Passover Celebrated

¹Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah, and wrote letters also to Ephraim and Manasseh, that they should come to the house of the Lord at Jerusalem to keep the Passover to the Lord, the God of Israel. ²For the king and his princes and all the assembly in Jerusalem had taken counsel to keep the Passover ain the second month— ³for they could not keep it bat that time cbecause the priests had not consecrated themselves in sufficient number, nor had the people assembled in Jerusalem— ⁴and the plan seemed right to the king and all the assembly. ⁵So they decreed to make a proclamation throughout all Israel, dfrom Beersheba to Dan, that the people should come and keep the Passover to the Lord, the God of Israel, at Jerusalem, for they had not kept it as often as prescribed. ⁶eSo couriers went throughout all Israel and Judah with letters from the king and his princes, as the king had commanded, saying, “O people of Israel, freturn to the Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, that he may turn again to the remnant of you who have escaped from the hand of gthe kings of Assyria. ⁷hDo not be like your fathers and your brothers, who were faithless to the Lord God of their fathers, so that he made them a desolation, as you see. ⁸iDo not now be stiff-necked as your fathers were, but yield yourselves to the Lord and come to his sanctuary, which he has consecrated forever, and serve the Lord your God, jthat his fierce anger may turn away from you. ⁹For fif you return to the Lord, your brothers and your children kwill find compassion with their captors and return to this land. For lthe Lord your God is gracious and merciful and will not turn away his face from you, mif you return to him.”

¹⁰eSo the couriers went from city to city through the country of nEphraim and Manasseh, and as far as Zebulun, but othey laughed them to scorn and mocked them. ¹¹However, psome men of Asher, of Manasseh, and of Zebulun humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem. ¹²The hand of God was also on Judah to give them one heart to do what the king and the princes commanded qby the word of the Lord.

¹³And many people came together in Jerusalem to keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread rin the second month, a very great assembly. ¹⁴They set to work and removed sthe altars that were in Jerusalem, and all the altars for burning incense they took away tand threw into the brook Kidron. ¹⁵uAnd they slaughtered the Passover lamb on the fourteenth day of the second month. vAnd the priests and the Levites were ashamed, wso that they consecrated themselves and brought burnt offerings into the house of the Lord. ¹⁶xThey took their accustomed posts according to the Law of Moses ythe man of God. The priests threw the blood that they received from the hand of the Levites. ¹⁷For there were many in the assembly who had not consecrated themselves. Therefore the Levites had to slaughter the Passover lamb for everyone who was not clean, to consecrate it to the Lord. ¹⁸For a majority of the people, zmany of them from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves, yet they ate the Passover otherwise athan as prescribed. For Hezekiah had prayed for them, saying, “May the good Lord pardon everyone ¹⁹bwho sets his heart to seek God, the Lord, the God of his fathers, even though not according to the sanctuary's rules of cleanness.”1 ²⁰And the Lord heard Hezekiah and healed the people. ²¹And the people of Israel who were present at Jerusalem kept cthe Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days with great gladness, and the Levites and the priests praised the Lord day by day, singing with all their might2 to the Lord. ²²And Hezekiah spoke dencouragingly to all the Levites who showed good skill in the service of the Lord. So they ate the food of the festival for seven days, sacrificing epeace offerings and giving thanks to the Lord, the God of their fathers.

²³Then the whole assembly agreed together to keep the feast ffor another seven days. So they kept it for another seven days with gladness. ²⁴For Hezekiah king of Judah ggave the assembly 1,000 bulls and 7,000 sheep for offerings, and the princes gave the assembly 1,000 bulls and 10,000 sheep. And the priests hconsecrated themselves in great numbers. ²⁵The whole assembly of Judah, and the priests and the Levites, iand the whole assembly that came out of Israel, and the sojourners who came out of the land of Israel, and the sojourners who lived in Judah, rejoiced. ²⁶So there was great joy in Jerusalem, for jsince the time of Solomon the son of David king of Israel there had been nothing like this in Jerusalem. ²⁷Then kthe priests and the Levites arose and lblessed the people, and their voice was heard, and their prayer came to mhis holy habitation in heaven.

The Seven Bowls of God's Wrath

¹Then I heard a loud voice from the temple telling pthe seven angels, “Go and qpour out on the earth rthe seven bowls of the wrath of God.”

²So the first angel went and poured out his bowl on the earth, and harmful and painful ssores came upon the people who bore tthe mark of the beast and worshiped its image.

³The second angel poured out his bowl into the sea, and uit became like the blood of a corpse, and vevery living thing died that was in the sea.

⁴The third angel poured out his bowl into wthe rivers and the springs of water, and xthey became blood. ⁵And I heard the angel in charge of the waters1 say,

y“Just are you, zO Holy One, awho is and who was,

for you brought these judgments.

⁶For bthey have shed the blood of csaints and prophets,

and dyou have given them blood to drink.

It is what they deserve!”

⁷And I heard ethe altar saying,

“Yes, Lord God the Almighty,

ftrue and just are your judgments!”

⁸The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and it was allowed to scorch people gwith fire. ⁹They were scorched by the fierce heat, and hthey cursed2 the name of God who had power over these plagues. iThey did not repent jand give him glory.

¹⁰The fifth angel poured out his bowl on kthe throne of the beast, and lits kingdom was plunged into darkness. People gnawed their tongues in anguish ¹¹and cursed mthe God of heaven for their pain and nsores. oThey did not repent of their deeds.

¹²The sixth angel poured out his bowl on pthe great river Euphrates, and qits water was dried up, rto prepare the way for the kings sfrom the east. ¹³And I saw, coming out of the mouth of tthe dragon and out of the mouth of uthe beast and out of the mouth of vthe false prophet, three wunclean spirits like xfrogs. ¹⁴For they are ydemonic spirits, zperforming signs, who go abroad to the kings of the whole world, ato assemble them for battle on bthe great day of God the Almighty. ¹⁵(“Behold, cI am coming like a thief! dBlessed is the one who stays awake, keeping his garments on, ethat he may not go about naked and be seen exposed!”) ¹⁶And fthey assembled them at the place that in Hebrew is called gArmageddon.

The Seventh Bowl

¹⁷The seventh angel poured out his bowl into hthe air, and a loud voice came out of the temple, from the throne, saying, i“It is done!” ¹⁸And there were jflashes of lightning, rumblings,3 peals of thunder, and ka great earthquake lsuch as there had never been since man was on the earth, so great was that earthquake. ¹⁹mThe great city nwas split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell, and God oremembered pBabylon the great, qto make her drain the cup of the wine of the fury of his wrath. ²⁰And revery island fled away, and no mountains were to be found. ²¹And sgreat hailstones, about one hundred pounds4 each, fell from heaven on people; and tthey cursed God for uthe plague of the hail, because the plague was so severe.

Zechariah 12

The Lord Will Give Salvation

¹iThe oracle of the word of the Lord concerning Israel: Thus declares the Lord, jwho stretched out the heavens and kfounded the earth and jformed the spirit of man within him: ²“Behold, I am about to make Jerusalem la cup of staggering to mall the surrounding peoples. The siege of Jerusalem nwill also be against Judah. ³oOn that day I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples. pAll who lift it will surely hurt themselves. And mall the nations of the earth will gather against it. ⁴oOn that day, declares the Lord, qI will strike every horse rwith panic, and its rider rwith madness. But for the sake of the house of Judah I will keep my eyes open, when I strike every horse of the peoples rwith blindness. ⁵Then the clans of Judah shall say to themselves, ‘The inhabitants of Jerusalem have strength through the Lord of hosts, their God.’

⁶o“On that day I will make the clans of Judah slike a blazing pot in the midst of wood, like a flaming torch among sheaves. And tthey shall devour to the right and to the left all the surrounding peoples, while uJerusalem shall again be inhabited in its place, in Jerusalem.

⁷“And the Lord will give salvation to the tents of Judah first, that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem may not surpass that of Judah. ⁸oOn that day vthe Lord will protect the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that wthe feeblest among them on that day shall be like David, and the house of David shall be like God, xlike the angel of the Lord, going before them. ⁹oAnd on that day yI will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.

Him Whom They Have Pierced

¹⁰“And zI will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and zpleas for mercy, so that, awhen they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, bthey shall mourn for him, cas one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn. ¹¹oOn that day dthe mourning in Jerusalem will be as great eas the mourning for Hadad-rimmon in the plain of Megiddo. ¹²The land shall mourn, feach family1 by itself: the family of the house of David by itself, and their wives by themselves; the family of the house of gNathan by itself, and their wives by themselves; ¹³the family of the house of Levi by itself, and their wives by themselves; the family of hthe Shimeites by itself, and their wives by themselves; ¹⁴and all the families that are left, each by itself, and their wives by themselves.

Zechariah 13:1

¹i“On that day there shall be ja fountain opened for the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and uncleanness.

I Am the True Vine

¹“I am the rtrue vine, and my Father is sthe vinedresser. ²tEvery branch in me that does not bear fruit uhe takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, vthat it may bear more fruit. ³Already wyou are clean xbecause of the word that I have spoken to you. ⁴yAbide zin me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. ⁵I am the vine; ayou are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bbears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. ⁶If anyone does not abide in me che is thrown away like a branch and withers; dand the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. ⁷If eyou abide in me, and my words abide in you, fask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. ⁸gBy this my Father is glorified, that you hbear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. ⁹iAs the Father has loved me, jso have I loved you. Abide in my love. ¹⁰kIf you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as lI have kept mmy Father's commandments and abide in his love. ¹¹These things I have spoken to you, nthat my joy may be in you, and that oyour joy may be full.

¹²p“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. ¹³qGreater love has no one than this, rthat someone lay down his life for his friends. ¹⁴You are smy friends tif you do what I command you. ¹⁵uNo longer do I call you servants,1 for the servant wdoes not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for xall that I have heard from my Father yI have made known to you. ¹⁶You did not choose me, but zI chose you and appointed you that you should go and abear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that bwhatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. ¹⁷These things I command you, cso that you will love one another.

The Hatred of the World

¹⁸d“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. ¹⁹eIf you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because fyou are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. ²⁰Remember the word that I said to you: g‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, hthey will also persecute you. iIf they kept my word, they will also keep yours. ²¹But jall these things they will do to you kon account of my name, lbecause they do not know him who sent me. ²²If I had not come and spoken to them, mthey would not have been guilty of sin,2 but now they have no excuse for their sin. ²³nWhoever hates me hates my Father also. ²⁴oIf I had not done among them the works that no one else did, mthey would not be guilty of sin, but now they have pseen and hated both me and my Father. ²⁵But qthe word that is written in their Law must be fulfilled: r‘They hated me without a cause.’

²⁶“But swhen the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, the will bear witness about me. ²⁷And uyou also will bear witness, vbecause you have been with me wfrom the beginning.