The Season of End Times

³¹Yes, the days are coming, declares the Lord,

when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel

and with the house of Judah.

³²It will not be like the covenant I made with their fathers,

when I took them by the hand

and led them out of the land of Egypt.

They broke that covenant of mine,

although I was a husband to them, declares the Lord.

³³But this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days,

declares the Lord.

I will put my law in their minds,

and I will write it on their hearts.

I will be their God,

and they will be my people.

³⁴No longer will each one teach his neighbor,

or each one teach his brother, saying, “Know the Lord,”

because they will all know me,

from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord,

for I will forgive their guilt,

and I will remember their sins no more.

¹⁹Now we know that whatever the law says is addressed to those who are under the law, so that every mouth will be silenced and the whole world will be subject to God’s judgment. ²⁰For this reason, no one will be declared righteous in his sight by works of the law, for through the law we become aware of sin.

²¹But now, completely apart from the law, a righteousness from God has been made known. The Law and the Prophets testify to it. ²²This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all and over all who believe.

In fact, there is no difference, ²³because all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God ²⁴and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, ²⁵whom God publicly displayed as the atonement seat through faith in his blood. God did this to demonstrate his justice, since, in his divine restraint, he had left the sins that were committed earlier unpunished. ²⁶He did this to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so that he would be both just and the one who justifies the person who has faith in Jesus.

²⁷What happens to boasting then? It has been eliminated. By what principle—by the principle of works? No, but by the principle of faith. ²⁸For we conclude that a person is justified by faith without the works of the law.

³¹So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you remain in my word, you are really my disciples. ³²You will also know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

³³“We are Abraham’s descendants,” they answered, “and we have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say, ‘You will be set free’?”

³⁴Jesus answered, “Amen, Amen, I tell you: Everyone who keeps committing sin is a slave to sin. ³⁵But a slave does not remain in the family forever. A son does remain forever. ³⁶So if the Son sets you free, you really will be free.”

Then he called out with a loud voice in my hearing, “Bring the supervisors of the city here, each one of them with his weapon of destruction in his hand.” ²Then I noticed six men coming from the direction of the upper gate that faces north, each with his weapon, a war club, in his hand. There was also one man in the middle, dressed in linen, with a scribe’s kit at his waist. They entered and stood beside the bronze altar.

³Now the Glory of the God of Israel ascended from above the cherub, over whom it had been standing, and moved to the threshold of the temple building. He called out to the man who was dressed in linen, who had the scribe’s kit at his waist. ⁴The Lord said to him, “Go through the city, through Jerusalem, and put a cross mark on the foreheads of those who moan and lament over the abominations being committed in her.” ⁵To the others he said in my hearing, “Follow him through the city and strike the people down. Do not let your eye show pity, and do not have compassion. ⁶Old men and young men, virgins, little children, and women—you are to keep killing until you wipe them out completely. But do not go near anyone who has been marked with the cross. You are to begin at my sanctuary.”

So they began with the old men who were in front of the temple. ⁷Then he said to them, “Defile the temple and fill the courts with the slain. Go!” So they went and struck them down throughout the city.

⁸While they were striking them down, I was left alone and I fell facedown and cried out, “Oh, Lord God! Are you going to destroy everyone who is left in Israel, as you pour out your wrath upon Jerusalem?” ⁹He said to me, “The guilt of the house of Israel and Judah is very, very great. The land is filled with bloodshed, and the city is full of injustice, because they say, ‘The Lord has forsaken the land’ and ‘The Lord does not see.’ ¹⁰But I am determined that my eye will show no pity, and I will have no compassion. I will bring down their conduct on their own heads.” ¹¹Just then, I saw the man dressed in linen, who had the scribe’s kit at his waist. He was reporting, “I have done just as you commanded me.”

⁵This is evidence of God’s righteous verdict that resulted in your being counted worthy of God’s kingdom, for which you also suffer. ⁶Certainly, it is right for God to repay trouble to those who trouble you, ⁷and to give relief to you, who are troubled along with us. When the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his powerful angels, ⁸he will exercise vengeance in flaming fire on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. ⁹Such people will receive a just penalty: eternal destruction away from the presence of the Lord and from his glorious strength, ¹⁰on that day when he comes to be glorified among his saints, and to be marveled at among all those who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed.

¹¹As they were listening to these things, Jesus went on to tell a parable, because he was near Jerusalem, and the people thought that the kingdom of God was going to appear at once. ¹²So he said, “A man of noble birth traveled to a distant country to receive a kingdom for himself and then to return. ¹³He called ten of his servants and gave them ten minas. ‘Conduct business until I return,’ he said to them.

¹⁴“But his subjects hated him and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We do not want this man to be king over us.’

¹⁵“When he returned after receiving the kingdom, he summoned the servants to whom he had given the money. He wanted to find out what they had gained by conducting business.

¹⁶“The first one came to him and said, ‘Master, your mina has earned ten more minas.’

¹⁷“He said to him, ‘Well done, good servant! Because you were faithful in a very small matter, you will have authority over ten cities.’

¹⁸“The second one came and said, ‘Master, your mina has produced five more minas.’

¹⁹“So he said to him, ‘You will be over five cities.’

²⁰“And another one came and said, ‘Master, here is your mina that I laid away in a piece of cloth. ²¹For I was afraid of you, since you are a demanding man. You take what you did not deposit and reap what you did not sow.’

²²“He said to him, ‘You wicked servant, I will judge you with your own words! You knew that I am a demanding man, taking what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow. ²³Then why did you not put my money in the bank? Then, when I returned, I could have collected it with interest!’

²⁴“He said to those standing there, ‘Take the mina away from him and give it to the one who has the ten minas.’

²⁵“But they said to him, ‘Master, he already has ten minas!’

²⁶“‘I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but from the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. ²⁷Now as for those enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them, bring them here and kill them in front me.’”

¹⁷Watch this! I am about to create new heavens and a new earth.

The former things will not be remembered.

They will not come to mind.

¹⁸Instead, rejoice and celebrate forever, because of what I am creating.

Watch this! I am about to create Jerusalem to be a source of gladness,

and her people will be a source of joy.

¹⁹I also will be glad because of Jerusalem,

and I will rejoice over my people.

The sound of weeping will not be heard in her again,

nor will the sound of crying.

²⁰There will never again be an infant there who lives for only a few days,

or an elderly man who does not fill out all his days,

for one who dies at a hundred will be considered a young man,

and one who fails to attain the age of one hundred will be regarded as cursed.

²¹Then they will build houses and live in them.

They will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.

²²They will not build a house and have another person live in it.

They will not plant and have another person eat the crop,

for the days of my people will be like the days of a tree,

and my chosen ones will enjoy all the work of their hands.

²³They will not labor only to receive nothing,

and they will not give birth to children doomed to disaster,

for they will be offspring who are blessed by the Lord,

and their descendants will be with them.

²⁴Then even before they call, I will answer.

While they are still speaking, I will hear.

²⁵The wolf and the lamb will graze together,

and lions will eat straw like cattle,

but the serpent will eat dust as its food.

They will not harm or destroy anywhere on my holy mountain,

says the Lord.

¹The angel showed me the river of the water of life, which was as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and the Lamb. ²In the middle of the city’s street and on each side of the river was a tree of life that yielded twelve kinds of fruit. The tree yields its fruit every month, and its leaves are for the healing of the nations.

³There will no longer be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city. His servants will worship him. ⁴They will see his face. His name will be on their foreheads. ⁵There will no longer be any night or any need for lamplight or sunlight, because the Lord God will shine on them. And they will reign forever and ever.

²⁷Some of the Sadducees (who say there is no resurrection) came to him. ²⁸They asked him a question, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies leaving a wife but no children, his brother should take the wife and raise up children for his brother. ²⁹So there were seven brothers. The first took a wife and died childless. ³⁰The second took her as a wife, ³¹and so did the third, and in the same way the seven died and left no children. ³²Finally the woman died too. ³³So in the resurrection, whose wife will she be? For the seven had her as a wife.”

³⁴Jesus said to them, “The people of this age marry and are given in marriage. ³⁵But those who are considered worthy to experience that age and the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. ³⁶In fact, they cannot die any more, for they are like the angels. They are sons of God, because they are sons of the resurrection.

³⁷“Even Moses showed in the account about the burning bush that the dead are raised, when he called the Lord: ‘The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ ³⁸He is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for all are alive to him.”

⁸Judah, your brothers will praise you.

Your hand will be on the throat of your enemies.

Your father’s sons will bow down to you.

⁹Judah is a lion’s cub.

You have gone up from the prey, my son.

He stooped down. He crouched like a lion.

He is like a lioness. Who will provoke him?

¹⁰The scepter will not depart from Judah,

nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,

until the one to whom it belongs comes.

He will receive the obedience of the peoples.

¹¹He will tie his foal to the vine,

his donkey’s colt to the choice vine.

He has washed his clothing in wine,

his garments in the blood of grapes.

¹²His eyes will be darker than wine,

his teeth whiter than milk.

¹³The Father rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, ¹⁴in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

¹⁵He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation, ¹⁶for in him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, things seen and unseen, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. ¹⁷He is before all things, and all things hold together in him.

¹⁸He is also the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that in all things he might have the highest rank. ¹⁹For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, ²⁰and through him to reconcile all things to himself (whether things on earth or in heaven) by making peace through the blood of his cross.

³⁵The people stood watching. The rulers were ridiculing him, saying, “He saved others. Let him save himself, if this is the Christ of God, the Chosen One!”

³⁶The soldiers also made fun of him. Coming up to him, they offered him sour wine, ³⁷saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!”

³⁸There was also an inscription written above him: “This is the King of the Jews.”

³⁹One of the criminals hanging there was blaspheming him, saying, “Aren’t you the Christ? Save yourself and us!”

⁴⁰But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God, since you are under the same condemnation? ⁴¹We are punished justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for what we have done, but this man has done nothing wrong.” ⁴²Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come in your kingdom.”

⁴³Jesus said to him, “Amen I tell you: Today you will be with me in paradise.”