The Daily Audio Bible

The Lord comes

14 There will be a day when your enemies will take away everything. They will take away everything that is yours. They will each have some of your things.

² I will bring soldiers from all countries to fight against Jerusalem. They will go into the city and they will rob the houses. They will have sex with the women. They will lead away half the people to other countries. They will let the other half stay in Jerusalem.

³ Then the Lord will go out. And he will fight against the people from those countries as in past years.

⁴ On that day, the Lord's feet will stand on the Mount of Olives. This mountain is east of Jerusalem. It will break in two from east to west and it will make a wide valley. Half of the mountain will move north and half of the mountain will move south.

⁵ In the time of Uzziah, king of Judah, you ran away when the earth moved. You will do this again. Then the Lord will come. And all those who are holy will come with him.^[a]

⁶ On that day, it will not be light in some places and dark in other places.

⁷ It will be a day like no other day. There will be no night. When it is evening, there will still be light. Only the Lord himself will know that day.

⁸ On that day, water will come out from Jerusalem. Half of this water will go towards the sea in the east. Half of this water will go towards the sea in the west. This will go on during summer and winter.

⁹ The Lord will be king over the whole earth. On that day, there will be only one Lord and he will have only one name.

¹⁰ All the land, from Geba to Rimmon, south of Jerusalem, will become flat. But Jerusalem will rise and it will be high in its place. The city will be from the Gate of Benjamin to the Corner Gate and to the High Building of Hananel. The place where the servants of the king make his wine will be in it too.

¹¹ Jerusalem will be safe. People will live there. Nobody will destroy Jerusalem ever again.

¹² The Lord will make the people sick that fought against Jerusalem. Their bodies will become bad as they stand on their feet. Their eyes will become bad and they will fall out. And their tongues will become bad in their mouths.

¹³ On that day, the Lord will make men so afraid that each man will attack the man next to him.

¹⁴ Judah also will go to Jerusalem and they will fight. They will take every good thing from all the countries. There will be a lot of expensive metals and many rich clothes.

¹⁵ The horses and all the other animals will be sick. And they will die as the soldiers died.

¹⁶ Some of the soldiers from the countries that attacked Jerusalem will not die. They will go to Jerusalem year after year to worship the King, the Lord Almighty. They will worship him at the Feast of Huts.^[b]

¹⁷ All the people on the earth will have to go to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord Almighty. If any people on the earth do not go, they will have no rain.

¹⁸ If the people from Egypt do not go to Jerusalem to worship the Lord, they will have no rain. And the Lord will make them sick. If the people from other countries will not go to Jerusalem, the Lord will make them sick. They will die.

¹⁹ This will happen to the people from Egypt. This will happen to the people from all the countries that do not go up to Jerusalem at that time.

²⁰ On that day, men will write the words, ‘This is for the Lord’ on the bells of the horses. The pots that anyone uses to cook with in the house of the Lord will be special. They will be as special as the dishes in front of the altar.

²¹ Every pot in Jerusalem and Judah will be for the Lord Almighty. All the people who come to offer animals to the Lord will cook in those pots. On that day, nobody who sells things will come into the house of the Lord Almighty.

The 1,000 years

20 Then I saw an angel who was coming down from heaven. He was holding the key to the deep hole.^[a] He also held a great chain in his hand. ² He took hold of the dragon. That dragon is the Devil and Satan. He is the snake who has lived since long ago.^[b] The angel tied up the dragon with the chain for 1,000 years. ³ Then he threw the dragon into the deep hole. He closed the door to the deep hole, and he locked it with the key. He put a seal on the door. During that time, Satan could no longer deceive the people of all nations. But after the 1,000 years have finished, he must go free for a short time.

⁴ Then I saw some thrones, and I saw people who were sitting on them. These people had received authority to judge other people. I also saw the souls of people who had died because they served Jesus. People had cut off their heads because they had told the truth about Jesus, and they had spoken God's message. These believers had not worshipped the wild animal or his image. They had not received the wild animal's mark on their heads or on their hands. Now they became alive again. They ruled as kings together with Christ for 1,000 years. ⁵ (But all the other dead people did not become alive again until the 1,000 years had finished.) This is the first time that God raises up dead people to become alive again. ⁶ God has blessed those people that he raises up that first time. They belong to God as his holy people. The second death has no power over them. Instead, they will be priests who serve God and Christ. They will rule as kings with him for 1,000 years.

God sends Satan into the lake of fire

⁷ When the 1,000 years have finished, God will let Satan go free out of his prison. ⁸ Satan will then go and deceive people in nations everywhere in the world. He will make them believe him. Those nations are God's enemies, Gog and Magog.^[c] Satan will bring them together to fight a war against God's people. Satan's army has many people, as much as the sand on the shore of the sea.^{[d] 9} I saw them as they marched over the whole earth. They arrived at the city which God loves. That is where God's people had made their camp. Satan's army made their camp all around the city. Then fire came down from heaven and it destroyed them completely. ¹⁰ The Devil had deceived those people. I saw God throw him into the lake of fire that burns with sulphur. That is the lake where he had already thrown the wild animal and the false prophet. They will have a lot of pain in that place, all day and all night for ever.

God judges all the dead people

¹¹ Then I saw a great white throne. I saw that God was sitting on it. The earth and the sky rushed away from the place where he sat. There was no longer any place for them. ¹² I also saw the people who had died, important people and ordinary people. They were standing in front of the great throne. Then someone opened books to see what was in them. God had written in them all the things that the people had done. Then someone opened another book which is God's book of life.^[e] God judged the people who had died. He looked in the books to see what they had done, and he decided what was right.

¹³ The sea brought up all the dead people who were in it. Death and Hades, the place for dead people, brought up all the dead people who were there too. God judged each person. God saw what they had done, and he decided what was right. ¹⁴ Then God threw Death and Hades into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death for people. ¹⁵ If anyone's name was not written in the book of life, God threw that person into the lake of fire.

The 3rd Hallelujah Psalm^[a]

⁸ Speak on behalf of people who cannot speak for themselves. Help helpless people to receive justice. ⁹ Speak clearly to help them. Judge people in a way that is fair and right. Help poor and helpless people to receive justice.