The Daily Audio Bible
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The Day of Punishment
14 The Lord’s day of judging is coming when the wealth you have taken will be divided among you.
2 I will bring all the nations together to fight Jerusalem. They will capture the city and rob the houses and attack the women. Half the people will be taken away as captives, but the rest of the people won’t be taken from the city.
3 Then the Lord will go to war against those nations; he will fight as in a day of battle. 4 On that day he will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem. The Mount of Olives will split in two, forming a deep valley that runs east and west. Half the mountain will move toward the north, and half will move toward the south. 5 You will run through this mountain valley to the other side, just as you ran from the earthquake when Uzziah was king of Judah. Then the Lord my God will come and all the holy ones with him.
6 On that day there will be no light, cold, or frost. 7 There will be no other day like it, and the Lord knows when it will come. There will be no day or night; even at evening it will still be light.
8 At that time fresh water will flow from Jerusalem. Half of it will flow east to the Dead Sea, and half will flow west to the Mediterranean Sea. It will flow summer and winter.
9 Then the Lord will be king over the whole world. At that time there will be only one Lord, and his name will be the only name.
10 All the land south of Jerusalem from Geba to Rimmon will be turned into a plain. Jerusalem will be raised up, but it will stay in the same place. The city will reach from the Benjamin Gate and to the First Gate to the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the king’s winepresses. 11 People will live there, and it will never be destroyed again. Jerusalem will be safe.
12 But the Lord will bring a terrible disease on the nations that fought against Jerusalem. Their flesh will rot away while they are still standing up. Their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongues will rot in their mouths. 13 At that time the Lord will cause panic. Everybody will grab his neighbor, and they will attack each other. 14 The people of Judah will fight in Jerusalem. And the wealth of the nations around them will be collected—much gold, silver, and clothes. 15 A similar disease will strike the horses, mules, camels, donkeys, and all the animals in the camps.
16 All of those left alive of the people who came to fight Jerusalem will come back to Jerusalem year after year to worship the King, the Lord All-Powerful, and to celebrate the Feast of Shelters. 17 Anyone from the nations who does not go to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord All-Powerful, will not have rain fall on his land. 18 If the Egyptians do not go to Jerusalem, they will not have rain. Then the Lord will send them the same terrible disease he sent the other nations that did not celebrate the Feast of Shelters. 19 This will be the punishment for Egypt and any nation which does not go to celebrate the Feast of Shelters.
20 At that time the horses’ bells will have written on them: holy to the lord. The cooking pots in the Temple of the Lord will be like the holy altar bowls. 21 Every pot in Jerusalem and Judah will be holy to the Lord All-Powerful, and everyone who offers sacrifices will be able to take food from them and cook in them. At that time there will not be any buyers or sellers in the Temple of the Lord All-Powerful.
The Thousand Years
20 I saw an angel coming down from heaven. He had the key to the bottomless pit and a large chain in his hand. 2 The angel grabbed the dragon, that old snake who is the devil and Satan, and tied him up for a thousand years. 3 Then he threw him into the bottomless pit, closed it, and locked it over him. The angel did this so he could not trick the people of the earth anymore until the thousand years were ended. After a thousand years he must be set free for a short time.
4 Then I saw some thrones and people sitting on them who had been given the power to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been killed because they were faithful to the message of Jesus and the message from God. They had not worshiped the beast or his idol, and they had not received the mark of the beast on their foreheads or on their hands. They came back to life and ruled with Christ for a thousand years. 5 (The others that were dead did not live again until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first raising of the dead. 6 Blessed and holy are those who share in this first raising of the dead. The second death has no power over them. They will be priests for God and for Christ and will rule with him for a thousand years.
7 When the thousand years are over, Satan will be set free from his prison. 8 Then he will go out to trick the nations in all the earth—Gog and Magog—to gather them for battle. There are so many people they will be like sand on the seashore. 9 And Satan’s army marched across the earth and gathered around the camp of God’s people and the city God loves. But fire came down from heaven and burned them up. 10 And Satan, who tricked them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur with the beast and the false prophet. There they will be punished day and night forever and ever.
People of the World Are Judged
11 Then I saw a great white throne and the One who was sitting on it. Earth and sky ran away from him and disappeared. 12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne. Then books were opened, and the book of life was opened. The dead were judged by what they had done, which was written in the books. 13 The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades[a] gave up the dead who were in them. Each person was judged by what he had done. 14 And Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. 15 And anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.
The World Should Praise the Lord
148 Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord from the skies.
Praise him high above the earth.
2 Praise him, all you angels.
Praise him, all you armies of heaven.
3 Praise him, sun and moon.
Praise him, all you shining stars.
4 Praise him, highest heavens
and you waters above the sky.
5 Let them praise the Lord,
because they were created by his command.
6 He put them in place forever and ever;
he made a law that will never change.
7 Praise the Lord from the earth,
you large sea animals and all the oceans,
8 lightning and hail, snow and mist,
and stormy winds that obey him,
9 mountains and all hills,
fruit trees and all cedars,
10 wild animals and all cattle,
crawling animals and birds,
11 kings of the earth and all nations,
princes and all rulers of the earth,
12 young men and women,
old people and children.
13 Praise the Lord,
because he alone is great.
He is more wonderful than heaven and earth.
14 God has given his people a king.
He should be praised by all who belong to him;
he should be praised by the Israelites, the people closest to his heart.
Praise the Lord!
8 “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves;
defend the rights of all those who have nothing.
9 Speak up and judge fairly,
and defend the rights of the poor and needy.”
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.