Jesus drew near and said to them, "I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth.

He said to them, "Go throughout the whole world and preach the gospel to all people.

Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned.

and in his name the message about repentance and the forgiveness of sins must be preached to all nations, beginning in Jerusalem.

"And so, King Agrippa, I did not disobey the vision I had from heaven.

First in Damascus and in Jerusalem and then in the whole country of Israel and among the Gentiles, I preached that they must repent of their sins and turn to God and do the things that would show they had repented.

the Son of Man will send out his angels to gather up out of his Kingdom all those who cause people to sin and all others who do evil things,

"When the Son of Man comes as King and all the angels with him, he will sit on his royal throne,

Here is the secret meaning of the seven stars that you see in my right hand, and of the seven gold lampstands: the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

"To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: "This is the message from the one who holds the seven stars in his right hand and who walks among the seven gold lampstands.

Then I saw another angel flying high in the air, with an eternal message of Good News to announce to the peoples of the earth, to every race, tribe, language, and nation.

A second angel followed the first one, saying, "She has fallen! Great Babylon has fallen! She made all peoples drink her wine---the strong wine of her immoral lust!"

The LORD said to Moses,

When long blasts are sounded on both trumpets, the whole community is to gather around you at the entrance to the Tent of my presence.

When short blasts are sounded, the tribes camped on the east will move out.

but in order to call the community together, long blasts are to be sounded.

When you are at war in your land, defending yourselves against an enemy who has attacked you, sound the signal for battle on these trumpets. I, the LORD your God, will help you and save you from your enemies.

Blow the trumpet for the festival, when the moon is new and when the moon is full.

When that day comes, a trumpet will be blown to call back from Assyria and Egypt all the Israelites who are in exile there. They will come and worship the LORD in Jerusalem, on his sacred hill.

(SEE 15:51)

There will be the shout of command, the archangel's voice, the sound of God's trumpet, and the Lord himself will come down from heaven. Those who have died believing in Christ will rise to life first;

The Lord will raise a signal flag to show the nations that he is gathering together again the scattered people of Israel and Judah and bringing them back from the four corners of the earth.

Look around and see what is happening! Your people are assembling---they are coming home! As surely as I am the living God, you will be proud of your people, as proud as a bride is of her jewels.

Look around you and see what is happening: Your people are gathering to come home! Your sons will come from far away; Your daughters will be carried like children.

You will escape through this valley that divides the mountain in two. You will flee as your ancestors did when the earthquake struck in the time of King Uzziah of Judah. The LORD my God will come, bringing all the angels with him.

He will send the angels out to the four corners of the earth to gather God's chosen people from one end of the world to the other.

and not only for them, but also to bring together into one body all the scattered people of God.

This plan, which God will complete when the time is right, is to bring all creation together, everything in heaven and on earth, with Christ as head.

Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to be with him: I beg you, my friends,

All nations will remember the LORD. From every part of the world they will turn to him; all races will worship him.

God has blessed us; may all people everywhere honor him.

They are coming from far-off countries at the ends of the earth. In his anger the LORD is coming to devastate the whole country.

Sing a new song to the LORD; sing his praise, all the world! Praise him, you that sail the sea; praise him, all creatures of the sea! Sing, distant lands and all who live there!

I will tell the north to let them go and the south not to hold them back. Let my people return from distant lands, from every part of the world.

"Turn to me now and be saved, people all over the world! I am the only God there is.

The LORD says, "I will remove the war chariots from Israel and take the horses from Jerusalem; the bows used in battle will be destroyed. Your king will make peace among the nations; he will rule from sea to sea, from the Euphrates River to the ends of the earth."

But I ask: Is it true that they did not hear the message? Of course they did---for as the scripture says: "The sound of their voice went out to all the world; their words reached the ends of the earth."