Day 622 of 730

¹This is the Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things which must happen soon, which he sent and made known by his angel to his servant, John,

²who testified to God's word, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, about everything that he saw.

³Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and keep the things that are written in it, for the time is near.

⁴John, to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace, from him who is and who was and who is to come; and from the seven Spirits who are before his throne;

⁵and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us, and washed us from our sins by his blood;

⁶and he made us to be a Kingdom, priests to his God and Father; to him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

⁷Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, including those who pierced him. All the tribes of the earth will mourn over him. Even so, Amen.

⁸"I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty."

⁹I John, your brother and partner with you in persecution, Kingdom, and patient endurance in Jesus, was on the island that is called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.

¹⁰I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, like a trumpet

¹¹saying, "What you see, write in a scroll and send to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and to Laodicea."

¹²I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. Having turned, I saw seven golden lampstands.

¹³And among the lampstands was one like a son of man, clothed with a robe reaching down to his feet, and with a golden sash around his chest.

¹⁴His head and his hair were white as white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire.

¹⁵His feet were like burnished brass, as if it had been refined in a furnace. His voice was like the voice of many waters.

¹⁶He had seven stars in his right hand. Out of his mouth proceeded a sharp two-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining at its brightest.

¹⁷When I saw him, I fell at his feet like a dead man. He laid his right hand on me, saying, "Do not be afraid. I am the first and the last,

¹⁸and the Living one. I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. I have the keys of Death and of hell.

¹⁹Write therefore the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will happen hereafter;

²⁰the mystery of the seven stars which you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches. The seven lampstands are seven churches.

¹My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me, and from the words of my groaning?

²My God, I cry in the daytime, but you do not answer; in the night season, and am not silent.

³But you are holy, you who inhabit the praises of Israel.

⁴Our fathers trusted in you. They trusted, and you delivered them.

⁵They cried to you, and were delivered. They trusted in you, and were not disappointed.

⁶But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised by the people.

⁷All those who see me mock me. They insult me with their lips. They shake their heads, saying,

⁸"He trusts in the Lord; let him deliver him. Let him rescue him, since he delights in him."

⁹But you brought me out of the womb. You made me trust at my mother's breasts.

¹⁰I was thrown on you from my mother's womb. You are my God since my mother bore me.

¹¹Do not be far from me, for trouble is near. For there is none to help.

¹²Many bulls have surrounded me. Strong bulls of Bashan have encircled me.

¹³They open their mouths wide against me, lions tearing prey and roaring.

¹⁴I am poured out like water. All my bones are out of joint. My heart is like wax; it is melted within me.

¹⁵My strength is dried up like a potsherd. My tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth. You have brought me into the dust of death.

¹⁶For dogs have surrounded me. A company of evildoers have enclosed me. They have pierced my hands and feet.

¹⁷I can count all of my bones. They look and stare at me.

¹⁸They divide my garments among them. They cast lots for my clothing.

¹⁹But do not be far off, Lord. You are my help: hurry to help me.

²⁰Deliver my soul from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dog.

²¹Save me from the lion's mouth! Yes, from the horns of the wild oxen, you have answered me.

²²I will declare your name to my brothers. In the midst of the assembly, I will praise you.

²³You who fear the Lord, praise him! All you descendants of Jacob, glorify him! Stand in awe of him, all you descendants of Israel!

²⁴For he has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, Neither has he hidden his face from him; but when he cried to him, he heard.

²⁵Of you comes my praise in the great assembly. I will pay my vows before those who fear him.

²⁶The humble shall eat and be satisfied. They shall praise the Lord who seek after him. Let your hearts live forever.

²⁷All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord. All the relatives of the nations shall worship before you.

²⁸For the kingdom is the Lord's. He is the ruler over the nations.

²⁹All the rich ones of the earth shall eat and worship. All those who go down to the dust shall bow before him, even he who can't keep his soul alive.

³⁰Posterity shall serve him. Future generations shall be told about the Lord.

³¹They shall come and shall declare his righteousness to a people that shall be born, for he has done it.

¹My son, if you will receive my words, and store up my commandments within you;

²So as to turn your ear to wisdom, and apply your heart to understanding;

³Yes, if you call out for discernment, and lift up your voice for understanding;

⁴If you seek her as silver, and search for her as for hidden treasures:

⁵then you will understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God.

⁶For the Lord gives wisdom. Out of his mouth comes knowledge and understanding.

⁷He lays up sound wisdom for the upright. He is a shield to those who walk in integrity;

⁸that he may guard the paths of justice, and preserve the way of his holy ones.

⁹Then you will understand righteousness and justice, equity and every good path.

¹⁰For wisdom will enter into your heart. Knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.

¹¹Discretion will watch over you. Understanding will keep you,

¹²to deliver you from the way of evil, from the men who speak perverse things;

¹³who forsake the paths of uprightness, to walk in the ways of darkness;

¹⁴who rejoice to do evil, and delight in the perverseness of evil;

¹⁵who are crooked in their ways, and wayward in their paths:

¹⁶To deliver you from the strange woman, even from the foreigner who flatters with her words;

¹⁷who forsakes the friend of her youth, and forgets the covenant of her God:

¹⁸for her house leads down to death, her paths to the dead.

¹⁹None who go to her return again, neither do they attain to the paths of life:

²⁰that you may walk in the way of good men, and keep the paths of the righteous.

²¹For the upright will dwell in the land. The perfect will remain in it.

²²But the wicked will be cut off from the land. The treacherous will be rooted out of it.