the whole earth[d] to bring them together for the battle on the great day of the Almighty God.
15 “Look: I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who stays awake and keeps his clothes on, so that he does not walk around naked and his shame is not seen.”
16 Then they brought them together to the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon.
The Seventh Bowl: The End of the World
17 The seventh angel poured out his bowl on the air. And a loud voice came out of the temple[e] from the throne, saying, “It is done.” 18 There were flashes of lightning, rumblings, and crashes of thunder. There was also a great earthquake of a kind that has not occurred since mankind has been[f] on the earth.
19 And the great city split into three parts, and the cities of the nations collapsed. Babylon the Great was remembered by God, and he gave her the wine cup filled with his fierce wrath. 20 Every island vanished, and the mountains could no longer be found. 21 Massive hailstones, about one hundred pounds each, fell on people from the sky. And the people blasphemed God because of the plague of hail, because the plague was so severe.
Psalm 144
A Prayer for the Nation
Heading
By David.
Praise
1 Blessed be the Lord my Rock,
who trains my hands for battle,
my fingers for war.
2 He shows me mercy.
He is my stronghold, my high fortress.
He is my deliverer and my shield,
so I take refuge in him.
He subdues peoples[a] under me.
Need
3 Lord, what is man that you notice him,
the son of man that you consider him?
4 Man is like a breath.[b]
His days are like a passing shadow.
Petition
5 Lord, rip open your heavens and come down.
Touch the mountains so that they smoke.
6 Send out lightning and scatter them.
Shoot your arrows and rout them.
7 Reach down your hand from on high.
Rescue me and snatch me from the mighty waters,
from the hand of foreigners 8 whose mouths speak lies,
who raise their right hands to a false oath.[c]
Praise
9 God, I will sing a new song to you.
On the ten-stringed harp I will make music to you,
10 to you who gives victory to kings,
to you who delivers David his servant from the evil sword.
Petition
11 Rescue me and snatch me from the hand of foreigners
whose mouths speak lies,
who raise their right hands to a false oath.
The Results of Victory
12 Then our sons in their youth will be like full-grown plants.
Our daughters will be like corner pillars carved to decorate a palace.
13 Our storehouses will be filled with produce of every kind.
Our flocks will increase by thousands,
by tens of thousands in our countryside.
14 Our oxen will pull heavy loads.
There will be no breaking through our walls,
no exile into captivity,
no cry of distress in our city squares.
15 How blessed are the people for whom this is so.
How blessed are the people whose God is the Lord.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.