Night Watch Devotion

¹ He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
² I will say to the LORD, “My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”
³ For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence.
⁴ He will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness is a shield and buckler.
⁵ You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day,
⁶ nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness, nor the destruction that wastes at noonday.
⁷ A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you.
⁸ You will only look with your eyes and see the recompense of the wicked.
⁹ Because you have made the LORD your dwelling place— the Most High, who is my refuge—
¹⁰ no evil shall be allowed to befall you, no plague come near your tent.
¹¹ For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.
¹² On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.
¹³ You will tread on the lion and the adder; the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot.
¹⁴ “Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him; I will protect him, because he knows my name.
¹⁵ When he calls to me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him.
¹⁶ With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.” (ESV)

¹ O LORD, God of vengeance, O God of vengeance, shine forth!
² Rise up, O judge of the earth; repay to the proud what they deserve!
³ O LORD, how long shall the wicked, how long shall the wicked exult?
⁴ They pour out their arrogant words; all the evildoers boast.
⁵ They crush your people, O LORD, and afflict your heritage.
⁶ They kill the widow and the sojourner, and murder the fatherless;
⁷ and they say, “The LORD does not see; the God of Jacob does not perceive.”
⁸ Understand, O dullest of the people! Fools, when will you be wise?
⁹ He who planted the ear, does he not hear? He who formed the eye, does he not see?
¹⁰ He who disciplines the nations, does he not rebuke? He who teaches man knowledge—
¹¹ the LORD—knows the thoughts of man, that they are but a breath.
¹² Blessed is the man whom you discipline, O LORD, and whom you teach out of your law,
¹³ to give him rest from days of trouble, until a pit is dug for the wicked.
¹⁴ For the LORD will not forsake his people; he will not abandon his heritage;
¹⁵ for justice will return to the righteous, and all the upright in heart will follow it.
¹⁶ Who rises up for me against the wicked? Who stands up for me against evildoers?
¹⁷ If the LORD had not been my help, my soul would soon have lived in the land of silence.
¹⁸ When I thought, “My foot slips,” your steadfast love, O LORD, held me up.
¹⁹ When the cares of my heart are many, your consolations cheer my soul.
²⁰ Can wicked rulers be allied with you, those who frame injustice by statute?
²¹ They band together against the life of the righteous and condemn the innocent to death.
²² But the LORD has become my stronghold, and my God the rock of my refuge.
²³ He will bring back on them their iniquity and wipe them out for their wickedness; the LORD our God will wipe them out. (ESV)

A Miktam of David.
¹ Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge.
² I say to the LORD, “You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you.”
³ As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight.
⁴ The sorrows of those who run after another god shall multiply; their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out or take their names on my lips.
⁵ The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot.
⁶ The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.
⁷ I bless the LORD who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me.
⁸ I have set the LORD always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.
⁹ Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure.
¹⁰ For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption.
¹¹ You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

A Song. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah. To the choirmaster: according to Mahalath Leannoth. A Maskil of Heman the Ezrahite.
¹ O LORD, God of my salvation, I cry out day and night before you.
² Let my prayer come before you; incline your ear to my cry!
³ For my soul is full of troubles, and my life draws near to Sheol.
⁴ I am counted among those who go down to the pit; I am a man who has no strength,
⁵ like one set loose among the dead, like the slain that lie in the grave, like those whom you remember no more, for they are cut off from your hand.
⁶ You have put me in the depths of the pit, in the regions dark and deep.
⁷ Your wrath lies heavy upon me, and you overwhelm me with all your waves. Selah
⁸ You have caused my companions to shun me; you have made me a horror to them. I am shut in so that I cannot escape;
⁹ my eye grows dim through sorrow. Every day I call upon you, O LORD; I spread out my hands to you.
¹⁰ Do you work wonders for the dead? Do the departed rise up to praise you? Selah
¹¹ Is your steadfast love declared in the grave, or your faithfulness in Abaddon?
¹² Are your wonders known in the darkness, or your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?
¹³ But I, O LORD, cry to you; in the morning my prayer comes before you.
¹⁴ O LORD, why do you cast my soul away? Why do you hide your face from me?
¹⁵ Afflicted and close to death from my youth up, I suffer your terrors; I am helpless.
¹⁶ Your wrath has swept over me; your dreadful assaults destroy me.
¹⁷ They surround me like a flood all day long; they close in on me together.
¹⁸ You have caused my beloved and my friend to shun me; my companions have become darkness. (ESV)

¹⁴ for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says, “Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” (ESV)

¹⁷ When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near. For God said, “Lest the people change their minds when they see war and return to Egypt.”
¹⁸ But God led the people around by the way of the wilderness toward the Red Sea. And the people of Israel went up out of the land of Egypt equipped for battle.
¹⁹ Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for Joseph had made the sons of Israel solemnly swear, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones with you from here.”
²⁰ And they moved on from Succoth and encamped at Etham, on the edge of the wilderness.
²¹ And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night.
²² The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night did not depart from before the people.
¹ Then the LORD said to Moses,
² “Tell the people of Israel to turn back and encamp in front of Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, in front of Baal-zephon; you shall encamp facing it, by the sea.
³ For Pharaoh will say of the people of Israel, ‘They are wandering in the land; the wilderness has shut them in.’
⁴ And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will pursue them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, and the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD.” And they did so.
⁵ When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, the mind of Pharaoh and his servants was changed toward the people, and they said, “What is this we have done, that we have let Israel go from serving us?”
⁶ So he made ready his chariot and took his army with him,
⁷ and took six hundred chosen chariots and all the other chariots of Egypt with officers over all of them.
⁸ And the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued the people of Israel while the people of Israel were going out defiantly.
⁹ The Egyptians pursued them, all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots and his horsemen and his army, and overtook them encamped at the sea, by Pi-hahiroth, in front of Baal-zephon. (ESV)

¹ For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him,
² and to him Abraham apportioned a tenth part of everything. He is first, by translation of his name, king of righteousness, and then he is also king of Salem, that is, king of peace.
³ He is without father or mother or genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God he continues a priest forever.
⁴ See how great this man was to whom Abraham the patriarch gave a tenth of the spoils!
⁵ And those descendants of Levi who receive the priestly office have a commandment in the law to take tithes from the people, that is, from their brothers, though these also are descended from Abraham.
⁶ But this man who does not have his descent from them received tithes from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises.
⁷ It is beyond dispute that the inferior is blessed by the superior.
⁸ In the one case tithes are received by mortal men, but in the other case, by one of whom it is testified that he lives.
⁹ One might even say that Levi himself, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham,
¹⁰ for he was still in the loins of his ancestor when Melchizedek met him.
¹¹ Now if perfection had been attainable through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the people received the law), what further need would there have been for another priest to arise after the order of Melchizedek, rather than one named after the order of Aaron?
¹² For when there is a change in the priesthood, there is necessarily a change in the law as well.
¹³ For the one of whom these things are spoken belonged to another tribe, from which no one has ever served at the altar.
¹⁴ For it is evident that our Lord was descended from Judah, and in connection with that tribe Moses said nothing about priests.
¹⁵ This becomes even more evident when another priest arises in the likeness of Melchizedek,
¹⁶ who has become a priest, not on the basis of a legal requirement concerning bodily descent, but by the power of an indestructible life.
¹⁷ For it is witnessed of him, “You are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek.”
¹⁸ For on the one hand, a former commandment is set aside because of its weakness and uselessness
¹⁹ (for the law made nothing perfect); but on the other hand, a better hope is introduced, through which we draw near to God.
²⁰ And it was not without an oath. For those who formerly became priests were made such without an oath,
²¹ but this one was made a priest with an oath by the one who said to him: “The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind, ‘You are a priest forever.’”
²² This makes Jesus the guarantor of a better covenant. (ESV)

¹ These are the words that Moses spoke to all Israel beyond the Jordan in the wilderness, in the Arabah opposite Suph, between Paran and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Dizahab.
² It is eleven days’ journey from Horeb by the way of Mount Seir to Kadesh-barnea.
³ In the fortieth year, on the first day of the eleventh month, Moses spoke to the people of Israel according to all that the LORD had given him in commandment to them,
⁴ after he had defeated Sihon the king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, who lived in Ashtaroth and in Edrei.
⁵ Beyond the Jordan, in the land of Moab, Moses undertook to explain this law, saying,
⁶ “The LORD our God said to us in Horeb, ‘You have stayed long enough at this mountain.
⁷ Turn and take your journey, and go to the hill country of the Amorites and to all their neighbors in the Arabah, in the hill country and in the lowland and in the Negeb and by the seacoast, the land of the Canaanites, and Lebanon, as far as the great river, the river Euphrates.
⁸ See, I have set the land before you. Go in and take possession of the land that the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give to them and to their offspring after them.’
⁹ “At that time I said to you, ‘I am not able to bear you by myself.
¹⁰ The LORD your God has multiplied you, and behold, you are today as numerous as the stars of heaven.
¹¹ May the LORD, the God of your fathers, make you a thousand times as many as you are and bless you, as he has promised you!
¹² How can I bear by myself the weight and burden of you and your strife?
¹³ Choose for your tribes wise, understanding, and experienced men, and I will appoint them as your heads.’
¹⁴ And you answered me, ‘The thing that you have spoken is good for us to do.’
¹⁵ So I took the heads of your tribes, wise and experienced men, and set them as heads over you, commanders of thousands, commanders of hundreds, commanders of fifties, commanders of tens, and officers, throughout your tribes.
¹⁶ And I charged your judges at that time, ‘Hear the cases between your brothers, and judge righteously between a man and his brother or the alien who is with him.
¹⁷ You shall not be partial in judgment. You shall hear the small and the great alike. You shall not be intimidated by anyone, for the judgment is God’s. And the case that is too hard for you, you shall bring to me, and I will hear it.’
¹⁸ And I commanded you at that time all the things that you should do.
¹⁹ “Then we set out from Horeb and went through all that great and terrifying wilderness that you saw, on the way to the hill country of the Amorites, as the LORD our God commanded us. And we came to Kadesh-barnea.
²⁰ And I said to you, ‘You have come to the hill country of the Amorites, which the LORD our God is giving us.
²¹ See, the LORD your God has set the land before you. Go up, take possession, as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has told you. Do not fear or be dismayed.’
²² Then all of you came near me and said, ‘Let us send men before us, that they may explore the land for us and bring us word again of the way by which we must go up and the cities into which we shall come.’
²³ The thing seemed good to me, and I took twelve men from you, one man from each tribe.
²⁴ And they turned and went up into the hill country, and came to the Valley of Eshcol and spied it out.
²⁵ And they took in their hands some of the fruit of the land and brought it down to us, and brought us word again and said, ‘It is a good land that the LORD our God is giving us.’
²⁶ “Yet you would not go up, but rebelled against the command of the LORD your God.
²⁷ And you murmured in your tents and said, ‘Because the LORD hated us he has brought us out of the land of Egypt, to give us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us.
²⁸ Where are we going up? Our brothers have made our hearts melt, saying, “The people are greater and taller than we. The cities are great and fortified up to heaven. And besides, we have seen the sons of the Anakim there.”’
²⁹ Then I said to you, ‘Do not be in dread or afraid of them.
³⁰ The LORD your God who goes before you will himself fight for you, just as he did for you in Egypt before your eyes,
³¹ and in the wilderness, where you have seen how the LORD your God carried you, as a man carries his son, all the way that you went until you came to this place.’
³² Yet in spite of this word you did not believe the LORD your God,
³³ who went before you in the way to seek you out a place to pitch your tents, in fire by night and in the cloud by day, to show you by what way you should go.
³⁴ “And the LORD heard your words and was angered, and he swore,
³⁵ ‘Not one of these men of this evil generation shall see the good land that I swore to give to your fathers,
³⁶ except Caleb the son of Jephunneh. He shall see it, and to him and to his children I will give the land on which he has trodden, because he has wholly followed the LORD!’
³⁷ Even with me the LORD was angry on your account and said, ‘You also shall not go in there.
³⁸ Joshua the son of Nun, who stands before you, he shall enter. Encourage him, for he shall cause Israel to inherit it.
³⁹ And as for your little ones, who you said would become a prey, and your children, who today have no knowledge of good or evil, they shall go in there. And to them I will give it, and they shall possess it.
⁴⁰ But as for you, turn, and journey into the wilderness in the direction of the Red Sea.’
⁴¹ “Then you answered me, ‘We have sinned against the LORD. We ourselves will go up and fight, just as the LORD our God commanded us.’ And every one of you fastened on his weapons of war and thought it easy to go up into the hill country.
⁴² And the LORD said to me, ‘Say to them, Do not go up or fight, for I am not in your midst, lest you be defeated before your enemies.’
⁴³ So I spoke to you, and you would not listen; but you rebelled against the command of the LORD and presumptuously went up into the hill country.
⁴⁴ Then the Amorites who lived in that hill country came out against you and chased you as bees do and beat you down in Seir as far as Hormah.
⁴⁵ And you returned and wept before the LORD, but the LORD did not listen to your voice or give ear to you.
⁴⁶ So you remained at Kadesh many days, the days that you remained there.

¹ “Then we turned and journeyed into the wilderness in the direction of the Red Sea, as the LORD told me. And for many days we traveled around Mount Seir.
² Then the LORD said to me,
³ ‘You have been traveling around this mountain country long enough. Turn northward
⁴ and command the people, “You are about to pass through the territory of your brothers, the people of Esau, who live in Seir; and they will be afraid of you. So be very careful.
⁵ Do not contend with them, for I will not give you any of their land, no, not so much as for the sole of the foot to tread on, because I have given Mount Seir to Esau as a possession.
⁶ You shall purchase food from them with money, that you may eat, and you shall also buy water from them with money, that you may drink.
⁷ For the LORD your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He knows your going through this great wilderness. These forty years the LORD your God has been with you. You have lacked nothing.”’
⁸ So we went on, away from our brothers, the people of Esau, who live in Seir, away from the Arabah road from Elath and Ezion-geber. “And we turned and went in the direction of the wilderness of Moab.
⁹ And the LORD said to me, ‘Do not harass Moab or contend with them in battle, for I will not give you any of their land for a possession, because I have given Ar to the people of Lot for a possession.’
¹⁰ (The Emim formerly lived there, a people great and many, and tall as the Anakim.
¹¹ Like the Anakim they are also counted as Rephaim, but the Moabites call them Emim.
¹² The Horites also lived in Seir formerly, but the people of Esau dispossessed them and destroyed them from before them and settled in their place, as Israel did to the land of their possession, which the LORD gave to them.)
¹³ ‘Now rise up and go over the brook Zered.’ So we went over the brook Zered.
¹⁴ And the time from our leaving Kadesh-barnea until we crossed the brook Zered was thirty-eight years, until the entire generation, that is, the men of war, had perished from the camp, as the LORD had sworn to them.
¹⁵ For indeed the hand of the LORD was against them, to destroy them from the camp, until they had perished.
¹⁶ “So as soon as all the men of war had perished and were dead from among the people,
¹⁷ the LORD said to me,
¹⁸ ‘Today you are to cross the border of Moab at Ar.
¹⁹ And when you approach the territory of the people of Ammon, do not harass them or contend with them, for I will not give you any of the land of the people of Ammon as a possession, because I have given it to the sons of Lot for a possession.’
²⁰ (It is also counted as a land of Rephaim. Rephaim formerly lived there—but the Ammonites call them Zamzummim—
²¹ a people great and many, and tall as the Anakim; but the LORD destroyed them before the Ammonites, and they dispossessed them and settled in their place,
²² as he did for the people of Esau, who live in Seir, when he destroyed the Horites before them and they dispossessed them and settled in their place even to this day.
²³ As for the Avvim, who lived in villages as far as Gaza, the Caphtorim, who came from Caphtor, destroyed them and settled in their place.) (ESV)

⁵⁷ As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.”
⁵⁸ And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.”
⁵⁹ To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.”
⁶⁰ And Jesus said to him, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”
⁶¹ Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.”
⁶² Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”

¹ After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go.
² And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.
³ Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves.
⁴ Carry no moneybag, no knapsack, no sandals, and greet no one on the road.
⁵ Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house!’
⁶ And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him. But if not, it will return to you.
⁷ And remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they provide, for the laborer deserves his wages. Do not go from house to house.
⁸ Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you.
⁹ Heal the sick in it and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’
¹⁰ But whenever you enter a town and they do not receive you, go into its streets and say,
¹¹ ‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near.’
¹² I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town.
¹³ “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.
¹⁴ But it will be more bearable in the judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you.
¹⁵ And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You shall be brought down to Hades.
¹⁶ “The one who hears you hears me, and the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me.”
¹⁷ The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!”
¹⁸ And he said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.
¹⁹ Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you.
²⁰ Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
²¹ In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.
²² All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”
²³ Then turning to the disciples he said privately, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see!
²⁴ For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.” (ESV)

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.
¹ Blessed is the one who considers the poor! In the day of trouble the LORD delivers him;
² the LORD protects him and keeps him alive; he is called blessed in the land; you do not give him up to the will of his enemies.
³ The LORD sustains him on his sickbed; in his illness you restore him to full health.
⁴ As for me, I said, “O LORD, be gracious to me; heal me, for I have sinned against you!”
⁵ My enemies say of me in malice, “When will he die, and his name perish?”
⁶ And when one comes to see me, he utters empty words, while his heart gathers iniquity; when he goes out, he tells it abroad. (ESV)

¹ After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was made bright with his glory.
² And he called out with a mighty voice, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a dwelling place for demons, a haunt for every unclean spirit, a haunt for every unclean bird, a haunt for every unclean and detestable beast.
³ For all nations have drunk the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality, and the kings of the earth have committed immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth have grown rich from the power of her luxurious living.”
⁴ Then I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come out of her, my people, lest you take part in her sins, lest you share in her plagues;
⁵ for her sins are heaped high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.
⁶ Pay her back as she herself has paid back others, and repay her double for her deeds; mix a double portion for her in the cup she mixed.
⁷ As she glorified herself and lived in luxury, so give her a like measure of torment and mourning, since in her heart she says, ‘I sit as a queen, I am no widow, and mourning I shall never see.’
⁸ For this reason her plagues will come in a single day, death and mourning and famine, and she will be burned up with fire; for mighty is the Lord God who has judged her.”
⁹ And the kings of the earth, who committed sexual immorality and lived in luxury with her, will weep and wail over her when they see the smoke of her burning.
¹⁰ They will stand far off, in fear of her torment, and say, “Alas! Alas! You great city, you mighty city, Babylon! For in a single hour your judgment has come.”
¹¹ And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn for her, since no one buys their cargo anymore,
¹² cargo of gold, silver, jewels, pearls, fine linen, purple cloth, silk, scarlet cloth, all kinds of scented wood, all kinds of articles of ivory, all kinds of articles of costly wood, bronze, iron and marble,
¹³ cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh, frankincense, wine, oil, fine flour, wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, and slaves, that is, human souls.
¹⁴ “The fruit for which your soul longed has gone from you, and all your delicacies and your splendors are lost to you, never to be found again!”
¹⁵ The merchants of these wares, who gained wealth from her, will stand far off, in fear of her torment, weeping and mourning aloud,
¹⁶ “Alas, alas, for the great city that was clothed in fine linen, in purple and scarlet, adorned with gold, with jewels, and with pearls!
¹⁷ For in a single hour all this wealth has been laid waste.” And all shipmasters and seafaring men, sailors and all whose trade is on the sea, stood far off
¹⁸ and cried out as they saw the smoke of her burning, “What city was like the great city?”
¹⁹ And they threw dust on their heads as they wept and mourned, crying out, “Alas, alas, for the great city where all who had ships at sea grew rich by her wealth! For in a single hour she has been laid waste.
²⁰ Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you saints and apostles and prophets, for God has given judgment for you against her!”
²¹ Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, “So will Babylon the great city be thrown down with violence, and will be found no more;
²² and the sound of harpists and musicians, of flute players and trumpeters, will be heard in you no more, and a craftsman of any craft will be found in you no more, and the sound of the mill will be heard in you no more,
²³ and the light of a lamp will shine in you no more, and the voice of bridegroom and bride will be heard in you no more, for your merchants were the great ones of the earth, and all nations were deceived by your sorcery.
²⁴ And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints, and of all who have been slain on earth.”

¹ After this I heard what seemed to be the loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, crying out, “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God,
² for his judgments are true and just; for he has judged the great prostitute who corrupted the earth with her immorality, and has avenged on her the blood of his servants.”
³ Once more they cried out, “Hallelujah! The smoke from her goes up forever and ever.”
⁴ And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who was seated on the throne, saying, “Amen. Hallelujah!”
⁵ And from the throne came a voice saying, “Praise our God, all you his servants, you who fear him, small and great.”
⁶ Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns.
⁷ Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready;
⁸ it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure”— for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.
⁹ And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.”
¹⁰ Then I fell down at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God.” For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.
¹¹ Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war.
¹² His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself.
¹³ He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God.
¹⁴ And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses.
¹⁵ From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty.
¹⁶ On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.
¹⁷ Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and with a loud voice he called to all the birds that fly directly overhead, “Come, gather for the great supper of God,
¹⁸ to eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all men, both free and slave, both small and great.”
¹⁹ And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth with their armies gathered to make war against him who was sitting on the horse and against his army.
²⁰ And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who in its presence had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped its image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur.
²¹ And the rest were slain by the sword that came from the mouth of him who was sitting on the horse, and all the birds were gorged with their flesh.

¹ Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain.
² And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years,
³ and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be released for a little while.
⁴ Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who 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 for a thousand years.
⁵ The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection.
⁶ Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.
⁷ And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison
⁸ and will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea.
⁹ And they marched up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, but fire came down from heaven and consumed them,
¹⁰ and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
¹¹ Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them.
¹² And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done.
¹³ And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done.
¹⁴ Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.
¹⁵ And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

¹ Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.
² And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
³ And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.
⁴ He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
⁵ And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
⁶ And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment.
⁷ The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son.
⁸ But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”
⁹ Then came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues and spoke to me, saying, “Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.”
¹⁰ And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God,
¹¹ having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal.
¹² It had a great, high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel were inscribed—
¹³ on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates.
¹⁴ And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
¹⁵ And the one who spoke with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city and its gates and walls.
¹⁶ The city lies foursquare, its length the same as its width. And he measured the city with his rod, 12,000 stadia. Its length and width and height are equal.
¹⁷ He also measured its wall, 144 cubits by human measurement, which is also an angel’s measurement.
¹⁸ The wall was built of jasper, while the city was pure gold, like clear glass.
¹⁹ The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every kind of jewel. The first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald,
²⁰ the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst.
²¹ And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, each of the gates made of a single pearl, and the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.
²² And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb.
²³ And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb.
²⁴ By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it,
²⁵ and its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there.
²⁶ They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations.
²⁷ But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

¹ Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb
² through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
³ No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him.
⁴ They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.
⁵ And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.
⁶ And he said to me, “These words are trustworthy and true. And the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, has sent his angel to show his servants what must soon take place.”
⁷ “And behold, I am coming soon. Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.”
⁸ I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed them to me,
⁹ but he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers the prophets, and with those who keep the words of this book. Worship God.”
¹⁰ And he said to me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near.
¹¹ Let the evildoer still do evil, and the filthy still be filthy, and the righteous still do right, and the holy still be holy.”
¹² “Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done.
¹³ I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”
¹⁴ Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates.
¹⁵ Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.
¹⁶ “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.”
¹⁷ The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.
¹⁸ I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book,
¹⁹ and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.
²⁰ He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!
²¹ The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen. (ESV)