So the prophecy of Isaiah applies to them: 'This people will listen and listen, but not understand; they will look and look, but not see,

This happened in order to make come true what the prophet had said:

"Tell the city of Zion, Look, your king is coming to you! He is humble and rides on a donkey and on a colt, the foal of a donkey."

I am going to use wise sayings and explain mysteries from the past,

I will turn my attention to proverbs and explain their meaning as I play the harp.

The things I predicted have now come true. Now I will tell you of new things even before they begin to happen."

The Sovereign LORD never does anything without revealing his plan to his servants, the prophets.

God will show more mercy on the Judgment Day to Tyre and Sidon than to you.

Let us give glory to God! He is able to make you stand firm in your faith, according to the Good News I preach about Jesus Christ and according to the revelation of the secret truth which was hidden for long ages in the past.

Now, however, that truth has been brought out into the open through the writings of the prophets; and by the command of the eternal God it is made known to all nations, so that all may believe and obey.

The wisdom I proclaim is God's secret wisdom, which is hidden from human beings, but which he had already chosen for our glory even before the world was made.

In past times human beings were not told this secret, but God has revealed it now by the Spirit to his holy apostles and prophets.

and of making all people see how God's secret plan is to be put into effect. God, who is the Creator of all things, kept his secret hidden through all the past ages,

And I have been made a servant of the church by God, who gave me this task to perform for your good. It is the task of fully proclaiming his message,

which is the secret he hid through all past ages from all human beings but has now revealed to his people.

He saved us and called us to be his own people, not because of what we have done, but because of his own purpose and grace. He gave us this grace by means of Christ Jesus before the beginning of time,

but now it has been revealed to us through the coming of our Savior, Christ Jesus. He has ended the power of death and through the gospel has revealed immortal life.

which is based on the hope for eternal life. God, who does not lie, promised us this life before the beginning of time,

and at the right time he revealed it in his message. This was entrusted to me, and I proclaim it by order of God our Savior.

In the past God spoke to our ancestors many times and in many ways through the prophets,

They tried to find out when the time would be and how it would come. This was the time to which Christ's Spirit in them was pointing, in predicting the sufferings that Christ would have to endure and the glory that would follow.

God revealed to these prophets that their work was not for their own benefit, but for yours, as they spoke about those things which you have now heard from the messengers who announced the Good News by the power of the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. These are things which even the angels would like to understand.

Then the King will say to the people on his right, 'Come, you that are blessed by my Father! Come and possess the kingdom which has been prepared for you ever since the creation of the world.

"Father! You have given them to me, and I want them to be with me where I am, so that they may see my glory, the glory you gave me; for you loved me before the world was made.

So says the Lord, who made this known long ago.'

He had been chosen by God before the creation of the world and was revealed in these last days for your sake.

Through him you believe in God, who raised him from death and gave him glory; and so your faith and hope are fixed on God.

All people living on earth will worship it, except those whose names were written before the creation of the world in the book of the living which belongs to the Lamb that was killed.

That beast was once alive, but lives no longer; it is about to come up from the abyss and will go off to be destroyed. The people living on earth whose names have not been written before the creation of the world in the book of the living, will all be amazed as they look at the beast. It was once alive; now it no longer lives, but it will reappear.