1I was ready to respond to those who did not ask,
to be found by those who did not seek me.
I said: Here I am! Here I am!
To a nation that did not invoke my name.
2I have stretched out my hands all day
to a rebellious people,
Who walk in a way that is not good,
following their own designs;
3A people who provoke me
continually to my face,
Offering sacrifices in gardens
and burning incense on bricks,
4Sitting in tombs
and spending the night in caves,
Eating the flesh of pigs,
with broth of unclean meat in their dishes;
5Crying out, “Hold back,
do not come near me, lest I render you holy!”
These things are smoke in my nostrils,
a fire that burns all the day.
6See, it stands written before me;
I will not remain quiet until I have repaid in full
7Your crimes and the crimes of your ancestors as well,
says the Lord.
Since they burned incense on the mountains,
and insulted me on the hills,
I will at once pour out in full measure
their recompense into their laps.
8 Thus says the Lord:
As when the juice is pressed from a cluster,
and someone says, “Do not destroy it,
for there is still good in it,”
So will I do for the sake of my servants:
I will not destroy them all.
9From Jacob I will bring forth offspring,
from Judah, those who are to possess my mountains;
My chosen ones shall possess the land,
my servants shall dwell there.
10Sharon shall become a pasture for the flocks,
the Valley of Achor a resting place for the cattle,
for my people who have sought me.
11But you who forsake the Lord,
who forget my holy mountain,
Who spread a table for Fortune
and fill cups of mixed wine for Destiny,
12You I will destine for the sword;
you shall all bow down for slaughter;
Because I called and you did not answer,
I spoke and you did not listen,
But did what is evil in my sight
and things I do not delight in, you chose,
13 therefore thus says the Lord God:
My servants shall eat,
but you shall go hungry;
My servants shall drink,
but you shall be thirsty;
My servants shall rejoice,
but you shall be put to shame;
14My servants shall shout
for joy of heart,
But you shall cry out for grief of heart,
and howl for anguish of spirit.
15You will leave your name for a curse to my chosen ones
when the Lord God slays you,
and calls his servants by another name.
16Whoever invokes a blessing in the land
shall bless by the God of truth;
Whoever takes an oath in the land
shall swear by the God of truth;
For the hardships of the past shall be forgotten
and hidden from my eyes.
17See, I am creating new heavens
and a new earth;
The former things shall not be remembered
nor come to mind.
18Instead, shout for joy and be glad forever
in what I am creating.
Indeed, I am creating Jerusalem to be a joy
and its people to be a delight;
19I will rejoice in Jerusalem
and exult in my people.
No longer shall the sound of weeping be heard there,
or the sound of crying;
20No longer shall there be in it
an infant who lives but a few days,
nor anyone who does not live a full lifetime;
One who dies at a hundred years shall be considered a youth,
and one who falls short of a hundred shall be thought accursed.
21They shall build houses and live in them,
they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit;
22They shall not build and others live there;
they shall not plant and others eat.
As the years of a tree, so the years of my people;
and my chosen ones shall long enjoy
the work of their hands.
23They shall not toil in vain,
nor beget children for sudden destruction;
For they shall be a people blessed by the Lord
and their descendants with them.
24Before they call, I will answer;
while they are yet speaking, I will hear.
25The wolf and the lamb shall pasture together,
and the lion shall eat hay like the ox—
but the serpent’s food shall be dust.
None shall harm or destroy
on all my holy mountain, says the Lord.
1 Thus says the Lord:
The heavens are my throne,
the earth, my footstool.
What house can you build for me?
Where is the place of my rest?
2My hand made all these things
when all of them came to be—oracle of the Lord.
This is the one whom I approve:
the afflicted one, crushed in spirit,
who trembles at my word.
3The one slaughtering an ox, striking a man,
sacrificing a lamb, breaking a dog’s neck,
Making an offering of pig’s blood,
burning incense, honoring an idol—
These have chosen their own ways,
and taken pleasure in their own abominations.
4I in turn will choose affliction for them
and bring upon them what they fear.
Because when I called, no one answered,
when I spoke, no one listened.
Because they did what was evil in my sight,
and things I do not delight in they chose,
5Hear the word of the Lord,
you who tremble at his word!
Your kin who hate you
and cast you out because of my name say,
“May the Lord show his glory,
that we may see your joy”;
but they shall be put to shame.
6A voice roaring from the city,
a voice from the temple;
The voice of the Lord
rendering recompense to his enemies!
7Before she is in labor,
she gives birth;
Before her pangs come upon her,
she delivers a male child.
8Who ever heard of such a thing,
or who ever saw the like?
Can a land be brought forth in one day,
or a nation be born in a single moment?
Yet Zion was scarcely in labor
when she bore her children.
9Shall I bring a mother to the point of birth,
and yet not let her child be born? says the Lord.
Or shall I who bring to birth
yet close her womb? says your God.
10Rejoice with Jerusalem and be glad because of her,
all you who love her;
Rejoice with her in her joy,
all you who mourn over her—
11So that you may nurse and be satisfied
from her consoling breast;
That you may drink with delight
at her abundant breasts!
12 For thus says the Lord:
I will spread prosperity over her like a river,
like an overflowing torrent,
the wealth of nations.
You shall nurse, carried in her arms,
cradled upon her knees;
13As a mother comforts her child,
so I will comfort you;
in Jerusalem you shall find your comfort.
14You will see and your heart shall exult,
and your bodies shall flourish like the grass;
The Lord’s power shall be revealed to his servants,
but to his enemies, his wrath.
15For see, the Lord will come in fire,
his chariots like the stormwind;
To wreak his anger in burning rage
and his rebuke in fiery flames.
16For with fire the Lord shall enter into judgment,
and, with his sword, against all flesh;
Those slain by the Lord shall be many.
17Those who sanctify and purify themselves to go into the gardens, following one who stands within, eating pig’s flesh, abominable things, and mice, shall all together come to an end, with their deeds and purposes—oracle of the Lord.
God Gathers the Nations. 18I am coming to gather all nations and tongues; they shall come and see my glory. 19I will place a sign among them; from them I will send survivors to the nations: to Tarshish, Put and Lud, Mosoch, Tubal and Javan, to the distant coastlands which have never heard of my fame, or seen my glory; and they shall proclaim my glory among the nations. 20They shall bring all your kin from all the nations as an offering to the Lord, on horses and in chariots, in carts, upon mules and dromedaries, to Jerusalem, my holy mountain, says the Lord, just as the Israelites bring their grain offering in a clean vessel to the house of the Lord. 21Some of these I will take as priests and Levites, says the Lord.
22Just as the new heavens and the new earth
which I am making
Shall endure before me—oracle of the Lord—
so shall your descendants and your name endure.
23From new moon to new moon,
and from sabbath to sabbath,
All flesh shall come to worship
before me, says the Lord.
24They shall go out and see the corpses
of the people who rebelled against me;
For their worm shall not die,
their fire shall not be extinguished;
and they shall be an abhorrence to all flesh.
The Beasts and the Judgment. 1In the first year of King Belshazzar of Babylon, as Daniel lay in bed he had a dream, visions in his head. Then he wrote down the dream; the account began: 2In the vision I saw during the night, suddenly the four winds of heaven stirred up the great sea, 3from which emerged four immense beasts, each different from the others. 4The first was like a lion, but with eagle’s wings. While I watched, the wings were plucked; it was raised from the ground to stand on two feet like a human being, and given a human mind. 5The second beast was like a bear; it was raised up on one side, and among the teeth in its mouth were three tusks. It was given the order, “Arise, devour much flesh.” 6After this I looked and saw another beast, like a leopard; on its back were four wings like those of a bird, and it had four heads. To this beast dominion was given. 7After this, in the visions of the night I saw a fourth beast, terrifying, horrible, and of extraordinary strength; it had great iron teeth with which it devoured and crushed, and it trampled with its feet what was left. It differed from the beasts that preceded it. It had ten horns. 8I was considering the ten horns it had, when suddenly another, a little horn, sprang out of their midst, and three of the previous horns were torn away to make room for it. This horn had eyes like human eyes, and a mouth that spoke arrogantly. 9As I watched,
Thrones were set up
and the Ancient of Days took his throne.
His clothing was white as snow,
the hair on his head like pure wool;
His throne was flames of fire,
with wheels of burning fire.
10A river of fire surged forth,
flowing from where he sat;
Thousands upon thousands were ministering to him,
and myriads upon myriads stood before him.
The court was convened, and the books were opened. 11I watched, then, from the first of the arrogant words which the horn spoke, until the beast was slain and its body destroyed and thrown into the burning fire. 12As for the other beasts, their dominion was taken away, but they were granted a prolongation of life for a time and a season. 13As the visions during the night continued, I saw coming with the clouds of heaven
One like a son of man.
When he reached the Ancient of Days
and was presented before him,
14He received dominion, splendor, and kingship;
all nations, peoples and tongues will serve him.
His dominion is an everlasting dominion
that shall not pass away,
his kingship, one that shall not be destroyed.
15Because of this, my spirit was anguished and I, Daniel, was terrified by my visions. 16I approached one of those present and asked him the truth of all this; in answer, he made known to me its meaning: 17“These four great beasts stand for four kings which shall arise on the earth. 18But the holy ones of the Most High shall receive the kingship, to possess it forever and ever.”
19Then I wished to make certain about the fourth beast, so very terrible and different from the others, devouring and crushing with its iron teeth and bronze claws, and trampling with its feet what was left; 20and about the ten horns on its head, and the other one that sprang up, before which three horns fell; and about the horn with the eyes and the mouth that spoke arrogantly, which appeared greater than its fellows. 21For, as I watched, that horn made war against the holy ones and was victorious 22until the Ancient of Days came, and judgment was pronounced in favor of the holy ones of the Most High, and the time arrived for the holy ones to possess the kingship. 23He answered me thus:
“The fourth beast shall be a fourth kingdom on earth,
different from all the others;
The whole earth it shall devour,
trample down and crush.
24The ten horns shall be ten kings
rising out of that kingdom;
another shall rise up after them,
Different from those before him,
who shall lay low three kings.
25He shall speak against the Most High
and wear down the holy ones of the Most High,
intending to change the feast days and the law.
They shall be handed over to him
for a time, two times, and half a time.
26But when the court is convened,
and his dominion is taken away
to be abolished and completely destroyed,
27Then the kingship and dominion and majesty
of all the kingdoms under the heavens
shall be given to the people of the holy ones of the Most High,
Whose kingship shall be an everlasting kingship,
whom all dominions shall serve and obey.”
28This is the end of the report. I, Daniel, was greatly terrified by my thoughts, and my face became pale, but I kept the matter to myself.
1“At that time there shall arise Michael,
the great prince,
guardian of your people;
It shall be a time unsurpassed in distress
since the nation began until that time.
At that time your people shall escape,
everyone who is found written in the book.
2Many of those who sleep
in the dust of the earth shall awake;
Some to everlasting life,
others to reproach and everlasting disgrace.
3But those with insight shall shine brightly
like the splendor of the firmament,
And those who lead the many to justice
shall be like the stars forever.
4“As for you, Daniel, keep secret the message and seal the book until the end time; many shall wander aimlessly and evil shall increase.”
5I, Daniel, looked and saw two others, one standing on either bank of the river. 6One of them said to the man clothed in linen, who was upstream, “How long shall it be to the end of these appalling things?” 7The man clothed in linen, who was upstream, lifted his hands to heaven; and I heard him swear by him who lives forever that it should be for a time, two times, and half a time; and that, when the power of the destroyer of the holy people was brought to an end, all these things should end. 8I heard, but I did not understand; so I asked, “My lord, what follows this?” 9“Go, Daniel,” he said, “because the words are to be kept secret and sealed until the end time. 10Many shall be refined, purified, and tested, but the wicked shall prove wicked; the wicked shall have no understanding, but those with insight shall. 11From the time that the daily sacrifice is abolished and the desolating abomination is set up, there shall be one thousand two hundred and ninety days. 12Blessed are they who have patience and persevere for the one thousand three hundred and thirty-five days. 13Go, take your rest, you shall rise for your reward at the end of days.”