The One Year Bible TLB (271 page)
Read The One Year Bible TLB Online
Authors: Tyndale
December 30Here is the Lord’s message to Israel, given through the prophet Malachi:
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“I have loved you very deeply,” says the Lord.
But you retort, “Really? When was this?”
And the Lord replies, “I showed my love for you by loving your father, Jacob. I didn’t need to. I even rejected his very own brother, Esau, and destroyed Esau’s mountains and inheritance, to give it to the jackals of the desert.
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And if his descendants should say, ‘We will rebuild the ruins,’ then the Lord Almighty will say, ‘Try to if you like, but I will destroy it again,’ for their country is named ‘The Land of Wickedness,’ and their people are called ‘Those Whom God Does Not Forgive.’”
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O Israel, lift your eyes to see what God is doing all around the world; then you will say, “Truly, the Lord’s great power goes far beyond our borders!”
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“A son honors his father, a servant honors his master. I am your Father and Master, yet you don’t honor me, O priests, but you despise my name.”
“Who? Us?” you say. “When did we ever despise your name?”
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“When you offer polluted sacrifices on my altar.”
“Polluted sacrifices? When have we ever done a thing like that?”
“Every time you say, ‘Don’t bother bringing anything very valuable to offer to God!’
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You tell the people, ‘Lame animals are all right to offer on the altar of the Lord—yes, even the sick and the blind ones.’ And you claim this isn’t evil? Try it on your governor sometime—give him gifts like that—and see how pleased he is!
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“‘God have mercy on us,’ you recite; ‘God be gracious to us!’ But when you bring that kind of gift, why should he show you any favor at all?
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“Oh, to find one priest among you who would shut the doors and refuse this kind of sacrifice! I have no pleasure in you,” says the Lord Almighty, “and I will not accept your offerings.
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“But my name will be honored by the Gentiles from morning till night. All around the world they will offer sweet incense and pure offerings in honor of my name. For my name shall be great among the nations,” says the Lord Almighty.
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“But you dishonor it, saying that my altar is not important and encouraging people to bring cheap, sick animals to offer to me on it.
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“You say, ‘Oh, it’s too difficult to serve the Lord and do what he asks.’ And you turn up your noses at the rules he has given you to obey. Think of it! Stolen animals, lame and sick—as offerings to God! Should I accept such offerings as these?” asks the Lord.
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“Cursed is that man who promises a fine ram from his flock and substitutes a sick one to sacrifice to God. For I am a Great King,” says the Lord Almighty, “and my name is to be mightily revered among the Gentiles.”
2:
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Listen, you priests, to this warning from the Lord Almighty:
“If you don’t change your ways and give glory to my name, then I will send terrible punishment upon you, and instead of giving you blessings as I would like to, I will turn on you with curses. Indeed, I have cursed you already because you haven’t taken seriously the things that are most important to me.
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“Take note that I will rebuke your children; I will spread on your faces the manure of these animals you offer me and throw you out like dung.
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Then at last you will know it was I who sent you this warning to return to the laws I gave your father Levi,” says the Lord Almighty.
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“The purpose of these laws was to give him life and peace, to be a means of showing his respect and awe for me by keeping them.
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He passed on to the people all the truth he got from me. He did not lie or cheat; he walked with me, living a good and righteous life, and turned many from their lives of sin.
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“Priests’ lips should flow with the knowledge of God so the people will learn God’s laws. The priests are the messengers of the Lord Almighty, and men should come to them for guidance.
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But not to you! For you have left God’s paths. Your ‘guidance’ has caused many to stumble in sin. You have distorted the covenant of Levi and made it into a grotesque parody,” says the Lord Almighty.
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“Therefore, I have made you contemptible in the eyes of all the people; for you have not obeyed me, but you let your favorites break the law without rebuke.”
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We are children of the same father, Abraham, all created by the same God. And yet we are faithless to each other, violating the covenant of our fathers!
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In Judah, in Israel, and in Jerusalem, there is treachery, for the men of Judah have defiled God’s holy and beloved Temple by marrying heathen women who worship idols.
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May the Lord cut off from his covenant every last man, whether priest or layman, who has done this thing!
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Yet you cover the altar with your tears because the Lord doesn’t pay attention to your offerings anymore, and you receive no blessing from him.
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“Why has God abandoned us?” you cry. I’ll tell you why; it is because the Lord has seen your treachery in divorcing your wives who have been faithful to you through the years, the companions you promised to care for and keep.
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You were united to your wife by the Lord. In God’s wise plan, when you married, the two of you became one person in his sight. And what does he want? Godly children from your union. Therefore, guard your passions! Keep faith with the wife of your youth.
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For the Lord, the God of Israel, says he hates divorce and cruel men. Therefore, control your passions—let there be no divorcing of your wives.
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You have wearied the Lord with your words.
“Wearied him?” you ask in fake surprise. “How have we wearied him?”
By saying that evil is good, that it pleases the Lord! Or by saying that God won’t punish us—he doesn’t care.
Then I saw a new earth (with no oceans!) and a new sky, for the present earth and sky had disappeared.
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And I, John, saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven. It was a glorious sight, beautiful as a bride at her wedding.
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I heard a loud shout from the throne saying, “Look, the home of God is now among men, and he will live with them and they will be his people; yes, God himself will be among them.
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He will wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying, nor pain. All of that has gone forever.”
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And the one sitting on the throne said, “See, I am making all things new!” And then he said to me, “Write this down, for what I tell you is trustworthy and true:
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It is finished! I am the A and the Z—the Beginning and the End. I will give to the thirsty the springs of the Water of Life—as a gift!
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Everyone who conquers will inherit all these blessings, and I will be his God and he will be my son.
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But cowards who turn back from following me, and those who are unfaithful to me, and the corrupt, and murderers, and the immoral, and those conversing with demons, and idol worshipers and all liars—their doom is in the Lake that burns with fire and sulphur. This is the Second Death.”
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Then one of the seven angels who had emptied the flasks containing the seven last plagues came and said to me, “Come with me and I will show you the bride, the Lamb’s wife.”
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In a vision he took me to a towering mountain peak, and from there I watched that wondrous city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of the skies from God.
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It was filled with the glory of God and flashed and glowed like a precious gem, crystal clear like jasper.
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Its walls were broad and high, with twelve gates guarded by twelve angels. And the names of the twelve tribes of Israel were written on the gates.
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There were three gates on each side—north, south, east, and west.
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The walls had twelve foundation stones, and on them were written the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
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The angel held in his hand a golden measuring stick to measure the city and its gates and walls.
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When he measured it, he found it was a square as wide as it was long; in fact it was in the form of a cube, for its height was exactly the same as its other dimensions—1,500 miles each way.
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Then he measured the thickness of the walls and found them to be 216 feet across (the angel called out these measurements to me, using standard units).
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The city itself was pure, transparent gold like glass! The wall was made of jasper, and was built on twelve layers of foundation stones inlaid with gems: the first layer
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with jasper; the second with sapphire; the third with chalcedony; the fourth with emerald; the fifth with sardonyx; the sixth layer with sardus; the seventh with chrysolite; the eighth with beryl; the ninth with topaz; the tenth with chrysoprase; the eleventh with jacinth; the twelfth with amethyst.
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The twelve gates were made of pearls—each gate from a single pearl! And the main street was pure, transparent gold, like glass.
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No temple could be seen in the city, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are worshiped in it everywhere.
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And the city has no need of sun or moon to light it, for the glory of God and of the Lamb illuminate it.
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Its light will light the nations of the earth, and the rulers of the world will come and bring their glory to it.
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Its gates never close; they stay open all day long—and there is no night!
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And the glory and honor of all the nations shall be brought into it.
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Nothing evil will be permitted in it—no one immoral or dishonest—but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.
Hallelujah! Yes, praise the Lord! Sing him a new song. Sing his praises, all his people.
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O Israel, rejoice in your Maker. O people of Jerusalem, exult in your King.
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Praise his name with dancing, accompanied by drums and lyre.
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For Jehovah enjoys his people; he will save the humble. Let his people rejoice in this honor. Let them sing for joy as they lie upon their beds.
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Adore him, O his people! And take a double-edged sword to execute his punishment upon the nations.
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Bind their kings and leaders with iron chains,
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and execute their sentences.
He is the glory of his people. Hallelujah! Praise him!
If you can find a truly good wife, she is worth more than precious gems!
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Her husband can trust her, and she will richly satisfy his needs.
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She will not hinder him but help him all her life.
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She finds wool and flax and busily spins it.
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She buys imported foods brought by ship from distant ports.
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She gets up before dawn to prepare breakfast for her household and plans the day’s work for her servant girls.
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She goes out to inspect a field and buys it; with her own hands she plants a vineyard.
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She is energetic, a hard worker,
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and watches for bargains. She works far into the night!
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She sews for the poor and generously helps those in need.
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She has no fear of winter for her household, for she has made warm clothes for all of them.
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She also upholsters with finest tapestry; her own clothing is beautifully made—a purple gown of pure linen.
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Her husband is well known, for he sits in the council chamber with the other civic leaders.
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She makes belted linen garments to sell to the merchants.
December 31“Listen: I will send my messenger before me to prepare the way. And then the One
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you are looking for will come suddenly to his Temple—the Messenger of God’s promises, to bring you great joy. Yes, he is surely coming,” says the Lord Almighty.
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“But who can live when he appears? Who can endure his coming? For he is like a blazing fire refining precious metal, and he can bleach the dirtiest garments!
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Like a refiner of silver he will sit and closely watch as the dross is burned away. He will purify the Levites, the ministers of God, refining them like gold or silver, so that they will do their work for God with pure hearts.
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Then once more the Lord will enjoy the offerings brought to him by the people of Judah and Jerusalem, as he did before.
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At that time my punishments will be quick and certain; I will move swiftly against wicked men who trick the innocent, against adulterers and liars, against all those who cheat their hired hands, who oppress widows and orphans, or defraud strangers, and do not fear me,” says the Lord Almighty.
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“For I am the Lord—I do not change. That is why you are not already utterly destroyed, for my mercy endures forever.
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“Though you have scorned my laws from earliest time, yet you may still return to me,” says the Lord Almighty. “Come and I will forgive you.
“But you say, ‘We have never even gone away!’
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“Will a man rob God? Surely not! And yet you have robbed me.
“‘What do you mean? When did we ever rob you?’
“You have robbed me of the tithes and offerings due me.
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And so the awesome curse of God is cursing you, for your whole nation has been robbing me.
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Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so that there will be food enough in my Temple; if you do, I will open up the windows of heaven for you and pour out a blessing so great you won’t have room enough to take it in!
“Try it! Let me prove it to you!
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Your crops will be large, for I will guard them from insects and plagues. Your grapes won’t shrivel away before they ripen,” says the Lord Almighty.
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“And all nations will call you blessed, for you will be a land sparkling with happiness. These are the promises of the Lord Almighty.
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“Your attitude toward me has been proud and arrogant,” says the Lord.
“But you say, ‘What do you mean? What have we said that we shouldn’t?’
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“Listen; you have said, ‘It is foolish to worship God and obey him. What good does it do to obey his laws, and to sorrow and mourn for our sins? From now on, as far as we’re concerned, “Blessed are the arrogant.” For those who do evil shall prosper, and those who dare God to punish them shall get off scot-free.’”
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Then those who feared and loved the Lord spoke often of him to each other. And he had a Book of Remembrance drawn up in which he recorded the names of those who feared him and loved to think about him.
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“They shall be mine,” says the Lord Almighty, “in that day when I make up my jewels. And I will spare them as a man spares an obedient and dutiful son.
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Then you will see the difference between God’s treatment of good men and bad, between those who serve him and those who don’t.
4:
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“Watch now,” the Lord Almighty declares, “the day of judgment is coming, burning like a furnace. The proud and wicked will be burned up like straw; like a tree, they will be consumed—roots and all.
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“But for you who fear my name, the Sun of Righteousness will rise with healing in his wings. And you will go free, leaping with joy like calves let out to pasture.
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Then you will tread upon the wicked as ashes underfoot,” says the Lord Almighty.
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“Remember to obey the laws I gave all Israel through Moses my servant on Mount Horeb.
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“See, I will send you another prophet like Elijah
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before the coming of the great and dreadful judgment day of God.
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His preaching will bring fathers and children together again, to be of one mind and heart, for they will know that if they do not repent, I will come and utterly destroy their land.”
And he pointed out to me a river of pure Water of Life, clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and the Lamb,
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coursing down the center of the main street. On each side of the river grew Trees of Life,
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bearing twelve crops of fruit, with a fresh crop each month; the leaves were used for medicine to heal the nations.
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There shall be nothing in the city that is evil; for the throne of God and of the Lamb will be there, and his servants will worship him.
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And they shall see his face; and his name shall be written on their foreheads.
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And there will be no night there—no need for lamps or sun—for the Lord God will be their light; and they shall reign forever and ever.
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Then the angel said to me, “These words are trustworthy and true:
‘I am coming soon!’
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God, who tells his prophets what the future holds, has sent his angel to tell you this will happen soon. Blessed are those who believe it and all else written in the scroll.”
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I, John, saw and heard all these things, and fell down to worship the angel who showed them to me;
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but again he said, “No, don’t do anything like that. I, too, am a servant of Jesus as you are, and as your brothers the prophets are, as well as all those who heed the truth stated in this book. Worship God alone.”
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Then he instructed me, “Do not seal up what you have written, for the time of fulfillment is near.
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And when that time comes, all doing wrong will do it more and more; the vile will become more vile; good men will be better; those who are holy will continue on in greater holiness.”
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“See, I am coming soon, and my reward is with me, to repay everyone according to the deeds he has done.
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I am the A and the Z, the Beginning and the End, the First and Last.
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Blessed forever are all who are washing their robes, to have the right to enter in through the gates of the city and to eat the fruit from the Tree of Life.
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“Outside the city are those who have strayed away from God, and the sorcerers and the immoral and murderers and idolaters, and all who love to lie, and do so.
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“I, Jesus, have sent my angel to you to tell the churches all these things. I am both David’s Root and his Descendant. I am the bright Morning Star.
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The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come.’ Let each one who hears them say the same, ‘Come.’ Let the thirsty one come—anyone who wants to; let him come and drink the Water of Life without charge.
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And I solemnly declare to everyone who reads this book: If anyone adds anything to what is written here, God shall add to him the plagues described in this book.
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And if anyone subtracts any part of these prophecies, God shall take away his share in the Tree of Life, and in the Holy City just described.
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“He who has said all these things declares: Yes, I am coming soon!”
Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!
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The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen!
Hallelujah! Yes, praise the Lord!
Praise him in his Temple and in the heavens he made with mighty power.
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Praise him for his mighty works. Praise his unequaled greatness.
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Praise him with the trumpet and with lute and harp.
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Praise him with the drums and dancing. Praise him with stringed instruments and horns.
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Praise him with the cymbals, yes, loud clanging cymbals.
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Let everything alive give praises to the Lord!
You
praise him!
Hallelujah!
She is a woman of strength and dignity and has no fear of old age.
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When she speaks, her words are wise, and kindness is the rule for everything she says.
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She watches carefully all that goes on throughout her household and is never lazy.
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Her children stand and bless her; so does her husband. He praises her with these words:
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“There are many fine women in the world, but you are the best of them all!”
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Charm can be deceptive and beauty doesn’t last, but a woman who fears and reverences God shall be greatly praised.
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Praise her for the many fine things she does. These good deeds of hers shall bring her honor and recognition from people of importance.
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