God's Judgment Falls, Yet Grace Remains Available

1. A revelation about Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite. 2. Yahweh is a jealous God and avenges. Yahweh avenges and is full of wrath. Yahweh takes vengeance on his adversaries, and he maintains wrath against his enemies. 3. Yahweh is slow to anger, and great in power, and will by no means leave the guilty unpunished. Yahweh has his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet. 4. He rebukes the sea, and makes it dry, and dries up all the rivers. Bashan languishes, and Carmel; and the flower of Lebanon languishes. 5. The mountains quake before him, and the hills melt away. The earth trembles at his presence, yes, the world, and all who dwell in it. 6. Who can stand before his indignation? Who can endure the fierceness of his anger? His wrath is poured out like fire, and the rocks are broken apart by him. 7. Yahweh is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and he knows those who take refuge in him. 8. But with an overflowing flood, he will make a full end of her place, and will pursue his enemies into darkness. 9. What do you plot against Yahweh? He will make a full end. Affliction won’t rise up the second time. 10. For entangled like thorns, and drunken as with their drink, they are consumed utterly like dry stubble. 11. There is one gone out of you, who devises evil against Yahweh, who counsels wickedness. 12. Yahweh says: “Though they be in full strength, and likewise many, even so they will be cut down, and he shall pass away. Though I have afflicted you, I will afflict you no more. 13. Now will I break his yoke from off you, and will burst your bonds apart.” 14. Yahweh has commanded concerning you: “No more descendants will bear your name. Out of the house of your gods, will I cut off the engraved image and the molten image. I will make your grave, for you are vile.” 15. Behold, on the mountains the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace! Keep your feasts, Judah! Perform your vows, for the wicked one will no more pass through you. He is utterly cut off. 1. He who dashes in pieces has come up against you. Keep the fortress! Watch the way! Strengthen your waist! Fortify your power mightily! 2. For Yahweh restores the excellency of Jacob, as the excellency of Israel; for the destroyers have destroyed them, and ruined their vine branches. 3. The shield of his mighty men is made red. The valiant men are in scarlet. The chariots flash with steel in the day of his preparation, and the pine spears are brandished. 4. The chariots rage in the streets. They rush back and forth in the wide ways. Their appearance is like torches. They run like the lightnings. 5. He summons his picked troops. They stumble on their way. They dash to its wall, and the protective shield is put in place. 6. The gates of the rivers are opened, and the palace is dissolved. 7. It is decreed: she is uncovered, she is carried away; and her servants moan as with the voice of doves, beating on their breasts. 8. But Nineveh has been from of old like a pool of water, yet they flee away. “Stop! Stop!” they cry, but no one looks back. 9. Take the plunder of silver. Take the plunder of gold, for there is no end of the store, the glory of all goodly furniture. 10. She is empty, void, and waste. The heart melts, the knees knock together, their bodies and faces have grown pale. 11. Where is the den of the lions, and the feeding place of the young lions, where the lion and the lioness walked, the lion’s cubs, and no one made them afraid? 12. The lion tore in pieces enough for his cubs, and strangled for his lionesses, and filled his caves with the kill, and his dens with prey. 13. “Behold, I am against you,” says Yahweh of Armies, “and I will burn her chariots in the smoke, and the sword will devour your young lions; and I will cut off your prey from the earth, and the voice of your messengers will no longer be heard.” 1. Woe to the bloody city! It is all full of lies and robbery. The prey doesn’t depart. 2. The noise of the whip, the noise of the rattling of wheels, prancing horses, and bounding chariots, 3. the horseman mounting, and the flashing sword, the glittering spear, and a multitude of slain, and a great heap of corpses, and there is no end of the bodies. They stumble on their bodies, 4. because of the multitude of the prostitution of the alluring prostitute, the mistress of witchcraft, who sells nations through her prostitution, and families through her witchcraft. 5. “Behold, I am against you,” says Yahweh of Armies, “and I will lift your skirts over your face. I will show the nations your nakedness, and the kingdoms your shame. 6. I will throw abominable filth on you, and make you vile, and will set you a spectacle. 7. It will happen that all those who look at you will flee from you, and say, ‘Nineveh is laid waste! Who will mourn for her?’ Where will I seek comforters for you?” 8. Are you better than No-Amon, who was situated among the rivers, who had the waters around her; whose rampart was the sea, and her wall was of the sea? 9. Cush and Egypt were her boundless strength. Put and Libya were her helpers. 10. Yet was she carried away. She went into captivity. Her young children also were dashed in pieces at the head of all the streets, and they cast lots for her honorable men, and all her great men were bound in chains. 11. You also will be drunken. You will be hidden. You also will seek a stronghold because of the enemy. 12. All your fortresses will be like fig trees with the first-ripe figs: if they are shaken, they fall into the mouth of the eater. 13. Behold, your troops among you are women. The gates of your land are set wide open to your enemies. The fire has devoured your bars. 14. Draw water for the siege. Strengthen your fortresses. Go into the clay, and tread the mortar. Make the brick kiln strong. 15. There the fire will devour you. The sword will cut you off. It will devour you like the grasshopper. Multiply like grasshoppers. Multiply like the locust. 16. You have increased your merchants more than the stars of the skies. The grasshopper strips, and flees away. 17. Your guards are like the locusts, and your officials like the swarms of locusts, which settle on the walls on a cold day, but when the sun appears, they flee away, and their place is not known where they are. 18. Your shepherds slumber, king of Assyria. Your nobles lie down. Your people are scattered on the mountains, and there is no one to gather them. 19. There is no healing your wound, for your injury is fatal. All who hear the report of you clap their hands over you; for who hasn’t felt your endless cruelty?

1. He entered and was passing through Jericho. 2. There was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector, and he was rich. 3. He was trying to see who Jesus was, and couldn’t because of the crowd, because he was short. 4. He ran on ahead, and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was going to pass that way. 5. When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and saw him, and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house.” 6. He hurried, came down, and received him joyfully. 7. When they saw it, they all murmured, saying, “He has gone in to lodge with a man who is a sinner.” 8. Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, half of my goods I give to the poor. If I have wrongfully exacted anything of anyone, I restore four times as much.” 9. Jesus said to him, “Today, salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham. 10. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost.” 11. As they heard these things, he went on and told a parable, because he was near Jerusalem, and they supposed that God’s Kingdom would be revealed immediately. 12. He said therefore, “A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return. 13. He called ten servants of his, and gave them ten mina coins, and told them, ‘Conduct business until I come.’ 14. But his citizens hated him, and sent an envoy after him, saying, ‘We don’t want this man to reign over us.’ 15. “When he had come back again, having received the kingdom, he commanded these servants, to whom he had given the money, to be called to him, that he might know what they had gained by conducting business. 16. The first came before him, saying, ‘Lord, your mina has made ten more minas.’ 17. “He said to him, ‘Well done, you good servant! Because you were found faithful with very little, you shall have authority over ten cities.’ 18. “The second came, saying, ‘Your mina, Lord, has made five minas.’ 19. “So he said to him, ‘And you are to be over five cities.’ 20. Another came, saying, ‘Lord, behold, your mina, which I kept laid away in a handkerchief, 21. for I feared you, because you are an exacting man. You take up that which you didn’t lay down, and reap that which you didn’t sow.’ 22. “He said to him, ‘Out of your own mouth will I judge you, you wicked servant! You knew that I am an exacting man, taking up that which I didn’t lay down, and reaping that which I didn’t sow. 23. Then why didn’t you deposit my money in the bank, and at my coming, I might have earned interest on it?’ 24. He said to those who stood by, ‘Take the mina away from him, and give it to him who has the ten minas.’ 25. “They said to him, ‘Lord, he has ten minas!’ 26. ‘For I tell you that to everyone who has, will more be given; but from him who doesn’t have, even that which he has will be taken away from him. 27. But bring those enemies of mine who didn’t want me to reign over them here, and kill them before me.’” 28. Having said these things, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. 29. When he came near to Bethsphage and Bethany, at the mountain that is called Olivet, he sent two of his disciples, 30. saying, “Go your way into the village on the other side, in which, as you enter, you will find a colt tied, which no man had ever sat upon. Untie it, and bring it. 31. If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ say to him: ‘The Lord needs it.’” 32. Those who were sent went away, and found things just as he had told them. 33. As they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, “Why are you untying the colt?” 34. They said, “The Lord needs it.” 35. They brought it to Jesus. They threw their cloaks on the colt, and set Jesus on them. 36. As he went, they spread their cloaks on the road. 37. As he was now getting near, at the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works which they had seen, 38. saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest!” 39. Some of the Pharisees from the multitude said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!” 40. He answered them, “I tell you that if these were silent, the stones would cry out.” 41. When he came near, he saw the city and wept over it, 42. saying, “If you, even you, had known today the things which belong to your peace! But now, they are hidden from your eyes. 43. For the days will come on you, when your enemies will throw up a barricade against you, surround you, hem you in on every side, 44. and will dash you and your children within you to the ground. They will not leave in you one stone on another, because you didn’t know the time of your visitation.” 45. He entered into the temple, and began to drive out those who bought and sold in it, 46. saying to them, “It is written, ‘My house is a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a ‘den of robbers’!” 47. He was teaching daily in the temple, but the chief priests and the scribes and the leading men among the people sought to destroy him. 48. They couldn’t find what they might do, for all the people hung on to every word that he said. 1. On one of those days, as he was teaching the people in the temple and preaching the Good News, the priests and scribes came to him with the elders. 2. They asked him, “Tell us: by what authority do you do these things? Or who is giving you this authority?” 3. He answered them, “I also will ask you one question. Tell me: 4. the baptism of John, was it from heaven, or from men?” 5. They reasoned with themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why didn’t you believe him?’ 6. But if we say, ‘From men,’ all the people will stone us, for they are persuaded that John was a prophet.” 7. They answered that they didn’t know where it was from. 8. Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.” 9. He began to tell the people this parable. “A man planted a vineyard, and rented it out to some farmers, and went into another country for a long time. 10. At the proper season, he sent a servant to the farmers to collect his share of the fruit of the vineyard. But the farmers beat him, and sent him away empty. 11. He sent yet another servant, and they also beat him, and treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty. 12. He sent yet a third, and they also wounded him, and threw him out. 13. The lord of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my beloved son. It may be that seeing him, they will respect him.’ 14. “But when the farmers saw him, they reasoned among themselves, saying, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him, that the inheritance may be ours.’ 15. They threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. What therefore will the lord of the vineyard do to them? 16. He will come and destroy these farmers, and will give the vineyard to others.” When they heard it, they said, “May it never be!” 17. But he looked at them, and said, “Then what is this that is written, ‘The stone which the builders rejected, the same was made the chief cornerstone?’ 18. Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, but it will crush whomever it falls on to dust.” 19. The chief priests and the scribes sought to lay hands on him that very hour, but they feared the people—for they knew he had spoken this parable against them. 20. They watched him, and sent out spies, who pretended to be righteous, that they might trap him in something he said, so as to deliver him up to the power and authority of the governor. 21. They asked him, “Teacher, we know that you say and teach what is right, and aren’t partial to anyone, but truly teach the way of God. 22. Is it lawful for us to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” 23. But he perceived their craftiness, and said to them, “Why do you test me? 24. Show me a denarius. Whose image and inscription are on it?” They answered, “Caesar’s.” 25. He said to them, “Then give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” 26. They weren’t able to trap him in his words before the people. They marveled at his answer, and were silent. 27. Some of the Sadducees came to him, those who deny that there is a resurrection. 28. They asked him, “Teacher, Moses wrote to us that if a man’s brother dies having a wife, and he is childless, his brother should take the wife, and raise up children for his brother. 29. There were therefore seven brothers. The first took a wife, and died childless. 30. The second took her as wife, and he died childless. 31. The third took her, and likewise the seven all left no children, and died. 32. Afterward the woman also died. 33. Therefore in the resurrection whose wife of them will she be? For the seven had her as a wife.” 34. Jesus said to them, “The children of this age marry, and are given in marriage. 35. But those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage. 36. For they can’t die any more, for they are like the angels, and are children of God, being children of the resurrection. 37. But that the dead are raised, even Moses showed at the bush, when he called the Lord ‘The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ 38. Now he is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for all are alive to him.” 39. Some of the scribes answered, “Teacher, you speak well.” 40. They didn’t dare to ask him any more questions. 41. He said to them, “Why do they say that the Christ is David’s son? 42. David himself says in the book of Psalms, ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, 43. until I make your enemies the footstool of your feet.”’ 44. “David therefore calls him Lord, so how is he his son?” 45. In the hearing of all the people, he said to his disciples, 46. “Beware of those scribes who like to walk in long robes, and love greetings in the marketplaces, the best seats in the synagogues, and the best places at feasts; 47. who devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense make long prayers: these will receive greater condemnation.” 1. He looked up, and saw the rich people who were putting their gifts into the treasury. 2. He saw a certain poor widow casting in two small brass coins. 3. He said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow put in more than all of them, 4. for all these put in gifts for God from their abundance, but she, out of her poverty, put in all that she had to live on.” 5. As some were talking about the temple and how it was decorated with beautiful stones and gifts, he said, 6. “As for these things which you see, the days will come, in which there will not be left here one stone on another that will not be thrown down.” 7. They asked him, “Teacher, so when will these things be? What is the sign that these things are about to happen?” 8. He said, “Watch out that you don’t get led astray, for many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he,’ and, ‘The time is at hand.’ Therefore don’t follow them. 9. When you hear of wars and disturbances, don’t be terrified, for these things must happen first, but the end won’t come immediately.” 10. Then he said to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. 11. There will be great earthquakes, famines, and plagues in various places. There will be terrors and great signs from heaven. 12. But before all these things, they will lay their hands on you and will persecute you, delivering you up to synagogues and prisons, bringing you before kings and governors for my name’s sake. 13. It will turn out as a testimony for you. 14. Settle it therefore in your hearts not to meditate beforehand how to answer, 15. for I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries will not be able to withstand or to contradict. 16. You will be handed over even by parents, brothers, relatives, and friends. They will cause some of you to be put to death. 17. You will be hated by all men for my name’s sake. 18. And not a hair of your head will perish. 19. “By your endurance you will win your lives. 20. “But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is at hand. 21. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let those who are in the middle of her depart. Let those who are in the country not enter therein. 22. For these are days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. 23. Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who nurse infants in those days! For there will be great distress in the land, and wrath to this people. 24. They will fall by the edge of the sword, and will be led captive into all the nations. Jerusalem will be trampled down by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. 25. There will be signs in the sun, moon, and stars; and on the earth anxiety of nations, in perplexity for the roaring of the sea and the waves; 26. men fainting for fear, and for expectation of the things which are coming on the world: for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 27. Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28. But when these things begin to happen, look up, and lift up your heads, because your redemption is near.” 29. He told them a parable. “See the fig tree, and all the trees. 30. When they are already budding, you see it and know by your own selves that the summer is already near. 31. Even so you also, when you see these things happening, know that God’s Kingdom is near. 32. Most certainly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all things are accomplished. 33. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will by no means pass away. 34. “So be careful, or your hearts will be loaded down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that day will come on you suddenly. 35. For it will come like a snare on all those who dwell on the surface of all the earth. 36. Therefore be watchful all the time, praying that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will happen, and to stand before the Son of Man.” 37. Every day Jesus was teaching in the temple, and every night he would go out and spend the night on the mountain that is called Olivet. 38. All the people came early in the morning to him in the temple to hear him.

1. As the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants after you, God. 2. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? 3. My tears have been my food day and night, while they continually ask me, “Where is your God?” 4. These things I remember, and pour out my soul within me, how I used to go with the crowd, and led them to God’s house, with the voice of joy and praise, a multitude keeping a holy day. 5. Why are you in despair, my soul? Why are you disturbed within me? Hope in God! For I shall still praise him for the saving help of his presence. 6. My God, my soul is in despair within me. Therefore I remember you from the land of the Jordan, the heights of Hermon, from the hill Mizar. 7. Deep calls to deep at the noise of your waterfalls. All your waves and your billows have swept over me. 8. Yahweh will command his loving kindness in the daytime. In the night his song shall be with me: a prayer to the God of my life. 9. I will ask God, my rock, “Why have you forgotten me? Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?” 10. As with a sword in my bones, my adversaries reproach me, while they continually ask me, “Where is your God?” 11. Why are you in despair, my soul? Why are you disturbed within me? Hope in God! For I shall still praise him, the saving help of my countenance, and my God.