Because you knew not the time of your visitation.
As seen in the previous post, the LORD gives the above cause, in Luke 19:44, as what would lead to His people’s total desolation, as it now has.
Luke 19
41 And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it,
42 Saying, If you had known, even you, at least in this your day, the things which belong unto your peace! but now they are hid from your eyes.
43 For the days shall come upon you, that your enemies shall cast a trench about you, and compass you round, and keep you in on every side,
44 And shall lay you even with the ground, and your children within you; and they shall not leave in you one stone upon another; because you knew not the time of your visitation.
45 And he went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold therein, and them that bought;
46 Saying unto them, It is written, My house is the house of prayer: but you have made it a den of thieves.
47 And he taught daily in the temple. But the chief priests and the scribes and the chief of the people sought to destroy him,
48 And could not find what they might do: for all the people were very attentive to hear him.
As seen in previous posts, the “visitation” spoken of above speaks of the one the LORD sends to inspect and relate a proper assessment. Receiving the truthful characterization is a necessary prerequisite of accepting the prescribed correction.
In the above, the LORD states the condition found, when inspecting the city, as not knowing the least of the things that belong to peace. The city is Jerusalem, which we know is from Hebrew words (yara’ shalam) telling of teaching that flows directly from God, the foundational ideas and ways of peace.
As we know from the Strong’s Hebrew Dictionary, yarah (yara’) means, “to flow as water (i.e. to rain); transitively, to lay or throw (especially an arrow, i.e. to shoot); figuratively, to point out (as if by aiming the finger), to teach,” and shalam means, “to be safe (in mind, body or estate); figuratively, to be (causatively, make) completed; by implication, to be friendly; by extension, to reciprocate (in various applications).”
The deep exploration of these principles, their establishment, by understanding, as necessities in relationships, self-governing by them, micro and macro, person and nation, are the ways of peace and sustainable civilization.
The LORD, after telling of what inevitably occurs when abandoning and replacing these best ideas and ways, goes right to the heart of the problem; to the house of prayer (communicating with Him), which, as now, became a den of thieves (who steal away God’s words and exchange them for their corrupt, primitive, and failed ideas and ways).
Above, after casting out the thieves, He then restores, heals, and reverses the disease’s cause. As the prescription needing to be administered, He teaches the word of God: God in Him reestablishing His ways and replacing the abominations (put in His place), causing desolation.
Mark 13
14 But when you shall see [eido] the abomination of desolation [the ideas as idols put in God’s place, which have caused the desolation of His people, church and state], spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not, (let him that reads understand,) then let them that be in Judaea flee to the mountains:
15 And let him that is on the housetop not go down into the house, neither enter therein, to take anything out of his house [the church corrupted by the creations of men, ideas as idols put in God’s place]:
16 And let him that is in the field not turn back again for to take up his garment [spotted by the flesh, the creations of men].
17 But woe to them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days [teachers who are corrupting the minds of all they teach]!
18 And pray you that your flight be not in the winter [when all the world has become cold and fires burn everywhere].
19 For in those days shall be affliction, such as was not from the beginning of the creation [never this type of oppression and ignorance of truth, covering the entire world and there is no place where it isn’t hunting souls] of which God created unto this time, neither shall be.
20 And except that the LORD had shortened those days, no flesh should be saved: but for the elect’s sake, whom he has chosen, he has shortened the days.
21 And then if any man shall say to you, Lo, here is Christ [here is the anointed teacher]; or, lo, he is there; believe him not:
22 For false Christs and false prophets shall rise [have risen in every place], and shall show signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect.
23 But take you heed: behold, I have foretold you all things.
24 But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light,
25 And the stars of heaven shall fall, and the powers that are in heaven shall be shaken.
26 And then shall they see [hopou – realize there is only one shepherd anointed by God and with His light – understanding] the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory.
27 And then shall he send his angels, and shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven.
Isaiah 28
5 In that day shall the LORD of hosts be for a crown of glory, and for a diadem [tsphiyrah – a crown] of beauty, unto the residue of his people,
6 And for a spirit of judgment to him that sits in judgment, and for strength to them that turn the battle to the gate.
7 But they also have erred through wine, and through strong drink are out of the way [ta’ah]; the priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink, they are swallowed up of wine, they are out of the way [ta’ah] through strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble in judgment.
8 For all tables are full of vomit [‘qe] and filthiness, so that there is no place clean.
9 Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine [shmuw’ah – the report, teaching, the rumor of Ezekiel 7:26]? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts [who now draw from the Ancient of Days].
10 For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:
11 For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people.
12 To whom he said, This is the rest wherewith you may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear.
13 But the word of the LORD was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.
14 Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, you scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem.
15 Because you have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:
16 Therefore thus says the LORD GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believes shall not make haste.
17 Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.
18 And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then you shall be trodden down by it.
19 From the time that it goes forth it shall take you: for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night: and it shall be a vexation only to understand the report [shmuw’ah – the sound doctrine, teaching, the rumor].
As we’ve seen in previous posts, the word “visitation” is the four times used Greek word episkope, meaning “inspection (for relief); by implication, superintendence; specially, the Christian ‘episcopate’:–the office of a ‘bishop’, bishoprick, visitation.” In its use in Acts 1:20, while quoting Psalms 109:8, we see it’s the equivalent of the Hebrew word pquddah, meaning “visitation (in many senses, chiefly official).”
In this context, the LORD began the day in Jeremiah 46, then in Jeremiah 8, both speaking of the above-mentioned “visitation.”
Jeremiah 46
10 For this is the day of the LORD God of hosts, a day of vengeance, that he may avenge him of his adversaries: and the sword [of His mouth] shall devour, and it shall be satiate and made drunk with their blood: for the LORD God of hosts has a sacrifice in the north [tsaphown – hidden] country by the river Euphrates [by revealing the what is hidden in the words].
11 Go up into Gilead [this mountain of testimony], and take balm, O virgin, the daughter of Egypt: in vain shall you use many medicines; for you shall not be cured [by following the corrupt advice of those in power oppressing].
12 The nations have heard of your shame [that your prescriptions do not produce the end you falsely promise], and your cry has filled the land: for the mighty man has stumbled against the mighty, and they are fallen both together.
13 The word that the LORD spoke to Jeremiah the prophet, how Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon should come and smite the land of Egypt [the confusion caused by the lies of their false prophets, shall destroy the oppressors once what is hidden in the waters is revealed].
14 Declare you in Egypt, and publish in Migdol, and publish in Noph and in Tahpanhes: say you, Stand fast, and prepare you; for the sword shall devour round about you.
15 Why are your valiant men swept away? they stood not, because the LORD did drive them.
16 He made many to fall, yea, one fell upon another: and they said, Arise, and let us go again to our own people, and to the land of our nativity, from the oppressing sword.
17 They did cry there, Pharaoh king of Egypt is but a noise; he has passed the time appointed.
18 As I live, says the King, whose name is the LORD of hosts, Surely as Tabor is among the mountains, and as Carmel by the sea, so shall he come.
19 O you daughter dwelling in Egypt, furnish yourself to go into captivity: for Noph shall be waste and desolate without an inhabitant.
20 Egypt is like a very fair heifer, but destruction comes; it comes out of the north [from its hiding].
21 Also her hired men are in the midst of her like fatted bullocks; for they also are turned back, and are fled away together: they did not stand, because the day of their calamity was come upon them, and the time of their visitation [pquddah].
22 The voice thereof shall go like a serpent; for they shall march with an army, and come against her with axes, as hewers of wood.
23 They shall cut down her forest, says the LORD, though it cannot be searched; because they are more than the grasshoppers, and are innumerable.
Jeremiah 8
4 Moreover you shall say unto them, Thus says the LORD; Shall they fall, and not arise? shall he turn away, and not return?
5 Why then is this people of Jerusalem slid back by a perpetual backsliding? they hold fast deceit, they refuse to return.
6 I hearkened and heard, but they spoke not aright: no man repented him of his wickedness, saying, What have I done? every one turned to his course, as the horse rushes into the battle.
7 Yea, the stork in the heaven knows her appointed times; and the turtle and the crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming; but my people know not the judgment of the LORD.
8 How do you say, We are wise, and the law of the LORD is with us? Lo, certainly in vain made he it; the pen of the scribes is in vain.
9 The wise men are ashamed, they are dismayed and taken: lo, they have rejected the word of the LORD; and what wisdom is in them?
10 Therefore will I give their wives unto others, and their fields to them that shall inherit them: for every one from the least even unto the greatest is given to covetousness, from the prophet even unto the priest every one deals falsely.
11 For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.
12 Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore shall they fall among them that fall: in the time of their visitation they shall be cast down, says the LORD.
13 I will surely consume them, says the LORD: there shall be no grapes on the vine, nor figs on the fig tree, and the leaf shall fade; and the things that I have given them shall pass away from them.
14 Why do we sit still? assemble yourselves, and let us enter into the defensed cities, and let us be silent there: for the LORD our God has put us to silence, and given us water of gall to drink, because we have sinned against the LORD.
15 We looked for peace, but no good came; and for a time of health, and behold trouble!
16 The snorting of his horses was heard from Dan [in this judgment, of which my people are ignorant, because those who teach them are thieves who rob them of my words, and therefore there is no peace for the wicked]: the whole land trembled at the sound of the neighing of his strong ones; for they are come, and have devoured the land, and all that is in it; the city, and those that dwell therein.
17 For, behold, I will send serpents, cockatrices, [men whose words destroy] among you, which will not be charmed, and they shall bite you, says the LORD.
18 When I would comfort myself against sorrow, my heart is faint in me.
19 Behold the voice of the cry of the daughter of my people because of them that dwell in a far country: Is not the LORD in Zion? is not her king in her? Why have they provoked me to anger with their graven images, and with strange vanities?
20 The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.
21 For the hurt of the daughter of my people am I hurt; I am black; astonishment has taken hold on me.
22 Is there no balm in Gilead [in this mountain of testimony]; is there no physician there? why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?
Friends, the truth is there are very few who have the faith to believe, and therefore, few are saved. They are going to follow the same men who led them here, deeper into hell, “Because you knew not the time of your visitation.”
As we know, when Acts 1:20 uses the word episkope it’s in telling of the one replacing the betrayer of the LORD. Psalms 109:8 is telling of removing from office the one the LORD judges and condemns. In the context of Zechariah 3, it tells of Satan standing at the betrayers’ right hand, which Zechariah says, is to resist (satan) the LORD’s correction. We know this speaks of the LORD correcting and purifying the priesthood and rebuking Satan. The wicked, the betrayers in the priesthood, refuse the LORD’s correction and instead choose to follow the devil [the misleader in the churches – 2 Chronicles 11:15] into perdition.
Zechariah 3
1 And he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand [as the powerful in the priesthood] to resist [satan] him.
2 And the LORD said unto Satan, The LORD rebuke you, O Satan; even the LORD that has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire [as in Jude 1:23 And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.]?
3 Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and stood before the angel.
4 And he answered and spoke unto those that stood before him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from him. And unto him he said, Behold, I have caused your iniquity to pass from you, and I will clothe you with change of raiment [the garments of the purified priesthood].
5 And I said, Let them set a fair mitre upon his head. So they set a fair mitre upon his head, and clothed him with garments. And the angel of the LORD stood by.
6 And the angel of the LORD protested [reiterated] unto Joshua, saying,
7 Thus says the LORD of hosts; If you will walk in my ways, and if you will keep my charge, then you shall also judge my house, and shall also keep my courts, and I will give you places to walk among these that stand by.
8 Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, you, and your fellows that sit before you: for they are men wondered at: for, behold, I will bring forth my servant the Branch.
Psalms 109
1 Hold not your peace, O God of my praise;
2 For the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of the deceitful are opened against me: they have spoken against me with a lying tongue.
3 They compassed me about also with words of hatred; and fought against me without a cause.
4 For my love they are my adversaries: but I give myself unto prayer.
5 And they have rewarded me evil for good, and hatred for my love.
6 Set you a wicked man over him: and let Satan stand at his right hand.
7 When he shall be judged, let him be condemned: and let his prayer become sin.
8 Let his days be few; and let another take his office [pquddah].
9 Let his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow.
10 Let his children be continually vagabonds, and beg: let them seek their bread also out of their desolate places.
11 Let the extortioner catch all that he has; and let the strangers spoil his labor.
12 Let there be none to extend mercy unto him: neither let there be any to favor his fatherless children.
13 Let his posterity be cut off; and in the generation following let their name be blotted out.
14 Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered with the LORD; and let not the sin of his mother be blotted out.
15 Let them be before the LORD continually, that he may cut off the memory of them from the earth.
16 Because that he remembered not to show mercy, but persecuted the poor and needy man, that he might even slay the broken in heart.
17 As he loved cursing, so let it come unto him: as he delighted not in blessing, so let it be far from him.
18 As he clothed himself with cursing like as with his garment, so let it come into his bowels like water, and like oil into his bones.
19 Let it be unto him as the garment which covers him, and for a girdle wherewith he is girded continually.
20 Let this be the reward of mine adversaries from the LORD, and of them that speak evil against my soul.
21 But do you for me, O God the LORD, for your name’s sake: because your mercy is good, deliver you me.
22 For I am poor and needy, and my heart is wounded within me.
23 I am gone like the shadow when it declines: I am tossed up and down as the locust.
24 My knees are weak through fasting; and my flesh fails of fatness.
25 I became also a reproach unto them: when they looked upon me they shook their heads.
26 Help me, O LORD my God: O save me according to your mercy:
27 That they may know that this is your hand [your work]; that you, LORD, have done it.
28 Let them curse, but bless you: when they arise, let them be ashamed; but let your servant rejoice.
29 Let mine adversaries be clothed with shame, and let them cover themselves with their own confusion, as with a mantle.
30 I will greatly praise the LORD with my mouth; yea, I will praise him among the multitude.
31 For he shall stand at the right hand of the poor, to save him from those that condemn his soul.
The following is from the post of 24 April 2020, which speaks of the lies and confusion that produced mass delusion. This state led to the fire that burnt up cities all across this nation and ended commerce there, as written in Revelation 18. These men have all the world following them ever deeper into hell, looking for and fearing their false claims, while the truth of God’s word is unfolding all around them. The cure is to remove them.
Habakkuk 2
18 What profit the graven image that the maker thereof has graven it; the molten image, and a teacher of lies, that the maker of his work trusts therein, to make dumb idols?
19 Woe unto him that says to the [dead] wood, Awake; to the dumb stone, Arise, it shall teach! Behold, it is laid over with gold and silver, and there is no breath [no life or life-giving power] at all in the midst of it.
20 But the LORD is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him.
Friends, God’s people are blinded to these events, the magnitude of the moment, by the gods of this world, the men they’ve followed into ignorance. They have all God’s people looking for their lies to come true, which they never do or can, because they are also graven and molten images they’ve created and put in God’s place.
The fires these men have created, false prophets with false prophesies in church and state, can end and any time, by taking the LORD’s stretched out hand and being lifted from them. But they won’t, because the great paradox remains, the great chasm between hell and heaven, the ever-open mouths of these men, who swallow up all the world and holds it in the belly of hell. The paradox is that men, the masses, look to those who’ve created the problem to save them. This isn’t going to happen; these men have forever held God’s people under the shadow of death. They have all the world believing they are the experts, and if it doesn’t listen to them, it will descend into hell or die, even continuing as their lies lead it into hell and it dies.
The false prophets in the church have always told of the time of the great tribulation, the five months between May and September, the time of the locust. They and the other false prophets are the locusts who will now bring even greater tribulation on the world, because they know their time is short and their end is near. They are Babylon the beast, the confusion now turned delusion that rules over the world, that comes from the ever-open mouths of these men, dragons and false prophets (the misleaders, Satan, and the devil, which mislead god’s people). Their ways will continue to destroy (as Apollyon and Abaddon, the misleading throughout history, the endless fall in the bottomless pit), and will bring in greater misery – because that is their mission, to destroy humanity and send it to hell.
Revelation 16
10 And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain,
11 And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds.
12 And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates [that carries the word that produces the fruit of confusion]; and the water thereof was dried up [so what was hidden below the surface of their word can be seen], that the way of the kings of the east [Chaldeans] might be prepared.
13 And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs [what was hidden below the surface of their words] come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet.
14 For they are the spirits of devils [misleaders], working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.
15 Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watches, and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame [lest they follow lies and never reach their expected end].
16 And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon [meaning mountain of the rendezvous, this high place, the set time].
17 And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done.
18 And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings [this voice of understanding]; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great.
19 And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.
20 And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found.
21 And there fell upon men a great hail [this word of that has been reserved in heaven, frozen until this moment, to be sent] out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great.
Revelation 17
1 And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will show unto you the judgment of the great whore [those who’ve left God to follow the kings {gods} of the earth] that sits upon many waters:
2 With whom the kings [misleaders] of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.
3 So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet colored beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns [all the world’s church and state powers].
4 And the woman [God’s unfaithful people – still following men] was arrayed in purple and scarlet color, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:
5 And upon her forehead was a name written, Mystery, Babylon The Great, The Mother Of Harlots And Abominations Of The Earth.
6 And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.
7 And the angel said unto me, Wherefore did you marvel? I will tell you the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and ten horns.
8 The beast that you saw was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit [the endless fall away from God, now at its end], and go into perdition [apoleia – {self}-destruction]: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.
9 And here is the mind which has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains [the seven {all} churches – where the judgment takes place], on which the woman sits.
10 And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come [the seven churches called out in Revelation 1 thru 3]; and when he comes, he must continue a short space.
11 And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth [Babylon – these seven churches fallen into one confusion], and is of the seven, and goes into perdition [apoleia – perishes].
12 And the ten horns which you saw are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast [these are all the world’s political misleaders who were brought to power once the church fell into confusion].
13 These have one mind [of confusion], and shall give their power and strength unto the beast [Babylon, the confusion that rules the world, now turned to delusion].
14 These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is LORD of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful. [Isaiah 8:11 For the LORD spake thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this people, saying, 12 Say you not, A confederacy, to all them to whom this people shall say, A confederacy; neither fear you their fear, nor be afraid. 13 Sanctify the LORD of hosts himself; and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. 14 And he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 15 And many among them shall stumble, and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken. 16 Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples. 17 And I will wait upon the LORD, that hides his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him. 18 Behold, I and the children whom the LORD has given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from the LORD of hosts, which dwells in mount Zion. 19 And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? {Should they be looking} for the living to the dead? 20 {Or} To the law and to the testimony{?}: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light {understanding} in them. 21 And they shall pass through it, hardly bestead and hungry {because they refuse this bread, the word from God’s mouth, by which only does man live}: and it shall come to pass, that when they shall be hungry, they shall fret themselves, and curse their king and their God, and look upward. 22 And they shall look unto the earth; and behold trouble and darkness {ignorance}, dimness of anguish {misery}; and they shall be driven to darkness {greater ignorance}.]
15 And he said unto me, The waters which you saw, where the whore sits, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.
16 And the ten horns which you saw upon the beast [the political part of Babylon], these shall hate the whore [hate the unfaithful church], and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire [as it is this day].
17 For God has put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast [Babylon – to be ruled by confusion], until the words of God shall be fulfilled.
18 And the woman which you saw is that great city [Babylon], which reign over the kings of the earth.
Revelation 18
1 And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened [was given understanding] with his glory [God’s glory seen in him].
2 And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon [confusion] the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils [misleader], and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.
3 For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.
4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that you be not partakers of her sins, and that you receive not of her plagues.
5 For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.
6 Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she has filled fill to her double.
7 How much she has glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she says in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow. [Isaiah 47:5 Sit you silent, and get you into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans: for you shall no more be called, The lady of kingdoms. 6 I was wroth with my people, I have polluted mine inheritance, and given them into your hand: you did show them no mercy; upon the ancient have you very heavily laid your yoke. 7 And you said, I shall be a lady for ever: so that you did not lay these things to your heart, neither did remember the latter end of it. 8 Therefore hear now this, you that are given to pleasures, that dwells carelessly, that says in your heart, I am, and none else beside me; I shall not sit as a widow, neither shall I know the loss of children: 9 But these two things shall come to you in a moment in one day, the loss of children, and widowhood: they shall come upon you in their perfection for the multitude of your sorceries, and for the great abundance of your enchantments. 10 For you have trusted in your wickedness: you have said, None sees me. Your wisdom and your knowledge, it has perverted you; and you have said in your heart, I am, and none else beside me. 11 Therefore shall evil come upon you; you shall not know from whence it rises: and mischief shall fall upon you; you shall not be able to put it off: and desolation shall come upon you suddenly, which you shall not know. 12 Stand now with your enchantments, and with the multitude of your sorceries, wherein you have labored from your youth; if so be you shall be able to profit, if so be you may prevail. 13 You are wearied in the multitude of your counsels. Let now the astrologers, the stargazers, the monthly prognosticators, stand up, and save you from these things that shall come upon you. 14 Behold, they shall be as stubble; the fire shall burn them; they shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame: there shall not be a coal to warm at, nor fire to sit before it.]
8 Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the LORD God who judges her.
9 And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning,
10 Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is your judgment come.
11 And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buy their merchandise any more:
12 The merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all manner vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble,
13 And cinnamon, and odours, and ointments, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men.
14 And the fruits that your soul lusted after are departed from you, and all things which were dainty and goodly are departed from you, and you shall find them no more at all.
15 The merchants of these things, which were made rich by her, shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing,
16 And saying, Alas, alas that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls!
17 For in one hour so great riches is come to naught. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off,
18 And cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like unto this great city!
19 And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate.
20 Rejoice over her, you heaven, and you holy apostles and prophets; for God has avenged you on her.
21 And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all.
22 And the voice of harpers, and musicians, and of pipers, and trumpeters, shall be heard no more at all in you; and no craftsman, of whatsoever craft he be, shall be found any more in you; and the sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all in you;
23 And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in you; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in you: for your merchants were the great men of the earth; for by your sorceries were all nations deceived.
24 And in her [Babylon – the misleaders in church and state, their corrupt governments under corrupt men, in which] was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth.
Revelation 19
1 And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honor, and power, unto the LORD our God:
2 For true and righteous are his judgments: for he has judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and has avenged the blood of his servants at her hand.
3 And again they said, Alleluia And her smoke rose up forever and ever.
4 And the four and twenty elders and the four beasts fell down and worshipped God that sat on the throne, saying, Amen; Alleluia.
5 And a voice came out of the throne, saying, Praise our God, all you his servants, and you that fear him, both small and great.
6 And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings [the voices of understanding], saying, Alleluia: for the LORD God omnipotent reigns.
7 Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife has made herself ready.
8 And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.
9 And he said unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he said unto me, These are the true sayings of God.
10 And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See you do it not: I am [I am] your fellow-servant, and of your brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.
11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he does judge and make war.
12 His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself.
13 And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.
14 And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.
15 And out of his mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
16 And he has on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King Of Kings, And LORD Of Lords.
17 And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God;
18 That you may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great.
19 And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army.
20 And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.
21 And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.
Psalms 4 [Added today] A Psalm of David
1 Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness: you have enlarged me when I was in distress; have mercy upon me, and hear my prayer.
2 O you sons of men, how long will you turn my glory into shame? how long will you love vanity, and seek after falsehood? Selah.
3 But know that the LORD has set apart him that is godly for himself: the LORD will hear when I call unto him.
4 Stand in awe, and sin not: commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still. Selah.
5 Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, and put your trust in the LORD.
6 There be many that say, Who will show us any good? LORD, lift you up the light [understanding] of your countenance [paniym – your presence] upon us.
7 You have put gladness in my heart, more than in the time that their corn and their wine increased.
8 I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for you, LORD, only make me dwell in safety.
