Secure & Sent: Leadership for Church Planters

Gone Fishin' Eight

Heart Detox: The War for Your Soul by Vance K. Jackson

God Is Not ChatGPT

Make It Happen!

Here and Now: Embracing the Gift of Presence in Marriage

Seek God Passionately

God's Presence - a Critical Tool for Advancement

What Makes a Good Person?

Sustenance (S3-E8)

The Listener’s Bible®: NIV Edition

New International Version™  (Anglicised), Audio Edition

Holy Bible, New International Version™ (Anglicised), South Asian Audio Edition

<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
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         <div class="label">7</div><div class="q1"><span class="content">  </span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="ft">  </span><span class="ft">In Hebrew texts 7:1-13 is numbered 7:2-14.</span><span class="ft">  </span></span></span><span class="content">  </span><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="SNG.7.1"><span class="label">1</span><span class="content">How beautiful your sandaled feet,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="SNG.7.1"><span class="content">O prince&#8217;s daughter!</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="SNG.7.1"><span class="content">Your graceful legs are like jewels,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="SNG.7.1"><span class="content">the work of an artist&#8217;s hands.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="SNG.7.1"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="SNG.7.2"><span class="label">2</span><span class="content">Your navel is a rounded goblet</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="SNG.7.2"><span class="content">that never lacks blended wine.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="SNG.7.2"><span class="content">Your waist is a mound of wheat</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="SNG.7.2"><span class="content">encircled by lilies.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="SNG.7.2"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="SNG.7.3"><span class="label">3</span><span class="content">Your breasts are like two fawns,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="SNG.7.3"><span class="content">like twin fawns of a gazelle.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="SNG.7.3"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="SNG.7.4"><span class="label">4</span><span class="content">Your neck is like an ivory tower.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="SNG.7.4"><span class="content">Your eyes are the pools of Heshbon</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="SNG.7.4"><span class="content">by the gate of Bath Rabbim.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="SNG.7.4"><span class="content">Your nose is like the tower of Lebanon</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="SNG.7.4"><span class="content">looking toward Damascus.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="SNG.7.4"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="SNG.7.5"><span class="label">5</span><span class="content">Your head crowns you like Mount Carmel.</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="SNG.7.5"><span class="content">Your hair is like royal tapestry;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="SNG.7.5"><span class="content">the king is held captive by its tresses.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="SNG.7.5"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="SNG.7.6"><span class="label">6</span><span class="content">How beautiful you are and how pleasing,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="SNG.7.6"><span class="content">my love, with your delights!</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="SNG.7.6"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="SNG.7.7"><span class="label">7</span><span class="content">Your stature is like that of the palm,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="SNG.7.7"><span class="content">and your breasts like clusters of fruit.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="SNG.7.7"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="SNG.7.8"><span class="label">8</span><span class="content">I said, &#8220;I will climb the palm tree;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="SNG.7.8"><span class="content">I will take hold of its fruit.&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="SNG.7.8"><span class="content">May your breasts be like clusters of grapes on the vine,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="SNG.7.8"><span class="content">the fragrance of your breath like apples,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="SNG.7.8"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="SNG.7.9"><span class="label">9</span><span class="content">and your mouth like the best wine.</span></span></div><div class="sp"><span class="heading">She</span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="SNG.7.9"><span class="content">May the wine go straight to my beloved,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="SNG.7.9"><span class="content">flowing gently over lips and teeth.</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">7:9 </span><span class="ft">Septuagint, Aquila, Vulgate and Syriac; Hebrew </span><span class="fqa">lips of sleepers</span></span></span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="SNG.7.9"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="SNG.7.10"><span class="label">10</span><span class="content">I belong to my beloved,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="SNG.7.10"><span class="content">and his desire is for me.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="SNG.7.10"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="SNG.7.11"><span class="label">11</span><span class="content">Come, my beloved, let us go to the countryside,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="SNG.7.11"><span class="content">let us spend the night in the villages.</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">7:11 </span><span class="ft">Or </span><span class="fqa">the henna bushes</span></span></span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="SNG.7.11"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="SNG.7.12"><span class="label">12</span><span class="content">Let us go early to the vineyards</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="SNG.7.12"><span class="content">to see if the vines have budded,</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="SNG.7.12"><span class="content">if their blossoms have opened,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="SNG.7.12"><span class="content">and if the pomegranates are in bloom&#8212;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="SNG.7.12"><span class="content">there I will give you my love.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="SNG.7.12"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="SNG.7.13"><span class="label">13</span><span class="content">The mandrakes send out their fragrance,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="SNG.7.13"><span class="content">and at our door is every delicacy,</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="SNG.7.13"><span class="content">both new and old,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="SNG.7.13"><span class="content">that I have stored up for you, my beloved.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div>
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   <div class="book bkSNG">
      <div class="chapter ch8" data-usfm="SNG.8">
         <div class="label">8</div><div class="q1"><span class="content">  </span><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="SNG.8.1"><span class="label">1</span><span class="content">If only you were to me like a brother,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="SNG.8.1"><span class="content">who was nursed at my mother&#8217;s breasts!</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="SNG.8.1"><span class="content">Then, if I found you outside,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="SNG.8.1"><span class="content">I would kiss you,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="SNG.8.1"><span class="content">and no one would despise me.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="SNG.8.1"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="SNG.8.2"><span class="label">2</span><span class="content">I would lead you</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="SNG.8.2"><span class="content">and bring you to my mother&#8217;s house&#8212;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="SNG.8.2"><span class="content">she who has taught me.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="SNG.8.2"><span class="content">I would give you spiced wine to drink,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="SNG.8.2"><span class="content">the nectar of my pomegranates.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="SNG.8.2"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="SNG.8.3"><span class="label">3</span><span class="content">His left arm is under my head</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="SNG.8.3"><span class="content">and his right arm embraces me.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="SNG.8.3"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="SNG.8.4"><span class="label">4</span><span class="content">Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you:</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="SNG.8.4"><span class="content">Do not arouse or awaken love</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="SNG.8.4"><span class="content">until it so desires.</span></span></div><div class="sp"><span class="heading">Friends</span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="SNG.8.4"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="SNG.8.5"><span class="label">5</span><span class="content">Who is this coming up from the wilderness</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="SNG.8.5"><span class="content">leaning on her beloved?</span></span></div><div class="sp"><span class="heading">She</span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="SNG.8.5"><span class="content">Under the apple tree I roused you;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="SNG.8.5"><span class="content">there your mother conceived you,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="SNG.8.5"><span class="content">there she who was in labor gave you birth.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="SNG.8.5"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="SNG.8.6"><span class="label">6</span><span class="content">Place me like a seal over your heart,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="SNG.8.6"><span class="content">like a seal on your arm;</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="SNG.8.6"><span class="content">for love is as strong as death,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="SNG.8.6"><span class="content">its jealousy</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">8:6 </span><span class="ft">Or </span><span class="fqa">ardor</span></span></span><span class="content"> unyielding as the grave.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="SNG.8.6"><span class="content">It burns like blazing fire,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="SNG.8.6"><span class="content">like a mighty flame.</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">8:6 </span><span class="ft">Or </span><span class="fqa">fire, / like the very flame of the <span class="nd">Lord</span></span></span></span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="SNG.8.6"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="SNG.8.7"><span class="label">7</span><span class="content">Many waters cannot quench love;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="SNG.8.7"><span class="content">rivers cannot sweep it away.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="SNG.8.7"><span class="content">If one were to give</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="SNG.8.7"><span class="content">all the wealth of one&#8217;s house for love,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="SNG.8.7"><span class="content">it</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">8:7 </span><span class="ft">Or </span><span class="fqa">he</span></span></span><span class="content"> would be utterly scorned.</span></span></div><div class="sp"><span class="heading">Friends</span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="SNG.8.7"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="SNG.8.8"><span class="label">8</span><span class="content">We have a little sister,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="SNG.8.8"><span class="content">and her breasts are not yet grown.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="SNG.8.8"><span class="content">What shall we do for our sister</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="SNG.8.8"><span class="content">on the day she is spoken for?</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="SNG.8.8"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="SNG.8.9"><span class="label">9</span><span class="content">If she is a wall,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="SNG.8.9"><span class="content">we will build towers of silver on her.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="SNG.8.9"><span class="content">If she is a door,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="SNG.8.9"><span class="content">we will enclose her with panels of cedar.</span></span></div><div class="sp"><span class="heading">She</span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="SNG.8.9"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="SNG.8.10"><span class="label">10</span><span class="content">I am a wall,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="SNG.8.10"><span class="content">and my breasts are like towers.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="SNG.8.10"><span class="content">Thus I have become in his eyes</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="SNG.8.10"><span class="content">like one bringing contentment.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="SNG.8.10"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="SNG.8.11"><span class="label">11</span><span class="content">Solomon had a vineyard in Baal Hamon;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="SNG.8.11"><span class="content">he let out his vineyard to tenants.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="SNG.8.11"><span class="content">Each was to bring for its fruit</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="SNG.8.11"><span class="content">a thousand shekels</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">8:11 </span><span class="ft">That is, about 25 pounds or about 12 kilograms; also in verse 12</span></span></span><span class="content"> of silver.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="SNG.8.11"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="SNG.8.12"><span class="label">12</span><span class="content">But my own vineyard is mine to give;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="SNG.8.12"><span class="content">the thousand shekels are for you, Solomon,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="SNG.8.12"><span class="content">and two hundred</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">8:12 </span><span class="ft">That is, about 5 pounds or about 2.3 kilograms</span></span></span><span class="content"> are for those who tend its fruit.</span></span></div><div class="sp"><span class="heading">He</span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="SNG.8.12"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="SNG.8.13"><span class="label">13</span><span class="content">You who dwell in the gardens</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="SNG.8.13"><span class="content">with friends in attendance,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="SNG.8.13"><span class="content">let me hear your voice!</span></span></div><div class="sp"><span class="heading">She</span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="SNG.8.13"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="SNG.8.14"><span class="label">14</span><span class="content">Come away, my beloved,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="SNG.8.14"><span class="content">and be like a gazelle</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="SNG.8.14"><span class="content">or like a young stag</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="SNG.8.14"><span class="content">on the spice-laden mountains.</span></span></div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
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         <div class="label">1</div><div class="p"><span class="content">  </span><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="JUD.1.1"><span class="label">1</span><span class="content">Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James,</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="JUD.1.1"><span class="content">To those who have been called, who are loved in God the Father and kept for</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">1:1 </span><span class="ft">Or </span><span class="fqa">by</span><span class="ft">; or </span><span class="fqa">in</span></span></span><span class="content"> Jesus Christ:</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="JUD.1.1"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="JUD.1.2"><span class="label">2</span><span class="content">Mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance.</span></span></div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">The Sin and Doom of Ungodly People</span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="JUD.1.2"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="JUD.1.3"><span class="label">3</span><span class="content">Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God&#8217;s holy people. </span></span><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="JUD.1.4"><span class="label">4</span><span class="content">For certain individuals whose condemnation was written about</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">1:4 </span><span class="ft">Or </span><span class="fqa">individuals who were marked out for condemnation</span></span></span><span class="content"> long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="JUD.1.4"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="JUD.1.5"><span class="label">5</span><span class="content">Though you already know all this, I want to remind you that the Lord</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">1:5 </span><span class="ft">Some early manuscripts </span><span class="fqa">Jesus</span></span></span><span class="content"> at one time delivered his people out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did not believe. </span></span><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="JUD.1.6"><span class="label">6</span><span class="content">And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their proper dwelling&#8212;these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day. </span></span><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="JUD.1.7"><span class="label">7</span><span class="content">In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="JUD.1.7"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="JUD.1.8"><span class="label">8</span><span class="content">In the very same way, on the strength of their dreams these ungodly people pollute their own bodies, reject authority and heap abuse on celestial beings. </span></span><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="JUD.1.9"><span class="label">9</span><span class="content">But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not himself dare to condemn him for slander but said, &#8220;The Lord rebuke you!&#8221;</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">1:9 </span><span class="ft">Jude is alluding to the Jewish Testament of Moses (approximately the first century <span class="sc">a.d.</span>).</span></span></span><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="JUD.1.10"><span class="label">10</span><span class="content">Yet these people slander whatever they do not understand, and the very things they do understand by instinct&#8212;as irrational animals do&#8212;will destroy them.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="JUD.1.10"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="JUD.1.11"><span class="label">11</span><span class="content">Woe to them! They have taken the way of Cain; they have rushed for profit into Balaam&#8217;s error; they have been destroyed in Korah&#8217;s rebellion.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="JUD.1.11"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="JUD.1.12"><span class="label">12</span><span class="content">These people are blemishes at your love feasts, eating with you without the slightest qualm&#8212;shepherds who feed only themselves. They are clouds without rain, blown along by the wind; autumn trees, without fruit and uprooted&#8212;twice dead. </span></span><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="JUD.1.13"><span class="label">13</span><span class="content">They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="JUD.1.13"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="JUD.1.14"><span class="label">14</span><span class="content">Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about them: &#8220;See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones </span></span><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="JUD.1.15"><span class="label">15</span><span class="content">to judge everyone, and to convict all of them of all the ungodly acts they have committed in their ungodliness, and of all the defiant words ungodly sinners have spoken against him.&#8221;</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">1:15 </span><span class="ft">From the Jewish First Book of Enoch (approximately the first century <span class="sc">b.c.</span>)</span></span></span><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="JUD.1.16"><span class="label">16</span><span class="content">These people are grumblers and faultfinders; they follow their own evil desires; they boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage.</span></span></div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">A Call to Persevere</span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="JUD.1.16"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v17" data-usfm="JUD.1.17"><span class="label">17</span><span class="content">But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. </span></span><span class="verse v18" data-usfm="JUD.1.18"><span class="label">18</span><span class="content">They said to you, &#8220;In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.&#8221; </span></span><span class="verse v19" data-usfm="JUD.1.19"><span class="label">19</span><span class="content">These are the people who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v19" data-usfm="JUD.1.19"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v20" data-usfm="JUD.1.20"><span class="label">20</span><span class="content">But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, </span></span><span class="verse v21" data-usfm="JUD.1.21"><span class="label">21</span><span class="content">keep yourselves in God&#8217;s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v21" data-usfm="JUD.1.21"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v22" data-usfm="JUD.1.22"><span class="label">22</span><span class="content">Be merciful to those who doubt; </span></span><span class="verse v23" data-usfm="JUD.1.23"><span class="label">23</span><span class="content">save others by snatching them from the fire; to others show mercy, mixed with fear&#8212;hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">1:23 </span><span class="ft">The Greek manuscripts of these verses vary at several points.</span></span></span></span></div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">Doxology</span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v23" data-usfm="JUD.1.23"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v24" data-usfm="JUD.1.24"><span class="label">24</span><span class="content">To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy&#8212; </span></span><span class="verse v25" data-usfm="JUD.1.25"><span class="label">25</span><span class="content">to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.</span></span></div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
   <div class="book bkDEU">
      <div class="chapter ch34" data-usfm="DEU.34">
         <div class="label">34</div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">The Death of Moses</span></div><div class="p"><span class="content">  </span><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="DEU.34.1"><span class="label">1</span><span class="content">Then Moses climbed Mount Nebo from the plains of Moab to the top of Pisgah, across from Jericho. There the </span><span class="nd"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content"> showed him the whole land&#8212;from Gilead to Dan, </span></span><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="DEU.34.2"><span class="label">2</span><span class="content">all of Naphtali, the territory of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the Mediterranean Sea, </span></span><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="DEU.34.3"><span class="label">3</span><span class="content">the Negev and the whole region from the Valley of Jericho, the City of Palms, as far as Zoar. </span></span><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="DEU.34.4"><span class="label">4</span><span class="content">Then the </span><span class="nd"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content"> said to him, &#8220;This is the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob when I said, &#8216;I will give it to your descendants.&#8217; I have let you see it with your eyes, but you will not cross over into it.&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="DEU.34.4"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="DEU.34.5"><span class="label">5</span><span class="content">And Moses the servant of the </span><span class="nd"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content"> died there in Moab, as the </span><span class="nd"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content"> had said. </span></span><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="DEU.34.6"><span class="label">6</span><span class="content">He buried him</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">34:6 </span><span class="ft">Or </span><span class="fqa">He was buried</span></span></span><span class="content"> in Moab, in the valley opposite Beth Peor, but to this day no one knows where his grave is. </span></span><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="DEU.34.7"><span class="label">7</span><span class="content">Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died, yet his eyes were not weak nor his strength gone. </span></span><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="DEU.34.8"><span class="label">8</span><span class="content">The Israelites grieved for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days, until the time of weeping and mourning was over.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="DEU.34.8"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="DEU.34.9"><span class="label">9</span><span class="content">Now Joshua son of Nun was filled with the spirit</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">34:9 </span><span class="ft">Or </span><span class="fqa">Spirit</span></span></span><span class="content"> of wisdom because Moses had laid his hands on him. So the Israelites listened to him and did what the </span><span class="nd"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content"> had commanded Moses.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="DEU.34.9"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="DEU.34.10"><span class="label">10</span><span class="content">Since then, no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the </span><span class="nd"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content"> knew face to face, </span></span><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="DEU.34.11"><span class="label">11</span><span class="content">who did all those signs and wonders the </span><span class="nd"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content"> sent him to do in Egypt&#8212;to Pharaoh and to all his officials and to his whole land. </span></span><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="DEU.34.12"><span class="label">12</span><span class="content">For no one has ever shown the mighty power or performed the awesome deeds that Moses did in the sight of all Israel.</span></span></div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
   <div class="book bkEST">
      <div class="chapter ch6" data-usfm="EST.6">
         <div class="label">6</div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">Mordecai Honored</span></div><div class="p"><span class="content">  </span><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="EST.6.1"><span class="label">1</span><span class="content">That night the king could not sleep; so he ordered the book of the chronicles, the record of his reign, to be brought in and read to him. </span></span><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="EST.6.2"><span class="label">2</span><span class="content">It was found recorded there that Mordecai had exposed Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king&#8217;s officers who guarded the doorway, who had conspired to assassinate King Xerxes.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="EST.6.2"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="EST.6.3"><span class="label">3</span><span class="content">&#8220;What honor and recognition has Mordecai received for this?&#8221; the king asked.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="EST.6.3"><span class="content">&#8220;Nothing has been done for him,&#8221; his attendants answered.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="EST.6.3"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="EST.6.4"><span class="label">4</span><span class="content">The king said, &#8220;Who is in the court?&#8221; Now Haman had just entered the outer court of the palace to speak to the king about impaling Mordecai on the pole he had set up for him.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="EST.6.4"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="EST.6.5"><span class="label">5</span><span class="content">His attendants answered, &#8220;Haman is standing in the court.&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="EST.6.5"><span class="content">&#8220;Bring him in,&#8221; the king ordered.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="EST.6.5"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="EST.6.6"><span class="label">6</span><span class="content">When Haman entered, the king asked him, &#8220;What should be done for the man the king delights to honor?&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="EST.6.6"><span class="content">Now Haman thought to himself, &#8220;Who is there that the king would rather honor than me?&#8221; </span></span><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="EST.6.7"><span class="label">7</span><span class="content">So he answered the king, &#8220;For the man the king delights to honor, </span></span><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="EST.6.8"><span class="label">8</span><span class="content">have them bring a royal robe the king has worn and a horse the king has ridden, one with a royal crest placed on its head. </span></span><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="EST.6.9"><span class="label">9</span><span class="content">Then let the robe and horse be entrusted to one of the king&#8217;s most noble princes. Let them robe the man the king delights to honor, and lead him on the horse through the city streets, proclaiming before him, &#8216;This is what is done for the man the king delights to honor!&#8217;&#8198;&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="EST.6.9"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="EST.6.10"><span class="label">10</span><span class="content">&#8220;Go at once,&#8221; the king commanded Haman. &#8220;Get the robe and the horse and do just as you have suggested for Mordecai the Jew, who sits at the king&#8217;s gate. Do not neglect anything you have recommended.&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="EST.6.10"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="EST.6.11"><span class="label">11</span><span class="content">So Haman got the robe and the horse. He robed Mordecai, and led him on horseback through the city streets, proclaiming before him, &#8220;This is what is done for the man the king delights to honor!&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="EST.6.11"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="EST.6.12"><span class="label">12</span><span class="content">Afterward Mordecai returned to the king&#8217;s gate. But Haman rushed home, with his head covered in grief, </span></span><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="EST.6.13"><span class="label">13</span><span class="content">and told Zeresh his wife and all his friends everything that had happened to him.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="EST.6.13"><span class="content">His advisers and his wife Zeresh said to him, &#8220;Since Mordecai, before whom your downfall has started, is of Jewish origin, you cannot stand against him&#8212;you will surely come to ruin!&#8221; </span></span><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="EST.6.14"><span class="label">14</span><span class="content">While they were still talking with him, the king&#8217;s eunuchs arrived and hurried Haman away to the banquet Esther had prepared.</span></span></div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
   <div class="book bkEST">
      <div class="chapter ch7" data-usfm="EST.7">
         <div class="label">7</div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">Haman Impaled</span></div><div class="p"><span class="content">  </span><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="EST.7.1"><span class="label">1</span><span class="content">So the king and Haman went to Queen Esther&#8217;s banquet, </span></span><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="EST.7.2"><span class="label">2</span><span class="content">and as they were drinking wine on the second day, the king again asked, &#8220;Queen Esther, what is your petition? It will be given you. What is your request? Even up to half the kingdom, it will be granted.&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="EST.7.2"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="EST.7.3"><span class="label">3</span><span class="content">Then Queen Esther answered, &#8220;If I have found favor with you, Your Majesty, and if it pleases you, grant me my life&#8212;this is my petition. And spare my people&#8212;this is my request. </span></span><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="EST.7.4"><span class="label">4</span><span class="content">For I and my people have been sold to be destroyed, killed and annihilated. If we had merely been sold as male and female slaves, I would have kept quiet, because no such distress would justify disturbing the king.</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">7:4 </span><span class="ft">Or </span><span class="fqa">quiet, but the compensation our adversary offers cannot be compared with the loss the king would suffer</span></span></span><span class="content">&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="EST.7.4"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="EST.7.5"><span class="label">5</span><span class="content">King Xerxes asked Queen Esther, &#8220;Who is he? Where is he&#8212;the man who has dared to do such a thing?&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="EST.7.5"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="EST.7.6"><span class="label">6</span><span class="content">Esther said, &#8220;An adversary and enemy! This vile Haman!&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="EST.7.6"><span class="content">Then Haman was terrified before the king and queen. </span></span><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="EST.7.7"><span class="label">7</span><span class="content">The king got up in a rage, left his wine and went out into the palace garden. But Haman, realizing that the king had already decided his fate, stayed behind to beg Queen Esther for his life.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="EST.7.7"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="EST.7.8"><span class="label">8</span><span class="content">Just as the king returned from the palace garden to the banquet hall, Haman was falling on the couch where Esther was reclining.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="EST.7.8"><span class="content">The king exclaimed, &#8220;Will he even molest the queen while she is with me in the house?&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="EST.7.8"><span class="content">As soon as the word left the king&#8217;s mouth, they covered Haman&#8217;s face. </span></span><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="EST.7.9"><span class="label">9</span><span class="content">Then Harbona, one of the eunuchs attending the king, said, &#8220;A pole reaching to a height of fifty cubits</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">7:9 </span><span class="ft">That is, about 75 feet or about 23 meters</span></span></span><span class="content"> stands by Haman&#8217;s house. He had it set up for Mordecai, who spoke up to help the king.&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="EST.7.9"><span class="content">The king said, &#8220;Impale him on it!&#8221; </span></span><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="EST.7.10"><span class="label">10</span><span class="content">So they impaled Haman on the pole he had set up for Mordecai. Then the king&#8217;s fury subsided.</span></span></div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
   <div class="book bkEST">
      <div class="chapter ch8" data-usfm="EST.8">
         <div class="label">8</div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">The King&#8217;s Edict in Behalf of the Jews</span></div><div class="p"><span class="content">  </span><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="EST.8.1"><span class="label">1</span><span class="content">That same day King Xerxes gave Queen Esther the estate of Haman, the enemy of the Jews. And Mordecai came into the presence of the king, for Esther had told how he was related to her. </span></span><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="EST.8.2"><span class="label">2</span><span class="content">The king took off his signet ring, which he had reclaimed from Haman, and presented it to Mordecai. And Esther appointed him over Haman&#8217;s estate.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="EST.8.2"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="EST.8.3"><span class="label">3</span><span class="content">Esther again pleaded with the king, falling at his feet and weeping. She begged him to put an end to the evil plan of Haman the Agagite, which he had devised against the Jews. </span></span><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="EST.8.4"><span class="label">4</span><span class="content">Then the king extended the gold scepter to Esther and she arose and stood before him.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="EST.8.4"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="EST.8.5"><span class="label">5</span><span class="content">&#8220;If it pleases the king,&#8221; she said, &#8220;and if he regards me with favor and thinks it the right thing to do, and if he is pleased with me, let an order be written overruling the dispatches that Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, devised and wrote to destroy the Jews in all the king&#8217;s provinces. </span></span><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="EST.8.6"><span class="label">6</span><span class="content">For how can I bear to see disaster fall on my people? How can I bear to see the destruction of my family?&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="EST.8.6"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="EST.8.7"><span class="label">7</span><span class="content">King Xerxes replied to Queen Esther and to Mordecai the Jew, &#8220;Because Haman attacked the Jews, I have given his estate to Esther, and they have impaled him on the pole he set up. </span></span><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="EST.8.8"><span class="label">8</span><span class="content">Now write another decree in the king&#8217;s name in behalf of the Jews as seems best to you, and seal it with the king&#8217;s signet ring&#8212;for no document written in the king&#8217;s name and sealed with his ring can be revoked.&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="EST.8.8"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="EST.8.9"><span class="label">9</span><span class="content">At once the royal secretaries were summoned&#8212;on the twenty-third day of the third month, the month of Sivan. They wrote out all Mordecai&#8217;s orders to the Jews, and to the satraps, governors and nobles of the 127 provinces stretching from India to Cush.</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">8:9 </span><span class="ft">That is, the upper Nile region</span></span></span><span class="content"> These orders were written in the script of each province and the language of each people and also to the Jews in their own script and language. </span></span><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="EST.8.10"><span class="label">10</span><span class="content">Mordecai wrote in the name of King Xerxes, sealed the dispatches with the king&#8217;s signet ring, and sent them by mounted couriers, who rode fast horses especially bred for the king.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="EST.8.10"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="EST.8.11"><span class="label">11</span><span class="content">The king&#8217;s edict granted the Jews in every city the right to assemble and protect themselves; to destroy, kill and annihilate the armed men of any nationality or province who might attack them and their women and children,</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">8:11 </span><span class="ft">Or </span><span class="fqa">province, together with their women and children, who might attack them;</span></span></span><span class="content"> and to plunder the property of their enemies. </span></span><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="EST.8.12"><span class="label">12</span><span class="content">The day appointed for the Jews to do this in all the provinces of King Xerxes was the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar. </span></span><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="EST.8.13"><span class="label">13</span><span class="content">A copy of the text of the edict was to be issued as law in every province and made known to the people of every nationality so that the Jews would be ready on that day to avenge themselves on their enemies.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="EST.8.13"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="EST.8.14"><span class="label">14</span><span class="content">The couriers, riding the royal horses, went out, spurred on by the king&#8217;s command, and the edict was issued in the citadel of Susa.</span></span></div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">The Triumph of the Jews</span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="EST.8.14"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="EST.8.15"><span class="label">15</span><span class="content">When Mordecai left the king&#8217;s presence, he was wearing royal garments of blue and white, a large crown of gold and a purple robe of fine linen. And the city of Susa held a joyous celebration. </span></span><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="EST.8.16"><span class="label">16</span><span class="content">For the Jews it was a time of happiness and joy, gladness and honor. </span></span><span class="verse v17" data-usfm="EST.8.17"><span class="label">17</span><span class="content">In every province and in every city to which the edict of the king came, there was joy and gladness among the Jews, with feasting and celebrating. And many people of other nationalities became Jews because fear of the Jews had seized them.</span></span></div>
      </div>
   </div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
   <div class="book bkEST">
      <div class="chapter ch9" data-usfm="EST.9">
         <div class="label">9</div><div class="p"><span class="content">  </span><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="EST.9.1"><span class="label">1</span><span class="content">On the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar, the edict commanded by the king was to be carried out. On this day the enemies of the Jews had hoped to overpower them, but now the tables were turned and the Jews got the upper hand over those who hated them. </span></span><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="EST.9.2"><span class="label">2</span><span class="content">The Jews assembled in their cities in all the provinces of King Xerxes to attack those determined to destroy them. No one could stand against them, because the people of all the other nationalities were afraid of them. </span></span><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="EST.9.3"><span class="label">3</span><span class="content">And all the nobles of the provinces, the satraps, the governors and the king&#8217;s administrators helped the Jews, because fear of Mordecai had seized them. </span></span><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="EST.9.4"><span class="label">4</span><span class="content">Mordecai was prominent in the palace; his reputation spread throughout the provinces, and he became more and more powerful.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="EST.9.4"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="EST.9.5"><span class="label">5</span><span class="content">The Jews struck down all their enemies with the sword, killing and destroying them, and they did what they pleased to those who hated them. </span></span><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="EST.9.6"><span class="label">6</span><span class="content">In the citadel of Susa, the Jews killed and destroyed five hundred men. </span></span><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="EST.9.7"><span class="label">7</span><span class="content">They also killed Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha, </span></span><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="EST.9.8"><span class="label">8</span><span class="content">Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha, </span></span><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="EST.9.9"><span class="label">9</span><span class="content">Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai and Vaizatha, </span></span><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="EST.9.10"><span class="label">10</span><span class="content">the ten sons of Haman son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews. But they did not lay their hands on the plunder.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="EST.9.10"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="EST.9.11"><span class="label">11</span><span class="content">The number of those killed in the citadel of Susa was reported to the king that same day. </span></span><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="EST.9.12"><span class="label">12</span><span class="content">The king said to Queen Esther, &#8220;The Jews have killed and destroyed five hundred men and the ten sons of Haman in the citadel of Susa. What have they done in the rest of the king&#8217;s provinces? Now what is your petition? It will be given you. What is your request? It will also be granted.&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="EST.9.12"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="EST.9.13"><span class="label">13</span><span class="content">&#8220;If it pleases the king,&#8221; Esther answered, &#8220;give the Jews in Susa permission to carry out this day&#8217;s edict tomorrow also, and let Haman&#8217;s ten sons be impaled on poles.&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="EST.9.13"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="EST.9.14"><span class="label">14</span><span class="content">So the king commanded that this be done. An edict was issued in Susa, and they impaled the ten sons of Haman. </span></span><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="EST.9.15"><span class="label">15</span><span class="content">The Jews in Susa came together on the fourteenth day of the month of Adar, and they put to death in Susa three hundred men, but they did not lay their hands on the plunder.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="EST.9.15"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="EST.9.16"><span class="label">16</span><span class="content">Meanwhile, the remainder of the Jews who were in the king&#8217;s provinces also assembled to protect themselves and get relief from their enemies. They killed seventy-five thousand of them but did not lay their hands on the plunder. </span></span><span class="verse v17" data-usfm="EST.9.17"><span class="label">17</span><span class="content">This happened on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar, and on the fourteenth they rested and made it a day of feasting and joy.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v17" data-usfm="EST.9.17"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v18" data-usfm="EST.9.18"><span class="label">18</span><span class="content">The Jews in Susa, however, had assembled on the thirteenth and fourteenth, and then on the fifteenth they rested and made it a day of feasting and joy.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v18" data-usfm="EST.9.18"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v19" data-usfm="EST.9.19"><span class="label">19</span><span class="content">That is why rural Jews&#8212;those living in villages&#8212;observe the fourteenth of the month of Adar as a day of joy and feasting, a day for giving presents to each other.</span></span></div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">Purim Established</span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v19" data-usfm="EST.9.19"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v20" data-usfm="EST.9.20"><span class="label">20</span><span class="content">Mordecai recorded these events, and he sent letters to all the Jews throughout the provinces of King Xerxes, near and far, </span></span><span class="verse v21" data-usfm="EST.9.21"><span class="label">21</span><span class="content">to have them celebrate annually the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month of Adar </span></span><span class="verse v22" data-usfm="EST.9.22"><span class="label">22</span><span class="content">as the time when the Jews got relief from their enemies, and as the month when their sorrow was turned into joy and their mourning into a day of celebration. He wrote them to observe the days as days of feasting and joy and giving presents of food to one another and gifts to the poor.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v22" data-usfm="EST.9.22"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v23" data-usfm="EST.9.23"><span class="label">23</span><span class="content">So the Jews agreed to continue the celebration they had begun, doing what Mordecai had written to them. </span></span><span class="verse v24" data-usfm="EST.9.24"><span class="label">24</span><span class="content">For Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews, had plotted against the Jews to destroy them and had cast the </span><span class="tl"><span class="content">pur</span></span><span class="content"> (that is, the lot) for their ruin and destruction. </span></span><span class="verse v25" data-usfm="EST.9.25"><span class="label">25</span><span class="content">But when the plot came to the king&#8217;s attention,</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">9:25 </span><span class="ft">Or </span><span class="fqa">when Esther came before the king</span></span></span><span class="content"> he issued written orders that the evil scheme Haman had devised against the Jews should come back onto his own head, and that he and his sons should be impaled on poles. </span></span><span class="verse v26" data-usfm="EST.9.26"><span class="label">26</span><span class="content">(Therefore these days were called Purim, from the word </span><span class="tl"><span class="content">pur</span></span><span class="content">.) Because of everything written in this letter and because of what they had seen and what had happened to them, </span></span><span class="verse v27" data-usfm="EST.9.27"><span class="label">27</span><span class="content">the Jews took it on themselves to establish the custom that they and their descendants and all who join them should without fail observe these two days every year, in the way prescribed and at the time appointed. </span></span><span class="verse v28" data-usfm="EST.9.28"><span class="label">28</span><span class="content">These days should be remembered and observed in every generation by every family, and in every province and in every city. And these days of Purim should never fail to be celebrated by the Jews&#8212;nor should the memory of these days die out among their descendants.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v28" data-usfm="EST.9.28"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v29" data-usfm="EST.9.29"><span class="label">29</span><span class="content">So Queen Esther, daughter of Abihail, along with Mordecai the Jew, wrote with full authority to confirm this second letter concerning Purim. </span></span><span class="verse v30" data-usfm="EST.9.30"><span class="label">30</span><span class="content">And Mordecai sent letters to all the Jews in the 127 provinces of Xerxes&#8217; kingdom&#8212;words of goodwill and assurance&#8212; </span></span><span class="verse v31" data-usfm="EST.9.31"><span class="label">31</span><span class="content">to establish these days of Purim at their designated times, as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther had decreed for them, and as they had established for themselves and their descendants in regard to their times of fasting and lamentation. </span></span><span class="verse v32" data-usfm="EST.9.32"><span class="label">32</span><span class="content">Esther&#8217;s decree confirmed these regulations about Purim, and it was written down in the records.</span></span></div>
      </div>
   </div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
   <div class="book bkEST">
      <div class="chapter ch10" data-usfm="EST.10">
         <div class="label">10</div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">The Greatness of Mordecai</span></div><div class="p"><span class="content">  </span><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="EST.10.1"><span class="label">1</span><span class="content">King Xerxes imposed tribute throughout the empire, to its distant shores. </span></span><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="EST.10.2"><span class="label">2</span><span class="content">And all his acts of power and might, together with a full account of the greatness of Mordecai, whom the king had promoted, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Media and Persia? </span></span><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="EST.10.3"><span class="label">3</span><span class="content">Mordecai the Jew was second in rank to King Xerxes, preeminent among the Jews, and held in high esteem by his many fellow Jews, because he worked for the good of his people and spoke up for the welfare of all the Jews.</span></span></div>
      </div>
   </div>
</div>

<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
   <div class="book bkECC">
      <div class="chapter ch11" data-usfm="ECC.11">
         <div class="label">11</div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">Invest in Many Ventures</span></div><div class="q1"><span class="content">  </span><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="ECC.11.1"><span class="label">1</span><span class="content">Ship your grain across the sea;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="ECC.11.1"><span class="content">after many days you may receive a return.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="ECC.11.1"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="ECC.11.2"><span class="label">2</span><span class="content">Invest in seven ventures, yes, in eight;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="ECC.11.2"><span class="content">you do not know what disaster may come upon the land.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="ECC.11.2"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="ECC.11.3"><span class="label">3</span><span class="content">If clouds are full of water,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="ECC.11.3"><span class="content">they pour rain on the earth.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="ECC.11.3"><span class="content">Whether a tree falls to the south or to the north,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="ECC.11.3"><span class="content">in the place where it falls, there it will lie.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="ECC.11.3"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="ECC.11.4"><span class="label">4</span><span class="content">Whoever watches the wind will not plant;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="ECC.11.4"><span class="content">whoever looks at the clouds will not reap.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="ECC.11.4"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="ECC.11.5"><span class="label">5</span><span class="content">As you do not know the path of the wind,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="ECC.11.5"><span class="content">or how the body is formed</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">11:5 </span><span class="ft">Or </span><span class="fqa">know how life </span><span class="ft">(or </span><span class="fqa">the spirit</span><span class="ft">) / </span><span class="fqa">enters the body being formed</span></span></span><span class="content"> in a mother&#8217;s womb,</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="ECC.11.5"><span class="content">so you cannot understand the work of God,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="ECC.11.5"><span class="content">the Maker of all things.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="ECC.11.5"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="ECC.11.6"><span class="label">6</span><span class="content">Sow your seed in the morning,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="ECC.11.6"><span class="content">and at evening let your hands not be idle,</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="ECC.11.6"><span class="content">for you do not know which will succeed,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="ECC.11.6"><span class="content">whether this or that,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="ECC.11.6"><span class="content">or whether both will do equally well.</span></span></div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">Remember Your Creator While Young</span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="ECC.11.6"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="ECC.11.7"><span class="label">7</span><span class="content">Light is sweet,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="ECC.11.7"><span class="content">and it pleases the eyes to see the sun.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="ECC.11.7"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="ECC.11.8"><span class="label">8</span><span class="content">However many years anyone may live,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="ECC.11.8"><span class="content">let them enjoy them all.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="ECC.11.8"><span class="content">But let them remember the days of darkness,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="ECC.11.8"><span class="content">for there will be many.</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="ECC.11.8"><span class="content">Everything to come is meaningless.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="ECC.11.8"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="ECC.11.9"><span class="label">9</span><span class="content">You who are young, be happy while you are young,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="ECC.11.9"><span class="content">and let your heart give you joy in the days of your youth.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="ECC.11.9"><span class="content">Follow the ways of your heart</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="ECC.11.9"><span class="content">and whatever your eyes see,</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="ECC.11.9"><span class="content">but know that for all these things</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="ECC.11.9"><span class="content">God will bring you into judgment.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="ECC.11.9"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="ECC.11.10"><span class="label">10</span><span class="content">So then, banish anxiety from your heart</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="ECC.11.10"><span class="content">and cast off the troubles of your body,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="ECC.11.10"><span class="content">for youth and vigor are meaningless.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div>
      </div>
   </div>
</div>

<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
   <div class="book bkECC">
      <div class="chapter ch12" data-usfm="ECC.12">
         <div class="label">12</div><div class="q1"><span class="content">  </span><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="ECC.12.1"><span class="label">1</span><span class="content">Remember your Creator</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="ECC.12.1"><span class="content">in the days of your youth,</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="ECC.12.1"><span class="content">before the days of trouble come</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="ECC.12.1"><span class="content">and the years approach when you will say,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="ECC.12.1"><span class="content">&#8220;I find no pleasure in them&#8221;&#8212;</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="ECC.12.1"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="ECC.12.2"><span class="label">2</span><span class="content">before the sun and the light</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="ECC.12.2"><span class="content">and the moon and the stars grow dark,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="ECC.12.2"><span class="content">and the clouds return after the rain;</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="ECC.12.2"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="ECC.12.3"><span class="label">3</span><span class="content">when the keepers of the house tremble,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="ECC.12.3"><span class="content">and the strong men stoop,</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="ECC.12.3"><span class="content">when the grinders cease because they are few,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="ECC.12.3"><span class="content">and those looking through the windows grow dim;</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="ECC.12.3"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="ECC.12.4"><span class="label">4</span><span class="content">when the doors to the street are closed</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="ECC.12.4"><span class="content">and the sound of grinding fades;</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="ECC.12.4"><span class="content">when people rise up at the sound of birds,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="ECC.12.4"><span class="content">but all their songs grow faint;</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="ECC.12.4"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="ECC.12.5"><span class="label">5</span><span class="content">when people are afraid of heights</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="ECC.12.5"><span class="content">and of dangers in the streets;</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="ECC.12.5"><span class="content">when the almond tree blossoms</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="ECC.12.5"><span class="content">and the grasshopper drags itself along</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="ECC.12.5"><span class="content">and desire no longer is stirred.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="ECC.12.5"><span class="content">Then people go to their eternal home</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="ECC.12.5"><span class="content">and mourners go about the streets.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="ECC.12.5"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="ECC.12.6"><span class="label">6</span><span class="content">Remember him&#8212;before the silver cord is severed,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="ECC.12.6"><span class="content">and the golden bowl is broken;</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="ECC.12.6"><span class="content">before the pitcher is shattered at the spring,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="ECC.12.6"><span class="content">and the wheel broken at the well,</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="ECC.12.6"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="ECC.12.7"><span class="label">7</span><span class="content">and the dust returns to the ground it came from,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="ECC.12.7"><span class="content">and the spirit returns to God who gave it.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="ECC.12.7"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="ECC.12.8"><span class="label">8</span><span class="content">&#8220;Meaningless! Meaningless!&#8221; says the Teacher.</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">12:8 </span><span class="ft">Or </span><span class="fqa">the leader of the assembly</span><span class="ft">; also in verses 9 and 10</span></span></span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="ECC.12.8"><span class="content">&#8220;Everything is meaningless!&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">The Conclusion of the Matter</span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="ECC.12.8"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="ECC.12.9"><span class="label">9</span><span class="content">Not only was the Teacher wise, but he also imparted knowledge to the people. He pondered and searched out and set in order many proverbs. </span></span><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="ECC.12.10"><span class="label">10</span><span class="content">The Teacher searched to find just the right words, and what he wrote was upright and true.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="ECC.12.10"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="ECC.12.11"><span class="label">11</span><span class="content">The words of the wise are like goads, their collected sayings like firmly embedded nails&#8212;given by one shepherd.</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">12:11 </span><span class="ft">Or </span><span class="fqa">Shepherd</span></span></span><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="ECC.12.12"><span class="label">12</span><span class="content">Be warned, my son, of anything in addition to them.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="ECC.12.12"><span class="content">Of making many books there is no end, and much study wearies the body.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="ECC.12.12"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="ECC.12.13"><span class="label">13</span><span class="content">Now all has been heard;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="ECC.12.13"><span class="content">here is the conclusion of the matter:</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="ECC.12.13"><span class="content">Fear God and keep his commandments,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="ECC.12.13"><span class="content">for this is the duty of all mankind.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="ECC.12.13"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="ECC.12.14"><span class="label">14</span><span class="content">For God will bring every deed into judgment,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="ECC.12.14"><span class="content">including every hidden thing,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="ECC.12.14"><span class="content">whether it is good or evil.</span></span></div>
      </div>
   </div>
</div>

<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
   <div class="book bkREV">
      <div class="chapter ch18" data-usfm="REV.18">
         <div class="label">18</div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">Lament Over Fallen Babylon</span></div><div class="p"><span class="content">  </span><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="REV.18.1"><span class="label">1</span><span class="content">After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven. He had great authority, and the earth was illuminated by his splendor. </span></span><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="REV.18.2"><span class="label">2</span><span class="content">With a mighty voice he shouted:</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="REV.18.2"><span class="content">&#8220;&#8198;&#8216;Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great!&#8217;</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">18:2 </span><span class="ft">Isaiah 21:9</span></span></span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="REV.18.2"><span class="content">She has become a dwelling for demons</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="REV.18.2"><span class="content">and a haunt for every impure spirit,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="REV.18.2"><span class="content">a haunt for every unclean bird,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="REV.18.2"><span class="content">a haunt for every unclean and detestable animal.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="REV.18.2"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="REV.18.3"><span class="label">3</span><span class="content">For all the nations have drunk</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="REV.18.3"><span class="content">the maddening wine of her adulteries.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="REV.18.3"><span class="content">The kings of the earth committed adultery with her,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="REV.18.3"><span class="content">and the merchants of the earth grew rich from her excessive luxuries.&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">Warning to Escape Babylon&#8217;s Judgment</span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="REV.18.3"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="REV.18.4"><span class="label">4</span><span class="content">Then I heard another voice from heaven say:</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="REV.18.4"><span class="content">&#8220;&#8198;&#8216;Come out of her, my people,&#8217;</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">18:4 </span><span class="ft">Jer. 51:45</span></span></span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="REV.18.4"><span class="content">so that you will not share in her sins,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="REV.18.4"><span class="content">so that you will not receive any of her plagues;</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="REV.18.4"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="REV.18.5"><span class="label">5</span><span class="content">for her sins are piled up to heaven,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="REV.18.5"><span class="content">and God has remembered her crimes.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="REV.18.5"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="REV.18.6"><span class="label">6</span><span class="content">Give back to her as she has given;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="REV.18.6"><span class="content">pay her back double for what she has done.</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="REV.18.6"><span class="content">Pour her a double portion from her own cup.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="REV.18.6"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="REV.18.7"><span class="label">7</span><span class="content">Give her as much torment and grief</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="REV.18.7"><span class="content">as the glory and luxury she gave herself.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="REV.18.7"><span class="content">In her heart she boasts,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="REV.18.7"><span class="content">&#8216;I sit enthroned as queen.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="REV.18.7"><span class="content">I am not a widow;</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">18:7 </span><span class="ft">See Isaiah 47:7,8.</span></span></span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="REV.18.7"><span class="content">I will never mourn.&#8217;</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="REV.18.7"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="REV.18.8"><span class="label">8</span><span class="content">Therefore in one day her plagues will overtake her:</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="REV.18.8"><span class="content">death, mourning and famine.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="REV.18.8"><span class="content">She will be consumed by fire,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="REV.18.8"><span class="content">for mighty is the Lord God who judges her.</span></span></div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">Threefold Woe Over Babylon&#8217;s Fall</span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="REV.18.8"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="REV.18.9"><span class="label">9</span><span class="content">&#8220;When the kings of the earth who committed adultery with her and shared her luxury see the smoke of her burning, they will weep and mourn over her. </span></span><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="REV.18.10"><span class="label">10</span><span class="content">Terrified at her torment, they will stand far off and cry:</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="REV.18.10"><span class="content">&#8220;&#8198;&#8216;Woe! Woe to you, great city,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="REV.18.10"><span class="content">you mighty city of Babylon!</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="REV.18.10"><span class="content">In one hour your doom has come!&#8217;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="REV.18.10"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="REV.18.11"><span class="label">11</span><span class="content">&#8220;The merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her because no one buys their cargoes anymore&#8212; </span></span><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="REV.18.12"><span class="label">12</span><span class="content">cargoes of gold, silver, precious stones and pearls; fine linen, purple, silk and scarlet cloth; every sort of citron wood, and articles of every kind made of ivory, costly wood, bronze, iron and marble; </span></span><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="REV.18.13"><span class="label">13</span><span class="content">cargoes of cinnamon and spice, of incense, myrrh and frankincense, of wine and olive oil, of fine flour and wheat; cattle and sheep; horses and carriages; and human beings sold as slaves.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="REV.18.13"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="REV.18.14"><span class="label">14</span><span class="content">&#8220;They will say, &#8216;The fruit you longed for is gone from you. All your luxury and splendor have vanished, never to be recovered.&#8217; </span></span><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="REV.18.15"><span class="label">15</span><span class="content">The merchants who sold these things and gained their wealth from her will stand far off, terrified at her torment. They will weep and mourn </span></span><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="REV.18.16"><span class="label">16</span><span class="content">and cry out:</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="REV.18.16"><span class="content">&#8220;&#8198;&#8216;Woe! Woe to you, great city,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="REV.18.16"><span class="content">dressed in fine linen, purple and scarlet,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="REV.18.16"><span class="content">and glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls!</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="REV.18.16"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v17" data-usfm="REV.18.17"><span class="label">17</span><span class="content">In one hour such great wealth has been brought to ruin!&#8217;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v17" data-usfm="REV.18.17"><span class="content">&#8220;Every sea captain, and all who travel by ship, the sailors, and all who earn their living from the sea, will stand far off. </span></span><span class="verse v18" data-usfm="REV.18.18"><span class="label">18</span><span class="content">When they see the smoke of her burning, they will exclaim, &#8216;Was there ever a city like this great city?&#8217; </span></span><span class="verse v19" data-usfm="REV.18.19"><span class="label">19</span><span class="content">They will throw dust on their heads, and with weeping and mourning cry out:</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v19" data-usfm="REV.18.19"><span class="content">&#8220;&#8198;&#8216;Woe! Woe to you, great city,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v19" data-usfm="REV.18.19"><span class="content">where all who had ships on the sea</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v19" data-usfm="REV.18.19"><span class="content">became rich through her wealth!</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v19" data-usfm="REV.18.19"><span class="content">In one hour she has been brought to ruin!&#8217;</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v19" data-usfm="REV.18.19"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v20" data-usfm="REV.18.20"><span class="label">20</span><span class="content">&#8220;Rejoice over her, you heavens!</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v20" data-usfm="REV.18.20"><span class="content">Rejoice, you people of God!</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v20" data-usfm="REV.18.20"><span class="content">Rejoice, apostles and prophets!</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v20" data-usfm="REV.18.20"><span class="content">For God has judged her</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v20" data-usfm="REV.18.20"><span class="content">with the judgment she imposed on you.&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">The Finality of Babylon&#8217;s Doom</span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v20" data-usfm="REV.18.20"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v21" data-usfm="REV.18.21"><span class="label">21</span><span class="content">Then a mighty angel picked up a boulder the size of a large millstone and threw it into the sea, and said:</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v21" data-usfm="REV.18.21"><span class="content">&#8220;With such violence</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v21" data-usfm="REV.18.21"><span class="content">the great city of Babylon will be thrown down,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v21" data-usfm="REV.18.21"><span class="content">never to be found again.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v21" data-usfm="REV.18.21"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v22" data-usfm="REV.18.22"><span class="label">22</span><span class="content">The music of harpists and musicians, pipers and trumpeters,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v22" data-usfm="REV.18.22"><span class="content">will never be heard in you again.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v22" data-usfm="REV.18.22"><span class="content">No worker of any trade</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v22" data-usfm="REV.18.22"><span class="content">will ever be found in you again.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v22" data-usfm="REV.18.22"><span class="content">The sound of a millstone</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v22" data-usfm="REV.18.22"><span class="content">will never be heard in you again.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v22" data-usfm="REV.18.22"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v23" data-usfm="REV.18.23"><span class="label">23</span><span class="content">The light of a lamp</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v23" data-usfm="REV.18.23"><span class="content">will never shine in you again.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v23" data-usfm="REV.18.23"><span class="content">The voice of bridegroom and bride</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v23" data-usfm="REV.18.23"><span class="content">will never be heard in you again.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v23" data-usfm="REV.18.23"><span class="content">Your merchants were the world&#8217;s important people.</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v23" data-usfm="REV.18.23"><span class="content">By your magic spell all the nations were led astray.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v23" data-usfm="REV.18.23"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v24" data-usfm="REV.18.24"><span class="label">24</span><span class="content">In her was found the blood of prophets and of God&#8217;s holy people,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v24" data-usfm="REV.18.24"><span class="content">of all who have been slaughtered on the earth.&#8221;</span></span></div>
      </div>
   </div>
</div>

<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
   <div class="book bkREV">
      <div class="chapter ch19" data-usfm="REV.19">
         <div class="label">19</div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">Threefold Hallelujah Over Babylon&#8217;s Fall</span></div><div class="p"><span class="content">  </span><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="REV.19.1"><span class="label">1</span><span class="content">After this I heard what sounded like the roar of a great multitude in heaven shouting:</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="REV.19.1"><span class="content">&#8220;Hallelujah!</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="REV.19.1"><span class="content">Salvation and glory and power belong to our God,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="REV.19.1"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="REV.19.2"><span class="label">2</span><span class="content">for true and just are his judgments.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="REV.19.2"><span class="content">He has condemned the great prostitute</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="REV.19.2"><span class="content">who corrupted the earth by her adulteries.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="REV.19.2"><span class="content">He has avenged on her the blood of his servants.&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="REV.19.2"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="REV.19.3"><span class="label">3</span><span class="content">And again they shouted:</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="REV.19.3"><span class="content">&#8220;Hallelujah!</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="REV.19.3"><span class="content">The smoke from her goes up for ever and ever.&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="REV.19.3"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="REV.19.4"><span class="label">4</span><span class="content">The twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God, who was seated on the throne. And they cried:</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="REV.19.4"><span class="content">&#8220;Amen, Hallelujah!&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="REV.19.4"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="REV.19.5"><span class="label">5</span><span class="content">Then a voice came from the throne, saying:</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="REV.19.5"><span class="content">&#8220;Praise our God,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="REV.19.5"><span class="content">all you his servants,</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="REV.19.5"><span class="content">you who fear him,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="REV.19.5"><span class="content">both great and small!&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="REV.19.5"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="REV.19.6"><span class="label">6</span><span class="content">Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting:</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="REV.19.6"><span class="content">&#8220;Hallelujah!</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="REV.19.6"><span class="content">For our Lord God Almighty reigns.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="REV.19.6"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="REV.19.7"><span class="label">7</span><span class="content">Let us rejoice and be glad</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="REV.19.7"><span class="content">and give him glory!</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="REV.19.7"><span class="content">For the wedding of the Lamb has come,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="REV.19.7"><span class="content">and his bride has made herself ready.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="REV.19.7"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="REV.19.8"><span class="label">8</span><span class="content">Fine linen, bright and clean,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="REV.19.8"><span class="content">was given her to wear.&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="qm"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="REV.19.8"><span class="content">(Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of God&#8217;s holy people.)</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="REV.19.8"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="REV.19.9"><span class="label">9</span><span class="content">Then the angel said to me, &#8220;Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!&#8221; And he added, &#8220;These are the true words of God.&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="REV.19.9"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="REV.19.10"><span class="label">10</span><span class="content">At this I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, &#8220;Don&#8217;t do that! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers and sisters who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For it is the Spirit of prophecy who bears testimony to Jesus.&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">The Heavenly Warrior Defeats the Beast</span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="REV.19.10"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="REV.19.11"><span class="label">11</span><span class="content">I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war. </span></span><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="REV.19.12"><span class="label">12</span><span class="content">His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. </span></span><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="REV.19.13"><span class="label">13</span><span class="content">He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. </span></span><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="REV.19.14"><span class="label">14</span><span class="content">The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. </span></span><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="REV.19.15"><span class="label">15</span><span class="content">Coming out of his mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. &#8220;He will rule them with an iron scepter.&#8221;</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">19:15 </span><span class="ft">Psalm 2:9</span></span></span><span class="content"> He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. </span></span><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="REV.19.16"><span class="label">16</span><span class="content">On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written:</span></span></div><div class="pc"><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="REV.19.16"><span class="content">king of kings and lord of lords.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="REV.19.16"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v17" data-usfm="REV.19.17"><span class="label">17</span><span class="content">And I saw an angel standing in the sun, who cried in a loud voice to all the birds flying in midair, &#8220;Come, gather together for the great supper of God, </span></span><span class="verse v18" data-usfm="REV.19.18"><span class="label">18</span><span class="content">so that you may eat the flesh of kings, generals, and the mighty, of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, great and small.&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v18" data-usfm="REV.19.18"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v19" data-usfm="REV.19.19"><span class="label">19</span><span class="content">Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to wage war against the rider on the horse and his army. </span></span><span class="verse v20" data-usfm="REV.19.20"><span class="label">20</span><span class="content">But the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who had performed the signs on its behalf. With these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshiped its image. The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur. </span></span><span class="verse v21" data-usfm="REV.19.21"><span class="label">21</span><span class="content">The rest were killed with the sword coming out of the mouth of the rider on the horse, and all the birds gorged themselves on their flesh.</span></span></div>
      </div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
   <div class="book bkREV">
      <div class="chapter ch20" data-usfm="REV.20">
         <div class="label">20</div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">The Thousand Years</span></div><div class="p"><span class="content">  </span><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="REV.20.1"><span class="label">1</span><span class="content">And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and holding in his hand a great chain. </span></span><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="REV.20.2"><span class="label">2</span><span class="content">He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. </span></span><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="REV.20.3"><span class="label">3</span><span class="content">He threw him into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended. After that, he must be set free for a short time.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="REV.20.3"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="REV.20.4"><span class="label">4</span><span class="content">I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God. They</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">20:4 </span><span class="ft">Or </span><span class="fqa">God; I also saw those who</span></span></span><span class="content"> had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. </span></span><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="REV.20.5"><span class="label">5</span><span class="content">(The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection. </span></span><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="REV.20.6"><span class="label">6</span><span class="content">Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.</span></span></div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">The Judgment of Satan</span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="REV.20.6"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="REV.20.7"><span class="label">7</span><span class="content">When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison </span></span><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="REV.20.8"><span class="label">8</span><span class="content">and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth&#8212;Gog and Magog&#8212;and to gather them for battle. In number they are like the sand on the seashore. </span></span><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="REV.20.9"><span class="label">9</span><span class="content">They marched across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of God&#8217;s people, the city he loves. But fire came down from heaven and devoured them. </span></span><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="REV.20.10"><span class="label">10</span><span class="content">And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.</span></span></div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">The Judgment of the Dead</span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="REV.20.10"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="REV.20.11"><span class="label">11</span><span class="content">Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. </span></span><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="REV.20.12"><span class="label">12</span><span class="content">And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. </span></span><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="REV.20.13"><span class="label">13</span><span class="content">The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done. </span></span><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="REV.20.14"><span class="label">14</span><span class="content">Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. </span></span><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="REV.20.15"><span class="label">15</span><span class="content">Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.</span></span></div>
      </div>
   </div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
   <div class="book bkREV">
      <div class="chapter ch21" data-usfm="REV.21">
         <div class="label">21</div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">A New Heaven and a New Earth</span></div><div class="p"><span class="content">  </span><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="REV.21.1"><span class="label">1</span><span class="content">Then I saw &#8220;a new heaven and a new earth,&#8221;</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">21:1 </span><span class="ft">Isaiah 65:17</span></span></span><span class="content"> for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. </span></span><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="REV.21.2"><span class="label">2</span><span class="content">I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. </span></span><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="REV.21.3"><span class="label">3</span><span class="content">And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, &#8220;Look! God&#8217;s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. </span></span><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="REV.21.4"><span class="label">4</span><span class="content">&#8216;He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death&#8217;</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">21:4 </span><span class="ft">Isaiah 25:8</span></span></span><span class="content"> or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="REV.21.4"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="REV.21.5"><span class="label">5</span><span class="content">He who was seated on the throne said, &#8220;I am making everything new!&#8221; Then he said, &#8220;Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="REV.21.5"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="REV.21.6"><span class="label">6</span><span class="content">He said to me: &#8220;It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life. </span></span><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="REV.21.7"><span class="label">7</span><span class="content">Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children. </span></span><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="REV.21.8"><span class="label">8</span><span class="content">But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars&#8212;they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">The New Jerusalem, the Bride of the Lamb</span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="REV.21.8"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="REV.21.9"><span class="label">9</span><span class="content">One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, &#8220;Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.&#8221; </span></span><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="REV.21.10"><span class="label">10</span><span class="content">And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. </span></span><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="REV.21.11"><span class="label">11</span><span class="content">It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. </span></span><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="REV.21.12"><span class="label">12</span><span class="content">It had a great, high wall with twelve gates, and with twelve angels at the gates. On the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. </span></span><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="REV.21.13"><span class="label">13</span><span class="content">There were three gates on the east, three on the north, three on the south and three on the west. </span></span><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="REV.21.14"><span class="label">14</span><span class="content">The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="REV.21.14"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="REV.21.15"><span class="label">15</span><span class="content">The angel who talked with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city, its gates and its walls. </span></span><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="REV.21.16"><span class="label">16</span><span class="content">The city was laid out like a square, as long as it was wide. He measured the city with the rod and found it to be 12,000 stadia</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">21:16 </span><span class="ft">That is, about 1,400 miles or about 2,200 kilometers</span></span></span><span class="content"> in length, and as wide and high as it is long. </span></span><span class="verse v17" data-usfm="REV.21.17"><span class="label">17</span><span class="content">The angel measured the wall using human measurement, and it was 144 cubits</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">21:17 </span><span class="ft">That is, about 200 feet or about 65 meters</span></span></span><span class="content"> thick.</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">21:17 </span><span class="ft">Or </span><span class="fqa">high</span></span></span><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v18" data-usfm="REV.21.18"><span class="label">18</span><span class="content">The wall was made of jasper, and the city of pure gold, as pure as glass. </span></span><span class="verse v19" data-usfm="REV.21.19"><span class="label">19</span><span class="content">The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, </span></span><span class="verse v20" data-usfm="REV.21.20"><span class="label">20</span><span class="content">the fifth onyx, the sixth ruby, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth turquoise, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst.</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">21:20 </span><span class="ft">The precise identification of some of these precious stones is uncertain.</span></span></span><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v21" data-usfm="REV.21.21"><span class="label">21</span><span class="content">The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of gold, as pure as transparent glass.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v21" data-usfm="REV.21.21"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v22" data-usfm="REV.21.22"><span class="label">22</span><span class="content">I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. </span></span><span class="verse v23" data-usfm="REV.21.23"><span class="label">23</span><span class="content">The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. </span></span><span class="verse v24" data-usfm="REV.21.24"><span class="label">24</span><span class="content">The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. </span></span><span class="verse v25" data-usfm="REV.21.25"><span class="label">25</span><span class="content">On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. </span></span><span class="verse v26" data-usfm="REV.21.26"><span class="label">26</span><span class="content">The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it. </span></span><span class="verse v27" data-usfm="REV.21.27"><span class="label">27</span><span class="content">Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb&#8217;s book of life.</span></span></div>
      </div>
   </div>
</div>

<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
   <div class="book bkREV">
      <div class="chapter ch22" data-usfm="REV.22">
         <div class="label">22</div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">Eden Restored</span></div><div class="p"><span class="content">  </span><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="REV.22.1"><span class="label">1</span><span class="content">Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb </span></span><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="REV.22.2"><span class="label">2</span><span class="content">down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. </span></span><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="REV.22.3"><span class="label">3</span><span class="content">No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. </span></span><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="REV.22.4"><span class="label">4</span><span class="content">They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. </span></span><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="REV.22.5"><span class="label">5</span><span class="content">There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.</span></span></div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">John and the Angel</span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="REV.22.5"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="REV.22.6"><span class="label">6</span><span class="content">The angel said to me, &#8220;These words are trustworthy and true. The Lord, the God who inspires the prophets, sent his angel to show his servants the things that must soon take place.&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="REV.22.6"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="REV.22.7"><span class="label">7</span><span class="content">  </span><span class="wj"><span class="content">&#8220;Look, I am coming soon! Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy written in this scroll.&#8221;</span></span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="REV.22.7"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="REV.22.8"><span class="label">8</span><span class="content">I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I had heard and seen them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who had been showing them to me. </span></span><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="REV.22.9"><span class="label">9</span><span class="content">But he said to me, &#8220;Don&#8217;t do that! I am a fellow servant with you and with your fellow prophets and with all who keep the words of this scroll. Worship God!&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="REV.22.9"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="REV.22.10"><span class="label">10</span><span class="content">Then he told me, &#8220;Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this scroll, because the time is near. </span></span><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="REV.22.11"><span class="label">11</span><span class="content">Let the one who does wrong continue to do wrong; let the vile person continue to be vile; let the one who does right continue to do right; and let the holy person continue to be holy.&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">Epilogue: Invitation and Warning</span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="REV.22.11"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="REV.22.12"><span class="label">12</span><span class="content">  </span><span class="wj"><span class="content">&#8220;Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done.</span></span><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="REV.22.13"><span class="label">13</span><span class="wj"><span class="content">I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.</span></span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="REV.22.13"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="REV.22.14"><span class="label">14</span><span class="content">  </span><span class="wj"><span class="content">&#8220;Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city.</span></span><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="REV.22.15"><span class="label">15</span><span class="wj"><span class="content">Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.</span></span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="REV.22.15"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="REV.22.16"><span class="label">16</span><span class="content">  </span><span class="wj"><span class="content">&#8220;I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you</span></span><span class="content">  </span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="ft">  </span><span class="fr">22:16 </span><span class="ft">  </span><span class="ft">The Greek is plural.</span><span class="ft">  </span></span></span><span class="content">  </span><span class="wj"><span class="content">this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star.&#8221;</span></span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="REV.22.16"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v17" data-usfm="REV.22.17"><span class="label">17</span><span class="content">The Spirit and the bride say, &#8220;Come!&#8221; And let the one who hears say, &#8220;Come!&#8221; Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v17" data-usfm="REV.22.17"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v18" data-usfm="REV.22.18"><span class="label">18</span><span class="content">I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this scroll: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this scroll. </span></span><span class="verse v19" data-usfm="REV.22.19"><span class="label">19</span><span class="content">And if anyone takes words away from this scroll of prophecy, God will take away from that person any share in the tree of life and in the Holy City, which are described in this scroll.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v19" data-usfm="REV.22.19"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v20" data-usfm="REV.22.20"><span class="label">20</span><span class="content">He who testifies to these things says, </span><span class="wj"><span class="content">&#8220;Yes, I am coming soon.&#8221;</span></span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v20" data-usfm="REV.22.20"><span class="content">Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v20" data-usfm="REV.22.20"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v21" data-usfm="REV.22.21"><span class="label">21</span><span class="content">The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God&#8217;s people. Amen.</span></span></div>
      </div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
   <div class="book bkACT">
      <div class="chapter ch27" data-usfm="ACT.27">
         <div class="label">27</div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">Paul Sails for Rome</span></div><div class="p"><span class="content">  </span><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="ACT.27.1"><span class="label">1</span><span class="content">When it was decided that we would sail for Italy, Paul and some other prisoners were handed over to a centurion named Julius, who belonged to the Imperial Regiment. </span></span><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="ACT.27.2"><span class="label">2</span><span class="content">We boarded a ship from Adramyttium about to sail for ports along the coast of the province of Asia, and we put out to sea. Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica, was with us.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="ACT.27.2"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="ACT.27.3"><span class="label">3</span><span class="content">The next day we landed at Sidon; and Julius, in kindness to Paul, allowed him to go to his friends so they might provide for his needs. </span></span><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="ACT.27.4"><span class="label">4</span><span class="content">From there we put out to sea again and passed to the lee of Cyprus because the winds were against us. </span></span><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="ACT.27.5"><span class="label">5</span><span class="content">When we had sailed across the open sea off the coast of Cilicia and Pamphylia, we landed at Myra in Lycia. </span></span><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="ACT.27.6"><span class="label">6</span><span class="content">There the centurion found an Alexandrian ship sailing for Italy and put us on board. </span></span><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="ACT.27.7"><span class="label">7</span><span class="content">We made slow headway for many days and had difficulty arriving off Cnidus. When the wind did not allow us to hold our course, we sailed to the lee of Crete, opposite Salmone. </span></span><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="ACT.27.8"><span class="label">8</span><span class="content">We moved along the coast with difficulty and came to a place called Fair Havens, near the town of Lasea.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="ACT.27.8"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="ACT.27.9"><span class="label">9</span><span class="content">Much time had been lost, and sailing had already become dangerous because by now it was after the Day of Atonement.</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">27:9 </span><span class="ft">That is, Yom Kippur</span></span></span><span class="content"> So Paul warned them, </span></span><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="ACT.27.10"><span class="label">10</span><span class="content">&#8220;Men, I can see that our voyage is going to be disastrous and bring great loss to ship and cargo, and to our own lives also.&#8221; </span></span><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="ACT.27.11"><span class="label">11</span><span class="content">But the centurion, instead of listening to what Paul said, followed the advice of the pilot and of the owner of the ship. </span></span><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="ACT.27.12"><span class="label">12</span><span class="content">Since the harbor was unsuitable to winter in, the majority decided that we should sail on, hoping to reach Phoenix and winter there. This was a harbor in Crete, facing both southwest and northwest.</span></span></div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">The Storm</span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="ACT.27.12"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="ACT.27.13"><span class="label">13</span><span class="content">When a gentle south wind began to blow, they saw their opportunity; so they weighed anchor and sailed along the shore of Crete. </span></span><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="ACT.27.14"><span class="label">14</span><span class="content">Before very long, a wind of hurricane force, called the Northeaster, swept down from the island. </span></span><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="ACT.27.15"><span class="label">15</span><span class="content">The ship was caught by the storm and could not head into the wind; so we gave way to it and were driven along. </span></span><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="ACT.27.16"><span class="label">16</span><span class="content">As we passed to the lee of a small island called Cauda, we were hardly able to make the lifeboat secure, </span></span><span class="verse v17" data-usfm="ACT.27.17"><span class="label">17</span><span class="content">so the men hoisted it aboard. Then they passed ropes under the ship itself to hold it together. Because they were afraid they would run aground on the sandbars of Syrtis, they lowered the sea anchor</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">27:17 </span><span class="ft">Or </span><span class="fqa">the sails</span></span></span><span class="content"> and let the ship be driven along. </span></span><span class="verse v18" data-usfm="ACT.27.18"><span class="label">18</span><span class="content">We took such a violent battering from the storm that the next day they began to throw the cargo overboard. </span></span><span class="verse v19" data-usfm="ACT.27.19"><span class="label">19</span><span class="content">On the third day, they threw the ship&#8217;s tackle overboard with their own hands. </span></span><span class="verse v20" data-usfm="ACT.27.20"><span class="label">20</span><span class="content">When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and the storm continued raging, we finally gave up all hope of being saved.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v20" data-usfm="ACT.27.20"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v21" data-usfm="ACT.27.21"><span class="label">21</span><span class="content">After they had gone a long time without food, Paul stood up before them and said: &#8220;Men, you should have taken my advice not to sail from Crete; then you would have spared yourselves this damage and loss. </span></span><span class="verse v22" data-usfm="ACT.27.22"><span class="label">22</span><span class="content">But now I urge you to keep up your courage, because not one of you will be lost; only the ship will be destroyed. </span></span><span class="verse v23" data-usfm="ACT.27.23"><span class="label">23</span><span class="content">Last night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood beside me </span></span><span class="verse v24" data-usfm="ACT.27.24"><span class="label">24</span><span class="content">and said, &#8216;Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar; and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you.&#8217; </span></span><span class="verse v25" data-usfm="ACT.27.25"><span class="label">25</span><span class="content">So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me. </span></span><span class="verse v26" data-usfm="ACT.27.26"><span class="label">26</span><span class="content">Nevertheless, we must run aground on some island.&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">The Shipwreck</span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v26" data-usfm="ACT.27.26"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v27" data-usfm="ACT.27.27"><span class="label">27</span><span class="content">On the fourteenth night we were still being driven across the Adriatic</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">27:27 </span><span class="ft">In ancient times the name referred to an area extending well south of Italy.</span></span></span><span class="content"> Sea, when about midnight the sailors sensed they were approaching land. </span></span><span class="verse v28" data-usfm="ACT.27.28"><span class="label">28</span><span class="content">They took soundings and found that the water was a hundred and twenty feet</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">27:28 </span><span class="ft">Or about 37 meters</span></span></span><span class="content"> deep. A short time later they took soundings again and found it was ninety feet</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">27:28 </span><span class="ft">Or about 27 meters</span></span></span><span class="content"> deep. </span></span><span class="verse v29" data-usfm="ACT.27.29"><span class="label">29</span><span class="content">Fearing that we would be dashed against the rocks, they dropped four anchors from the stern and prayed for daylight. </span></span><span class="verse v30" data-usfm="ACT.27.30"><span class="label">30</span><span class="content">In an attempt to escape from the ship, the sailors let the lifeboat down into the sea, pretending they were going to lower some anchors from the bow. </span></span><span class="verse v31" data-usfm="ACT.27.31"><span class="label">31</span><span class="content">Then Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, &#8220;Unless these men stay with the ship, you cannot be saved.&#8221; </span></span><span class="verse v32" data-usfm="ACT.27.32"><span class="label">32</span><span class="content">So the soldiers cut the ropes that held the lifeboat and let it drift away.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v32" data-usfm="ACT.27.32"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v33" data-usfm="ACT.27.33"><span class="label">33</span><span class="content">Just before dawn Paul urged them all to eat. &#8220;For the last fourteen days,&#8221; he said, &#8220;you have been in constant suspense and have gone without food&#8212;you haven&#8217;t eaten anything. </span></span><span class="verse v34" data-usfm="ACT.27.34"><span class="label">34</span><span class="content">Now I urge you to take some food. You need it to survive. Not one of you will lose a single hair from his head.&#8221; </span></span><span class="verse v35" data-usfm="ACT.27.35"><span class="label">35</span><span class="content">After he said this, he took some bread and gave thanks to God in front of them all. Then he broke it and began to eat. </span></span><span class="verse v36" data-usfm="ACT.27.36"><span class="label">36</span><span class="content">They were all encouraged and ate some food themselves. </span></span><span class="verse v37" data-usfm="ACT.27.37"><span class="label">37</span><span class="content">Altogether there were 276 of us on board. </span></span><span class="verse v38" data-usfm="ACT.27.38"><span class="label">38</span><span class="content">When they had eaten as much as they wanted, they lightened the ship by throwing the grain into the sea.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v38" data-usfm="ACT.27.38"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v39" data-usfm="ACT.27.39"><span class="label">39</span><span class="content">When daylight came, they did not recognize the land, but they saw a bay with a sandy beach, where they decided to run the ship aground if they could. </span></span><span class="verse v40" data-usfm="ACT.27.40"><span class="label">40</span><span class="content">Cutting loose the anchors, they left them in the sea and at the same time untied the ropes that held the rudders. Then they hoisted the foresail to the wind and made for the beach. </span></span><span class="verse v41" data-usfm="ACT.27.41"><span class="label">41</span><span class="content">But the ship struck a sandbar and ran aground. The bow stuck fast and would not move, and the stern was broken to pieces by the pounding of the surf.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v41" data-usfm="ACT.27.41"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v42" data-usfm="ACT.27.42"><span class="label">42</span><span class="content">The soldiers planned to kill the prisoners to prevent any of them from swimming away and escaping. </span></span><span class="verse v43" data-usfm="ACT.27.43"><span class="label">43</span><span class="content">But the centurion wanted to spare Paul&#8217;s life and kept them from carrying out their plan. He ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and get to land. </span></span><span class="verse v44" data-usfm="ACT.27.44"><span class="label">44</span><span class="content">The rest were to get there on planks or on other pieces of the ship. In this way everyone reached land safely.</span></span></div>
      </div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
   <div class="book bkACT">
      <div class="chapter ch28" data-usfm="ACT.28">
         <div class="label">28</div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">Paul Ashore on Malta</span></div><div class="p"><span class="content">  </span><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="ACT.28.1"><span class="label">1</span><span class="content">Once safely on shore, we found out that the island was called Malta. </span></span><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="ACT.28.2"><span class="label">2</span><span class="content">The islanders showed us unusual kindness. They built a fire and welcomed us all because it was raining and cold. </span></span><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="ACT.28.3"><span class="label">3</span><span class="content">Paul gathered a pile of brushwood and, as he put it on the fire, a viper, driven out by the heat, fastened itself on his hand. </span></span><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="ACT.28.4"><span class="label">4</span><span class="content">When the islanders saw the snake hanging from his hand, they said to each other, &#8220;This man must be a murderer; for though he escaped from the sea, the goddess Justice has not allowed him to live.&#8221; </span></span><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="ACT.28.5"><span class="label">5</span><span class="content">But Paul shook the snake off into the fire and suffered no ill effects. </span></span><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="ACT.28.6"><span class="label">6</span><span class="content">The people expected him to swell up or suddenly fall dead; but after waiting a long time and seeing nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and said he was a god.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="ACT.28.6"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="ACT.28.7"><span class="label">7</span><span class="content">There was an estate nearby that belonged to Publius, the chief official of the island. He welcomed us to his home and showed us generous hospitality for three days. </span></span><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="ACT.28.8"><span class="label">8</span><span class="content">His father was sick in bed, suffering from fever and dysentery. Paul went in to see him and, after prayer, placed his hands on him and healed him. </span></span><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="ACT.28.9"><span class="label">9</span><span class="content">When this had happened, the rest of the sick on the island came and were cured. </span></span><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="ACT.28.10"><span class="label">10</span><span class="content">They honored us in many ways; and when we were ready to sail, they furnished us with the supplies we needed.</span></span></div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">Paul&#8217;s Arrival at Rome</span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="ACT.28.10"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="ACT.28.11"><span class="label">11</span><span class="content">After three months we put out to sea in a ship that had wintered in the island&#8212;it was an Alexandrian ship with the figurehead of the twin gods Castor and Pollux. </span></span><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="ACT.28.12"><span class="label">12</span><span class="content">We put in at Syracuse and stayed there three days. </span></span><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="ACT.28.13"><span class="label">13</span><span class="content">From there we set sail and arrived at Rhegium. The next day the south wind came up, and on the following day we reached Puteoli. </span></span><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="ACT.28.14"><span class="label">14</span><span class="content">There we found some brothers and sisters who invited us to spend a week with them. And so we came to Rome. </span></span><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="ACT.28.15"><span class="label">15</span><span class="content">The brothers and sisters there had heard that we were coming, and they traveled as far as the Forum of Appius and the Three Taverns to meet us. At the sight of these people Paul thanked God and was encouraged. </span></span><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="ACT.28.16"><span class="label">16</span><span class="content">When we got to Rome, Paul was allowed to live by himself, with a soldier to guard him.</span></span></div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">Paul Preaches at Rome Under Guard</span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="ACT.28.16"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v17" data-usfm="ACT.28.17"><span class="label">17</span><span class="content">Three days later he called together the local Jewish leaders. When they had assembled, Paul said to them: &#8220;My brothers, although I have done nothing against our people or against the customs of our ancestors, I was arrested in Jerusalem and handed over to the Romans. </span></span><span class="verse v18" data-usfm="ACT.28.18"><span class="label">18</span><span class="content">They examined me and wanted to release me, because I was not guilty of any crime deserving death. </span></span><span class="verse v19" data-usfm="ACT.28.19"><span class="label">19</span><span class="content">The Jews objected, so I was compelled to make an appeal to Caesar. I certainly did not intend to bring any charge against my own people. </span></span><span class="verse v20" data-usfm="ACT.28.20"><span class="label">20</span><span class="content">For this reason I have asked to see you and talk with you. It is because of the hope of Israel that I am bound with this chain.&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v20" data-usfm="ACT.28.20"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v21" data-usfm="ACT.28.21"><span class="label">21</span><span class="content">They replied, &#8220;We have not received any letters from Judea concerning you, and none of our people who have come from there has reported or said anything bad about you. </span></span><span class="verse v22" data-usfm="ACT.28.22"><span class="label">22</span><span class="content">But we want to hear what your views are, for we know that people everywhere are talking against this sect.&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v22" data-usfm="ACT.28.22"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v23" data-usfm="ACT.28.23"><span class="label">23</span><span class="content">They arranged to meet Paul on a certain day, and came in even larger numbers to the place where he was staying. He witnessed to them from morning till evening, explaining about the kingdom of God, and from the Law of Moses and from the Prophets he tried to persuade them about Jesus. </span></span><span class="verse v24" data-usfm="ACT.28.24"><span class="label">24</span><span class="content">Some were convinced by what he said, but others would not believe. </span></span><span class="verse v25" data-usfm="ACT.28.25"><span class="label">25</span><span class="content">They disagreed among themselves and began to leave after Paul had made this final statement: &#8220;The Holy Spirit spoke the truth to your ancestors when he said through Isaiah the prophet:</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v25" data-usfm="ACT.28.25"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v26" data-usfm="ACT.28.26"><span class="label">26</span><span class="content">&#8220;&#8198;&#8216;Go to this people and say,</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v26" data-usfm="ACT.28.26"><span class="content">&#8220;You will be ever hearing but never understanding;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v26" data-usfm="ACT.28.26"><span class="content">you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v26" data-usfm="ACT.28.26"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v27" data-usfm="ACT.28.27"><span class="label">27</span><span class="content">For this people&#8217;s heart has become calloused;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v27" data-usfm="ACT.28.27"><span class="content">they hardly hear with their ears,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v27" data-usfm="ACT.28.27"><span class="content">and they have closed their eyes.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v27" data-usfm="ACT.28.27"><span class="content">Otherwise they might see with their eyes,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v27" data-usfm="ACT.28.27"><span class="content">hear with their ears,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v27" data-usfm="ACT.28.27"><span class="content">understand with their hearts</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v27" data-usfm="ACT.28.27"><span class="content">and turn, and I would heal them.&#8217;</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">28:27 </span><span class="ft">Isaiah 6:9,10 (see Septuagint)</span></span></span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v27" data-usfm="ACT.28.27"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v28" data-usfm="ACT.28.28"><span class="label">28</span><span class="content">&#8220;Therefore I want you to know that God&#8217;s salvation has been sent to the Gentiles, and they will listen!&#8221; </span></span><span class="verse v29" data-usfm="ACT.28.29"><span class="label">[29]</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">28:29 </span><span class="ft">Some manuscripts include here </span><span class="fqa">After he said this, the Jews left, arguing vigorously among themselves.</span></span></span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v29" data-usfm="ACT.28.29"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v30" data-usfm="ACT.28.30"><span class="label">30</span><span class="content">For two whole years Paul stayed there in his own rented house and welcomed all who came to see him. </span></span><span class="verse v31" data-usfm="ACT.28.31"><span class="label">31</span><span class="content">He proclaimed the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ&#8212;with all boldness and without hindrance!</span></span></div>
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