Night Watch Devotion

To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments; according to The Sheminith. A Psalm of David.
¹ O LORD, rebuke me not in your anger, nor discipline me in your wrath.
² Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am languishing; heal me, O LORD, for my bones are troubled.
³ My soul also is greatly troubled. But you, O LORD—how long?
⁴ Turn, O LORD, deliver my life; save me for the sake of your steadfast love.
⁵ For in death there is no remembrance of you; in Sheol who will give you praise?
⁶ I am weary with my moaning; every night I flood my bed with tears; I drench my couch with my weeping.
⁷ My eye wastes away because of grief; it grows weak because of all my foes.
⁸ Depart from me, all you workers of evil, for the LORD has heard the sound of my weeping.
⁹ The LORD has heard my plea; the LORD accepts my prayer.
¹⁰ All my enemies shall be ashamed and greatly troubled; they shall turn back and be put to shame in a moment. (ESV)

¹ The LORD reigns; he is robed in majesty; the LORD is robed; he has put on strength as his belt. Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved.
² Your throne is established from of old; you are from everlasting.
³ The floods have lifted up, O LORD, the floods have lifted up their voice; the floods lift up their roaring.
⁴ Mightier than the thunders of many waters, mightier than the waves of the sea, the LORD on high is mighty!
⁵ Your decrees are very trustworthy; holiness befits your house, O LORD, forevermore. (ESV)

To the choirmaster: according to The Doe of the Dawn. A Psalm of David.
¹ My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?
² O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, and by night, but I find no rest.
³ Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel.
⁴ In you our fathers trusted; they trusted, and you delivered them.
⁵ To you they cried and were rescued; in you they trusted and were not put to shame.
⁶ But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by mankind and despised by the people.
⁷ All who see me mock me; they make mouths at me; they wag their heads;
⁸ “He trusts in the LORD; let him deliver him; let him rescue him, for he delights in him!”
⁹ Yet you are he who took me from the womb; you made me trust you at my mother’s breasts.
¹⁰ On you was I cast from my birth, and from my mother’s womb you have been my God.
¹¹ Be not far from me, for trouble is near, and there is none to help.
¹² Many bulls encompass me; strong bulls of Bashan surround me;
¹³ they open wide their mouths at me, like a ravening and roaring lion.
¹⁴ I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it is melted within my breast;
¹⁵ my strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to my jaws; you lay me in the dust of death.
¹⁶ For dogs encompass me; a company of evildoers encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet—
¹⁷ I can count all my bones— they stare and gloat over me;
¹⁸ they divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.
¹⁹ But you, O LORD, do not be far off! O you my help, come quickly to my aid!
²⁰ Deliver my soul from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dog!
²¹ Save me from the mouth of the lion! You have rescued me from the horns of the wild oxen!
²² I will tell of your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will praise you:
²³ You who fear the LORD, praise him! All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him, and stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!
²⁴ For he has not despised or abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, and he has not hidden his face from him, but has heard, when he cried to him.
²⁵ From you comes my praise in the great congregation; my vows I will perform before those who fear him.
²⁶ The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek him shall praise the LORD! May your hearts live forever!
²⁷ All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations shall worship before you.
²⁸ For kingship belongs to the LORD, and he rules over the nations.
²⁹ All the prosperous of the earth eat and worship; before him shall bow all who go down to the dust, even the one who could not keep himself alive.
³⁰ Posterity shall serve him; it shall be told of the Lord to the coming generation;
³¹ they shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn, that he has done it.

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.
¹ In you, O LORD, do I take refuge; let me never be put to shame; in your righteousness deliver me!
² Incline your ear to me; rescue me speedily! Be a rock of refuge for me, a strong fortress to save me!
³ For you are my rock and my fortress; and for your name’s sake you lead me and guide me;
⁴ you take me out of the net they have hidden for me, for you are my refuge.
⁵ Into your hand I commit my spirit; you have redeemed me, O LORD, faithful God.
⁶ I hate those who pay regard to worthless idols, but I trust in the LORD.
⁷ I will rejoice and be glad in your steadfast love, because you have seen my affliction; you have known the distress of my soul,
⁸ and you have not delivered me into the hand of the enemy; you have set my feet in a broad place.
⁹ Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am in distress; my eye is wasted from grief; my soul and my body also.
¹⁰ For my life is spent with sorrow, and my years with sighing; my strength fails because of my iniquity, and my bones waste away.
¹¹ Because of all my adversaries I have become a reproach, especially to my neighbors, and an object of dread to my acquaintances; those who see me in the street flee from me.
¹² I have been forgotten like one who is dead; I have become like a broken vessel.
¹³ For I hear the whispering of many— terror on every side!— as they scheme together against me, as they plot to take my life.
¹⁴ But I trust in you, O LORD; I say, “You are my God.”
¹⁵ My times are in your hand; rescue me from the hand of my enemies and from my persecutors!
¹⁶ Make your face shine on your servant; save me in your steadfast love!
¹⁷ O LORD, let me not be put to shame, for I call upon you; let the wicked be put to shame; let them go silently to Sheol.
¹⁸ Let the lying lips be mute, which speak insolently against the righteous in pride and contempt.
¹⁹ Oh, how abundant is your goodness, which you have stored up for those who fear you and worked for those who take refuge in you, in the sight of the children of mankind!
²⁰ In the cover of your presence you hide them from the plots of men; you store them in your shelter from the strife of tongues.
²¹ Blessed be the LORD, for he has wondrously shown his steadfast love to me when I was in a besieged city.
²² I had said in my alarm, “I am cut off from your sight.” But you heard the voice of my pleas for mercy when I cried to you for help.
²³ Love the LORD, all you his saints! The LORD preserves the faithful but abundantly repays the one who acts in pride.
²⁴ Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the LORD! (ESV)

¹ “Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom.
² Five of them were foolish, and five were wise.
³ For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them,
⁴ but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps.
⁵ As the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept.
⁶ But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’
⁷ Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps.
⁸ And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’
⁹ But the wise answered, saying, ‘Since there will not be enough for us and for you, go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.’
¹⁰ And while they were going to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut.
¹¹ Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’
¹² But he answered, ‘Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.’
¹³ Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour. (ESV)

²⁹ At midnight the LORD struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of the livestock.
³⁰ And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he and all his servants and all the Egyptians. And there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where someone was not dead.
³¹ Then he summoned Moses and Aaron by night and said, “Up, go out from among my people, both you and the people of Israel; and go, serve the LORD, as you have said.
³² Take your flocks and your herds, as you have said, and be gone, and bless me also!”

¹ The LORD said to Moses,
² “Consecrate to me all the firstborn. Whatever is the first to open the womb among the people of Israel, both of man and of beast, is mine.”
³ Then Moses said to the people, “Remember this day in which you came out from Egypt, out of the house of slavery, for by a strong hand the LORD brought you out from this place. No leavened bread shall be eaten.
⁴ Today, in the month of Abib, you are going out.
⁵ And when the LORD brings you into the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, which he swore to your fathers to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, you shall keep this service in this month.
⁶ Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be a feast to the LORD.
⁷ Unleavened bread shall be eaten for seven days; no leavened bread shall be seen with you, and no leaven shall be seen with you in all your territory.
⁸ You shall tell your son on that day, ‘It is because of what the LORD did for me when I came out of Egypt.’
⁹ And it shall be to you as a sign on your hand and as a memorial between your eyes, that the law of the LORD may be in your mouth. For with a strong hand the LORD has brought you out of Egypt.
¹⁰ You shall therefore keep this statute at its appointed time from year to year.
¹¹ “When the LORD brings you into the land of the Canaanites, as he swore to you and your fathers, and shall give it to you,
¹² you shall set apart to the LORD all that first opens the womb. All the firstborn of your animals that are males shall be the LORD’s.
¹³ Every firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb, or if you will not redeem it you shall break its neck. Every firstborn of man among your sons you shall redeem.
¹⁴ And when in time to come your son asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ you shall say to him, ‘By a strong hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt, from the house of slavery.
¹⁵ For when Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the LORD killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man and the firstborn of animals. Therefore I sacrifice to the LORD all the males that first open the womb, but all the firstborn of my sons I redeem.’
¹⁶ It shall be as a mark on your hand or frontlets between your eyes, for by a strong hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt.” (ESV)

¹ Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God,
² and of instruction about washings, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.
³ And this we will do if God permits.
⁴ For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit,
⁵ and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come,
⁶ and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt.
⁷ For land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God.
⁸ But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned.
⁹ Though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things—things that belong to salvation.
¹⁰ For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do.
¹¹ And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end,
¹² so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.
¹³ For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself,
¹⁴ saying, “Surely I will bless you and multiply you.”
¹⁵ And thus Abraham, having patiently waited, obtained the promise.
¹⁶ For people swear by something greater than themselves, and in all their disputes an oath is final for confirmation.
¹⁷ So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath,
¹⁸ so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us.
¹⁹ We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain,
²⁰ where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. (ESV)

¹ The LORD spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying,
² “Command the people of Israel to give to the Levites some of the inheritance of their possession as cities for them to dwell in. And you shall give to the Levites pasturelands around the cities.
³ The cities shall be theirs to dwell in, and their pasturelands shall be for their cattle and for their livestock and for all their beasts.
⁴ The pasturelands of the cities, which you shall give to the Levites, shall reach from the wall of the city outward a thousand cubits all around.
⁵ And you shall measure, outside the city, on the east side two thousand cubits, and on the south side two thousand cubits, and on the west side two thousand cubits, and on the north side two thousand cubits, the city being in the middle. This shall belong to them as pastureland for their cities.
⁶ “The cities that you give to the Levites shall be the six cities of refuge, where you shall permit the manslayer to flee, and in addition to them you shall give forty-two cities.
⁷ All the cities that you give to the Levites shall be forty-eight, with their pasturelands.
⁸ And as for the cities that you shall give from the possession of the people of Israel, from the larger tribes you shall take many, and from the smaller tribes you shall take few; each, in proportion to the inheritance that it inherits, shall give of its cities to the Levites.”
⁹ And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
¹⁰ “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan,
¹¹ then you shall select cities to be cities of refuge for you, that the manslayer who kills any person without intent may flee there.
¹² The cities shall be for you a refuge from the avenger, that the manslayer may not die until he stands before the congregation for judgment.
¹³ And the cities that you give shall be your six cities of refuge.
¹⁴ You shall give three cities beyond the Jordan, and three cities in the land of Canaan, to be cities of refuge.
¹⁵ These six cities shall be for refuge for the people of Israel, and for the stranger and for the sojourner among them, that anyone who kills any person without intent may flee there.
¹⁶ “But if he struck him down with an iron object, so that he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall be put to death.
¹⁷ And if he struck him down with a stone tool that could cause death, and he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall be put to death.
¹⁸ Or if he struck him down with a wooden tool that could cause death, and he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall be put to death.
¹⁹ The avenger of blood shall himself put the murderer to death; when he meets him, he shall put him to death.
²⁰ And if he pushed him out of hatred or hurled something at him, lying in wait, so that he died,
²¹ or in enmity struck him down with his hand, so that he died, then he who struck the blow shall be put to death. He is a murderer. The avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death when he meets him.
²² “But if he pushed him suddenly without enmity, or hurled anything on him without lying in wait
²³ or used a stone that could cause death, and without seeing him dropped it on him, so that he died, though he was not his enemy and did not seek his harm,
²⁴ then the congregation shall judge between the manslayer and the avenger of blood, in accordance with these rules.
²⁵ And the congregation shall rescue the manslayer from the hand of the avenger of blood, and the congregation shall restore him to his city of refuge to which he had fled, and he shall live in it until the death of the high priest who was anointed with the holy oil.
²⁶ But if the manslayer shall at any time go beyond the boundaries of his city of refuge to which he fled,
²⁷ and the avenger of blood finds him outside the boundaries of his city of refuge, and the avenger of blood kills the manslayer, he shall not be guilty of blood.
²⁸ For he must remain in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest, but after the death of the high priest the manslayer may return to the land of his possession.
²⁹ And these things shall be for a statute and rule for you throughout your generations in all your dwelling places.
³⁰ “If anyone kills a person, the murderer shall be put to death on the evidence of witnesses. But no person shall be put to death on the testimony of one witness.
³¹ Moreover, you shall accept no ransom for the life of a murderer, who is guilty of death, but he shall be put to death.
³² And you shall accept no ransom for him who has fled to his city of refuge, that he may return to dwell in the land before the death of the high priest.
³³ You shall not pollute the land in which you live, for blood pollutes the land, and no atonement can be made for the land for the blood that is shed in it, except by the blood of the one who shed it.
³⁴ You shall not defile the land in which you live, in the midst of which I dwell, for I the LORD dwell in the midst of the people of Israel.”

¹ The heads of the fathers’ houses of the clan of the people of Gilead the son of Machir, son of Manasseh, from the clans of the people of Joseph, came near and spoke before Moses and before the chiefs, the heads of the fathers’ houses of the people of Israel.
² They said, “The LORD commanded my lord to give the land for inheritance by lot to the people of Israel, and my lord was commanded by the LORD to give the inheritance of Zelophehad our brother to his daughters.
³ But if they are married to any of the sons of the other tribes of the people of Israel, then their inheritance will be taken from the inheritance of our fathers and added to the inheritance of the tribe into which they marry. So it will be taken away from the lot of our inheritance.
⁴ And when the jubilee of the people of Israel comes, then their inheritance will be added to the inheritance of the tribe into which they marry, and their inheritance will be taken from the inheritance of the tribe of our fathers.”
⁵ And Moses commanded the people of Israel according to the word of the LORD, saying, “The tribe of the people of Joseph is right.
⁶ This is what the LORD commands concerning the daughters of Zelophehad: ‘Let them marry whom they think best, only they shall marry within the clan of the tribe of their father.
⁷ The inheritance of the people of Israel shall not be transferred from one tribe to another, for every one of the people of Israel shall hold on to the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers.
⁸ And every daughter who possesses an inheritance in any tribe of the people of Israel shall be wife to one of the clan of the tribe of her father, so that every one of the people of Israel may possess the inheritance of his fathers.
⁹ So no inheritance shall be transferred from one tribe to another, for each of the tribes of the people of Israel shall hold on to its own inheritance.’”
¹⁰ The daughters of Zelophehad did as the LORD commanded Moses,
¹¹ for Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad, were married to sons of their father’s brothers.
¹² They were married into the clans of the people of Manasseh the son of Joseph, and their inheritance remained in the tribe of their father’s clan. (ESV)

²⁸ Now about eight days after these sayings he took with him Peter and John and James and went up on the mountain to pray.
²⁹ And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered, and his clothing became dazzling white.
³⁰ And behold, two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah,
³¹ who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.
³² Now Peter and those who were with him were heavy with sleep, but when they became fully awake they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him.
³³ And as the men were parting from him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah”—not knowing what he said.
³⁴ As he was saying these things, a cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud.
³⁵ And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!”
³⁶ And when the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and told no one in those days anything of what they had seen.
³⁷ On the next day, when they had come down from the mountain, a great crowd met him.
³⁸ And behold, a man from the crowd cried out, “Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, for he is my only child.
³⁹ And behold, a spirit seizes him, and he suddenly cries out. It convulses him so that he foams at the mouth, and shatters him, and will hardly leave him.
⁴⁰ And I begged your disciples to cast it out, but they could not.”
⁴¹ Jesus answered, “O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you and bear with you? Bring your son here.”
⁴² While he was coming, the demon threw him to the ground and convulsed him. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit and healed the boy, and gave him back to his father.
⁴³ And all were astonished at the majesty of God. But while they were all marveling at everything he was doing, Jesus said to his disciples,
⁴⁴ “Let these words sink into your ears: The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men.”
⁴⁵ But they did not understand this saying, and it was concealed from them, so that they might not perceive it. And they were afraid to ask him about this saying.
⁴⁶ An argument arose among them as to which of them was the greatest.
⁴⁷ But Jesus, knowing the reasoning of their hearts, took a child and put him by his side
⁴⁸ and said to them, “Whoever receives this child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me. For he who is least among you all is the one who is great.”
⁴⁹ John answered, “Master, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he does not follow with us.”
⁵⁰ But Jesus said to him, “Do not stop him, for the one who is not against you is for you.”
⁵¹ When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.
⁵² And he sent messengers ahead of him, who went and entered a village of the Samaritans, to make preparations for him.
⁵³ But the people did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem.
⁵⁴ And when his disciples James and John saw it, they said, “Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them?”
⁵⁵ But he turned and rebuked them.
⁵⁶ And they went on to another village. (ESV)

⁹ I have told the glad news of deliverance in the great congregation; behold, I have not restrained my lips, as you know, O LORD.
¹⁰ I have not hidden your deliverance within my heart; I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation; I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness from the great congregation.
¹¹ As for you, O LORD, you will not restrain your mercy from me; your steadfast love and your faithfulness will ever preserve me!
¹² For evils have encompassed me beyond number; my iniquities have overtaken me, and I cannot see; they are more than the hairs of my head; my heart fails me.
¹³ Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me! O LORD, make haste to help me!
¹⁴ Let those be put to shame and disappointed altogether who seek to snatch away my life; let those be turned back and brought to dishonor who delight in my hurt!
¹⁵ Let those be appalled because of their shame who say to me, “Aha, Aha!”
¹⁶ But may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; may those who love your salvation say continually, “Great is the LORD!”
¹⁷ As for me, I am poor and needy, but the Lord takes thought for me. You are my help and my deliverer; do not delay, O my God! (ESV)

¹ And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems on its horns and blasphemous names on its heads.
² And the beast that I saw was like a leopard; its feet were like a bear’s, and its mouth was like a lion’s mouth. And to it the dragon gave his power and his throne and great authority.
³ One of its heads seemed to have a mortal wound, but its mortal wound was healed, and the whole earth marveled as they followed the beast.
⁴ And they worshiped the dragon, for he had given his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?”
⁵ And the beast was given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for forty-two months.
⁶ It opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling, that is, those who dwell in heaven.
⁷ Also it was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them. And authority was given it over every tribe and people and language and nation,
⁸ and all who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain.
⁹ If anyone has an ear, let him hear:
¹⁰ If anyone is to be taken captive, to captivity he goes; if anyone is to be slain with the sword, with the sword must he be slain. Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints.
¹¹ Then I saw another beast rising out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb and it spoke like a dragon.
¹² It exercises all the authority of the first beast in its presence, and makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose mortal wound was healed.
¹³ It performs great signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in front of people,
¹⁴ and by the signs that it is allowed to work in the presence of the beast it deceives those who dwell on earth, telling them to make an image for the beast that was wounded by the sword and yet lived.
¹⁵ And it was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast might even speak and might cause those who would not worship the image of the beast to be slain.
¹⁶ Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead,
¹⁷ so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name.
¹⁸ This calls for wisdom: let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and his number is 666.

¹ Then I looked, and behold, on Mount Zion stood the Lamb, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads.
² And I heard a voice from heaven like the roar of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder. The voice I heard was like the sound of harpists playing on their harps,
³ and they were singing a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and before the elders. No one could learn that song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth.
⁴ It is these who have not defiled themselves with women, for they are virgins. It is these who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These have been redeemed from mankind as firstfruits for God and the Lamb,
⁵ and in their mouth no lie was found, for they are blameless.
⁶ Then I saw another angel flying directly overhead, with an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who dwell on earth, to every nation and tribe and language and people.
⁷ And he said with a loud voice, “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come, and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water.”
⁸ Another angel, a second, followed, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, she who made all nations drink the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality.”
⁹ And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand,
¹⁰ he also will drink the wine of God’s wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.
¹¹ And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name.”
¹² Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.
¹³ And I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Blessed indeed,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!”
¹⁴ Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and seated on the cloud one like a son of man, with a golden crown on his head, and a sharp sickle in his hand.
¹⁵ And another angel came out of the temple, calling with a loud voice to him who sat on the cloud, “Put in your sickle, and reap, for the hour to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is fully ripe.”
¹⁶ So he who sat on the cloud swung his sickle across the earth, and the earth was reaped.
¹⁷ Then another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle.
¹⁸ And another angel came out from the altar, the angel who has authority over the fire, and he called with a loud voice to the one who had the sharp sickle, “Put in your sickle and gather the clusters from the vine of the earth, for its grapes are ripe.”
¹⁹ So the angel swung his sickle across the earth and gathered the grape harvest of the earth and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.
²⁰ And the winepress was trodden outside the city, and blood flowed from the winepress, as high as a horse’s bridle, for 1,600 stadia.

¹ Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and amazing, seven angels with seven plagues, which are the last, for with them the wrath of God is finished.
² And I saw what appeared to be a sea of glass mingled with fire—and also those who had conquered the beast and its image and the number of its name, standing beside the sea of glass with harps of God in their hands.
³ And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, “Great and amazing are your deeds, O Lord God the Almighty! Just and true are your ways, O King of the nations!
⁴ Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship you, for your righteous acts have been revealed.”
⁵ After this I looked, and the sanctuary of the tent of witness in heaven was opened,
⁶ and out of the sanctuary came the seven angels with the seven plagues, clothed in pure, bright linen, with golden sashes around their chests.
⁷ And one of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God who lives forever and ever,
⁸ and the sanctuary was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power, and no one could enter the sanctuary until the seven plagues of the seven angels were finished.

¹ Then I heard a loud voice from the temple telling the seven angels, “Go and pour out on the earth the seven bowls of the wrath of God.”
² So the first angel went and poured out his bowl on the earth, and harmful and painful sores came upon the people who bore the mark of the beast and worshiped its image.
³ The second angel poured out his bowl into the sea, and it became like the blood of a corpse, and every living thing died that was in the sea.
⁴ The third angel poured out his bowl into the rivers and the springs of water, and they became blood.
⁵ And I heard the angel in charge of the waters say, “Just are you, O Holy One, who is and who was, for you brought these judgments.
⁶ For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and you have given them blood to drink. It is what they deserve!”
⁷ And I heard the altar saying, “Yes, Lord God the Almighty, true and just are your judgments!”
⁸ The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and it was allowed to scorch people with fire.
⁹ They were scorched by the fierce heat, and they cursed the name of God who had power over these plagues. They did not repent and give him glory.
¹⁰ The fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom was plunged into darkness. People gnawed their tongues in anguish
¹¹ and cursed the God of heaven for their pain and sores. They did not repent of their deeds.
¹² The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up, to prepare the way for the kings from the east.
¹³ And I saw, coming out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs.
¹⁴ For they are demonic spirits, performing signs, who go abroad to the kings of the whole world, to assemble them for battle on the great day of God the Almighty.
¹⁵ (“Behold, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake, keeping his garments on, that he may not go about naked and be seen exposed!”)
¹⁶ And they assembled them at the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon.
¹⁷ The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple, from the throne, saying, “It is done!”
¹⁸ And there were flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, and a great earthquake such as there had never been since man was on the earth, so great was that earthquake.
¹⁹ The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell, and God remembered Babylon the great, to make her drain the cup of the wine of the fury of his wrath.
²⁰ And every island fled away, and no mountains were to be found.
²¹ And great hailstones, about one hundred pounds each, fell from heaven on people; and they cursed God for the plague of the hail, because the plague was so severe.

¹ Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the judgment of the great prostitute who is seated on many waters,
² with whom the kings of the earth have committed sexual immorality, and with the wine of whose sexual immorality the dwellers on earth have become drunk.”
³ And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was full of blasphemous names, and it had seven heads and ten horns.
⁴ The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and jewels and pearls, holding in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her sexual immorality.
⁵ And on her forehead was written a name of mystery: “Babylon the great, mother of prostitutes and of earth’s abominations.”
⁶ And I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints, the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. When I saw her, I marveled greatly.
⁷ But the angel said to me, “Why do you marvel? I will tell you the mystery of the woman, and of the beast with seven heads and ten horns that carries her.
⁸ The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to rise from the bottomless pit and go to destruction. And the dwellers on earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world will marvel to see the beast, because it was and is not and is to come.
⁹ This calls for a mind with wisdom: the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman is seated;
¹⁰ they are also seven kings, five of whom have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come, and when he does come he must remain only a little while.
¹¹ As for the beast that was and is not, it is an eighth but it belongs to the seven, and it goes to destruction.
¹² And the ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received royal power, but they are to receive authority as kings for one hour, together with the beast.
¹³ These are of one mind, and they hand over their power and authority to the beast.
¹⁴ They will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful.”
¹⁵ And the angel said to me, “The waters that you saw, where the prostitute is seated, are peoples and multitudes and nations and languages.
¹⁶ And the ten horns that you saw, they and the beast will hate the prostitute. They will make her desolate and naked, and devour her flesh and burn her up with fire,
¹⁷ for God has put it into their hearts to carry out his purpose by being of one mind and handing over their royal power to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled.
¹⁸ And the woman that you saw is the great city that has dominion over the kings of the earth.” (ESV)