16 Bind up uthe testimony; vseal the teaching1 among my disciples. 17 I will wwait for the Lord, who is xhiding his face from the house of Jacob, and I will hope in him. 18 yBehold, I and zthe children whom the Lord has given me are signs and portents in Israel from the Lord of hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion. 19 And when they say to you, “Inquire of the amediums and the necromancers who chirp and mutter,” should not a people inquire of their God? Should they inquire of bthe dead on behalf of the living? 20 cTo the teaching and to the testimony! If they will not speak according to this word, it is because they have no ddawn. 21 They will pass through the land,2 greatly distressed and hungry. And when they are hungry, they will be enraged and will speak contemptuously against3 their king and their God, and turn their faces upward. 22 eAnd they will look to the earth, but behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish. And they will be thrust into fthick darkness.
For to Us a Child Is Born
1 4 But there will be no ggloom for her who was in anguish. In the former time he hbrought into contempt the land of iZebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he jhas made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.5
2 6 iThe people kwho walked in darkness
have seen a great light;
those who dwelt in a land of ldeep darkness,
on them has light shone.
3 mYou have multiplied the nation;
you have increased its joy;
they rejoice before you
as with njoy at the harvest,
as they oare glad pwhen they divide the spoil.
4 qFor the yoke of his burden,
rand the staff for his shoulder,
the rod of his oppressor,
you have broken as son the day of Midian.
5 tFor every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult
and every garment rolled in blood
will be burned as fuel for the fire.
6 uFor to us a child is born,
to us va son is given;
wand the government shall be xupon7 his shoulder,
and his name shall be called8
Wonderful yCounselor, zMighty God,
aEverlasting bFather, Prince of cPeace.
7 Of the increase of his government and of peace
dthere will be no end,
on the throne of David and over his kingdom,
to establish it and to uphold it
ewith justice and with righteousness
from this time forth and forevermore.
fThe zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
Judgment on Arrogance and Oppression
8 The Lord has sent a word against Jacob,
and it will fall on Israel;
9 and all the people will know,
gEphraim and the inhabitants of Samaria,
who say in pride and in arrogance of heart:
10 “The bricks have fallen,
but we will build with dressed stones;
the sycamores have been cut down,
but we will put cedars in their place.”
11 But the Lord raises the adversaries of Rezin against him,
and stirs up his enemies.
12 hThe Syrians on the east and ithe Philistines on the west
devour Israel with open mouth.
jFor all this his anger has not turned away,
and his hand is stretched out still.
13 The people kdid not turn to him who struck them,
nor inquire of the Lord of hosts.
14 So the Lord cut off from Israel lhead and tail,
palm branch and reed in one day—
15 mthe elder and honored man is the head,
and nthe prophet who teaches lies is the tail;
16 for those who guide this people have been leading them astray,
and those who are guided by them are swallowed up.
17 Therefore the Lord does not orejoice over their young men,
and has no compassion on their fatherless and widows;
for everyone is pgodless and an evildoer,
and every mouth speaks qfolly.9
jFor all this his anger has not turned away,
and his hand is stretched out still.
The 144,000 of Israel Sealed
1 After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back uthe four winds of the earth, vthat no wind might blow on earth or sea or against any tree. 2 Then I saw another angel ascending wfrom the rising of the sun, with xthe seal of the living God, and he called with a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm earth and sea, 3 saying, y“Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have sealed the servants of our God zon their foreheads.” 4 And aI heard the number of the sealed, 144,000, sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel:
5 12,000 from the tribe of Judah were sealed,
12,000 from the tribe of Reuben,
12,000 from the tribe of Gad,
6 12,000 from the tribe of Asher,
12,000 from the tribe of Naphtali,
12,000 from the tribe of Manasseh,
7 12,000 from the tribe of Simeon,
12,000 from the tribe of Levi,
12,000 from the tribe of Issachar,
8 12,000 from the tribe of Zebulun,
12,000 from the tribe of Joseph,
12,000 from the tribe of Benjamin were sealed.
A Great Multitude from Every Nation
9 After this I looked, and behold, ba great multitude that no one could number, cfrom every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, dclothed in white robes, with epalm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, f“Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” 11 And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and gthe four living creatures, and they hfell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 isaying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”
13 Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, dclothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” 14 I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of jthe great tribulation. kThey have washed their robes and lmade them white min the blood of the Lamb.
15 “Therefore they are before the throne of God,
and nserve him day and night in his temple;
and he who sits on the throne owill shelter them with his presence.
16 pThey shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore;
qthe sun shall not strike them,
nor any scorching heat.
17 For the Lamb in the midst of the throne rwill be their shepherd,
and he will guide them to springs of sliving water,
and tGod will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
