Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
16 The Lord raised up(A) judges, who saved them from the power of their marauders, 17 but they did not listen to their judges. Instead, they prostituted(B) themselves with other gods, bowing down to them. They quickly turned from the way(C) of their ancestors, who had walked in obedience to the Lord’s commands. They did not do as their ancestors did. 18 Whenever the Lord raised up a judge for the Israelites, the Lord was with(D) him and saved the people from the power of their enemies while the judge was still alive. The Lord was moved to pity whenever they groaned because of those who were oppressing and afflicting them. 19 Whenever the judge died, the Israelites would act even more corruptly(E) than their ancestors, following other gods to serve them and bow in worship to them. They did not turn from their evil practices or their obstinate(F) ways.
20 The Lord’s anger burned against Israel, and he declared, “Because this nation has violated my covenant(G) that I made with their ancestors(H) and disobeyed me, 21 I will no longer drive out before them any of the nations Joshua left(I) when he died.(J) 22 I did this to test Israel and to see whether or not they would keep the Lord’s way(K) by walking in it, as their ancestors had.”(L) 23 The Lord left these nations and did not drive them out immediately. He did not hand them over to Joshua.
The Fourth Bowl
8 The fourth[a] poured out his bowl on the sun. It was allowed to scorch people with fire, 9 and people were scorched by the intense heat. So they blasphemed the name of God,(A) who has the power[b] over these plagues, and they did not repent and give him glory.(B)
The Fifth Bowl
10 The fifth[c] poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast,(C) and its kingdom was plunged into darkness.(D) People[d] gnawed their tongues because of their pain 11 and blasphemed the God of heaven(E) because of their pains and their sores, but they did not repent of their works.
The Sixth Bowl
12 The sixth[e] poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates,(F) and its water was dried up(G) to prepare the way for the kings from the east. 13 Then I saw three unclean spirits like frogs(H) coming from the dragon’s mouth,(I) from the beast’s mouth,(J) and from the mouth of the false prophet.(K) 14 For they are demonic spirits performing signs,(L) who travel to the kings of the whole world to assemble them(M) for the battle on the great day of God, the Almighty.(N) 15 “Look, I am coming like a thief. Blessed(O) is the one who is alert and remains clothed[f](P) so that he may not go around naked and people see his shame.”(Q) 16 So they assembled the kings at the place called in Hebrew, Armageddon.[g](R)
The Seventh Bowl
17 Then the seventh[h] poured out his bowl into the air,[i] and a loud voice came out of the temple[j](S) from the throne, saying, “It is done!” 18 There were flashes of lightning, rumblings, and peals of thunder. And a severe earthquake occurred like no other since people have been on the earth, so great was the quake.(T) 19 The great city(U) split into three parts, and the cities of the nations[k] fell. Babylon the Great was remembered in God’s presence; he gave her the cup filled with the wine of his fierce anger.(V) 20 Every island fled, and the mountains disappeared.(W) 21 Enormous hailstones, each weighing about a hundred pounds,[l] fell from the sky on people, and they blasphemed God(X) for the plague of hail because that plague was extremely severe.(Y)
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