Old/New Testament
The Lord’s Case
6 Now hear what the Lord says:
“Get up; plead ·your [or my] case in front of the mountains;
let the hills hear your ·story [L voice].
2 Mountains, listen to the Lord’s ·legal case [accusation; indictment].
·Strong [Enduring] foundations of the earth, listen.
The Lord has a ·legal case [accusation; indictment] against his people,
and he will ·accuse [contend with] Israel.”
3 He says, “My people, what did I do to you?
How ·did I make you tired of me [have I wearied you]?
·Tell [Answer] me.
4 I brought you from the land of Egypt [Ex. 12:51]
and ·freed [redeemed] you from slavery;
I sent Moses, Aaron, and Miriam [Ex. 15:20] to you.
5 My people, remember
the evil plans of Balak king of Moab [Num. 22:5]
and what Balaam son of Beor told Balak [Num. 22–24].
Remember what happened from Acacia to Gilgal [Josh. 3:1; 4:19–24]
so that you will know the ·Lord does what is right [righteousness/justice of the Lord]!”
6 You say, “What can I bring with me
when I come before the Lord,
when I bow before ·God on high [the exalted God]?
Should I come before him with burnt offerings [Lev. 1:1–17],
with year-old calves?
7 Will the Lord be pleased with a thousand ·male sheep [rams]?
Will he be pleased with ten thousand rivers of oil?
Should I give my ·first child [firstborn] for ·the evil I have done [my transgression]?
Should I give ·my very own child [L the fruit of my body] for ·my sin [L the sin of my soul]?”
8 The Lord has told you, ·human [T O man], what is good;
he has told you what ·he wants [the Lord requires] from you:
to do what is ·right to other people [just],
love ·being kind to others [mercy; lovingkindness],
and ·live humbly, obeying [walk humbly with] your God.
9 The voice of the Lord ·calls [cries out] to the city,
and ·the wise person [L wisdom] ·honors him [L sees/acknowledges his name].
So ·pay attention [listen] to the ·rod of punishment [L rod];
pay attention to the One who ·threatens to punish [appointed it].
10 Are there still in the wicked house
wicked treasures
and the cursed false measure?
11 Can I forgive people who cheat others
with ·wrong [wicked] weights and [L deceptive] scales [Prov. 11:1]?
12 The rich people of the city
·do cruel things [L are full of violence].
Its people tell lies;
·they do not tell the truth [L their tongues in their mouths are deceitful].
13 As for me, I will make you sick.
I will ·attack [strike] you, ruining you because of your sins.
14 You will eat, but you won’t ·become full [be satisfied];
you will still be hungry and empty.
You will store up, but save nothing,
and what you store up, ·the sword will destroy [L I will give to the sword].
15 You will plant,
but you won’t harvest.
You will ·step on your [press; tread] olives,
but you won’t ·get any oil from them [anoint yourself with oil].
You will ·crush [tread] the grapes,
but you will not drink the new wine.
16 This is because you ·obey [keep; observe] the ·laws [statutes] of King Omri [C a wicked king of Israel; 1 Kin. 16:25, 26]
and do all the things that Ahab’s family does [C another wicked king of Israel; 1 Kin. 16:30–33; 21:25, 26];
you follow their ·advice [or traditions; policies].
So I will ·let you be destroyed [make you a desolation].
The people in your city will be ·laughed at [taunted; L a hissing],
and other nations will ·make fun of [mock] you.
The Evil That People Do
7 ·Poor [Woe to] me! I am like a hungry man,
and all the summer fruit has been picked—
there are no grapes left to eat,
none of the early figs I ·love [crave].
2 All of the faithful people ·are gone [L have perished from the land/earth];
there is not one ·good [upright] person left in this country.
Everyone ·is waiting to kill someone [L lies in wait for blood];
everyone ·is trying to trap someone else [L hunts his brother with a net].
3 With both hands they are doing evil.
Rulers ask for ·money [gifts],
and judges’ decisions are bought for a ·price [bribe].
·Rich [Influential; Great] people ·tell what they want [make demands],
and they get it.
4 Even the best of them is like a ·thornbush [brier];
the most ·honest [upright] of them is worse than a ·prickly plant [thorn hedge].
The day ·that your watchmen warned you about [L of your watchmen; C the coming exile predicted by the prophets] has come.
Now they will be confused [C without the guidance of the prophets].
5 Don’t ·believe [trust] your neighbor
or ·trust [put confidence in] a friend.
·Don’t say anything [L Guard the doors of your mouth],
even to ·your wife [L the one who lies on your bosom].
6 A son will not honor his father,
a daughter will ·turn against [defy; rise up against] her mother,
and a daughter-in-law will be against her mother-in-law;
a person’s enemies will be ·members of his own family [or the servants of his household; L the men/people of his house; Matt. 10:36].
The Lord’s Kindness
7 Israel says, “I will look to the Lord for help.
I will wait for God ·to save me [my savior];
my God will hear me.
8 Enemy, don’t ·laugh at [gloat over] me.
I have fallen, but I will get up again.
I sit in ·the shadow of trouble now [L darkness],
but the Lord will be a light for me.
9 I sinned against the Lord,
so ·he was angry with me [L I will bear the wrath of the Lord],
but he will ·defend my case in court [plead my case].
He will ·bring about what is right [accomplish justice] for me.
Then he will bring me out into the light,
and I will see ·him set things right [his righteousness/justice/vindication].
10 Then my enemies will see this,
and they will be ·ashamed [L covered wth shame],
those who said to me,
‘Where is the Lord your God?’
I will ·look down on [gloat over] them.
They will ·get walked on [be trampled down], like mud in the street.”
Israel Will Return
11 The ·time [L day] will come when your walls will be built again,
when your ·country will grow [borders will be extended].
12 ·At that time [L In that day] your people will come back to you
from Assyria and the cities of Egypt,
and from Egypt to the ·Euphrates River [L River],
and from sea to sea and mountain to mountain.
13 The earth will be ·ruined [desolate] ·for [or because of] the people who live in it
·because [L for the fruit] of their deeds.
A Prayer to God
14 So shepherd your people with your ·stick [shepherd’s staff];
tend the flock of ·people who belong to you [L your inheritance/possession].
That flock now lives alone in the forest
in the middle of ·a garden land [pasturelands; or Carmel].
Let them ·feed [graze] in Bashan and Gilead
as in days long ago.
15 “As in the days when I brought you out of Egypt,
I will show them ·miracles [wonders].”
16 When the nations see those miracles,
they will ·no longer brag [be ashamed/disappointed] about their power.
They will put their hands over their mouths,
·refusing to listen [and their ears will be deaf].
17 They will ·crawl in the [L lick] dust like a snake,
like ·insects crawling [or serpents; L crawling things] on the ground.
They will come trembling from their ·holes [or strongholds] to the Lord our God
and will turn in fear before you.
18 There is no God like you.
You forgive those who are guilty of sin;
you ·don’t look at the sins [pass over the transgressions] of ·your people
who are left alive [L the remnant of your inheritance].
You will not stay angry forever,
because you ·enjoy [delight in] ·being kind [mercy; lovingkindness].
19 You will have ·mercy [compassion] on us again;
you will conquer our sins.
You will ·throw away [hurl; cast] all our sins
into the ·deepest part [depths] of the sea.
20 You will be ·true [faithful] to ·the people of Jacob [L Jacob],
and you will ·be kind [show mercy/lovingkindness] to ·the people of Abraham [L Abraham]
as you promised to our ·ancestors [fathers] long ago.
The Two Beasts
13 Then I saw a beast coming up out of the sea [C the sea was a symbol of chaos in the ancient world; Dan. 7:1–8]. It [or He] had ten horns [C symbols of power and strength] and seven heads [12:3], and there was a ·crown [diadem; royal crown; C indicating a king of evil] on each horn. A ·name against God [L blasphemous name; some manuscripts read the plural “names”] was written on each head. 2 This beast looked like a leopard, with feet like a bear’s feet and a mouth like a lion’s mouth. And the dragon gave the beast all of his ·power [authority] and his throne and great authority. 3 One of the heads of the beast looked as if it ·had been killed by a wound [had a fatal/mortal wound; L was slain to death; C an evil imitation of the Lamb that was slain; 5:6], but this ·death wound [fatal/mortal wound; L wound of its death] was healed [C a false imitation of the resurrection]. Then the whole world was amazed and followed the beast. 4 People worshiped the dragon because he had given his ·power [authority] to the beast. And they also worshiped the beast, asking, “Who is like the beast [Ex. 15:11]? Who can make war against ·it [or him]?”
5 The beast was ·allowed [L given a mouth] to say ·proud words [L great things; Dan. 7:8, 11, 20] and ·words against God [L blasphemies; Dan. 11:36], and it was allowed to ·use [exercise] its ·power [authority] for forty-two months [11:2]. 6 It ·used [opened] its mouth ·to speak [blaspheme] against God, against God’s name, against ·the place where God lives [his dwelling/tabernacle], and against all those who ·live [dwell] in heaven. 7 It was given ·power [authority] to make war against ·God’s holy people [T the saints] and to ·defeat [conquer] them. It was given ·power [authority] over every tribe, people, language, and nation [Dan. 7:21]. 8 And all who live on earth will worship ·the beast [L it; or him]—all the people since the ·beginning [foundation] of the world whose names are not written in the Lamb’s book [scroll] of life [3:5; 17:8; Ex. 32:32–33]. ·The Lamb is the One who was killed [or The Lamb who was killed/slaughtered before the creation/foundation of the earth]. [C Some commentators link the phrase “since the beginning/foundation of the world” with “all who live on the earth”; others link it with “written in the Lamb’s book of life”; and still others with “the Lamb who was slain.”]
9 Anyone who has ears should ·listen [hear; obey]:
10 If you are to be ·a prisoner [L taken into captivity],
then you will ·be a prisoner [L go into captivity].
If you are to be killed with the sword,
then you will be killed with the sword [Jer. 15:2; 43:11].
This means that ·God’s holy people [T the saints] must have ·patience [perseverance; endurance] and faith.
11 Then I saw another beast ·coming up [rising] out of the earth [Dan. 7:17]. It [or He] had two horns like a ·lamb [or ram; Dan. 8:3], but it spoke like a dragon [C acting like a prophetic spokesperson for the dragon (see 16:13); along with the dragon and the first beast, this second beast forms an evil trinity]. 12 This beast ·stands before the first beast and uses the same power the first beast has [or uses all the authority of the first beast on its behalf]. By this ·power [authority] it makes ·everyone living on earth [L the earth and its inhabitants] worship the first beast, who had the ·death wound [fatal/mortal wound; L wound of its death] that was healed. 13 And the second beast ·does great miracles [performs great signs] so that it even makes fire come down from heaven to earth [1 Kin. 18:38; 2 Kin. 1:10, 12] ·while people are watching [L before people]. 14 It ·fools [deceives; tricks] those who live on earth by the ·miracles [signs; C these are counterfeit miracles] it has been given the power to do. It does these ·miracles [signs] ·to serve the first beast [L before/in the presence of the first beast]. The second beast orders [tells] people to make an ·idol [image] to honor the first beast, the one that ·was wounded by the deadly [L has the wound of the] sword but ·sprang to life again [lives]. 15 The second beast was ·given power [or allowed] to give ·life [breath; a spirit] to the idol of the first one so that the idol could speak. And the second beast was ·given power [allowed] to ·command [cause; make] all who will not worship the ·image [idol] of the beast to be killed. 16 The second beast also ·forced [caused; made] all people, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to have a ·mark [brand; stamp; C to show allegiance to the first beast] on their right hand or on their forehead [compare 7:2–4; 14:1]. 17 [L So that] No one could buy or sell without this mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of its name [C Greek and Hebrew letters had a numerical equivalent, and so could represent names—a practice known as gematria]. 18 This ·takes [calls for; L is] wisdom [Dan. 12:10]. Let the one who has understanding ·find the meaning of [calculate; figure out] the number [L of the beast], which is the number of a ·person [or man]. Its number is 666[a] [C a symbolic number signifying imperfection and sin; some speculate it represents the name of a Roman emperor, perhaps Nero or Domitian].
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