Come near, you nations, to hear; And heed, you people! Let the earth hear, and all that is in it, The world and all things that come forth from it.

" Listen to Me, O house of Jacob, And all the remnant of the house of Israel, Who have been upheld [by Me] from birth, Who have been carried from the womb:

"Listen, O coastlands, to Me, And take heed, you peoples from afar! The LORD has called Me from the womb; From the matrix of My mother He has made mention of My name.

"Listen to Me, you who follow after righteousness, You who seek the LORD: Look to the rock [from which] you were hewn, And to the hole of the pit [from which] you were dug.

" Listen to Me, My people; And give ear to Me, O My nation: For law will proceed from Me, And I will make My justice rest As a light of the peoples.

" Listen to Me, you who know righteousness, You people in whose heart [is] My law: Do not fear the reproach of men, Nor be afraid of their insults.

Incline your ear, and come to Me. Hear, and your soul shall live; And I will make an everlasting covenant with you -- The sure mercies of David.

Now therefore, listen to me, [my] children; Pay attention to the words of my mouth:

" Now therefore, listen to me, [my] children, For blessed [are those who] keep my ways.

"So the last will be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few chosen."

among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ;

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to [His] purpose.

but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

But you [are] a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;

"These will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings; and those [who are] with Him [are] called, chosen, and faithful."

Who has performed and done [it,] Calling the generations from the beginning? 'I, the LORD, am the first; And with the last I [am] He.' "

" Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel, And his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: 'I [am] the First and I [am] the Last; Besides Me [there is] no God.

'Now see that I, [even] I, [am] He, And [there is] no God besides Me; I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal; Nor [is there any] who can deliver from My hand.

"I am the Alpha and the Omega, [the] Beginning and [the] End," says the Lord, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty."

saying, "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last," and, "What you see, write in a book and send [it] to the seven churches which are in Asia: to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamos, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea."

And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, "Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last.

"I [am] He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.

" And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write, ' These things says the First and the Last, who was dead, and came to life:

"I am the Alpha and the Omega, [the] Beginning and [the] End, the First and the Last."