Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

A Song of Ascents.

¹⁶ Yahweh raised up judges, who saved them out of the hand of those who plundered them. ¹⁷ Yet they didn’t listen to their judges; for they prostituted themselves to other gods, and bowed themselves down to them. They quickly turned away from the way in which their fathers walked, obeying Yahweh’s commandments. They didn’t do so. ¹⁸ When Yahweh raised up judges for them, then Yahweh was with the judge, and saved them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge; for it grieved Yahweh because of their groaning by reason of those who oppressed them and troubled them. ¹⁹ But when the judge was dead, they turned back, and dealt more corruptly than their fathers in following other gods to serve them and to bow down to them. They didn’t cease what they were doing, or give up their stubborn ways. ²⁰ Yahweh’s anger burned against Israel; and he said, “Because this nation transgressed my covenant which I commanded their fathers, and has not listened to my voice, ²¹ I also will no longer drive out any of the nations that Joshua left when he died from before them; ²² that by them I may test Israel, to see if they will keep Yahweh’s way to walk therein, as their fathers kept it, or not.” ²³ So Yahweh left those nations, without driving them out hastily. He didn’t deliver them into Joshua’s hand.

⁸ The fourth poured out his bowl on the sun, and it was given to him to scorch men with fire. ⁹ People were scorched with great heat, and people blasphemed the name of God who has the power over these plagues. They didn’t repent and give him glory.

¹⁰ The fifth poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom was darkened. They gnawed their tongues because of the pain, ¹¹ and they blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores. They still didn’t repent of their works.

¹² The sixth poured out his bowl on the great river, the Euphrates. Its water was dried up, that the way might be prepared for the kings that come from the sunrise.^{[a] 13} I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits, something like frogs; ¹⁴ for they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the whole inhabited earth, to gather them together for the war of that great day of God the Almighty.

¹⁵ “Behold, I come like a thief. Blessed is he who watches, and keeps his clothes, so that he doesn’t walk naked, and they see his shame.” ¹⁶ He gathered them together into the place which is called in Hebrew, “Harmagedon”.

¹⁷ The seventh poured out his bowl into the air. A loud voice came out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, “It is done!” ¹⁸ There were lightnings, sounds, and thunders; and there was a great earthquake such as has not happened since there were men on the earth—so great an earthquake and so mighty. ¹⁹ The great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. Babylon the great was remembered in the sight of God, to give to her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. ²⁰ Every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. ²¹ Great hailstones, about the weight of a talent,^[b] came down out of the sky on people. People blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, for this plague was exceedingly severe.