The Marriage Supper of the Lamb

⁵From the throne a voice said,
"If you worship and fear our God,
give praise to him, no matter who you are."
⁶Then I heard what seemed to be a large crowd that sounded like a roaring flood and loud thunder all mixed together. They were saying,
"Praise the Lord!
Our Lord God All-Powerful now rules as king.
⁷So we will be glad and happy and give him praise.
The wedding day of the Lamb is here,
and his bride is ready.
⁸She will be given a wedding dress
made of pure and shining linen.
This linen stands for the good things
God's people have done."
⁹Then the angel told me, "Put this in writing. God will bless everyone who is invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb." The angel also said, "These things that God has said are true."
¹⁰I knelt at the feet of the angel and began to worship him. But the angel said, "Don't do that! I am a servant, just like you and everyone else who tells about Jesus. Don't worship anyone but God. Everyone who tells about Jesus does it by the power of the Spirit."

The Rider on the White Horse

¹¹I looked and saw that heaven was open, and a white horse was there. Its rider was called Faithful and True, and he is always fair when he judges or goes to war. ¹²He had eyes like flames of fire, and he was wearing a lot of crowns. His name was written on him, but he was the only one who knew what the name meant.
¹³The rider wore a robe that was covered with blood, and he was known as "The Word of God." ¹⁴He was followed by armies from heaven that rode on horses and were dressed in pure white linen. ¹⁵From his mouth a sharp sword went out to attack the nations. He will rule them with an iron rod and will show the fierce anger of God All-Powerful by trampling the grapes in the pit where wine is made. ¹⁶On the part of the robe that covered his thigh was written, "KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS."
¹⁷I then saw an angel standing on the sun, and he shouted to all the birds flying in the sky, "Come and join in God's great feast! ¹⁸You can eat the flesh of kings, rulers, leaders, horses, riders, free people, slaves, important people, and everyone else."
¹⁹I also saw the beast and all kings of the earth come together. They fought against the rider on the white horse and against his army. ²⁰But the beast was captured and so was the false prophet. This is the same prophet who had worked miracles for the beast, so that he could fool everyone who had the mark of the beast and worshiped the idol. The beast and the false prophet were thrown alive into a lake of burning sulfur. ²¹But the rest of their army was killed by the sword that came from the mouth of the rider on the horse. Then birds stuffed themselves on the dead bodies.

A Song about a Vineyard

The LORD said:
Isaiah 5 I will sing a song about my friend's vineyard
that was on the side of a fertile hill.
²My friend dug the ground, removed the stones,
and planted the best vines.
He built a watchtower and dug a pit in rocky ground
for pressing the grapes.
He hoped they would be sweet,
but bitter grapes were all it produced.

³Listen, people of Jerusalem and of Judah!
You be the judge of me and my vineyard.
⁴What more could I have done for my vineyard?
I hoped for sweet grapes,
but bitter grapes were all that grew.

⁵Now I will let you know what I am going to do.
I will cut down the hedge and tear down the wall.
My vineyard will be trampled and left in ruins.
⁶It will turn into a desert, neither pruned nor hoed;
it will be covered with thorns and briars.
I will command the clouds not to send rain.

⁷I am the LORD All-Powerful! Israel is the vineyard,
and Judah is the garden I tended with care.
I had hoped for honesty and for justice,
but dishonesty and cries for mercy were all I found.

Isaiah Condemns Social Injustice

⁸You are in for trouble! You take over house after house and field after field, until there is no room left for anyone else in all the land. ⁹But the LORD All-Powerful has made this promise to me:

Those large and beautiful homes will be left empty, with no one to take care of them. ¹⁰Ten acres of grapevines will produce only six gallons of juice, and five bushels of seed will produce merely a half-bushel of grain.

¹¹You are in for trouble! You get up early to start drinking, and you keep it up late into the night. ¹²At your drinking parties you have the music of stringed instruments, tambourines, and flutes. But you never even think about all the LORD has done, ¹³and so his people know nothing about him. That's why many of you will be dragged off to foreign lands. Your leaders will starve to death, and everyone else will suffer from thirst.
¹⁴The world of the dead has opened its mouth wide and is eagerly waiting for the leaders of Jerusalem and for its noisy crowds, especially for those who take pride in that city. ¹⁵Its citizens have been put down, and its proud people have been brought to shame. ¹⁶But the holy LORD God All-Powerful is praised, because he has shown who he is by bringing justice. ¹⁷His people will be like sheep grazing in their own pasture, and they will take off what was left by others.
¹⁸You are in for trouble! The lies you tell are like ropes by which you drag along sin and evil. ¹⁹And you say, "Let the holy God of Israel hurry up and do what he has promised, so we can see it for ourselves." ²⁰You are headed for trouble! You say wrong is right, darkness is light, and bitter is sweet.
²¹You think you are clever and smart. ²²And you are great at drinking and mixing drinks. But you are in for trouble. ²³You accept bribes to let the guilty go free, and you cheat the innocent out of a fair trial.
²⁴You will go up in flames like straw and hay! You have rejected the teaching of the holy LORD God All-Powerful of Israel. Now your roots will rot, and your blossoms will turn to dust.
²⁵You are the LORD's people, but you made him terribly angry, and he struck you with his mighty arm. Mountains shook, and dead bodies covered the streets like garbage. The LORD is still angry, and he is ready to strike you again.

Foreign Nations Will Attack

²⁶The LORD has signaled for the foreign nations to come and attack you. He has already whistled, and they are coming as fast as they can. ²⁷None of them are tired. They don't sleep or get drowsy, and they run without stumbling. Their belts don't come loose; their sandal straps don't break. ²⁸Their arrows are sharp, and their bows are ready. The hoofs of their horses are hard as flint; the wheels of their war chariots turn as fast as a whirlwind.
²⁹They roar and growl like fierce young lions as they grab their victims and drag them off where no one can rescue them. ³⁰On the day they attack, they will roar like the ocean. And across the land you will see nothing but darkness and trouble, because the light of day will be covered by thick clouds.

A Vision of the LORD in the Temple

Isaiah 6 In the year that King Uzziah died, I had a vision of the LORD. He was on his throne high above, and his robe filled the temple. ²Flaming creatures with six wings each were flying over him. They covered their faces with two of their wings and their bodies with two more. They used the other two wings for flying, ³as they shouted,
"Holy, holy, holy, LORD All-Powerful!
The earth is filled with your glory."
⁴As they shouted, the doorposts of the temple shook, and the temple was filled with smoke. ⁵Then I cried out, "I'm doomed! Everything I say is sinful, and so are the words of everyone around me. Yet I have seen the King, the LORD All-Powerful."
⁶One of the flaming creatures flew over to me with a burning coal that it had taken from the altar with a pair of metal tongs. ⁷It touched my lips with the hot coal and said, "This has touched your lips. Your sins are forgiven, and you are no longer guilty."
⁸After this, I heard the LORD ask, "Is there anyone I can send? Will someone go for us?"
"I'll go," I answered. "Send me!"
⁹Then the LORD told me to go and speak this message to the people:
"You will listen and listen, but never understand.
You will look and look, but never see."
The LORD also said,
¹⁰"Make these people stubborn! Make them stop up their ears,
cover their eyes, and fail to understand.
Don't let them turn to me and be healed."
¹¹Then I asked the LORD, "How long will this last?"
The LORD answered:

Until their towns are destroyed and their houses are deserted, until their fields are empty, ¹²and I have sent them far away, leaving their land in ruins. ¹³If only a tenth of the people are left, even they will be destroyed. But just as stumps remain after trees have been cut down, some of my chosen ones will be left.

Psalm 109

²⁰Those are the cruel things my enemies wish for me.
Let it all happen to them!
²¹Be true to your name, LORD God!
Show your great kindness and rescue me.

²²I am poor and helpless, and I have lost all hope.
²³I am fading away like an evening shadow;
I am tossed aside like a crawling insect.
²⁴I have gone without eating, until my knees are weak,
and my body is bony.
²⁵When my enemies see me,
they say cruel things and shake their heads.

²⁶Please help me, LORD God!
Come and save me because of your love.
²⁷Let others know that you alone have saved me.
²⁸I don't care if they curse me, as long as you bless me.
You will make my enemies fail when they attack,
and you will make me glad to be your servant.
²⁹You will cover them with shame,
just as their bodies are covered with clothes.

³⁰I will sing your praises and thank you, LORD,
when your people meet.
³¹You help everyone in need,
and you defend them when they are on trial.