The Daily Audio Bible
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4 Then the angel who had been talking with me woke me, as though I had been asleep.
2 “What do you see now?” he asked.
I answered, “I see a gold lampstand holding seven lamps, and at the top there is a reservoir for the olive oil that feeds the lamps, flowing into them through seven tubes. 3 And I see two olive trees carved upon the lampstand, one on each side of the reservoir. 4 What is it, sir?” I asked. “What does this mean?”
5 “Don’t you really know?” the angel asked.
“No, sir,” I said, “I don’t.”
6 Then he said, “This is God’s message to Zerubbabel:[a] ‘Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord Almighty—you will succeed because of my Spirit, though you are few and weak.’ 7 Therefore no mountain, however high, can stand before Zerubbabel! For it will flatten out before him! And Zerubbabel will finish building this Temple[b] with mighty shouts of thanksgiving for God’s mercy, declaring that all was done by grace alone.”
8 Another message that I received from the Lord said:
9 “Zerubbabel laid the foundation of this Temple, and he will complete it. (Then you will know these messages are from God, the Lord Almighty.) 10 Do not despise this small beginning, for the eyes of the Lord rejoice to see the work begin, to see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel. For these seven lamps represent the eyes of the Lord that see everywhere around the world.”
11 Then I asked him about the two olive trees on each side of the lampstand, 12 and about the two olive branches that emptied oil into gold bowls through two gold tubes.
13 “Don’t you know?” he asked.
“No, sir,” I said.
14 Then he told me, “They represent the two anointed ones who assist the Lord of all the earth.”
5 I looked up again and saw a scroll flying through the air.
2 “What do you see?” he asked.
“A flying scroll!” I replied. “It appears to be about thirty feet long and fifteen feet wide!”
3 “This scroll,” he told me, “represents the words of God’s curse going out over the entire land. It says that all who steal and lie have been judged and sentenced to death.”
4 “I am sending this curse into the home of every thief and everyone who swears falsely by my name,” says the Lord Almighty. “And my curse shall remain upon his home and completely destroy it.”
5 Then the angel left me for a while, but he returned and said, “Look up! Something is traveling through the sky!”
6 “What is it?” I asked.
He replied, “It is a bushel basket filled with the sin prevailing everywhere throughout the land.”
7 Suddenly the heavy lead cover on the basket was lifted off, and I could see a woman sitting inside the basket!
8 He said, “She represents wickedness,” and he pushed her back into the basket and clamped down the heavy lid again.
9 Then I saw two women flying toward us, with wings like those of a stork. And they took the bushel basket and flew off with it, high in the sky.
10 “Where are they taking her?” I asked the angel.
11 He replied, “To Babylon[c] where they will build a temple for the basket, to worship it!”
14 Then I saw a Lamb standing on Mount Zion in Jerusalem, and with him were 144,000 who had his Name and his Father’s Name written on their foreheads. 2 And I heard a sound from heaven like the roaring of a great waterfall or the rolling of mighty thunder. It was the singing of a choir accompanied by harps.
3 This tremendous choir—144,000 strong—sang a wonderful new song in front of the throne of God and before the four Living Beings and the twenty-four Elders; and no one could sing this song except those 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. 4 For they are spiritually undefiled, pure as virgins,[a] following the Lamb wherever he goes. They have been purchased from among the men on the earth as a consecrated offering to God and the Lamb. 5 No falsehood can be charged against them; they are blameless.
6 And I saw another angel flying through the heavens, carrying the everlasting Good News to preach to those on earth—to every nation, tribe, language, and people.
7 “Fear God,” he shouted, “and extol his greatness. For the time has come when he will sit as Judge. Worship him who made the heaven and the earth, the sea and all its sources.”
8 Then another angel followed him through the skies, saying, “Babylon is fallen, is fallen—that great city—because she seduced the nations of the world and made them share the wine of her intense impurity and sin.”
9 Then a third angel followed them shouting, “Anyone worshiping the Creature from the sea[b] and his statue, and accepting his mark on the forehead or the hand 10 must drink the wine of the anger of God; it is poured out undiluted into God’s cup of wrath. And they will be tormented with fire and burning sulphur in the presence of the holy angels and the Lamb. 11 The smoke of their torture rises forever and ever, and they will have no relief day or night, for they have worshiped the Creature and his statue, and have been tattooed with the code of his name. 12 Let this encourage God’s people to endure patiently every trial and persecution, for they are his saints who remain firm to the end in obedience to his commands and trust in Jesus.”
13 And I heard a voice in the heavens above me saying, “Write this down: At last the time has come for his martyrs[c] to enter into their full reward. Yes, says the Spirit, they are blessed indeed, for now they shall rest from all their toils and trials; for their good deeds follow them to heaven!” 14 Then the scene changed, and I saw a white cloud and someone sitting on it who looked like Jesus, who was called “The Son of Man,”[d] with a crown of solid gold upon his head and a sharp sickle in his hand.
15 Then an angel came from the temple and called out to him, “Begin to use the sickle, for the time has come for you to reap; the harvest is ripe on the earth.” 16 So the one sitting on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the harvest was gathered in. 17 After that another angel came from the temple in heaven, and he also had a sharp sickle.
18 Just then the angel who has power to destroy the world with fire,[e] shouted to the angel with the sickle, “Use your sickle now to cut off the clusters of grapes from the vines of the earth, for they are fully ripe for judgment.” 19 So the angel swung his sickle on the earth and loaded the grapes into the great winepress of God’s wrath. 20 And the grapes were trodden in the winepress outside the city, and blood flowed out in a stream 200 miles long and as high as a horse’s bridle.
142 1-2 How I plead with God, how I implore his mercy, pouring out my troubles before him. 3 For I am overwhelmed and desperate, and you alone know which way I ought to turn to miss the traps my enemies have set for me. 4 (There’s one—just over there to the right!) No one gives me a passing thought. No one will help me; no one cares a bit what happens to me. 5 Then I prayed to Jehovah. “Lord,” I pled, “you are my only place of refuge. Only you can keep me safe.
6 “Hear my cry, for I am very low. Rescue me from my persecutors, for they are too strong for me. 7 Bring me out of prison so that I can thank you. The godly will rejoice with me for all your help.”
21-23 There are three things that make the earth tremble—no, four it cannot stand:
A slave who becomes a king.
A rebel who prospers.
A bitter woman when she finally marries.
A servant girl who marries the husband of her mistress.[a]
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.