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3 The Lord All-Powerful says, “I am sending my messenger to prepare the way for me. Then suddenly, the Lord you are looking for will come to his temple.[a] Yes, the messenger you are waiting for, the one who will tell about my agreement, is really coming!
2 “No one can prepare for that time or stand against him when he comes. He will be like a burning fire. He will be like the strong soap people use to make things clean. 3 He will make the Levites clean. He will make them pure, like silver is made pure with fire! He will make them pure like gold and silver. Then they will bring gifts to the Lord, and they will do things the right way. 4 Then the Lord will accept the gifts from Judah and Jerusalem. It will be as it was in the past—as the time long ago. 5 Then I will bring you to justice. I will be an expert witness and testify about the evil things people do. I will speak out against those who do evil magic or commit adultery. I will speak out against those who make false promises and cheat their workers and don’t pay them the money they promised. I will testify against those who don’t help strangers, or widows and orphans. And I will testify against those who don’t respect me.” This is what the Lord All-Powerful said.
Stealing From God
6 “I am the Lord, and I don’t change. You are Jacob’s children, and you have not been completely destroyed. 7 But you never obeyed my laws. Even your ancestors stopped following me. Come back to me, and I will come back to you.” This is what the Lord All-Powerful said.
“You say, ‘How can we come back?’
8 “People should not steal things from God, but you stole things from me.
“You say, ‘What did we steal from you?’
“You should have given me one-tenth of your things. You should have given me special gifts. 9 In this way your whole nation has stolen things from me, so bad things are happening to you.”
10 The Lord All-Powerful says, “Try this test. Bring one-tenth of your things to me. Put them in the treasury. Bring food to my house. Test me! If you do these things, I will surely bless you. Good things will come to you like rain falling from the sky. You will have more than enough of everything. 11 I will not let pests destroy your crops. All your grapevines will produce grapes.” This is what the Lord All-Powerful said.
12 “People from other nations will be good to you. You will have a wonderful country.” This is what the Lord All-Powerful said.
The Special Time of Judgment
13 The Lord says, “You said cruel things to me.”
But you ask, “What did we say about you?”
14 You said, “It is useless to worship God. We did what the Lord All-Powerful told us, but we didn’t gain anything. We cried like people at a funeral to show we were sorry for our sins, but it didn’t help. 15 We think proud people are happy. Evil people succeed. They do evil things to test God’s patience, and God does not punish them.”
16 Then the Lord’s followers spoke with each other, and the Lord listened to them. There is a book in front of him. In that book are the names of his followers. They are the people who honor the Lord’s name.
17 The Lord said, “They belong to me. I will be kind to them. Parents are very kind to their children who obey them. In the same way I will be kind to my followers. 18 You people will come back to me, and you will learn the difference between good and evil. You will learn the difference between someone who follows God and someone who does not.
4 “That time of judgment is coming. It will be like a hot furnace. All the proud people will be punished. All the evil people will burn like straw. At that time they will be like a bush burning in the fire, and there will not be a branch or root left.” This is what the Lord All-Powerful said.
2 “But, for my followers, goodness will shine on you like the rising sun. And it will bring healing power like the sun’s rays. You will be free and happy, like calves freed from their stalls.[b] 3 Then you will walk on the evil people—they will be like ashes under your feet. I will make this happen at the time of judgment.” This is what the Lord All-Powerful said.
4 “Remember and obey the law of my servant Moses. I gave those laws and rules to him at Mount Horeb. They are for all the people of Israel.
5 “Look, I will send Elijah the prophet to you. He will come before that great and terrible time of judgment from the Lord. 6 Elijah will help the parents become close to their children, and he will help the children become close to their parents. This must happen, or I will come and completely destroy your country.”
22 The angel showed me the river of the water of life, clear as crystal. The river flows from the throne of God and the Lamb. 2 It flows down the middle of the street of the city. The tree of life is on each side of the river, and it produces fruit every month, twelve times a year. The leaves of the tree are for healing the nations.
3 Nothing that God judges guilty will be there in that city. The throne of God and the Lamb will be in the city. God’s servants will worship him. 4 They will see his face. God’s name will be written on their foreheads. 5 There will never be night again. People will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun. The Lord God will give them light. And they will rule like kings forever and ever.
6 Then the angel said to me, “These words are true and can be trusted. The Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, has sent his angel to show his servants what must happen soon: 7 ‘Listen, I am coming soon! Great blessings belong to the one who obeys the words of prophecy in this book.’”
8 I am John. I am the one who heard and saw these things. After I heard and saw them, I bowed down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed them to me. 9 But the angel said to me, “Don’t worship me! I am a servant like you and your brothers the prophets. I am a servant like all those who obey the words in this book. You should worship God!”
10 Then the angel told me, “Don’t keep secret the words of prophecy in this book. The time is near for these things to happen. 11 Let anyone who is doing wrong continue to do wrong. Let anyone who is unclean continue to be unclean. Let anyone who is doing right continue to do right. Let anyone who is holy continue to be holy.”
12 “Listen, I am coming soon! I will bring rewards with me. I will repay everyone for what they have done. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega,[a] the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.
14 “Great blessings belong to those who have washed their robes.[b] They will have the right to eat the food from the tree of life. They can go through the gates into the city. 15 Outside the city are all those who live like dogs—those who do evil magic, those who sin sexually, those who murder, those who worship idols, and those who love to lie and pretend to be good.
16 “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to tell you these things for the churches. I am the descendant from the family of David. I am the bright morning star.”
17 The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” Everyone who hears this should also say, “Come!” All who are thirsty may come; they can have the water of life as a free gift if they want it.
18 I warn everyone who hears the words of prophecy in this book: If anyone adds anything to these, God will give that person the plagues written about in this book. 19 And if anyone takes away from the words of this book of prophecy, God will take away that person’s share of the tree of life and of the holy city, which are written about in this book.
20 Jesus is the one who says that all of this is true. Now he says, “Yes, I am coming soon.”
Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!
21 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all people.
150 Praise the Lord!
Praise God in his Temple!
Praise him in heaven, his strong fortress!
2 Praise him for the great things he does!
Praise him for all his greatness!
3 Praise him with trumpets and horns!
Praise him with harps and lyres!
4 Praise him with tambourines and dancing!
Praise him with stringed instruments and flutes!
5 Praise him with loud cymbals!
Praise him with crashing cymbals!
6 Everything that breathes, praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord!
25 She is a strong person,[a] and people respect her.
She looks to the future with confidence.
26 She speaks with wisdom
and teaches others to be loving and kind.
27 She oversees the care of her house.
She is never lazy.
28 Her children say good things about her.
Her husband brags about her and says,
29 “There are many good women,
but you are the best.”
30 Grace and beauty can fool you,
but a woman who respects the Lord should be praised.
31 Give her the reward she deserves.
Praise her in public for what she has done.
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International