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Judgment on Israel’s Enemies
9 An Oracle.
The word of the Lord is against the land of Hadrach
and will rest upon Damascus.
For to the Lord belongs the capital[a] of Aram,[b]
as do all the tribes of Israel;
2 Hamath also, which borders on it,
Tyre and Sidon, though they are very wise.(A)
3 Tyre has built itself a rampart
and heaped up silver like dust
and gold like the dirt of the streets.(B)
4 But now, the Lord will strip it of its possessions
and hurl its wealth into the sea,
and it shall be devoured by fire.(C)
5 Ashkelon shall see it and be afraid;
Gaza, too, and shall writhe in anguish;
Ekron also, because its hopes are withered.
The king shall perish from Gaza;
Ashkelon shall be uninhabited;(D)
6 a mongrel people shall settle in Ashdod,
and I will make an end of the pride of Philistia.(E)
7 I will take away its blood from its mouth
and its abominations from between its teeth;
it, too, shall be a remnant for our God;
it shall be like a clan in Judah,
and Ekron shall be like the Jebusites.(F)
8 Then I will encamp at my house as a guard,
so that no one shall march to and fro;
no oppressor shall again overrun them,
for now I have seen with my own eyes.(G)
The Coming Ruler of God’s People
9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter Zion!
Shout aloud, O daughter Jerusalem!
See, your king comes to you;
triumphant and victorious is he,
humble and riding on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.(H)
10 He[c] will cut off the chariot from Ephraim
and the war horse from Jerusalem;
and the battle bow shall be cut off,
and he shall command peace to the nations;
his dominion shall be from sea to sea
and from the River to the ends of the earth.(I)
11 As for you also, because of the blood of my covenant with you,
I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit.(J)
12 Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope;
today I declare that I will restore to you double.(K)
13 For I have bent Judah as my bow;
I have made Ephraim its arrow.[d]
I will arouse your sons, O Zion,
against your sons, O Greece,
and wield you like a warrior’s sword.(L)
14 Then the Lord will appear over them,
and his arrow go forth like lightning;
the Lord God will sound the trumpet
and march forth in the whirlwinds of the south.(M)
15 The Lord of hosts will protect them,
and they shall consume and conquer the slingers;[e]
they shall drink their blood[f] like wine
and be full like a bowl,
drenched like the corners of the altar.(N)
The Great Whore and the Beast
17 Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the judgment of the great whore[a] who is seated on many waters,(A) 2 with whom the kings of the earth have engaged in sexual immorality[b] and with the wine of whose prostitution the inhabitants of the earth have become drunk.”(B) 3 So he carried me away in the spirit[c] into a wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was full of blasphemous names, and it had seven heads and ten horns.(C) 4 The woman was clothed in purple and scarlet and adorned with gold and jewels and pearls, holding in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her prostitution,(D) 5 and on her forehead was written a name, a mystery: “Babylon the great, mother[d] of whores[e] and of earth’s abominations.”(E) 6 And I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints and the blood of the witnesses to Jesus.
When I saw her, I was greatly amazed.(F) 7 But the angel said to me, “Why are you so amazed? I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast with seven heads and ten horns that carries her. 8 The beast that you saw was and is not and is about to ascend from the bottomless pit and go to destruction. And the inhabitants of the earth, whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, will be amazed when they see the beast, because it was and is not and is to come.(G)
9 “This calls for a mind that has wisdom: the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman is seated; also, they are seven kings,(H) 10 of whom five have fallen, one is living, and the other has not yet come, and when he comes he must remain only a little while. 11 As for the beast that was and is not, it is an eighth, but it belongs to the seven, and it goes to destruction. 12 And the ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but they are to receive authority as kings for one hour, together with the beast.(I) 13 These are united in yielding their power and authority to the beast; 14 they will wage war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful.”(J)
15 And he said to me, “The waters that you saw, where the whore[f] is seated, are peoples and multitudes and nations and languages.(K) 16 And the ten horns that you saw, they and the beast will hate the whore;[g] they will make her desolate and naked; they will devour her flesh and burn her up with fire.(L) 17 For God has put it into their hearts to carry out his purpose by agreeing to give their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God will be fulfilled.(M) 18 The woman you saw is the great city that rules over the kings of the earth.”(N)
Psalm 145
The Greatness and the Goodness of God
Praise. Of David.
1 I will extol you, my God and King,
and bless your name forever and ever.
2 Every day I will bless you
and praise your name forever and ever.(A)
3 Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised;
his greatness is unsearchable.(B)
4 One generation shall extol your works to another
and shall declare your mighty acts.(C)
5 They will recount the glorious[a] splendor of your majesty,
and on your wondrous works I will meditate.(D)
6 They will proclaim the might of your awesome deeds,
and I will declare your greatness.(E)
7 They shall celebrate the fame of your abundant goodness
and shall sing aloud of your righteousness.(F)
8 The Lord is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.(G)
9 The Lord is good to all,
and his compassion is over all that he has made.(H)
10 All your works shall give thanks to you, O Lord,
and all your faithful shall bless you.(I)
11 They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom
and tell of your power,
12 to make known to all people your[b] mighty deeds
and the glorious splendor of your[c] kingdom.
13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
and your dominion endures throughout all generations.
The Lord is faithful in all his words
and gracious in all his deeds.[d](J)
14 The Lord upholds all who are falling
and raises up all who are bowed down.(K)
15 The eyes of all look to you,
and you give them their food in due season.(L)
16 You open your hand,
satisfying the desire of every living thing.
17 The Lord is just in all his ways
and kind in all his doings.
18 The Lord is near to all who call on him,
to all who call on him in truth.(M)
19 He fulfills the desire of all who fear him;
he also hears their cry and saves them.(N)
20 The Lord watches over all who love him,
but all the wicked he will destroy.(O)
21 My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord,
and all flesh will bless his holy name forever and ever.
32 If you have been foolish, exalting yourself,
or if you have been devising evil,
put your hand on your mouth.(A)
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.