How to Live in Hope

Psalm 146

  ¹ Praise the Lord.

  Praise the Lord, my soul.

  ² I will praise the Lord all my life;
   I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.
  ³ Do not put your trust in princes,
   in human beings, who cannot save.
  ⁴ When their spirit departs, they return to the ground;
   on that very day their plans come to nothing.
  ⁵ Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob,
   whose hope is in the Lord their God.

  ⁶ He is the Maker of heaven and earth,
   the sea, and everything in them—
   he remains faithful forever.
  ⁷ He upholds the cause of the oppressed
   and gives food to the hungry.
  The Lord sets prisoners free,
   ⁸ the Lord gives sight to the blind,
  the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down,
   the Lord loves the righteous.
  ⁹ The Lord watches over the foreigner
   and sustains the fatherless and the widow,
   but he frustrates the ways of the wicked.

  ¹⁰ The Lord reigns forever,
   your God, O Zion, for all generations.

  Praise the Lord.

Harvesting the Earth and Trampling the Winepress

¹⁴ I looked, and there before me was a white cloud, and seated on the cloud was one like a son of man with a crown of gold on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand. ¹⁵ Then another angel came out of the temple and called in a loud voice to him who was sitting on the cloud, “Take your sickle and reap, because the time to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is ripe.” ¹⁶ So he who was seated on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the earth was harvested.

¹⁷ Another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle. ¹⁸ Still another angel, who had charge of the fire, came from the altar and called in a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, “Take your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of grapes from the earth’s vine, because its grapes are ripe.” ¹⁹ The angel swung his sickle on the earth, gathered its grapes and threw them into the great winepress of God’s wrath. ²⁰ They were trampled in the winepress outside the city, and blood flowed out of the press, rising as high as the horses’ bridles for a distance of 1,600 stadia.

Seven Angels With Seven Plagues

15 I saw in heaven another great and marvelous sign: seven angels with the seven last plagues —last, because with them God’s wrath is completed. ² And I saw what looked like a sea of glass glowing with fire and, standing beside the sea, those who had been victorious over the beast and its image and over the number of its name. They held harps given them by God ³ and sang the song of God’s servant Moses and of the Lamb:

  “Great and marvelous are your deeds,
   Lord God Almighty.
  Just and true are your ways,
   King of the nations.
  ⁴ Who will not fear you, Lord,
   and bring glory to your name?
  For you alone are holy.
  All nations will come
   and worship before you,
  for your righteous acts have been revealed.”

⁵ After this I looked, and I saw in heaven the temple —that is, the tabernacle of the covenant law —and it was opened. ⁶ Out of the temple came the seven angels with the seven plagues. They were dressed in clean, shining linen and wore golden sashes around their chests. ⁷ Then one of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls filled with the wrath of God, who lives for ever and ever. ⁸ And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power, and no one could enter the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels were completed.

The People’s Confession of Sin

10 While Ezra was praying and confessing, weeping and throwing himself down before the house of God, a large crowd of Israelites—men, women and children—gathered around him. They too wept bitterly. ² Then Shekaniah son of Jehiel, one of the descendants of Elam, said to Ezra, “We have been unfaithful to our God by marrying foreign women from the peoples around us. But in spite of this, there is still hope for Israel. ³ Now let us make a covenant before our God to send away all these women and their children, in accordance with the counsel of my lord and of those who fear the commands of our God. Let it be done according to the Law. ⁴ Rise up; this matter is in your hands. We will support you, so take courage and do it.”

⁵ So Ezra rose up and put the leading priests and Levites and all Israel under oath to do what had been suggested. And they took the oath. ⁶ Then Ezra withdrew from before the house of God and went to the room of Jehohanan son of Eliashib. While he was there, he ate no food and drank no water, because he continued to mourn over the unfaithfulness of the exiles.

⁷ A proclamation was then issued throughout Judah and Jerusalem for all the exiles to assemble in Jerusalem. ⁸ Anyone who failed to appear within three days would forfeit all his property, in accordance with the decision of the officials and elders, and would himself be expelled from the assembly of the exiles.

⁹ Within the three days, all the men of Judah and Benjamin had gathered in Jerusalem. And on the twentieth day of the ninth month, all the people were sitting in the square before the house of God, greatly distressed by the occasion and because of the rain. ¹⁰ Then Ezra the priest stood up and said to them, “You have been unfaithful; you have married foreign women, adding to Israel’s guilt. ¹¹ Now honour the Lord, the God of your ancestors, and do his will. Separate yourselves from the peoples around you and from your foreign wives.”

¹² The whole assembly responded with a loud voice: “You are right! We must do as you say. ¹³ But there are many people here and it is the rainy season; so we cannot stand outside. Besides, this matter cannot be taken care of in a day or two, because we have sinned greatly in this thing. ¹⁴ Let our officials act for the whole assembly. Then let everyone in our towns who has married a foreign woman come at a set time, along with the elders and judges of each town, until the fierce anger of our God in this matter is turned away from us.” ¹⁵ Only Jonathan son of Asahel and Jahzeiah son of Tikvah, supported by Meshullam and Shabbethai the Levite, opposed this.

¹⁶ So the exiles did as was proposed. Ezra the priest selected men who were family heads, one from each family division, and all of them designated by name. On the first day of the tenth month they sat down to investigate the cases, ¹⁷ and by the first day of the first month they finished dealing with all the men who had married foreign women.

Those Guilty of Intermarriage

  ¹⁸ Among the descendants of the priests, the following had married foreign women:

  From the descendants of Joshua son of Jozadak, and his brothers: Maaseiah, Eliezer, Jarib and Gedaliah. ¹⁹ (They all gave their hands in pledge to put away their wives, and for their guilt they each presented a ram from the flock as a guilt offering.)

  ²⁰ From the descendants of Immer:

   Hanani and Zebadiah.

  ²¹ From the descendants of Harim:

   Maaseiah, Elijah, Shemaiah, Jehiel and Uzziah.

  ²² From the descendants of Pashhur:

   Elioenai, Maaseiah, Ishmael, Nethanel, Jozabad and Elasah.

  ²³ Among the Levites:

   Jozabad, Shimei, Kelaiah (that is, Kelita), Pethahiah, Judah and Eliezer.

  ²⁴ From the musicians:

   Eliashib.

  From the gatekeepers:

   Shallum, Telem and Uri.

  ²⁵ And among the other Israelites:

  From the descendants of Parosh:

   Ramiah, Izziah, Malkijah, Mijamin, Eleazar, Malkijah and Benaiah.

  ²⁶ From the descendants of Elam:

   Mattaniah, Zechariah, Jehiel, Abdi, Jeremoth and Elijah.

  ²⁷ From the descendants of Zattu:

   Elioenai, Eliashib, Mattaniah, Jeremoth, Zabad and Aziza.

  ²⁸ From the descendants of Bebai:

   Jehohanan, Hananiah, Zabbai and Athlai.

  ²⁹ From the descendants of Bani:

   Meshullam, Malluk, Adaiah, Jashub, Sheal and Jeremoth.

  ³⁰ From the descendants of Pahath-Moab:

   Adna, Kelal, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattaniah, Bezalel, Binnui and Manasseh.

  ³¹ From the descendants of Harim:

   Eliezer, Ishijah, Malkijah, Shemaiah, Shimeon, ³² Benjamin, Malluk and Shemariah.

  ³³ From the descendants of Hashum:

   Mattenai, Mattattah, Zabad, Eliphelet, Jeremai, Manasseh and Shimei.

  ³⁴ From the descendants of Bani:

   Maadai, Amram, Uel, ³⁵ Benaiah, Bedeiah, Keluhi, ³⁶ Vaniah, Meremoth, Eliashib, ³⁷ Mattaniah, Mattenai and Jaasu.

  ³⁸ From the descendants of Binnui:

   Shimei, ³⁹ Shelemiah, Nathan, Adaiah, ⁴⁰ Maknadebai, Shashai, Sharai, ⁴¹ Azarel, Shelemiah, Shemariah, ⁴² Shallum, Amariah and Joseph.

  ⁴³ From the descendants of Nebo:

   Jeiel, Mattithiah, Zabad, Zebina, Jaddai, Joel and Benaiah.

  ⁴⁴ All these had married foreign women, and some of them had children by these wives.