Revelation 21; Revelation 22; Isaiah 9; Isaiah 10; Psalms 111

Revelation 21

1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea existed no longer.

2 I also saw the Holy City, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared like a bride adorned for her husband.

3 Then I heard a loud voice from the throne: Look! God's dwelling is with men, and He will live with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God.

4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will exist no longer; grief, crying, and pain will exist no longer, because the previous things have passed away.

5 Then the One seated on the throne said, "Look! I am making everything new." He also said, "Write, because these words are faithful and true."

6 And He said to me, "It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give to the thirsty from the spring of living water as a gift.

7 The victor will inherit these things, and I will be his God, and he will be My son.

8 But the cowards, unbelievers, vile, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars-their share will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death."

9 Then one of the seven angels, who had held the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues, came and spoke with me: "Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb."

10 He then carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God,

11 arrayed with God's glory. Her radiance was like a very precious stone, like a jasper stone, bright as crystal.

12 [The city] had a massive high wall, with 12 gates. Twelve angels were at the gates; [on the gates], names were inscribed, the names of the 12 tribes of the sons of Israel.

13 There were three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, and three gates on the west.

14 The city wall had 12 foundations, and on them were the 12 names of the Lamb's 12 apostles.

15 The one who spoke with me had a gold measuring rod to measure the city, its gates, and its wall.

16 The city is laid out in a square; its length and width are the same. He measured the city with the rod at 12,000 stadia. Its length, width, and height are equal.

17 Then he measured its wall, 144 cubits according to human measurement, which the angel used.

18 The building material of its wall was jasper, and the city was pure gold like clear glass.

19 The foundations of the city wall were adorned with every kind of precious stone: the first foundation jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald,

20 the fifth sardonyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst.

21 The 12 gates are 12 pearls; each individual gate was made of a single pearl. The broad street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.

22 I did not see a sanctuary in it, because the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its sanctuary.

23 The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, because God's glory illuminates it, and its lamp is the Lamb.

24 The nations will walk in its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it.

25 Each day its gates will never close because it will never be night there.

26 They will bring the glory and honor of the nations into it.

27 Nothing profane will ever enter it: no one who does what is vile or false, but only those written in the Lamb's book of life.

Revelation 22

1 Then he showed me the river of living water, sparkling like crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb

2 down the middle of the broad street [of the city]. On both sides of the river was the tree of life bearing 12 kinds of fruit, producing its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree are for healing the nations,

3 and there will no longer be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and His servants will serve Him.

4 They will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads.

5 Night will no longer exist, and people will not need lamplight or sunlight, because the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign forever and ever.

6 Then he said to me, "These words are faithful and true. And the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, has sent His angel to show His servants what must quickly take place."

7 "Look, I am coming quickly! Blessed is the one who keeps the prophetic words of this book."

8 I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. When I heard and saw them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who had shown them to me.

9 But he said to me, "Don't do that! I am a fellow slave with you, your brothers the prophets, and those who keep the words of this book. Worship God."

10 He also said to me, "Don't seal the prophetic words of this book, because the time is near.

11 Let the unrighteous go on in unrighteousness; let the filthy go on being made filthy; let the righteous go on in righteousness; and let the holy go on being made holy."

12 "Look! I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me to repay each person according to what he has done.

13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.

14 "Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and may enter the city by the gates.

15 Outside are the dogs, the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices lying.

16 "I, Jesus, have sent My angel to attest these things to you for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright Morning Star."

17 Both the Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" Anyone who hears should say, "Come!" And the one who is thirsty should come. Whoever desires should take the living water as a gift.

18 I testify to everyone who hears the prophetic words of this book: If anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book.

19 And if anyone takes away from the words of this prophetic book, God will take away his share of the tree of life and the holy city, written in this book.

20 He who testifies about these things says, "Yes, I am coming quickly." Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!

21 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all the saints. Amen.

Isaiah 9

1 Nevertheless, the gloom of the distressed land will not be like that of the former times when He humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali. But in the future He will bring honor to the Way of the Sea, to the land east of the Jordan, and to Galilee of the nations.

2 The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of darkness, a light has dawned.

3 You have enlarged the nation and increased its joy. [The people] have rejoiced before You as they rejoice at harvest time and as they rejoice when dividing spoils.

4 For You have shattered their burdensome yoke and the rod on their shoulders, the staff of their oppressor, just as [You did] on the day of Midian.

5 For the trampling boot of battle and the bloodied garments of war will be burned as fuel for the fire.

6 For a child will be born for us, a son will be given to us, and the government will be on His shoulders. He will be named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.

7 The dominion will be vast, and its prosperity will never end. He will reign on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish and sustain it with justice and righteousness from now on and forever. The zeal of the Lord of Hosts will accomplish this.

8 The Lord sent a message against Jacob; it came against Israel.

9 All the people- Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria-will know it. They will say with pride and arrogance:

10 "The bricks have fallen, but we will rebuild with cut stones; the sycamores have been cut down, but we will replace them with cedars."

11 The Lord has raised up Rezin's adversaries against him and stirred up his enemies.

12 Aram from the east and Philistia from the west have consumed Israel with open mouths. In all this, His anger is not removed, and His hand is still raised [to strike].

13 The people did not turn to Him who struck them; they did not seek the Lord of Hosts.

14 So the Lord cut off Israel's head and tail, palm branch and reed in a single day.

15 The head is the elder, the honored one; the tail is the prophet, the lying teacher.

16 The leaders of the people mislead [them], and those they mislead are swallowed up.

17 Therefore the Lord does not rejoice over Israel's young men and has no compassion on its fatherless and widows, for everyone is a godless evildoer, and every mouth speaks folly. In all this, His anger is not removed, and His hand is still raised [to strike].

18 For wickedness burns like a fire that consumes thorns and briers and kindles the forest thickets so that they go up in a column of smoke.

19 The land is scorched by the wrath of the Lord of Hosts, and the people are like fuel for the fire. No one has compassion on his brother.

20 They carve [meat] on the right, but they are [still] hungry; they have eaten on the left, but they are [still] not satisfied. Each one eats the flesh of his own arm.

21 Manasseh is with Ephraim, and Ephraim with Manasseh; together, both are against Judah. In all this, His anger is not removed, and His hand is still raised [to strike].

Isaiah 10

1 Woe to those enacting crooked statutes and writing oppressive laws

2 to keep the poor from getting a fair trial and to deprive the afflicted among my people of justice, so that widows can be their spoil and they can plunder the fatherless.

3 What will you do on the day of punishment when devastation comes from far away? Who will you run to for help? Where will you leave your wealth?

4 [There will be nothing to do] except crouch among the prisoners or fall among the slain. In all this, His anger is not removed, and His hand is still raised [to strike].

5 Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger- the staff in their hands is My wrath.

6 I will send him against a godless nation; I will command him [to go] against a people destined for My rage, to take spoils, to plunder, and to trample them down like clay in the streets.

7 But this is not what he intends; this is not what he plans. It is his intent to destroy and to cut off many nations.

8 For he says: Aren't all my commanders kings?

9 Isn't Calno like Carchemish? Isn't Hamath like Arpad? Isn't Samaria like Damascus?

10 As my hand seized the idolatrous kingdoms, whose idols exceeded those of Jerusalem and Samaria,

11 and as I did to Samaria and its idols will I not also do to Jerusalem and its idols?

12 But when the Lord finishes all His work against Mount Zion and Jerusalem, [He will say,] "I will punish the king of Assyria for his arrogant acts and the proud look in his eyes."

13 For he said: I have done [this] by my own strength and wisdom, for I am clever. I abolished the borders of nations and plundered their treasures; like a mighty warrior, I subjugated the inhabitants.

14 My hand has reached out, as if into a nest, to seize the wealth of the nations. Like one gathering abandoned eggs, I gathered the whole earth. No wing fluttered; no beak opened or chirped.

15 Does an ax exalt itself above the one who chops with it? Does a saw magnify itself above the one who saws with it? As if a staff could wave those who lift it! As if a rod could lift what isn't wood!

16 Therefore the Lord God of Hosts will inflict an emaciating disease on the well-fed of Assyria, and He will kindle a burning fire under its glory.

17 Israel's Light will become a fire, and its Holy One, a flame. In one day it will burn up Assyria's thorns and thistles.

18 He will completely destroy the glory of its forests and orchards as a sickness consumes a person.

19 The remaining trees of its forest will be so few in number that a child could count them.

20 On that day the remnant of Israel and the survivors of the house of Jacob will no longer depend on the one who struck them, but they will faithfully depend on the Lord, the Holy One of Israel.

21 The remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the Mighty God.

22 Israel, even if your people were as numerous as the sand of the sea, [only] a remnant of them will return. Destruction has been decreed; justice overflows.

23 For throughout the land the Lord God of Hosts is carrying out a destruction that was decreed.

24 Therefore, the Lord God of Hosts says this: "My people who dwell in Zion, do not fear Assyria, though he strikes you with a rod and raises his staff over you as the Egyptians did.

25 In just a little while My wrath will be spent and My anger will turn to their destruction."

26 And the Lord of Hosts will brandish a whip against him as [He did when He] struck Midian at the rock of Oreb; and He will raise His staff over the sea as [He did] in Egypt.

27 On that day his burden will fall from your shoulders, and his yoke from your neck. The yoke will be broken because of [his] fatness.

28 Assyria has come to Aiath and has gone through Migron, storing his equipment at Michmash.

29 They crossed over at the ford, saying, "We will spend the night at Geba." The people of Ramah are trembling; those at Gibeah of Saul have fled.

30 Cry aloud, daughter of Gallim! Listen, Laishah! Anathoth is miserable.

31 Madmenah has fled. The inhabitants of Gebim have sought refuge.

32 Today he will stand at Nob, shaking his fist at the mountain of Daughter Zion, the hill of Jerusalem.

33 Look, the Lord God of Hosts will chop off the branches with terrifying power, and the tall [trees] will be cut down, the high [trees] felled.

34 He is clearing the thickets of the forest with an ax, and Lebanon with its majesty will fall.

Psalms 111

1 Hallelujah! I will praise the Lord with all my heart in the assembly of the upright and in the congregation.

2 The Lord's works are great, studied by all who delight in them.

3 All that He does is splendid and majestic; His righteousness endures forever.

4 He has caused His wonderful works to be remembered. The Lord is gracious and compassionate.

5 He has provided food for those who fear Him; He remembers His covenant forever.

6 He has shown His people the power of His works by giving them the inheritance of the nations.

7 The works of His hands are truth and justice; all His instructions are trustworthy.

8 They are established forever and ever, enacted in truth and uprightness.

9 He has sent redemption to His people. He has ordained His covenant forever. His name is holy and awe-inspiring.

10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow His instructions have good insight. His praise endures forever.