I Have Overcome the World
25 “I have said these things to you in figures of speech. uThe hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures of speech but will tell you plainly about the Father. 26 In that day you will ask in my name, and I do not say to you that I will ask the Father on your behalf; 27 vfor the Father himself loves you, because wyou have loved me and xhave believed that I came from God.1 28 yI came from the Father and have come into the world, and now zI am leaving the world and going to the Father.”
29 His disciples said, “Ah, now you are speaking plainly and not ausing figurative speech! 30 Now we know that byou know all things and do not need anyone to question you; this is why we believe that cyou came from God.” 31 Jesus answered them, “Do you now believe? 32 Behold, dthe hour is coming, indeed it has come, when eyou will be scattered, each to his own home, and fwill leave me alone. gYet I am not alone, for the Father is with me. 33 I have said these things to you, that hin me you may have peace. iIn the world you will have jtribulation. But ktake heart; lI have overcome the world.”
The Seven Seals
1 Now I watched when the Lamb opened one of ethe seven seals, and I heard fone of the four living creatures say gwith a voice like thunder, h“Come!” 2 And I looked, and behold, ia white horse! And jits rider had a bow, and ka crown was given to him, and he came out lconquering, and to conquer.
3 When he opened the second seal, I heard mthe second living creature say, “Come!” 4 And out came another horse, nbright red. Its rider was permitted oto take peace from the earth, so that people should slay one another, and he was given a great sword.
5 When he opened the third seal, I heard the mthird living creature say, “Come!” And I looked, and behold, pa black horse! And its rider had a pair of scales in his hand. 6 And I heard what seemed to be a voice in the midst of the four living creatures, saying, q“A quart1 of wheat for a denarius,2 and three quarts of barley for a denarius, and rdo not harm the oil and wine!”
7 When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of mthe fourth living creature say, “Come!” 8 And I looked, and behold, sa pale horse! And its rider’s name was Death, and Hades followed him. And they were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill twith sword and with famine and with pestilence and uby wild beasts of the earth.
9 When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under vthe altar wthe souls of those who had been slain xfor the word of God and for ythe witness they had borne. 10 They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, zholy and true, ahow long bbefore you will judge and cavenge our blood on dthose who dwell on the earth?” 11 Then they were each given ea white robe and ftold to rest a little longer, guntil the number of their fellow servants and their brothers3 hshould be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been.
12 When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, ithere was a great earthquake, and jthe sun became black as ksackcloth, the full moon became like blood, 13 and lthe stars of the sky fell to the earth mas the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale. 14 nThe sky vanished mlike a scroll that is being rolled up, and oevery mountain and island was removed from its place. 15 Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave4 and free, phid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, 16 qcalling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of rhim who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, 17 for sthe great day of their wrath has come, and twho can stand?”
24 y“If I have made gold my ztrust
or called afine gold my confidence,
25 if I have brejoiced because my wealth was abundant
or because cmy hand had found much,
26 dif I have looked at the sun1 when it shone,
or ethe moon moving in splendor,
27 and my heart has been secretly enticed,
and my mouth has kissed my hand,
28 this also would be fan iniquity to be punished by the judges,
for I would have been false to God above.
29 “If I have grejoiced at the ruin of him who hated me,
or exulted when evil overtook him
30 (hI have not let my mouth sin
by asking for his life with a curse),
31 if the men of my tent have not said,
‘Who is there that has not been filled with his imeat?’
32 (jthe sojourner has not lodged in the street;
I have opened my doors to the traveler),
33 if I khave concealed my transgressions las others do2
by hiding my iniquity in my heart,
34 because I stood in great fear of mthe multitude,
and the contempt of families terrified me,
so that I kept silence, and did not go out of doors—
35 Oh, that I had one to hear me!
(Here is my signature! Let the Almighty nanswer me!)
Oh, that I had othe indictment written by my adversary!
36 Surely I would carry it on my pshoulder;
I would qbind it on me as ra crown;
37 I would give him an account of all my steps;
like a prince I would approach him.
38 “If my land has cried out against me
and its furrows have wept together,
39 sif I have eaten its yield without payment
and made its owners tbreathe their last,
40 let uthorns grow instead of wheat,
and foul weeds instead of barley.”
The words of Job are ended.
Israel’s Guilt and Punishment
1 jHear this word that the Lord has spoken against you, O people of Israel, against the whole family that I brought up out of the land of Egypt:
2 k“You only have I known
of all the families of the earth;
ltherefore I will punish you
for all your iniquities.
3 “Do two walk together,
unless they have agreed to meet?
4 Does a lion roar in the forest,
when he has no prey?
Does a young lion cry out from his den,
if he has taken nothing?
5 Does a bird fall in a snare on the earth,
when there is no trap for it?
Does a snare spring up from the ground,
when it has taken nothing?
6 mIs a trumpet blown in a city,
and the people are not afraid?
nDoes disaster come to a city,
unless the Lord has done it?
7 “For the Lord God does nothing
owithout revealing his secret
to his servants the prophets.
8 The lion has roared;
who will not fear?
pThe Lord God has spoken;
who can but prophesy?”
9 Proclaim to the strongholds in qAshdod
and to the strongholds in the land of Egypt,
and say, “Assemble yourselves on rthe mountains of Samaria,
and see the great tumults within her,
and sthe oppressed in her midst.”
10 “They do not know how to do right,” declares the Lord,
t“those who store up violence and robbery in their strongholds.”
11 Therefore thus says the Lord God:
u“An adversary shall surround the land
and bring down1 your defenses from you,
and vyour strongholds shall be plundered.”
12 Thus says the Lord: w“As the shepherd rescues from the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear, xso shall the people of Israel ywho dwell in Samaria be rescued, with the corner of a couch and part2 of a bed.
13 “Hear, zand testify against the house of Jacob,”
declares the Lord God, athe God of hosts,
14 “that on the day I punish Israel for his transgressions,
bI will punish the altars of Bethel,
and cthe horns of the altar shall be cut off
and fall to the ground.
15 dI will strike ethe winter house along with fthe summer house,
and gthe houses of ivory shall perish,
and the great houses3 shall come to an end,”
declares the Lord.
1 “Hear this word, hyou cows of Bashan,
who are ion the mountain of Samaria,
jwho oppress the poor, jwho crush the needy,
who say to your husbands, ‘Bring, that we may drink!’
2 kThe Lord God has sworn by his holiness
that, behold, the days are coming upon you,
lwhen they shall take you away with hooks,
leven the last of you with fishhooks.
3 mAnd you shall go out through the breaches,
each one straight ahead;
and you shall be cast out into Harmon,”
declares the Lord.
4 n“Come to Bethel, and transgress;
to oGilgal, and multiply transgression;
nbring your psacrifices every morning,
your tithes every three days;
5 offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving of qthat which is leavened,
and proclaim rfreewill offerings, publish them;
sfor so you love to do, O people of Israel!”
declares the Lord God.
Israel Has Not Returned to the Lord
6 “I gave you cleanness of teeth in all your cities,
and tlack of bread in all your places,
uyet you did not return to me,”
declares the Lord.
7 “I also vwithheld the rain from you
when there were yet three months to the harvest;
wI would send rain on one city,
and send no rain on another city;
one field would have rain,
and the field on which it did not rain would wither;
8 so two or three cities xwould wander to another city
to drink water, and would not be satisfied;
uyet you did not return to me,”
declares the Lord.
9 y“I struck you with blight and mildew;
your many gardens and your vineyards,
your fig trees and your olive trees zthe locust devoured;
uyet you did not return to me,”
declares the Lord.
10 “I sent among you a pestilence aafter the manner of Egypt;
I killed your young men with the sword,
and bcarried away your horses,4
and cI made the stench of your camp go up into your nostrils;
uyet you did not return to me,”
declares the Lord.
11 “I overthrew some of you,
das when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah,
and you were eas a brand5 plucked out of the burning;
uyet you did not return to me,”
declares the Lord.
12 “Therefore thus I will do to you, O Israel;
because I will do this to you,
prepare to meet your God, O Israel!”
13 For behold, fhe who forms the mountains and creates the wind,
and gdeclares to man what is his thought,
hwho makes the morning darkness,
and itreads on the heights of the earth—
jthe Lord, the God of hosts, is his name!
