Zechariah 13

A Fountain of Cleansing
 ¹  "On that day a fountain will be opened for the dynasty of David and for the people of Jerusalem, a fountain to cleanse them from all their sins and impurity.
   ²  "And on that day," says the LORD of Heaven's Armies, "I will erase idol worship throughout the land, so that even the names of the idols will be forgotten. I will remove from the land both the false prophets and the spirit of impurity that came with them.  ³  If anyone continues to prophesy, his own father and mother will tell him, `You must die, for you have prophesied lies in the name of the LORD.' And as he prophesies, his own father and mother will stab him.
   <sup>4</sup>  "On that day people will be ashamed to claim the prophetic gift. No one will pretend to be a prophet by wearing prophet's clothes.  <sup>5</sup>  He will say, `I'm no prophet; I'm a farmer. I began working for a farmer as a boy.'  ⁶  And if someone asks, `Then what about those wounds on your chest? [6] ' he will say, `I was wounded at my friends' house!'

The Scattering of the Sheep
 ⁷  "Awake, O sword, against my shepherd,
  the man who is my partner,"
  says the LORD of Heaven's Armies.
"Strike down the shepherd,
  and the sheep will be scattered,
  and I will turn against the lambs.
 ⁸  Two-thirds of the people in the land
  will be cut off and die," says the LORD.
  "But one-third will be left in the land.
 ⁹  I will bring that group through the fire
  and make them pure.
I will refine them like silver
  and purify them like gold.
They will call on my name,
  and I will answer them.
I will say, `These are my people,'
  and they will say, `The LORD is our God.'"

Zechariah 14

The LORD Will Rule the Earth
 ¹  Watch, for the day of the LORD is coming when your possessions will be plundered right in front of you!  ²  I will gather all the nations to fight against Jerusalem. The city will be taken, the houses looted, and the women raped. Half the population will be taken into captivity, and the rest will be left among the ruins of the city.
   ³  Then the LORD will go out to fight against those nations, as he has fought in times past.  ⁴  On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem. And the Mount of Olives will split apart, making a wide valley running from east to west. Half the mountain will move toward the north and half toward the south.  ⁵  You will flee through this valley, for it will reach across to Azal. [5]  Yes, you will flee as you did from the earthquake in the days of King Uzziah of Judah. Then the LORD my God will come, and all his holy ones with him. [5] 
   ⁶  On that day the sources of light will no longer shine, [6]   ⁷  yet there will be continuous day! Only the LORD knows how this could happen. There will be no normal day and night, for at evening time it will still be light.
   ⁸  On that day life-giving waters will flow out from Jerusalem, half toward the Dead Sea and half toward the Mediterranean, [8]  flowing continuously in both summer and winter.
   ⁹  And the LORD will be king over all the earth. On that day there will be one LORD—his name alone will be worshiped.
   ¹⁰  All the land from Geba, north of Judah, to Rimmon, south of Jerusalem, will become one vast plain. But Jerusalem will be raised up in its original place and will be inhabited all the way from the Benjamin Gate over to the site of the old gate, then to the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the king's winepresses.  ¹¹  And Jerusalem will be filled, safe at last, never again to be cursed and destroyed.
   ¹²  And the LORD will send a plague on all the nations that fought against Jerusalem. Their people will become like walking corpses, their flesh rotting away. Their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongues will rot in their mouths.  ¹³  On that day they will be terrified, stricken by the LORD with great panic. They will fight their neighbors hand to hand.  ¹⁴  Judah, too, will be fighting at Jerusalem. The wealth of all the neighboring nations will be captured—great quantities of gold and silver and fine clothing.  ¹⁵  This same plague will strike the horses, mules, camels, donkeys, and all the other animals in the enemy camps.
   ¹⁶  In the end, the enemies of Jerusalem who survive the plague will go up to Jerusalem each year to worship the King, the LORD of Heaven's Armies, and to celebrate the Festival of Shelters.  ¹⁷  Any nation in the world that refuses to come to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of Heaven's Armies, will have no rain.  ¹⁸  If the people of Egypt refuse to attend the festival, the LORD will punish them with the same plague that he sends on the other nations who refuse to go.  ¹⁹  Egypt and the other nations will all be punished if they don't go to celebrate the Festival of Shelters.
   ²⁰  On that day even the harness bells of the horses will be inscribed with these words: HOLY TO THE LORD. And the cooking pots in the Temple of the LORD will be as sacred as the basins used beside the altar.  ²¹  In fact, every cooking pot in Jerusalem and Judah will be holy to the LORD of Heaven's Armies. All who come to worship will be free to use any of these pots to boil their sacrifices. And on that day there will no longer be traders [21]  in the Temple of the LORD of Heaven's Armies.

<<  13:6 Hebrew wounds between your hands?
<<  14:5a The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain. 14:5b As in Greek version; Hebrew reads with you.
<<  14:6 Hebrew there will be no light, no cold or frost. The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
<<  14:8 Hebrew half toward the eastern sea and half toward the western sea.
<<  14:21 Hebrew Canaanites.

Revelation 21

The New Jerusalem
 ¹  Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone.  ²  And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.
   ³  I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, "Look, God's home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. [3]   ⁴  "He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever."    ⁵  And the one sitting on the throne said, "Look, I am making everything new!" And then he said to me, "Write this down, for what I tell you is trustworthy and true."  ⁶  And he also said, "It is finished! I am the Alpha and the Omega - the Beginning and the End. To all who are thirsty I will give freely from the springs of the water of life."  ⁷  All who are victorious will inherit all these blessings, and I will be their God, and they will be my children.
   ⁸  "But cowards, unbelievers, the corrupt, murderers, the immoral, those who practice witchcraft, idol worshipers, and all liars—their fate is in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death."
   ⁹  Then one of the seven angels who held the seven bowls containing the seven last plagues came and said to me, "Come with me! I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb."
   ¹⁰  So he took me in the Spirit [10]  to a great, high mountain, and he showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God.  ¹¹  It shone with the glory of God and sparkled like a precious stone—like jasper as clear as crystal.  ¹²  The city wall was broad and high, with twelve gates guarded by twelve angels. And the names of the twelve tribes of Israel were written on the gates.  ¹³  There were three gates on each side—east, north, south, and west.  ¹⁴  The wall of the city had twelve foundation stones, and on them were written the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
   ¹⁵  The angel who talked to me held in his hand a gold measuring stick to measure the city, its gates, and its wall.  ¹⁶  When he measured it, he found it was a square, as wide as it was long. In fact, its length and width and height were each 1,400 miles. [16]   ¹⁷  Then he measured the walls and found them to be 216 feet thick [17]  (according to the human standard used by the angel).
   ¹⁸  The wall was made of jasper, and the city was pure gold, as clear as glass.  ¹⁹  The wall of the city was built on foundation stones inlaid with twelve precious stones: [19]  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  The twelve gates were made of pearls—each gate from a single pearl! And the main street was pure gold, as clear as glass.
   ²²  I saw no temple in the city, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.  ²³  And the city has no need of sun or moon, for the glory of God illuminates the city, and the Lamb is its light.  ²⁴  The nations will walk in its light, and the kings of the world will enter the city in all their glory.  ²⁵  Its gates will never be closed at the end of day because there is no night there.  ²⁶  And all the nations will bring their glory and honor into the city.  ²⁷  Nothing evil [27]  will be allowed to enter, nor anyone who practices shameful idolatry and dishonesty—but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life.

<<  21:3 Some manuscripts read God himself will be with them, their God.
<<  21:10 Or in spirit.
<<  21:16 Greek 12,000 stadia [2,220 kilometers].
<<  21:17 Greek 144 cubits [65 meters].
<<  21:19 The identification of some of these gemstones is uncertain.
<<  21:27 Or ceremonially unclean.