God Himself Is Judge
A Psalm of nAsaph.
1 oThe Mighty One, God the Lord,
speaks and summons the earth
pfrom the rising of the sun to its setting.
2 Out of Zion, qthe perfection of beauty,
rGod shines forth.
3 Our God comes; he sdoes not keep silence;1
before him is a devouring tfire,
around him a mighty tempest.
4 uHe calls to the heavens above
and to the earth, that he may judge his people:
5 “Gather to me my faithful ones,
who made va covenant with me by sacrifice!”
6 wThe heavens declare his righteousness,
for xGod himself is judge! Selah
7 y“Hear, O my people, and I will speak;
O Israel, I will testify against you.
zI am God, your God.
8 Not for your sacrifices ado I rebuke you;
your burnt offerings are continually before me.
9 I will not accept a bull from your house
or goats from your folds.
10 For every beast of the forest is mine,
the cattle on a thousand hills.
11 bI know all the birds of the hills,
and all that moves in the field is mine.
12 “If I were hungry, I would not tell you,
cfor the world and its fullness are mine.
13 Do I eat the flesh of bulls
or drink the blood of goats?
14 dOffer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving,2
and eperform your vows to the Most High,
15 and fcall upon me in the day of trouble;
16 But to the wicked God says:
“What right have you to recite my statutes
or take my covenant on your lips?
17 iFor you hate discipline,
jand you cast my words behind you.
18 If you see a thief, kyou are pleased with him,
land you keep company with adulterers.
19 “You give your mouth free rein for evil,
mand your tongue frames deceit.
20 You sit and speak against your brother;
you slander your own mother’s son.
21 These things you have done, and I nhave been silent;
you thought that I3 was one like yourself.
22 “Mark this, then, you who qforget God,
lest I tear you apart, and there be rnone to deliver!
23 The one who soffers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me;
to one who torders his way rightly
I will show the usalvation of God!”
The Two Witnesses
1 Then I was given ma measuring rod like a staff, and I was told, “Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship there, 2 but do not measure nthe court outside the temple; leave that out, for oit is given over to the nations, and they will trample the holy city for pforty-two months. 3 And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for p1,260 days, qclothed in sackcloth.”
4 These are rthe two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. 5 And if anyone would harm them, sfire pours from their mouth and consumes their foes. If anyone would harm them, tthis is how he is doomed to be killed. 6 They have the power uto shut the sky, that no rain may fall during the days of their prophesying, and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood and vto strike the earth with every kind of plague, as often as they desire. 7 And when they have finished their testimony, wthe beast that rises from xthe bottomless pit1 ywill make war on them and conquer them and kill them, 8 and their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city that symbolically2 is called zSodom and aEgypt, where their Lord was crucified. 9 For three and a half days some from the peoples and tribes and languages and nations will gaze at their dead bodies and brefuse to let them be placed in a tomb, 10 and cthose who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and make merry and dexchange presents, because these two prophets ehad been a torment to those who dwell on the earth. 11 But after the three and a half days fa breath of life from God entered them, and they stood up on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them. 12 Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, g“Come up here!” And hthey went up to heaven iin a cloud, and their enemies watched them. 13 And at that hour there was ja great earthquake, and ka tenth of the city fell. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and lgave glory to mthe God of heaven.
14 nThe second woe has passed; behold, the third woe is soon to come.
The Seventh Trumpet
15 Then othe seventh angel blew his trumpet, and pthere were loud voices in heaven, saying, q“The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of rhis Christ, and she shall reign forever and ever.” 16 And the twenty-four elders twho sit on their thrones before God ufell on their faces and worshiped God, 17 saying,
“We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty,
vwho is and who was,
for you have taken your great power
and wbegun to reign.
18 The nations raged,
but xyour wrath came,
and ythe time for the dead to be judged,
and for rewarding your servants, the prophets and saints,
and zthose who fear your name,
both small and great,
and afor destroying the destroyers of the earth.”
19 Then bGod’s temple in heaven was opened, and cthe ark of his covenant was seen within his temple. There were flashes of lightning, rumblings,3 peals of thunder, an earthquake, and dheavy hail.
