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Then the trumpet will sound, and sudden terror will grip the heart of everyone when they hear it.
1
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Friends will fight like enemies, and the earth and its people will be terrified. Rivers will stop flowing and stand still for three hours.
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"Those who survive all these things that I have predicted will be rescued when I bring to an end this world that I created.
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They will see those who never died but were taken up alive into heaven. The hearts and minds of people on earth will be changed.
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Evil will be destroyed and deceit eliminated.
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Faith will grow strong, corruption will be overcome, and truth, which has not produced fruit for so long, will make itself felt again."
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While the voice was speaking, the ground beneath me began to rock back and forth.
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Then the angel said to me, "These are the things that I have come to show you tonight.
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Now if you will pray and fast for seven more days, I will come back and tell you even greater things,
32
because God Most High has heard your prayer; the Mighty God has seen the pure and righteous life that you have lived since your youth.
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That is why he has sent me to show you all these things and to tell you not to be afraid but to trust him.
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Do not be so quick to raise useless questions in the present age; then you will not be so quick to do so in the final age."
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After that, I mourned and fasted for seven more days, as I had done before, and so I completed the three weeks of fasting that I had been commanded to observe.
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On the eighth night I was again deeply troubled, and I began to speak to God Most High.
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I was very tense and my heart was uneasy,
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but I said, "O Lord, at the beginning of creation you spoke the word. On the first day you commanded, "Let the universe be made,' and your word carried out that command.
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At that time the spirit was moving, darkness and silence were everywhere, and no human voice was yet heard.
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Then you commanded that a ray of light shine out of the room where it was stored, so that your works could be seen.
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On the second day you created the angel of the sky and commanded him to separate the water, so that part of it would move up above the dome of the sky and part remain below.
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On the third day you commanded the water that covered the earth to come together in one place and cover one-seventh of the earth's surface. Then you dried out the rest of the earth's surface to make dry land, so that it might be cultivated and planted and used in your service.
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Your word went out and completed the work immediately.
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In an instant all kinds of fruits and vegetables appeared, enough kinds to satisfy every taste. There were flowers of indescribable fragrances and of the most magnificent colors. These things were made on the third day.
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On the fourth day the bright-shining sun, the light of the moon, and the arrangement of the stars were created by your command.
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You commanded them to serve the human race, which would soon be created.
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On the fifth day you commanded the part of the earth covered by water to produce birds and fish; and it was done.
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At your command, the still and lifeless water brought forth living creatures, so that the nations might proclaim your wonderful works.
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Then you singled out two of the living creatures; you named one of them Behemoth and the other Leviathan.
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You separated them from each other because the sea wasn't big enough to hold them both.
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You let Behemoth live on a part of the land that you dried up on the third day of creation; it is a land of a thousand mountains.
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You let Leviathan live in the sea. You kept them both alive, so that your chosen people may feast on them at the time you choose.
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On the sixth day you commanded the earth to produce the animals, domestic and wild, large and small.