Obedience and Feasting

8 The word of the Lord of Armies came: ² The Lord of Armies says this: “I am extremely jealous for Zion; I am jealous for her with great wrath.” ³ The Lord says this: “I will return to Zion and live in Jerusalem. Then Jerusalem will be called the Faithful City; the mountain of the Lord of Armies will be called the Holy Mountain.” ⁴ The Lord of Armies says this: “Old men and women will again sit along the streets of Jerusalem, each with a staff in hand because of advanced age. ⁵ The streets of the city will be filled with boys and girls playing in them.” ⁶ The Lord of Armies says this: “Though it may seem impossible to the remnant of this people in those days, should it also seem impossible to me?”—this is the declaration of the Lord of Armies. ⁷ The Lord of Armies says this: “I will save my people from the land of the east and the land of the west. ⁸ I will bring them back to live in Jerusalem. They will be my people, and I will be their faithful and righteous God.”

⁹ The Lord of Armies says this: “Let your hands be strong, you who now hear these words that the prophets spoke when the foundations were laid for the rebuilding of the temple, the house of the Lord of Armies. ¹⁰ For prior to those days neither man nor animal had wages. There was no safety from the enemy for anyone who came or went, for I turned everyone against his neighbor. ¹¹ But now, I will not treat the remnant of this people as in the former days”—this is the declaration of the Lord of Armies. ¹² “For they will sow in peace: the vine will yield its fruit, the land will yield its produce, and the skies will yield their dew. I will give the remnant of this people all these things as an inheritance. ¹³ As you have been a curse among the nations, house of Judah and house of Israel, so I will save you, and you will be a blessing. Don’t be afraid; let your hands be strong.” ¹⁴ For the Lord of Armies says this: “As I resolved to treat you badly when your fathers provoked me to anger, and I did not relent,” says the Lord of Armies, ¹⁵ “so I have resolved again in these days to do what is good to Jerusalem and the house of Judah. Don’t be afraid. ¹⁶ These are the things you must do: Speak truth to one another; make true and sound decisions within your city gates. ¹⁷ Do not plot evil in your hearts against your neighbor, and do not love perjury, for I hate all this”—this is the Lord’s declaration.

¹⁸ Then the word of the Lord of Armies came to me: ¹⁹ The Lord of Armies says this: “The fast of the fourth month, the fast of the fifth, the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth will become times of joy, gladness, and cheerful festivals for the house of Judah. Therefore, love truth and peace.” ²⁰ The Lord of Armies says this: “Peoples will yet come, the residents of many cities; ²¹ the residents of one city will go to another, saying: Let’s go at once to plead for the Lord’s favor and to seek the Lord of Armies. I am also going. ²² Many peoples and strong nations will come to seek the Lord of Armies in Jerusalem and to plead for the Lord’s favor.” ²³ The Lord of Armies says this: “In those days, ten men from nations of every language will grab the robe of a Jewish man tightly, urging: Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.”

The First Bowl

16 Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, “Go and pour out the seven bowls of God’s wrath on the earth.” ² The first went and poured out his bowl on the earth, and severely painful sores broke out on the people who had the mark of the beast and who worshiped its image.

The Second Bowl

³ The second poured out his bowl into the sea. It turned to blood like that of a dead person, and all life in the sea died.

The Third Bowl

⁴ The third poured out his bowl into the rivers and the springs of water, and they became blood. ⁵ I heard the angel of the waters say,

⁷ I heard the altar say,

The Fourth Bowl

⁸ The fourth 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, who has the power over these plagues, and they did not repent and give him glory.

The Fifth Bowl

¹⁰ The fifth poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom was plunged into darkness. People gnawed their tongues because of their pain ¹¹ and blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, but they did not repent of their works.

The Sixth Bowl

¹² The sixth poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up to prepare the way for the kings from the east. ¹³ Then I saw three unclean spirits like frogs coming from the dragon’s mouth, from the beast’s mouth, and from the mouth of the false prophet. ¹⁴ For they are demonic spirits performing signs, who travel to the kings of the whole world to assemble them for the battle on the great day of God, the Almighty. ¹⁵ “Look, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who is alert and remains clothed so that he may not go around naked and people see his shame.” ¹⁶ So they assembled the kings at the place called in Hebrew, Armageddon.

The Seventh Bowl

¹⁷ Then the seventh poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple 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. ¹⁹ The great city split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. Babylon the Great was remembered in God’s presence; he gave her the cup filled with the wine of his fierce anger. ²⁰ Every island fled, and the mountains disappeared. ²¹ Enormous hailstones, each weighing about a hundred pounds, fell from the sky on people, and they blasphemed God for the plague of hail because that plague was extremely severe.

Psalm 144

A King’s Prayer

Of David.