The Lamb and His 144,000 Followers

Revelation 14 I looked and saw the Lamb standing on Mount Zion! With him were a hundred forty-four thousand, who had his name and his Father's name written on their foreheads. ²Then I heard a sound from heaven that was like a roaring flood or loud thunder or even like the music of harps. ³And a new song was being sung in front of God's throne and in front of the four living creatures and the elders. No one could learn that song, except the one hundred forty-four thousand who had been rescued from the earth. ⁴All of these are pure virgins, and they follow the Lamb wherever he leads. They have been rescued to be presented to God and the Lamb as the most precious people on earth. ⁵They never tell lies, and they are innocent.

The Messages of the Three Angels

⁶I saw another angel. This one was flying across the sky and had the eternal good news to announce to the people of every race, tribe, language, and nation on earth. ⁷The angel shouted, "Worship and honor God! The time has come for him to judge everyone. Kneel down before the one who created heaven and earth, the oceans, and every stream."
⁸A second angel followed and said, "The great city of Babylon has fallen! This is the city that made all nations drunk and immoral. Now God is angry, and Babylon has fallen."
⁹Finally, a third angel came and shouted:

Here is what will happen if you worship the beast and the idol and have the mark of the beast on your hand or forehead. ¹⁰You will have to drink the wine that God gives to everyone who makes him angry. You will feel his mighty anger, and you will be tortured with fire and burning sulfur, while the holy angels and the Lamb look on.

¹¹If you worship the beast and the idol and accept the mark of its name, you will be tortured day and night. The smoke from your torture will go up forever and ever, and you will never be able to rest.

¹²God's people must learn to endure. They must also obey his commands and have faith in Jesus.
¹³Then I heard a voice from heaven say, "Put this in writing. From now on, the Lord will bless everyone who has faith in him when they die."
The Spirit answered, "Yes, they will rest from their hard work, and they will be rewarded for what they have done."

The Earth Is Harvested

¹⁴I looked and saw a bright cloud, and someone who seemed to be the Son of Man was sitting on the cloud. He wore a gold crown on his head and held a sharp sickle in his hand. ¹⁵An angel came out of the temple and shouted, "Start cutting with your sickle! Harvest season is here, and all crops on earth are ripe." ¹⁶The one on the cloud swung his sickle and harvested the crops.
¹⁷Another angel with a sharp sickle then came out of the temple in heaven. ¹⁸After this, an angel with power over fire came from the altar and shouted to the angel who had the sickle. He said, "All grapes on earth are ripe! Harvest them with your sharp sickle." ¹⁹The angel swung his sickle on earth and cut off its grapes. He threw them into a pit where they were trampled on as a sign of God's anger. ²⁰The pit was outside the city, and when the grapes were mashed, blood flowed out. The blood turned into a river that was about two hundred miles long and almost deep enough to cover a horse.

Esther Invites the King and Haman to a Dinner

Esther 5 Three days later, Esther dressed in her royal robes and went to the inner court of the palace in front of the throne. The king was sitting there, facing the open doorway. ²He was happy to see Esther, and he held out the gold scepter to her.
When Esther came up and touched the tip of the scepter, ³the king said, "Esther, what brings you here? Just ask, and I will give you as much as half of my kingdom."
⁴Esther answered, "Your Majesty, please come with Haman to a dinner I will prepare for you later today."
⁵The king said to his servants, "Hurry and get Haman, so we can accept Esther's invitation."
The king and Haman went to Esther's dinner, ⁶and while they were drinking wine, the king asked her, "What can I do for you? Just ask, and I will give you as much as half of my kingdom."
^7-8Esther replied, "Your Majesty, if you really care for me and are willing to do what I want, please come again tomorrow with Haman to the dinner I will prepare for you. At that time I will answer Your Majesty's question."

Haman Plans To Kill Mordecai

⁹Haman was feeling great as he left. But when he saw Mordecai at the palace gate, he noticed that Mordecai did not stand up or show him any respect. This made Haman really angry, ¹⁰but he did not say a thing.
When Haman got home, he called together his friends and his wife Zeresh ¹¹and started bragging about his great wealth and all his sons. He told them the many ways that the king had honored him and how all the other officials and leaders had to respect him. ¹²Haman added, "That's not all! Besides the king himself, I'm the only person Queen Esther invited for dinner. She has also invited the king and me to dinner tomorrow. ¹³But none of this makes me happy, as long as I see that Jew Mordecai sitting at the palace gate."
¹⁴Haman's wife and friends said to him, "Have a tower built about seventy-five feet high, and tomorrow morning ask the king to hang Mordecai there. Then later, you can have dinner with the king and enjoy yourself."
This seemed like a good idea to Haman, and he had the tower built.

The King Honors Mordecai

Esther 6 That night the king could not sleep, and he had a servant read him the records of what had happened since he had been king. ²When the servant read how Mordecai had kept Bigthana and Teresh from killing the king, ³the king asked, "What has been done to reward Mordecai for this?"
"Nothing, Your Majesty!" the king's servants replied.
⁴About this time, Haman came in to ask the king to have Mordecai hanged on the tower he had built. The king saw him and asked, "Who is that man waiting in front of the throne room?"
⁵The king's servants answered, "Your Majesty, it is Haman."
"Have him come in," the king commanded.
⁶When Haman entered the room, the king asked him, "What should I do for a man I want to honor?"
Haman was sure that he was the one the king wanted to honor. ⁷So he replied, "Your Majesty, if you wish to honor a man, ⁸have someone bring him one of your own robes and one of your own horses with a fancy headdress. ⁹Have one of your highest officials place your robe on this man and lead him through the streets on your horse, while someone shouts, 'This is how the king honors a man!' "
¹⁰The king replied, "Hurry and do just what you have said! Don't forget a thing. Get the robe and the horse for Mordecai the Jew, who is on duty at the palace gate!"
¹¹Haman got the king's robe and put it on Mordecai. He led him through the city on the horse and shouted as he went, "This is how the king honors a man!"
¹²Afterwards, Mordecai returned to his duties at the palace gate, and Haman hurried home, hiding his face in shame. ¹³Haman told his wife and friends what had happened. Then his wife and his advisors said, "If Mordecai is a Jew, this is just the beginning of your troubles! You will end up a ruined man." ¹⁴They were still talking, when the king's servants came and quickly took Haman to the dinner that Esther had prepared.

Psalm 106

²⁴They would not trust you, LORD,
and they did not like the promised land.
²⁵They would not obey you,
and they grumbled in their tents.
²⁶So you threatened them by saying,
"I'll kill you out here in the desert!
²⁷I'll scatter your children everywhere in the world."

²⁸Your people became followers of a god named Baal Peor,
and they ate sacrifices offered to the dead.
²⁹They did such terrible things
that you punished them with a deadly disease.
³⁰But Phinehas helped them, and the sickness stopped.
³¹Now he will always be highly honored.

³²At Meribah Spring they turned against you
and made you furious.
³³Then Moses got into trouble for speaking in anger.

³⁴Our LORD, they disobeyed you
by refusing to destroy the nations.
³⁵Instead they were friendly with those foreigners
and followed their customs.
³⁶Then they fell into the trap of worshiping idols.
³⁷They sacrificed their sons and their daughters
to demons ³⁸and to the gods of Canaan.
Then they poured out the blood of these innocent children
and made the land filthy.
³⁹By doing such gruesome things, they also became filthy.

⁴⁰Finally, LORD, you were angry
and terribly disgusted with your people.
⁴¹So you put them in the power of nations
that hated them.
⁴²They were mistreated and abused by their enemies,
⁴³but you saved them time after time.
They were determined to rebel,
and their sins caused their downfall.

⁴⁴You answered their prayers when they were in trouble.
⁴⁵You kept your agreement and were so merciful
⁴⁶that their enemies had pity on them.

⁴⁷Save us, LORD God!
Bring us back from among the nations.
Let us celebrate and shout in praise of your holy name.

⁴⁸LORD God of Israel,
you deserve to be praised forever and ever.
Let everyone say, "Amen! Shout praises to the LORD!"