A voice cries out, "Prepare in the wilderness a road for the LORD! Clear the way in the desert for our God!

A voice cries out, "Proclaim a message!" "What message shall I proclaim?" I ask. "Proclaim that all human beings are like grass; they last no longer than wild flowers.

Jerusalem, go up on a high mountain and proclaim the good news! Call out with a loud voice, Zion; announce the good news! Speak out and do not be afraid. Tell the towns of Judah that their God is coming!

Shout for joy, you heavens! Shout, deep places of the earth! Shout for joy, mountains, and every tree of the forest! The LORD has shown his greatness by saving his people Israel.

How wonderful it is to see a messenger coming across the mountains, bringing good news, the news of peace! He announces victory and says to Zion, "Your God is king!"

Those who guard the city are shouting, shouting together for joy. They can see with their own eyes the return of the LORD to Zion.

The LORD says, "Shout as loud as you can! Tell my people Israel about their sins!

The LORD says, "Sound the alarm! Enemies are swooping down on my land like eagles! My people have broken the covenant I made with them and have rebelled against my teaching.

The heathen were filled with rage, because the time for your anger has come, the time for the dead to be judged. The time has come to reward your servants, the prophets, and all your people, all who have reverence for you, great and small alike. The time has come to destroy those who destroy the earth!"

Who will not stand in awe of you, Lord? Who will refuse to declare your greatness? You alone are holy. All the nations will come and worship you, because your just actions are seen by all."

Then there came from the throne the sound of a voice, saying, "Praise our God, all his servants and all people, both great and small, who have reverence for him!"

"Don't hurt the boy or do anything to him," he said. "Now I know that you honor and obey God, because you have not kept back your only son from him."

Sin speaks to the wicked deep in their hearts; they reject God and do not have reverence for him.

You are feared in the council of the holy ones; they all stand in awe of you.

After all this, there is only one thing to say: Have reverence for God, and obey his commands, because this is all that we were created for.

God is going to judge everything we do, whether good or bad, even things done in secret.

The four living creatures sing songs of glory and honor and thanks to the one who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever. When they do so,

They were burned by the fierce heat, and they cursed the name of God, who has authority over these plagues. But they would not turn from their sins and praise his greatness.

Joshua said to him, "My son, tell the truth here before the LORD, the God of Israel, and confess. Tell me now what you have done. Don't try to hide it from me."

You must make these models of the tumors and of the mice that are ravaging your country, and you must give honor to the God of Israel. Perhaps he will stop punishing you, your gods, and your land.

Let those who live in distant lands give praise and glory to the LORD!

You must honor me by what you do. If you will not listen to what I say, then I will bring a curse on you. I will put a curse on the things you receive for your support. In fact, I have already put a curse on them, because you do not take my command seriously.

Why is this foreigner the only one who came back to give thanks to God?"

The heathen were filled with rage, because the time for your anger has come, the time for the dead to be judged. The time has come to reward your servants, the prophets, and all your people, all who have reverence for you, great and small alike. The time has come to destroy those who destroy the earth!"

Who will not stand in awe of you, Lord? Who will refuse to declare your greatness? You alone are holy. All the nations will come and worship you, because your just actions are seen by all."

They stand a long way off, because they are afraid of sharing in her suffering. They say, "How terrible! How awful! This great and mighty city Babylon! In just one hour you have been punished!"

And in one hour she has lost all this wealth!" All the ships' captains and passengers, the sailors and all others who earn their living on the sea, stood a long way off,

They threw dust on their heads, they cried and mourned, saying, "How terrible! How awful for the great city! She is the city where all who have ships sailing the seas became rich on her wealth! And in one hour she has lost everything!"

"Mortal man," he said, "this is what I, the Sovereign LORD, am saying to the land of Israel: This is the end for the whole land!

It's all over. This is the end. You are finished.

and said, "I am showing you what the result of God's anger will be. The vision refers to the time of the end.

And Jesus concluded, "Watch out, then, because you do not know the day or the hour.

I am telling you the truth: the time is coming---the time has already come---when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear it will come to life.

And he has given the Son the right to judge, because he is the Son of Man.

and come out of their graves: those who have done good will rise and live, and those who have done evil will rise and be condemned.

The end of all things is near. You must be self-controlled and alert, to be able to pray.

"Our Lord and God! You are worthy to receive glory, honor, and power. For you created all things, and by your will they were given existence and life."

In six days I, the LORD, made the earth, the sky, the seas, and everything in them, but on the seventh day I rested. That is why I, the LORD, blessed the Sabbath and made it holy.

And then the people of Israel prayed this prayer: "You, LORD, you alone are LORD; you made the heavens and the stars of the sky. You made land and sea and everything in them; you gave life to all. The heavenly powers bow down and worship you.

The LORD created the heavens by his command, the sun, moon, and stars by his spoken word.

He rules over the sea, which he made; the land also, which he himself formed.

Our help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth.

Happy are those who have the God of Jacob to help them and who depend on the LORD their God,

the Creator of heaven, earth, and sea, and all that is in them. He always keeps his promises;

"The LORD created me first of all, the first of his works, long ago.

I was born before the oceans, when there were no springs of water.

before God made the earth and its fields or even the first handful of soil.

when he placed the clouds in the sky, when he opened the springs of the ocean

I was beside him like an architect, I was his daily source of joy, always happy in his presence---

But you, LORD, are the true God, you are the living God and the eternal king. When you are angry, the world trembles; the nations cannot endure your anger.

"Why are you doing this? We ourselves are only human beings like you! We are here to announce the Good News, to turn you away from these worthless things to the living God, who made heaven, earth, sea, and all that is in them.

For as I walked through your city and looked at the places where you worship, I found an altar on which is written, 'To an Unknown God.' That which you worship, then, even though you do not know it, is what I now proclaim to you.

Nor does he need anything that we can supply by working for him, since it is he himself who gives life and breath and everything else to everyone.