Revelation 1-6
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Introduction and Salutation
1 The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place, and he made it known by sending his angel to his servant John,(A) 2 who testified to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw.(B)
3 Blessed is the one who reads the words of the prophecy, and blessed are those who hear and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near.
4 John to the seven churches that are in Asia:
Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come and from the seven spirits who are before his throne,(C) 5 and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.
To him who loves us and freed[a] us from our sins by his blood 6 and made us a kingdom, priests serving[b] his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.(D)
7 Look! He is coming with the clouds;
every eye will see him,
even those who pierced him,
and all the tribes of the earth will wail on account of him.
So it is to be. Amen.(E)
8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.(F)
A Vision of Christ
9 I, John, your brother who share with you the persecution and the kingdom and the endurance in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.[c](G) 10 I was in the spirit[d] on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet(H) 11 saying, “Write in a book what you see, and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamum, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.”
12 Then I turned to see whose voice it was that spoke to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands,(I) 13 and in the midst of the lampstands I saw one like the Son of Man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash across his chest.(J) 14 His head and his hair were white as white wool, white as snow; his eyes were like a flame of fire;(K) 15 his feet were like burnished bronze, refined as in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of many waters.(L) 16 In his right hand he held seven stars, and from his mouth came a sharp, two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining with full force.(M)
17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he placed his right hand on me, saying, “Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last(N) 18 and the Living One. I was dead, and see, I am alive forever and ever, and I have the keys of Death and of Hades.(O) 19 Now write what you have seen, what is, and what is to take place after this. 20 As for the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and the seven golden lampstands: the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.(P)
The Message to Ephesus
2 “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands:
2 “I know your works, your toil and your endurance. I know that you cannot tolerate evildoers; you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not and have found them to be false.(Q) 3 I also know that you are enduring and bearing up for the sake of my name and that you have not grown weary.(R) 4 But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. 5 Remember, then, from where you have fallen; repent and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. 6 Yet this is to your credit: you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. 7 Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches. To everyone who conquers, I will give permission to eat from the tree of life that is in the paradise of God.(S)
The Message to Smyrna
8 “And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write: These are the words of the First and the Last, who was dead and came to life:(T)
9 “I know your affliction and your poverty, even though you are rich. I know the slander on the part of those who say that they are Jews and are not but are a synagogue of Satan.(U) 10 Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Beware, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison so that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have affliction. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.(V) 11 Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches. Whoever conquers will not be harmed by the second death.(W)
The Message to Pergamum
12 “And to the angel of the church in Pergamum write: These are the words of him who has the sharp two-edged sword:(X)
13 “I know where you are living, where Satan’s throne is. Yet you are holding fast to my name, and you did not deny your faith in me[e] even in the days of Antipas my witness, my faithful one, who was killed among you, where Satan lives. 14 But I have a few things against you: you have some there who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the people of Israel, so that they would eat food sacrificed to idols and engage in sexual immorality.[f](Y) 15 So you also have some who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. 16 Repent, then. If not, I will come to you soon and wage war against them with the sword of my mouth.(Z) 17 Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches. To everyone who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give a white stone, and on the white stone is written a new name that no one knows except the one who receives it.(AA)
The Message to Thyatira
18 “And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write: These are the words of the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire and whose feet are like burnished bronze:(AB)
19 “I know your works: your love, faith, service, and endurance. I know that your latest works are greater than the first. 20 But I have this against you: you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophet and is teaching and beguiling my servants to engage in sexual immorality[g] and to eat food sacrificed to idols.(AC) 21 I gave her time to repent, but she refuses to repent of her sexual immorality.[h](AD) 22 Beware, I am throwing her on a bed, and those who commit adultery with her I am throwing into great distress, unless they repent of her doings, 23 and I will strike her children dead. And all the churches will know that I am the one who searches minds and hearts, and I will give to each of you as your works deserve.(AE) 24 But to the rest of you in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who have not learned what some call ‘the deep things of Satan,’ to you I say, I do not lay on you any other burden;(AF) 25 only hold fast to what you have until I come. 26 To everyone who conquers and continues to do my works to the end,
I will give authority over the nations,(AG)
27 to rule[i] them with an iron scepter,
as when clay pots are shattered—(AH)
28 “even as I also received authority from my Father. To the one who conquers I will also give the morning star.(AI) 29 Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.
The Message to Sardis
3 “And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: These are the words of him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars:
“I know your works; you have a name of being alive, but you are dead.(AJ) 2 Wake up and strengthen what remains and is on the point of death, for I have not found your works perfect in the sight of my God. 3 Remember, then, what you received and heard; obey it and repent. If you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come to you.(AK) 4 Yet you have still a few persons in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes; they will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy.(AL) 5 If you conquer, you will be clothed like them in white robes, and I will not erase your name from the book of life; I will confess your name before my Father and before his angels.(AM) 6 Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.
The Message to Philadelphia
7 “And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write:
These are the words of the Holy One, the True One,
who has the key of David,
who opens and no one will shut,
who shuts and no one opens:(AN)
8 “I know your works. Look, I have set before you an open door that no one is able to shut. I know that you have but little power, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.(AO) 9 I will make those of the synagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews and are not but are lying—I will make them come and bow down before your feet, and they will learn that I have loved you.(AP) 10 Because you have kept my word of endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth.(AQ) 11 I am coming soon; hold fast to what you have, so that no one takes away your crown. 12 If you conquer, I will make you a pillar in the temple of my God; you will never go out of it. I will write on you the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem that comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name.(AR) 13 Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.
The Message to Laodicea
14 “And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the origin[j] of God’s creation:(AS)
15 “I know your works; you are neither cold nor hot. I wish that you were either cold or hot. 16 So, because you are lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I am about to spit you out of my mouth. 17 For you say, ‘I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing.’ You do not realize that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.(AT) 18 Therefore I advise you to buy from me gold refined by fire so that you may be rich, and white robes to clothe yourself and to keep the shame of your nakedness from being seen, and salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see.(AU) 19 I reprove and discipline those whom I love. Be earnest, therefore, and repent.(AV) 20 Listen! I am standing at the door, knocking; if you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in and eat with you, and you with me.(AW) 21 To the one who conquers I will give a place with me on my throne, just as I myself conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne.(AX) 22 Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.”
The Heavenly Worship
4 After this I looked, and there in heaven a door stood open! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.”(AY) 2 At once I was in the spirit,[k] and there in heaven stood a throne, with one seated on the throne!(AZ) 3 And the one seated there looks like jasper and carnelian, and around the throne is a rainbow that looks like an emerald. 4 Around the throne are twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones are twenty-four elders, dressed in white robes, with golden crowns on their heads.(BA) 5 Coming from the throne are flashes of lightning and rumblings and peals of thunder, and in front of the throne burn seven flaming torches, which are the seven spirits of God,(BB) 6 and in front of the throne there is something like a sea of glass, like crystal.
Around the throne, and on each side of the throne, are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and back:(BC) 7 the first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with a face like a human, and the fourth living creature like a flying eagle.(BD) 8 And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and inside. Day and night without ceasing they sing,
“Holy, holy, holy,
the Lord God the Almighty,
who was and is and is to come.”(BE)
9 And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to the one who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever,(BF) 10 the twenty-four elders fall before the one who is seated on the throne and worship the one who lives forever and ever; they cast their crowns before the throne, singing,(BG)
11 “You are worthy, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they existed and were created.”(BH)
The Scroll and the Lamb
5 Then I saw in the right hand of the one seated on the throne a scroll written on the inside and on the back, sealed[l] with seven seals,(BI) 2 and I saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?” 3 And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it. 4 And I began to weep bitterly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it. 5 Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep. See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.”(BJ)
6 Then I saw between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders a Lamb standing as if it had been slaughtered, with seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth.(BK) 7 He went and took the scroll from the right hand of the one who was seated on the throne. 8 When he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell before the Lamb, each holding a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.(BL) 9 They sing a new song:
“You are worthy to take the scroll
and to break its seals,
for you were slaughtered and by your blood you ransomed for God
saints from[m] every tribe and language and people and nation;(BM)
10 you have made them a kingdom and priests serving[n] our God,
and they will reign[o] on earth.”(BN)
11 Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels surrounding the throne and the living creatures and the elders; they numbered myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands,(BO) 12 singing with full voice,
“Worthy is the Lamb that was slaughtered
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might
and honor and glory and blessing!”
13 Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea and all that is in them, singing,
“To the one seated on the throne and to the Lamb
be blessing and honor and glory and might
forever and ever!”(BP)
14 And the four living creatures said, “Amen!” And the elders fell down and worshiped.
The Seven Seals
6 Then I saw the Lamb break one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures call out, as with a voice of thunder, “Come!”[p](BQ) 2 I looked, and there was a white horse! Its rider had a bow; a crown was given to him, and he came out conquering and to conquer.(BR)
3 When he broke the second seal, I heard the second living creature call out, “Come!”[q] 4 And out came[r] another horse, bright red; its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that people would slaughter one another, and he was given a great sword.(BS)
5 When he broke the third seal, I heard the third living creature call out, “Come!”[s] I looked, and there was a black horse! Its rider held a pair of scales in his hand,(BT) 6 and I heard what seemed to be a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, “A quart of wheat for a day’s pay[t] and three quarts of barley for a day’s pay,[u] but do not damage the olive oil and the wine!”
7 When he broke the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature call out, “Come!”[v] 8 I looked, and there was a pale green horse! Its rider’s name was Death, and Hades followed with him; they were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword, famine, and pestilence and by the wild animals of the earth.(BU)
9 When he broke the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slaughtered for the word of God and for the testimony they had given;(BV) 10 they cried out with a loud voice, “Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long will it be before you judge and avenge our blood on the inhabitants of the earth?”(BW) 11 They were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number would be complete both of their fellow servants and of their brothers and sisters who were soon to be killed as they themselves had been killed.(BX)
12 When he broke the sixth seal, I looked, and there was a great earthquake; the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood,(BY) 13 and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree drops its winter fruit when shaken by a gale.(BZ) 14 The sky vanished like a scroll rolling itself up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place.(CA) 15 Then the kings of the earth and the magnates and the generals and the rich and the powerful and everyone, slave and free, hid in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains,(CB) 16 calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of the one seated on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb,(CC) 17 for the great day of their[w] wrath has come, and who is able to stand?”(CD)
Footnotes
- 1.5 Other ancient authorities read washed
- 1.6 Gk priests to
- 1.9 Or testimony to Jesus
- 1.10 Or in the Spirit
- 2.13 Or deny my faith
- 2.14 Or prostitution
- 2.20 Or prostitution
- 2.21 Or prostitution
- 2.27 Or to shepherd
- 3.14 Or beginning
- 4.2 Or in the Spirit
- 5.1 Or written on the inside and sealed on the back
- 5.9 Gk ransomed for God from
- 5.10 Gk priests to
- 5.10 Other ancient authorities read they reign
- 6.1 Or “Go!”
- 6.3 Or “Go!”
- 6.4 Or went
- 6.5 Or “Go!”
- 6.6 Gk a denarius
- 6.6 Gk a denarius
- 6.7 Or “Go!”
- 6.17 Other ancient authorities read his
Nahum 1-3
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
1 An oracle concerning Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum of Elkosh.(A)
The Consuming Wrath of God
2 A jealous and avenging God is the Lord;
the Lord is avenging and wrathful;
the Lord takes vengeance on his adversaries
and prolongs it against his enemies.(B)
3 The Lord is slow to anger but great in power,
and the Lord will by no means clear the guilty.
His way is in whirlwind and storm,
and the clouds are the dust of his feet.(C)
4 He rebukes the sea and makes it dry,
and he dries up all the rivers;
Bashan and Carmel wither,
and the bloom of Lebanon fades.
5 The mountains quake before him,
and the hills melt;
the earth heaves before him,
the world and all who live in it.(D)
6 Who can stand before his indignation?
Who can endure the heat of his anger?
His wrath is poured out like fire,
and by him the rocks are broken in pieces.(E)
7 The Lord is good,
a stronghold in a day of trouble;
he protects those who take refuge in him,
8 even in a rushing flood.
He will make a full end of his adversaries[a]
and will pursue his enemies into darkness.(F)
9 Why do you plot against the Lord?
He will make an end;
no adversary will rise up twice.(G)
10 Like thorns they are entangled;
like drunkards they are drunk;
they are consumed like dry straw.(H)
11 From you one has gone out
who plots evil against the Lord,
one who counsels wickedness.(I)
Good News for Judah
12 Thus says the Lord:
Though they are at full strength and many,[b]
they will be cut off and pass away.
Though I have afflicted you,
I will afflict you no more.(J)
13 And now I will break off his yoke from you
and snap the bonds that bind you.(K)
14 The Lord has commanded concerning you:
Your name shall be perpetuated no longer;
from the house of your gods I will cut off
the carved image and the cast image.
I will prepare your grave, for you are worthless.(L)
15 [c]Look! On the mountains the feet of one
who brings good tidings,
who proclaims peace!
Celebrate your festivals, O Judah;
fulfill your vows,
for never again shall the wicked invade you;
they are utterly cut off.(M)
The Destruction of the Wicked City
2 A scatterer has come up against you.
Guard the ramparts;
watch the road;
gird your loins;
collect all your strength.(N)
2 (For the Lord is restoring the majesty of Jacob,
as well as the majesty of Israel,
though ravagers have ravaged them
and ruined their branches.)(O)
3 The shields of his warriors are red;
his soldiers are clothed in crimson.
The metal on the chariots flashes
on the day when he musters them;
the chargers[d] prance.(P)
4 The chariots race madly through the streets;
they rush to and fro through the squares;
their appearance is like torches;
they dart like lightning.(Q)
5 He calls his officers;
they stumble as they come forward;
they hasten to the wall,
and the screen[e] is set up.
6 The river gates are opened;
the palace trembles.
7 It is decreed[f] that the city[g] be exiled,
its slave women led away,
moaning like doves
and beating their breasts.(R)
8 Nineveh is like a pool
whose waters[h] run away.
“Halt! Halt!”—
but no one turns back.(S)
9 “Plunder the silver;
plunder the gold!
There is no end of treasure!
An abundance of every precious thing!”
10 Devastation, desolation, and destruction!
Hearts faint and knees tremble;
all loins quake;
all faces grow pale!(T)
11 What became of the lions’ den,
the cave of the young lions,
where the lion goes,
and the lion’s cubs, with no one to disturb them?(U)
12 The lion has torn enough for his whelps
and strangled prey for his lionesses;
he has filled his caves with prey
and his dens with torn flesh.(V)
13 See, I am against you, says the Lord of hosts, and I will burn your[i] chariots in smoke, and the sword shall devour your young lions; I will cut off your prey from the earth, and the voice of your messengers shall be heard no more.(W)
Ruin Imminent and Inevitable
3 Woe, city of bloodshed,
utterly deceitful, full of plunder—
no end to the prey!(X)
2 The crack of whip and rumble of wheel,
galloping horse and bounding chariot!(Y)
3 Horsemen charging,
flashing sword and glittering spear,
piles of dead,
heaps of corpses,
dead bodies without end—
they stumble over the bodies!(Z)
4 Because of the countless debaucheries of the prostitute,
gracefully alluring, mistress of sorcery,
who enslaves[j] nations through her debaucheries
and peoples through her sorcery,(AA)
5 I am against you,
says the Lord of hosts,
and will lift up your skirts over your face,
and I will let nations look on your nakedness
and kingdoms on your shame.(AB)
6 I will throw filth at you
and treat you with contempt
and make you a spectacle.(AC)
7 Then all who see you will shrink from you and say,
“Nineveh is devastated; who will bemoan her?”
Where shall I seek comforters for you?(AD)
8 Are you better than Thebes[k]
that sat by the Nile,
with water around her,
her rampart a sea,
water her wall?(AE)
9 Cush was her strength,
Egypt, too, and that without limit;
Put and the Libyans were her[l] helpers.(AF)
10 Yet she became an exile;
she went into captivity;
even her infants were dashed in pieces
at the head of every street;
lots were cast for her nobles;
all her dignitaries were bound in fetters.(AG)
11 You also will be drunken;
you will go into hiding;[m]
you will seek
a refuge from the enemy.(AH)
12 All your fortresses are like fig trees
with first-ripe figs—
if shaken they fall
into the mouth of the eater.(AI)
13 Look at your troops:
they are women in your midst.
The gates of your land
are wide open to your foes;
fire has devoured the bars of your gates.(AJ)
14 Draw water for the siege;
strengthen your forts;
trample the clay;
tread the mortar;
take hold of the brick mold!
15 There the fire will devour you;
the sword will cut you off.
It will devour you like the locust.
Multiply yourselves like the locust;
multiply like the grasshopper!(AK)
16 You increased your merchants
more than the stars of the heavens.
The locust sheds its skin and flies away.
17 Your guards are like grasshoppers,
your scribes like swarms[n] of locusts
settling on the fences
on a cold day—
when the sun rises, they fly away;
no one knows where they have gone.
18 Your shepherds are asleep,
O king of Assyria;
your nobles slumber.
Your people are scattered on the mountains
with no one to gather them.(AL)
19 There is no assuaging your hurt;
your wound is mortal.
All who hear the news about you
clap their hands over you.
For who has ever escaped
your endless cruelty?(AM)
Footnotes
- 1.8 Gk: Heb of her place
- 1.12 Meaning of Heb uncertain
- 1.15 2.1 in Heb
- 2.3 Cn Compare Gk Syr: Heb cypresses
- 2.5 Meaning of Heb uncertain
- 2.7 Meaning of Heb uncertain
- 2.7 Heb it
- 2.8 Cn Compare Gk: Heb a pool, from the days that she has become, and they
- 2.13 Heb her
- 3.4 Heb sells
- 3.8 Or No-amon
- 3.9 Gk Syr: Heb your
- 3.11 Meaning of Heb uncertain
- 3.17 Meaning of Heb uncertain
Habakkuk 1-3
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
1 The oracle that the prophet Habakkuk saw.
The Prophet’s Complaint
2 O Lord, how long shall I cry for help,
and you will not listen?
Or cry to you “Violence!”
and you will not save?(A)
3 Why do you make me see wrongdoing
and look at trouble?
Destruction and violence are before me;
strife and contention arise.(B)
4 So the law becomes slack,
and justice never prevails.
The wicked surround the righteous;
therefore judgment comes forth perverted.(C)
5 Look at the nations and see!
Be astonished! Be astounded!
For a work is being done in your days
that you would not believe if you were told.(D)
6 For I am rousing the Chaldeans,
that fierce and impetuous nation,
who march through the breadth of the earth
to seize dwellings not their own.(E)
7 Dread and fearsome are they;
their justice and dignity proceed from themselves.(F)
8 Their horses are swifter than leopards,
more menacing than wolves at dusk;
their horses charge.
Their horsemen come from far away;
they fly like an eagle swift to devour.(G)
9 They all come for violence,
with faces pressing[a] forward;
they gather captives like sand.(H)
10 At kings they scoff,
and of rulers they make sport.
They laugh at every fortress
and heap up earth to take it.(I)
11 Then they sweep by like the wind;
they transgress and become guilty;
their own might is their god!(J)
12 Are you not from of old,
O Lord my God, my Holy One?
You[b] shall not die.
O Lord, you have marked them for judgment,
and you, O Rock, have established them for punishment.(K)
13 Your eyes are too pure to behold evil,
and you cannot look on wrongdoing;
why do you look on the treacherous
and are silent when the wicked swallow
those more righteous than they?(L)
14 You have made people like the fish of the sea,
like crawling things that have no ruler.(M)
15 He brings all of them up with a hook;
he drags them out with his net;
he gathers them in his seine,
so he rejoices and exults.(N)
16 Therefore he sacrifices to his net
and makes offerings to his seine,
for by them his portion is lavish,
and his food is rich.
17 Is he then to keep on emptying his net
and destroying nations without mercy?(O)
God’s Reply to the Prophet’s Complaint
2 I will stand at my watchpost
and station myself on the rampart;
I will keep watch to see what he will say to me
and what he[c] will answer concerning my complaint.(P)
2 Then the Lord answered me and said:
Write the vision;
make it plain on tablets,
so that a runner may read it.(Q)
3 For there is still a vision for the appointed time;
it speaks of the end and does not lie.
If it seems to tarry, wait for it;
it will surely come; it will not delay.(R)
4 Look at the proud!
Their spirit is not right in them,
but the righteous live by their faithfulness.(S)
5 Moreover, wealth[d] is treacherous;
the arrogant do not endure.
They open their throats wide as Sheol;
like Death they never have enough.
They gather all nations for themselves
and collect all peoples as their own.(T)
The Woes of the Wicked
6 Shall not everyone taunt such people and, with mocking riddles, say about them,
“Alas for you who heap up what is not your own!”
How long will you load yourselves with goods taken in pledge?(U)
7 Will not your own creditors suddenly rise
and those who make you tremble wake up?
Then you will be plunder for them.
8 Because you have plundered many nations,
all who survive of the peoples shall plunder you—
because of human bloodshed and violence to the earth,
to cities and all who live in them.(V)
9 “Alas for you who get evil gain for your house,
setting your nest on high
to be safe from the reach of harm!”(W)
10 You have devised shame for your house
by cutting off many peoples;
you have forfeited your life.(X)
11 The very stones will cry out from the wall,
and the rafter will respond from the woodwork.
12 “Alas for you who build a town by bloodshed
and found a city on iniquity!”(Y)
13 Is it not from the Lord of hosts
that peoples labor only to feed the flames
and nations weary themselves for nothing?
14 But the earth will be filled
with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord,
as the waters cover the sea.(Z)
15 “Alas for you who make your neighbors drink,
pouring out your wrath until they are drunk,
in order to gaze on their nakedness!”(AA)
16 You will be sated with contempt instead of glory.
Drink, you yourself, and stagger![e]
The cup in the Lord’s right hand
will come around to you,
and shame will come upon your glory!(AB)
17 For the violence done to Lebanon will overwhelm you;
the destruction of the animals will terrify you—[f]
because of human bloodshed and violence to the earth,
to cities and all who live in them.(AC)
18 What use is an idol
once its maker has shaped it—
a cast image, a teacher of lies?
For its maker trusts in what has been made,
though the product is only an idol that cannot speak!(AD)
19 Alas for you who say to the wood, “Wake up!”
to silent stone, “Rouse yourself!”
Can it teach?
See, it is gold and silver plated,
and there is no breath in it at all.(AE)
20 But the Lord is in his holy temple;
let all the earth keep silence before him!(AF)
3 A prayer of the prophet Habakkuk according to Shigionoth.
The Prophet’s Prayer
2 O Lord, I have heard of your renown,
and I stand in awe, O Lord, of your work.
In our own time revive it;
in our own time make it known;
in wrath may you remember mercy.(AG)
3 God came from Teman,
the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah
His glory covered the heavens,
and the earth was full of his praise.(AH)
4 The brightness was like the sun;
rays came forth from his hand,
where his power lay hidden.(AI)
5 Before him went pestilence,
and plague followed close behind.(AJ)
6 He stopped and shook the earth;
he looked and made the nations tremble.
The eternal mountains were shattered;
along his ancient pathways
the everlasting hills sank low.(AK)
7 I saw the tents of Cushan under affliction;
the tent curtains of the land of Midian trembled.
8 Was your wrath against the rivers,[g] O Lord,
or your anger against the rivers[h]
or your rage against the sea,[i]
when you drove your horses,
your chariots to victory?(AL)
9 You brandished your naked bow;
sated[j] were the arrows at your command.[k] Selah
You split the earth with rivers.(AM)
10 The mountains saw you and writhed;
a torrent of water swept by;
the deep gave forth its voice.
The sun raised high its hands;(AN)
11 the moon stood still in its exalted place,
at the light of your arrows speeding by,
at the gleam of your flashing spear.(AO)
12 In fury you marched on the earth;
in anger you trampled nations.(AP)
13 You came forth to save your people,
to save your anointed.
You crushed the head of the wicked house,
laying it bare from foundation to roof.[l] Selah(AQ)
14 You pierced with their[m] own arrows the head of his warriors,[n]
who came like a whirlwind to scatter us,[o]
gloating as if ready to devour the poor who were in hiding.
15 You trampled the sea with your horses,
churning the mighty waters.(AR)
16 I hear, and I tremble within;
my lips quiver at the sound.
Rottenness enters into my bones,
and my steps tremble[p] beneath me.
I wait quietly for the day of calamity
to come upon the people who attack us.(AS)
Trust and Joy in the Midst of Trouble
17 Though the fig tree does not blossom
and no fruit is on the vines;
though the produce of the olive fails
and the fields yield no food;
though the flock is cut off from the fold
and there is no herd in the stalls,(AT)
18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord;
I will exult in the God of my salvation.(AU)
19 God, the Lord, is my strength;
he makes my feet like the feet of a deer
and makes me tread upon the heights.[q]
Footnotes
- 1.9 Meaning of Heb uncertain
- 1.12 Or We
- 2.1 Syr: Heb I
- 2.5 Q mss: MT wine
- 2.16 Q ms Gk: MT be uncircumcised
- 2.17 Gk Syr: Heb terrify them
- 3.8 Or against River
- 3.8 Or against River
- 3.8 Or against Sea
- 3.9 Heb mss: MT oaths
- 3.9 Meaning of Heb uncertain
- 3.13 Heb neck
- 3.14 Heb his
- 3.14 Gk Vg Syr: Meaning of Heb uncertain
- 3.14 Heb me
- 3.16 Cn Compare Gk: Meaning of Heb uncertain
- 3.19 Heb my heights
- 3.19 Heb my stringed
Haggai 1-2
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
The Command to Rebuild the Temple
1 In the second year of King Darius, in the sixth month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came by the prophet Haggai to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest:(A) 2 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: These people say the time has not yet come to rebuild the Lord’s house.” 3 Then the word of the Lord came by the prophet Haggai, saying: 4 “Is it a time for you yourselves to live in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins?(B) 5 Now therefore thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider how you have fared.(C) 6 You have sown much and harvested little; you eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill; you clothe yourselves, but no one is warm; and you that earn wages earn wages to put them into a bag with holes.(D)
7 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider how you have fared. 8 Go up to the hills and bring wood and build the house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored, says the Lord.(E) 9 You have looked for much, but it came to little, and when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why? says the Lord of hosts. Because my house lies in ruins, while all of you hurry off to your own houses.(F) 10 Therefore the heavens above you have withheld the dew, and the earth has withheld its produce.(G) 11 And I have called for a drought[a] on the land and the hills, on the grain, the new wine, the oil, on what the soil produces, on humans and animals, and on all their labors.”(H)
12 Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the Lord their God and the words of the prophet Haggai, as the Lord their God had sent him, and the people feared the Lord.(I) 13 Then Haggai, the messenger of the Lord, spoke to the people with the Lord’s message, saying, “I am with you, says the Lord.”(J) 14 And the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people, and they came and worked on the house of the Lord of hosts, their God,(K) 15 on the twenty-fourth day of the month, in the sixth month.
The Future Glory of the Temple
In the second year of King Darius, 2 1
A Rebuke and a Promise
10 On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Haggai, saying: 11 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: Ask the priests for a ruling:(R) 12 If one carries consecrated meat in the fold of one’s garment and with the fold touches bread, or stew, or wine, or oil, or any kind of food, does it become holy?” The priests answered, “No.”(S) 13 Then Haggai said, “If one who is unclean by contact with a dead body touches any of these, does it become unclean?” The priests answered, “Yes, it becomes unclean.”(T) 14 Haggai then said, “So is it with this people and with this nation before me, says the Lord, and so with every work of their hands; what they offer there is unclean.(U) 15 But now, consider what will come to pass from this day on. Before a stone was placed upon a stone in the Lord’s temple,(V) 16 how did you fare?[b] When one came to a heap of twenty measures, there were but ten; when one came to the wine vat to draw fifty measures, there were but twenty.(W) 17 I struck you and every work of your hands with blight and mildew and hail, yet you did not return to me, says the Lord.(X) 18 Consider from this day on, from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month. Since the day that the foundation of the Lord’s temple was laid, consider:(Y) 19 Is there any seed left in the barn? Do the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive tree still yield nothing? From this day on I will bless you.”
God’s Promise to Zerubbabel
20 The word of the Lord came a second time to Haggai on the twenty-fourth day of the month: 21 “Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying: I am about to shake the heavens and the earth(Z) 22 and to overthrow the throne of kingdoms; I am about to destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the nations and overthrow the chariots and their riders, and the horses and their riders shall fall, every one by the sword of a comrade.(AA) 23 On that day, says the Lord of hosts, I will take you, O Zerubbabel my servant, son of Shealtiel, says the Lord, and make you like a signet ring; for I have chosen you, says the Lord of hosts.”(AB)
Psalm 148-149
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Psalm 148
Praise for God’s Universal Glory
1 Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord from the heavens;
praise him in the heights!
2 Praise him, all his angels;
praise him, all his host!(A)
3 Praise him, sun and moon;
praise him, all you shining stars!
4 Praise him, you highest heavens
and you waters above the heavens!(B)
5 Let them praise the name of the Lord,
for he commanded and they were created.(C)
6 He established them forever and ever;
he fixed their bounds, which cannot be passed.[a](D)
7 Praise the Lord from the earth,
you sea monsters and all deeps,(E)
8 fire and hail, snow and frost,
stormy wind fulfilling his command!(F)
9 Mountains and all hills,
fruit trees and all cedars!(G)
10 Wild animals and all cattle,
creeping things and flying birds!
11 Kings of the earth and all peoples,
princes and all rulers of the earth!
12 Young men and women alike,
old and young together!
13 Let them praise the name of the Lord,
for his name alone is exalted;
his glory is above earth and heaven.(H)
14 He has raised up a horn for his people,
praise for all his faithful,
for the people of Israel who are close to him.
Praise the Lord!(I)
Psalm 149
Praise for God’s Goodness to Israel
1 Praise the Lord!
Sing to the Lord a new song,
his praise in the assembly of the faithful.(J)
2 Let Israel be glad in its Maker;
let the children of Zion rejoice in their King.(K)
3 Let them praise his name with dancing,
making melody to him with tambourine and lyre.(L)
4 For the Lord takes pleasure in his people;
he adorns the humble with victory.(M)
5 Let the faithful exult in glory;
let them sing for joy on their couches.(N)
6 Let the high praises of God be in their throats
and two-edged swords in their hands,(O)
7 to execute vengeance on the nations
and punishment on the peoples,
8 to bind their kings with fetters
and their nobles with chains of iron,
9 to execute on them the judgment decreed.
This is glory for all his faithful ones.
Praise the Lord!(P)
Footnotes
- 148.6 Or he set a law that cannot pass away
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.