The Bowls of God's Anger

Revelation 16 From the temple I heard a voice shout to the seven angels, "Go and empty the seven bowls of God's anger on the earth."
²The first angel emptied his bowl on the earth. At once ugly and painful sores broke out on everyone who had the mark of the beast and worshiped the idol.
³The second angel emptied his bowl on the sea. Right away the sea turned into blood like that of a dead person, and every living thing in the sea died.
⁴The third angel emptied his bowl into the rivers and streams. At once they turned to blood. ⁵Then I heard the angel, who has power over water, say,
"You have always been,
and you always will be the holy God.
You had the right to judge in this way.
⁶They poured out the blood of your people
and your prophets.
So you gave them blood to drink,
as they deserve!"
⁷After this, I heard the altar shout,
"Yes, Lord God All-Powerful,
your judgments are honest and fair."
⁸The fourth angel emptied his bowl on the sun, and it began to scorch people like fire. ⁹Everyone was scorched by its great heat, and all of them cursed the name of God who had power over these terrible troubles. But no one turned to God and praised him.
¹⁰The fifth angel emptied his bowl on the throne of the beast. At once darkness covered its kingdom, and its people began biting their tongues in pain. ¹¹And because of their painful sores, they cursed the God who rules in heaven. But still they did not stop doing evil things.
¹²The sixth angel emptied his bowl on the great Euphrates River, and it completely dried up to make a road for the kings from the east. ¹³An evil spirit that looked like a frog came out of the mouth of the dragon. One also came out of the mouth of the beast, and another out of the mouth of the false prophet. ¹⁴These evil spirits had the power to work miracles. They went to every king on earth, to bring them together for a war against God All-Powerful. But that will be the day of God's great victory.
¹⁵Remember that Christ says, "When I come, it will surprise you like a thief! But God will bless you, if you are awake and ready. Then you won't have to walk around naked and be ashamed."
¹⁶Those armies came together in a place that in Hebrew is called Armagedon.
¹⁷As soon as the seventh angel emptied his bowl in the air, a loud voice from the throne in the temple shouted, "It's done!" ¹⁸There were flashes of lightning, roars of thunder, and the worst earthquake in all history. ¹⁹The great city of Babylon split into three parts, and the cities of other nations fell. So God made Babylon drink from the wine cup that was filled with his anger. ²⁰Every island ran away, and the mountains disappeared. ²¹Hailstones, weighing about a hundred pounds each, fell from the sky on people. Finally, the people cursed God, because the hail was so terrible.

The Jews Destroy Their Enemies

Esther 9 The first law that the king had made was to be followed on the thirteenth day of Adar, the twelfth month. This was the very day that the enemies of the Jews had hoped to do away with them. But the Jews turned things around, ²and in the cities of every province they came together to attack their enemies. Everyone was afraid of the Jews, and no one could do anything to oppose them.
³The leaders of the provinces, the rulers, the governors, and the court officials were afraid of Mordecai and took sides with the Jews. ⁴Everyone in the provinces knew that the king had promoted him and had given him a lot of power.
⁵The Jews took their swords and did away with their enemies, without showing any mercy. ^6-10They killed five hundred people in Susa, but they did not take anything that belonged to the ones they killed. Haman had been one of the worst enemies of the Jews, and ten of his sons were among those who were killed. Their names were Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha, Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha, Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai, and Vaizatha.
¹¹Later that day, someone told the king how many people had been killed in Susa. ¹²Then he told Esther, "Five hundred people, including Haman's ten sons, have been killed in Susa alone. If that many were killed here, what must have happened in the provinces? Is there anything else you want done? Just tell me, and it will be done."
¹³Esther answered, "Your Majesty, please let the Jews in Susa fight to defend themselves tomorrow, just as they did today. And order the bodies of Haman's ten sons to be hanged in public."
¹⁴King Xerxes did what Esther had requested, and the bodies of Haman's sons were hung in Susa. ¹⁵Then on the fourteenth day of Adar the Jews of the city got together and killed three hundred more people. But they still did not take anything that belonged to their enemies.
^16-17On the thirteenth day of Adar, the Jews in the provinces had come together to defend themselves. They killed seventy-five thousand of their enemies, but the Jews did not take anything that belonged to the ones they killed. Then on the fourteenth day of the month the Jews celebrated with a feast.
¹⁸On the fifteenth day of the month the Jews in Susa held a holiday and celebrated, after killing their enemies on the thirteenth and the fourteenth. ¹⁹This is why the Jews in the villages now celebrate on the fourteenth day of the month. It is a joyful holiday that they celebrate by feasting and sending gifts of food to each other.

The Festival of Purim

²⁰Mordecai wrote down everything that had happened. Then he sent letters to the Jews everywhere in the provinces ²¹and told them:

Each year you must celebrate on both the fourteenth and the fifteenth of Adar, ²²the days when we Jews defeated our enemies. Remember this month as a time when our sorrow was turned to joy, and celebration took the place of crying. Celebrate by having parties and by giving to the poor and by sharing gifts of food with each other.

²³They followed Mordecai's instructions and set aside these two days every year as a time of celebration.

The Reason for the Festival of Purim

²⁴Haman was the son of Hammedatha and a descendant of Agag. He hated the Jews so much that he planned to destroy them, but he wanted to find out the best time to do it. So he cast lots.
²⁵Esther went to King Xerxes and asked him to save her people. Then the king gave written orders for Haman and his sons to be punished in the same terrible way that Haman had in mind for the Jews. So they were hanged. ²⁶Mordecai's letter had said that the Jews must celebrate for two days because of what had happened to them. This time of celebration is called Purim, which is the Hebrew word for the lots that were cast. ²⁷Now every year the Jews set aside these two days for having parties and celebrating, just as they were told to do. ²⁸From now on, all Jewish families must remember to celebrate Purim on these two days each year.
²⁹Queen Esther, daughter of Abihail, wanted to give full authority to Mordecai's letter about the Festival of Purim, and with his help she wrote a letter about the feast. ³⁰Copies of this letter were sent to Jews in the one hundred twenty-seven provinces of King Xerxes. In the letter they said:

We pray that all of you will live in peace and safety.

³¹You and your descendants must always remember to celebrate Purim at the time and in the way that we have said. You must also follow the instructions that we have given you about mourning and going without eating.

³²These laws about Purim are written by the authority of Queen Esther.

The Greatness of Xerxes and Mordecai

Esther 10 King Xerxes made everyone in his kingdom pay taxes, even those in lands across the sea. ²All the great and famous things that King Xerxes did are written in the record books of the kings of Media and Persia. These records also tell about the honors that the king gave to Mordecai. ³Next to the king himself, Mordecai was the highest official in the kingdom. He was a popular leader of the Jews, because he helped them in many ways and would even speak to the king for them.

Psalm 107

²³Some of you made a living by sailing the mighty sea,
²⁴and you saw the miracles the LORD performed there.
²⁵At his command a storm arose, and waves covered the sea.
²⁶You were tossed to the sky and to the ocean depths,
until things looked so bad that you lost your courage.
²⁷You staggered like drunkards and gave up all hope.
²⁸You were in serious trouble,
but you prayed to the LORD, and he rescued you.
²⁹He made the storm stop and the sea be quiet.
³⁰You were happy because of this,
and he brought you to the port
where you wanted to go.

³¹You should praise the LORD for his love
and for the wonderful things he does for all of us.
³²Honor the LORD when you
and your leaders meet to worship.

³³If you start doing wrong,
the LORD will turn rivers into deserts,
³⁴flowing streams into scorched land,
and fruitful fields into beds of salt.

³⁵But the LORD can also turn deserts into lakes
and scorched land into flowing streams.
³⁶If you are hungry,
you can settle there and build a town.
³⁷You can plant fields and vineyards
that produce a good harvest.
³⁸The LORD will bless you with many children
and with herds of cattle.

³⁹Sometimes you may be crushed by troubles and sorrows,
until only a few of you are left to survive.
⁴⁰But the LORD will take revenge
on those who conquer you,
and he will make them wander across desert sands.
⁴¹When you are suffering and in need,
he will come to your rescue,
and your families will grow as fast as a herd of sheep.
⁴²You will see this because you obey the LORD,
but everyone who is wicked will be silenced.

⁴³Be wise! Remember this
and think about the kindness of the LORD.