NAHUM 1-3

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God Is Awesome  1:1 The oracle of Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite.
2 A jealous and avenging God is the LORD;

The LORD is avenging and wrathful.

The LORD takes vengeance on His adversaries,

And He reserves wrath for His enemies.

3 The LORD is slow to anger and great in power,

And the LORD will by no means leave the guilty unpunished.

In whirlwind and storm is His way,

And clouds are the dust beneath His feet.

4 He rebukes the sea and makes it dry;

He dries up all the rivers.

Bashan and Carmel wither;

The blossoms of Lebanon wither.

5 Mountains quake because of Him

And the hills dissolve;

Indeed the earth is upheaved by His presence,

The world and all the inhabitants in it.

6 Who can stand before His indignation?

Who can endure the burning of His anger?

His wrath is poured out like fire

And the rocks are broken up by Him.

7 The LORD is good,

A stronghold in the day of trouble,

And He knows those who take refuge in Him.

8 But with an overflowing flood

He will make a complete end of its site,

And will pursue His enemies into darkness.

9 Whatever you devise against the LORD,

He will make a complete end of it.

Distress will not rise up twice.

10 Like tangled thorns,

And like those who are drunken with their drink,

They are consumed

As stubble completely withered.

11 From you has gone forth

One who plotted evil against the LORD,

A wicked counselor.

12 Thus says the LORD,

“Though they are at full strength and likewise many,

Even so, they will be cut off and pass away.

Though I have afflicted you,

I will afflict you no longer.

13 “So now, I will break his yoke bar from upon you,

And I will tear off your shackles.”

14 The LORD has issued a command concerning you:

“Your name will no longer be perpetuated.

I will cut off idol and image

From the house of your gods.

I will prepare your grave,

For you are contemptible.”

15 Behold, on the mountains the feet of him who brings good news,

Who announces peace!

Celebrate your feasts, O Judah;

Pay your vows.

For never again will the wicked one pass through you;

He is cut off completely.

The Overthrow of Nineveh2:1 The one who scatters has come up against you.

Man the fortress, watch the road;

Strengthen your back, summon all your strength.

2 For the LORD will restore the splendor of Jacob

Like the splendor of Israel,

Even though devastators have devastated them

And destroyed their vine branches.

3 The shields of his mighty men are colored red,

The warriors are dressed in scarlet,

The chariots are enveloped in flashing steel

When he is prepared to march,

And the cypress spears are brandished.

4 The chariots race madly in the streets,

They rush wildly in the squares,

Their appearance is like torches,

They dash to and fro like lightning flashes.

5 He remembers his nobles;

They stumble in their march,

They hurry to her wall,

And the mantelet is set up.

6 The gates of the rivers are opened

And the palace is dissolved.

7 It is fixed:

She is stripped, she is carried away,

And her handmaids are moaning like the sound of doves,

Beating on their breasts.

8 Though Nineveh was like a pool of water throughout her days,

Now they are fleeing;

“Stop, stop,”

But no one turns back.

9 Plunder the silver!

Plunder the gold!

For there is no limit to the treasure--

Wealth from every kind of desirable object.

10 She is emptied! Yes, she is desolate and waste!

Hearts are melting and knees knocking!

Also anguish is in the whole body

And all their faces are grown pale!

11 Where is the den of the lions

And the feeding place of the young lions,

Where the lion, lioness and lion’s cub prowled,

With nothing to disturb them?

12 The lion tore enough for his cubs,

Killed enough for his lionesses,

And filled his lairs with prey

And his dens with torn flesh.

    13 “Behold, I am against you,” declares the LORD of hosts. “I will burn up her chariots in smoke, a sword will devour your young lions; I will cut off your prey from the land, and no longer will the voice of your messengers be heard.”
Nineveh’s Complete Ruin3:1 Woe to the bloody city, completely full of lies and pillage;

Her prey never departs.

2 The noise of the whip,

The noise of the rattling of the wheel,

Galloping horses

And bounding chariots!

3 Horsemen charging,

Swords flashing, spears gleaming,

Many slain, a mass of corpses,

And countless dead bodies--

They stumble over the dead bodies!

4 All because of the many harlotries of the harlot,

The charming one, the mistress of sorceries,

Who sells nations by her harlotries

And families by her sorceries.

5 “Behold, I am against you,” declares the LORD of hosts;

“And I will lift up your skirts over your face,

And show to the nations your nakedness

And to the kingdoms your disgrace.

6 “I will throw filth on you

And make you vile,

And set you up as a spectacle.

7 “And it will come about that all who see you

Will shrink from you and say,

‘Nineveh is devastated!

Who will grieve for her?’

Where will I seek comforters for you?”

8 Are you better than No-amon,

Which was situated by the waters of the Nile,

With water surrounding her,

Whose rampart was the sea,

Whose wall consisted of the sea?

9 Ethiopia was her might,

And Egypt too, without limits.

Put and Lubim were among her helpers.

10 Yet she became an exile,

She went into captivity;

Also her small children were dashed to pieces

At the head of every street;

They cast lots for her honorable men,

And all her great men were bound with fetters.

11 You too will become drunk,

You will be hidden.

You too will search for a refuge from the enemy.

12 All your fortifications are fig trees with ripe fruit--

When shaken, they fall into the eater’s mouth.

13 Behold, your people are women in your midst!

The gates of your land are opened wide to your enemies;

Fire consumes your gate bars.

14 Draw for yourself water for the siege!

Strengthen your fortifications!

Go into the clay and tread the mortar!

Take hold of the brick mold!

15 There fire will consume you,

The sword will cut you down;

It will consume you as the locust does.

Multiply yourself like the creeping locust,

Multiply yourself like the swarming locust.

16 You have increased your traders more than the stars of heaven--

The creeping locust strips and flies away.

17 Your guardsmen are like the swarming locust.

Your marshals are like hordes of grasshoppers

Settling in the stone walls on a cold day.

The sun rises and they flee,

And the place where they are is not known.

18 Your shepherds are sleeping, O king of Assyria;

Your nobles are lying down.

Your people are scattered on the mountains

And there is no one to regather them.

19 There is no relief for your breakdown,

Your wound is incurable.

All who hear about you

Will clap their hands over you,

For on whom has not your evil passed continually?

PROVERBS 15

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Contrast the Upright and the Wicked15:1 A gentle answer turns away wrath,

But a harsh word stirs up anger.

2 The tongue of the wise makes knowledge acceptable,

But the mouth of fools spouts folly.

3 The eyes of the LORD are in every place,

Watching the evil and the good.

4 A soothing tongue is a tree of life,

But perversion in it crushes the spirit.

5 A fool rejects his father’s discipline,

But he who regards reproof is sensible.

6 Great wealth is in the house of the righteous,

But trouble is in the income of the wicked.

7 The lips of the wise spread knowledge,

But the hearts of fools are not so.

8 The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD,

But the prayer of the upright is His delight.

9 The way of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD,

But He loves one who pursues righteousness.

10 Grievous punishment is for him who forsakes the way;

He who hates reproof will die.

11 Sheol and Abaddon lie open before the LORD,

How much more the hearts of men!

12 A scoffer does not love one who reproves him,

He will not go to the wise.

13 A joyful heart makes a cheerful face,

But when the heart is sad, the spirit is broken.

14 The mind of the intelligent seeks knowledge,

But the mouth of fools feeds on folly.

15 All the days of the afflicted are bad,

But a cheerful heart has a continual feast.

16 Better is a little with the fear of the LORD

Than great treasure and turmoil with it.

17 Better is a dish of vegetables where love is

Than a fattened ox served with hatred.

18 A hot-tempered man stirs up strife,

But the slow to anger calms a dispute.

19 The way of the lazy is as a hedge of thorns,

But the path of the upright is a highway.

20 A wise son makes a father glad,

But a foolish man despises his mother.

21 Folly is joy to him who lacks sense,

But a man of understanding walks straight.

22 Without consultation, plans are frustrated,

But with many counselors they succeed.

23 A man has joy in an apt answer,

And how delightful is a timely word!

24 The path of life leads upward for the wise

That he may keep away from Sheol below.

25 The LORD will tear down the house of the proud,

But He will establish the boundary of the widow.

26 Evil plans are an abomination to the LORD,

But pleasant words are pure.

27 He who profits illicitly troubles his own house,

But he who hates bribes will live.

28 The heart of the righteous ponders how to answer,

But the mouth of the wicked pours out evil things.

29 The LORD is far from the wicked,

But He hears the prayer of the righteous.

30 Bright eyes gladden the heart;

Good news puts fat on the bones.

31 He whose ear listens to the life-giving reproof

Will dwell among the wise.

32 He who neglects discipline despises himself,

But he who listens to reproof acquires understanding.

33 The fear of the LORD is the instruction for wisdom,

And before honor comes humility.

REVELATION 14

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The Lamb and the 144,000 on Mount Zion  14:1 Then I looked, and behold, the Lamb was standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand, having His name and the name of His Father written on their foreheads. 2 And I heard a voice from heaven, like the sound of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder, and the voice which I heard was like the sound of harpists playing on their harps. 3 And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders; and no one could learn the song except the one hundred and forty-four thousand who had been purchased from the earth. 4 These are the ones who have not been defiled with women, for they have kept themselves chaste. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. These have been purchased from among men as first fruits to God and to the Lamb. 5 And no lie was found in their mouth; they are blameless.
Vision of the Angel with the Gospel    6 And I saw another angel flying in midheaven, having an eternal gospel to preach to those who live on the earth, and to every nation and tribe and tongue and people; 7 and he said with a loud voice, “Fear God, and give Him glory, because the hour of His judgment has come; worship Him who made the heaven and the earth and sea and springs of waters.”
    8 And another angel, a second one, followed, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, she who has made all the nations drink of the wine of the passion of her immorality.”
Doom for Worshipers of the Beast    9 Then another angel, a third one, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, 10 he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger; and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. 11 And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever; they have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.” 12 Here is the perseverance of the saints who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.
    13 And I heard a voice from heaven, saying, “Write, ‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on!’” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “so that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow with them.”
The Reapers    14 Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and sitting on the cloud was one like a son of man, having a golden crown on His head and a sharp sickle in His hand. 15 And another angel came out of the temple, crying out with a loud voice to Him who sat on the cloud, “Put in your sickle and reap, for the hour to reap has come, because the harvest of the earth is ripe.” 16 Then He who sat on the cloud swung His sickle over the earth, and the earth was reaped.
    17 And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, and he also had a sharp sickle. 18 Then another angel, the one who has power over fire, came out from the altar; and he called with a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, saying, “Put in your sharp sickle and gather the clusters from the vine of the earth, because her grapes are ripe.” 19 So the angel swung his sickle to the earth and gathered the clusters from the vine of the earth, and threw them into the great wine press of the wrath of God. 20 And the wine press was trodden outside the city, and blood came out from the wine press, up to the horses’ bridles, for a distance of two hundred miles.