Old/New Testament
The Indictment of the Lord
6 Listen to what the Lord says:
Arise, plead your case before the mountains,
that the hills may hear your voice.
2 Hear, mountains, the indictment of the Lord,
O enduring foundations of the earth—
that the Lord has an indictment against His people,
and against Israel He will dispute.
3 “My people, what have I done to you,
and how have I wearied you? Answer Me!
4 For I have brought you up from the land of Egypt,
and from the house of slaves I have redeemed you;
and I sent before you Moses,
Aaron, and Miriam.
5 O My people, remember now
what Balak king of Moab counseled,
and what Balaam son of Beor answered him,
and remember what happened from Shittim to Gilgal,
so that you might know the righteous acts of the Lord.”
The Requirement of the Lord
6 “With what should I come before the Lord,
and bow down before God on high?
Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings,
with calves a year old?
7 Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,
with ten thousand rivers of oil?
Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”
8 He has told you, O man, what is good—
and what does the Lord require of you,
but to do justice and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?
The Punishment of Israel’s Guilt
9 The voice of the Lord calls to the city—
and wisdom will fear Your name:
Heed the rod and Him who has appointed it.
10 Are there still in the house of the wicked
treasures of wickedness?
And the short ephah[a] which is accursed?
11 Should I acquit the scales of wickedness,
and the sack of dishonest weights?
12 Her wealthy men are full of violence,
and her inhabitants speak deception,
and their tongue in their mouth is treachery.
13 Therefore, I have struck you a dreadful blow,
devastating you because of your sins.
14 You will eat, but not be satisfied,
with hunger within you.
You will set aside, but not retain;
and what you retain I will give over to the sword.
15 You will sow, but not reap;
you will tread olives, but not anoint yourselves with oil;
you will crush grapes, but not drink wine.
16 You observe the statutes of Omri,
and every practice of the house of Ahab,
and you walk in their counsels.
Therefore I will give you over to destruction,
and the inhabitants to derision.
You will bear the contempt of My people.
Wait on the Lord
7 Woe is me!
Because I am as the gathering of summer fruit,
as the gleaning of grapes;
there is no cluster to eat,
no early fig that my soul desires.
2 The godly has perished from the earth,
and no one is upright among men.
All of them lie in wait for bloodshed;
each hunts his brother with a net.
3 Both hands are upon evil, to do it well.
The prince and the judge request the bribe,
the powerful asserts the craving of his very soul—
they intertwine together.
4 The best among them is like a brier,
the most upright among them a bramble;
the day of your watchmen,
of your punishment, has come;
now their confusion is at hand.
5 Do not trust in a companion,
do not rely on a friend;
from her who lies in your embrace,
guard the doors of your mouth.
6 For the son dishonors the father,
the daughter rises up against her mother,
the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—
the enemies of a man are members of his own household.
7 But as for me, I watch for the Lord;
I await the God of my salvation;
my God will hear me.
The Penitence of Israel
8 Do not rejoice over me, my enemy!
Although I have fallen, I will rise;
although I dwell in darkness,
the Lord is my light.
9 I will endure the rage of the Lord,
because I have sinned against Him,
until the time when He pleads my case
and executes judgment for me.
He will bring me out into the light;
I will look upon His vindication.
10 Then my enemy will see,
and shame will cover her
who said to me,
“Where is the Lord your God?”
My eyes will look upon her;
now she will be trampled
like muck in the streets.
11 A day for building your walls,
in that day the boundary will be extended.
12 In that day they will come to you
from Assyria and the cities of Egypt,
and from Egypt to the River,
from sea to sea,
and from mountain to mountain.
13 The earth will become desolate because of its inhabitants,
from the fruit of their deeds.
The Restoration of Israel
14 Shepherd your people with your staff,
the flock of your inheritance,
which live alone in a forest,
in the midst of a fertile land;
let them graze in Bashan and Gilead,
as in the days of old.
15 As in the days when you came out of Egypt,
I will display wonders.
16 Nations will see and be ashamed,
despite all their might;
they will put their hand on their mouth,
and their ears will be deaf.
17 They will lick dust like the serpent,
like crawling creatures of the earth;
they will come shuddering from their lairs.
They will turn in dread to the Lord our God,
and they will be afraid of You.
18 Who is a God like You,
bearing iniquity and passing over transgression
for the remnant of His inheritance?
He does not remain angry forever,
because He delights in benevolence.
19 He will again have compassion upon us.
He will tread down our iniquities,
and cast all of our sins into the depths of the sea.
20 You will give faithfulness to Jacob
and benevolence to Abraham,
which You swore to our fathers
from the days of old.
The Two Beasts
13 I stood on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, with ten crowns on his horns, and blasphemous names on his heads. 2 The beast which I saw was like a leopard. His feet were like those of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. The dragon gave him his power and his throne and great authority. 3 I saw one of his heads as if it was mortally wounded, but his deadly wound was healed, and the whole world marveled and followed the beast. 4 They worshipped the dragon who gave authority to the beast. And they worshipped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast? Who is able to wage war with him?”
5 He was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies. And he was given authority to wage war for forty-two months. 6 He opened his mouth to speak blasphemies against God, to blaspheme His name and His tabernacle and those who dwell in heaven. 7 It was granted to him to wage war with the saints and to overcome them. And authority was given him over every tribe and tongue and nation. 8 All who dwell on the earth will worship him, all whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb who was slain from the foundation of the world.
9 If anyone has an ear, let him hear:
10 “He who is to be taken captive,
into captivity he shall go;
he who kills with the sword,
with the sword he must be killed.”[a]
Here is a call for the patience and the faith of the saints.
11 Then I saw another beast rising out of the earth. He had two horns like a lamb and he spoke like a dragon. 12 He exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence and causes the earth and those who dwell on it to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. 13 He performs great signs, making fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men. 14 He deceives those who dwell on the earth by the signs which he was granted to do in the presence of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who was wounded by a sword and lived. 15 He was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed. 16 He causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their forehead, 17 so that no one may buy or sell, except he who has the mark or the name of the beast or the number of his name.
18 Here is a call for wisdom: Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast. It is the number of a man. His number is six hundred and sixty-six.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.