JOEL 1-3

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The Devastation of Locusts  1:1 The word of the LORD that came to Joel, the son of Pethuel:

2 Hear this, O elders,

And listen, all inhabitants of the land.

Has anything like this happened in your days

Or in your fathers’ days?

3 Tell your sons about it,

And let your sons tell their sons,

And their sons the next generation.

4 What the gnawing locust has left, the swarming locust has eaten;

And what the swarming locust has left, the creeping locust has eaten;

And what the creeping locust has left, the stripping locust has eaten.

5 Awake, drunkards, and weep;

And wail, all you wine drinkers,

On account of the sweet wine

That is cut off from your mouth.

6 For a nation has invaded my land,

Mighty and without number;

Its teeth are the teeth of a lion,

And it has the fangs of a lioness.

7 It has made my vine a waste

And my fig tree splinters.

It has stripped them bare and cast them away;

Their branches have become white.

8 Wail like a virgin girded with sackcloth

For the bridegroom of her youth.

9 The grain offering and the drink offering are cut off

From the house of the LORD.

The priests mourn,

The ministers of the LORD.

10 The field is ruined,

The land mourns;

For the grain is ruined,

The new wine dries up,

Fresh oil fails.

11 Be ashamed, O farmers,

Wail, O vinedressers,

For the wheat and the barley;

Because the harvest of the field is destroyed.

12 The vine dries up

And the fig tree fails;

The pomegranate, the palm also, and the apple tree,

All the trees of the field dry up.

Indeed, rejoicing dries up

From the sons of men.

13 Gird yourselves with sackcloth

And lament, O priests;

Wail, O ministers of the altar!

Come, spend the night in sackcloth

O ministers of my God,

For the grain offering and the drink offering

Are withheld from the house of your God.

Starvation and Drought

14 Consecrate a fast,

Proclaim a solemn assembly;

Gather the elders

And all the inhabitants of the land

To the house of the LORD your God,

And cry out to the LORD.

15 Alas for the day!

For the day of the LORD is near,

And it will come as destruction from the Almighty.

16 Has not food been cut off before our eyes,

Gladness and joy from the house of our God?

17 The seeds shrivel under their clods;

The storehouses are desolate,

The barns are torn down,

For the grain is dried up.

18 How the beasts groan!

The herds of cattle wander aimlessly

Because there is no pasture for them;

Even the flocks of sheep suffer.

19 To You, O LORD, I cry;

For fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness

And the flame has burned up all the trees of the field.

20 Even the beasts of the field pant for You;

For the water brooks are dried up

And fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness.

The Terrible Visitation2:1 Blow a trumpet in Zion,

And sound an alarm on My holy mountain!

Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble,

For the day of the LORD is coming;

Surely it is near,

2 A day of darkness and gloom,

A day of clouds and thick darkness.

As the dawn is spread over the mountains,

So there is a great and mighty people;

There has never been anything like it,

Nor will there be again after it

To the years of many generations.

3 A fire consumes before them

And behind them a flame burns.

The land is like the garden of Eden before them

But a desolate wilderness behind them,

And nothing at all escapes them.

4 Their appearance is like the appearance of horses;

And like war horses, so they run.

5 With a noise as of chariots

They leap on the tops of the mountains,

Like the crackling of a flame of fire consuming the stubble,

Like a mighty people arranged for battle.

6 Before them the people are in anguish;

All faces turn pale.

7 They run like mighty men,

They climb the wall like soldiers;

And they each march in line,

Nor do they deviate from their paths.

8 They do not crowd each other,

They march everyone in his path;

When they burst through the defenses,

They do not break ranks.

9 They rush on the city,

They run on the wall;

They climb into the houses,

They enter through the windows like a thief.

10 Before them the earth quakes,

The heavens tremble,

The sun and the moon grow dark

And the stars lose their brightness.

11 The LORD utters His voice before His army;

Surely His camp is very great,

For strong is he who carries out His word.

The day of the LORD is indeed great and very awesome,

And who can endure it?

12 “Yet even now,” declares the LORD,

“Return to Me with all your heart,

And with fasting, weeping and mourning;

13 And rend your heart and not your garments.”

Now return to the LORD your God,

For He is gracious and compassionate,

Slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness

And relenting of evil.

14 Who knows whether He will not turn and relent

And leave a blessing behind Him,

Even a grain offering and a drink offering

For the LORD your God?

15 Blow a trumpet in Zion,

Consecrate a fast, proclaim a solemn assembly,

16 Gather the people, sanctify the congregation,

Assemble the elders,

Gather the children and the nursing infants.

Let the bridegroom come out of his room

And the bride out of her bridal chamber.

17 Let the priests, the LORD’S ministers,

Weep between the porch and the altar,

And let them say, “Spare Your people, O LORD,

And do not make Your inheritance a reproach,

A byword among the nations.

Why should they among the peoples say,

‘Where is their God?’”

Deliverance Promised18 Then the LORD will be zealous for His land

And will have pity on His people.

19 The LORD will answer and say to His people,

“Behold, I am going to send you grain, new wine and oil,

And you will be satisfied in full with them;

And I will never again make you a reproach among the nations.

20 “But I will remove the northern army far from you,

And I will drive it into a parched and desolate land,

And its vanguard into the eastern sea,

And its rear guard into the western sea.

And its stench will arise and its foul smell will come up,

For it has done great things.”

21 Do not fear, O land, rejoice and be glad,

For the LORD has done great things.

22 Do not fear, beasts of the field,

For the pastures of the wilderness have turned green,

For the tree has borne its fruit,

The fig tree and the vine have yielded in full.

23 So rejoice, O sons of Zion,

And be glad in the LORD your God;

For He has given you the early rain for your vindication.

And He has poured down for you the rain,

The early and latter rain as before.

24 The threshing floors will be full of grain,

And the vats will overflow with the new wine and oil.

25 “Then I will make up to you for the years

That the swarming locust has eaten,

The creeping locust, the stripping locust and the gnawing locust,

My great army which I sent among you.

26 “You will have plenty to eat and be satisfied

And praise the name of the LORD your God,

Who has dealt wondrously with you;

Then My people will never be put to shame.

27 “Thus you will know that I am in the midst of Israel,

And that I am the LORD your God,

And there is no other;

And My people will never be put to shame.

The Promise of the Spirit28 “It will come about after this

That I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind;

And your sons and daughters will prophesy,

Your old men will dream dreams,

Your young men will see visions.

29 “Even on the male and female servants

I will pour out My Spirit in those days.

The Day of the LORD

30 “I will display wonders in the sky and on the earth,

Blood, fire and columns of smoke.

31 “The sun will be turned into darkness

And the moon into blood

Before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes.

32 “And it will come about that whoever calls on the name of the LORD

Will be delivered;

For on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem

There will be those who escape,

As the LORD has said,

Even among the survivors whom the LORD calls.

The Nations Will Be Judged3:1 “For behold, in those days and at that time,

When I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem,

2 I will gather all the nations

And bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat.

Then I will enter into judgment with them there

On behalf of My people and My inheritance, Israel,

Whom they have scattered among the nations;

And they have divided up My land.

3 “They have also cast lots for My people,

Traded a boy for a harlot

And sold a girl for wine that they may drink.

4 Moreover, what are you to Me, O Tyre, Sidon and all the regions of Philistia? Are you rendering Me a recompense? But if you do recompense Me, swiftly and speedily I will return your recompense on your head. 5 Since you have taken My silver and My gold, brought My precious treasures to your temples, 6 and sold the sons of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks in order to remove them far from their territory, 7 behold, I am going to arouse them from the place where you have sold them, and return your recompense on your head. 8 Also I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the sons of Judah, and they will sell them to the Sabeans, to a distant nation,” for the LORD has spoken.
9 Proclaim this among the nations:

Prepare a war; rouse the mighty men!

Let all the soldiers draw near, let them come up!

10 Beat your plowshares into swords

And your pruning hooks into spears;

Let the weak say, “I am a mighty man.”

11 Hasten and come, all you surrounding nations,

And gather yourselves there.

Bring down, O LORD, Your mighty ones.

12 Let the nations be aroused

And come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat,

For there I will sit to judge

All the surrounding nations.

13 Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe.

Come, tread, for the wine press is full;

The vats overflow, for their wickedness is great.

14 Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision!

For the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.

15 The sun and moon grow dark

And the stars lose their brightness.

16 The LORD roars from Zion

And utters His voice from Jerusalem,

And the heavens and the earth tremble.

But the LORD is a refuge for His people

And a stronghold to the sons of Israel.

17 Then you will know that I am the LORD your God,

Dwelling in Zion, My holy mountain.

So Jerusalem will be holy,

And strangers will pass through it no more.

Judah Will Be Blessed18 And in that day

The mountains will drip with sweet wine,

And the hills will flow with milk,

And all the brooks of Judah will flow with water;

And a spring will go out from the house of the LORD

To water the valley of Shittim.

19 Egypt will become a waste,

And Edom will become a desolate wilderness,

Because of the violence done to the sons of Judah,

In whose land they have shed innocent blood.

20 But Judah will be inhabited forever

And Jerusalem for all generations.

21 And I will avenge their blood which I have not avenged,

For the LORD dwells in Zion.

PROVERBS 4

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A Father’s Instruction4:1 Hear, O sons, the instruction of a father,

And give attention that you may gain understanding,

2 For I give you sound teaching;

Do not abandon my instruction.

3 When I was a son to my father,

Tender and the only son in the sight of my mother,

4 Then he taught me and said to me,

“Let your heart hold fast my words;

Keep my commandments and live;

5 Acquire wisdom! Acquire understanding!

Do not forget nor turn away from the words of my mouth.

6 “Do not forsake her, and she will guard you;

Love her, and she will watch over you.

7 “The beginning of wisdom is: Acquire wisdom;

And with all your acquiring, get understanding.

8 “Prize her, and she will exalt you;

She will honor you if you embrace her.

9 “She will place on your head a garland of grace;

She will present you with a crown of beauty.”

10 Hear, my son, and accept my sayings

And the years of your life will be many.

11 I have directed you in the way of wisdom;

I have led you in upright paths.

12 When you walk, your steps will not be impeded;

And if you run, you will not stumble.

13 Take hold of instruction; do not let go.

Guard her, for she is your life.

14 Do not enter the path of the wicked

And do not proceed in the way of evil men.

15 Avoid it, do not pass by it;

Turn away from it and pass on.

16 For they cannot sleep unless they do evil;

And they are robbed of sleep unless they make someone stumble.

17 For they eat the bread of wickedness

And drink the wine of violence.

18 But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn,

That shines brighter and brighter until the full day.

19 The way of the wicked is like darkness;

They do not know over what they stumble.

20 My son, give attention to my words;

Incline your ear to my sayings.

21 Do not let them depart from your sight;

Keep them in the midst of your heart.

22 For they are life to those who find them

And health to all their body.

23 Watch over your heart with all diligence,

For from it flow the springs of life.

24 Put away from you a deceitful mouth

And put devious speech far from you.

25 Let your eyes look directly ahead

And let your gaze be fixed straight in front of you.

26 Watch the path of your feet

And all your ways will be established.

27 Do not turn to the right nor to the left;

Turn your foot from evil.

REVELATION 7

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An Interlude  7:1 After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth, so that no wind would blow on the earth or on the sea or on any tree. 2 And I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, having the seal of the living God; and he cried out with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea, 3 saying, “Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees until we have sealed the bond-servants of our God on their foreheads.”
The 144,000    4 And I heard the number of those who were sealed, one hundred and forty-four thousand sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel: 5 from the tribe of Judah, twelve thousand were sealed, from the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand, from the tribe of Gad twelve thousand, 6 from the tribe of Asher twelve thousand, from the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand, from the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand, 7 from the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand, from the tribe of Levi twelve thousand, from the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand, 8 from the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand, from the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand, from the tribe of Benjamin, twelve thousand were sealed.
A Multitude from the Tribulation    9 After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands; 10 and they cry out with a loud voice, saying,
    “Salvation to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” 11 And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures; and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying,
    “Amen, blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might, be to our God forever and ever. Amen.”
    13 Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, “These who are clothed in the white robes, who are they, and where have they come from?” 14 I said to him, “My lord, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15 For this reason, they are before the throne of God; and they serve Him day and night in His temple; and He who sits on the throne will spread His tabernacle over them. 16 They will hunger no longer, nor thirst anymore; nor will the sun beat down on them, nor any heat; 17 for the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and will guide them to springs of the water of life; and God will wipe every tear from their eyes.”