Bible In A Year

¹Let me sing for my well beloved a song of my beloved about his vineyard. My beloved had a vineyard on a very fruitful hill. ²He dug it up, Gathered out its stones, Planted it with the choicest vine, Built a tower in its midst, And also cut out a winepress therein. He looked for it to yield grapes, But it yielded wild grapes. ³"Now, inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, Please judge between me and my vineyard. ⁴What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? Why, when I looked for it to yield grapes, did it yield wild grapes? ⁵Now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard. I will take away its hedge, and it will be eaten up. I will break down its wall of it, and it will be trampled down. ⁶I will lay it a wasteland. It won't be pruned nor hoed, But it will grow briers and thorns. I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain on it." ⁷For the vineyard of Yahweh of Hosts is the house of Israel, And the men of Judah his pleasant plant: And he looked for justice, but, behold, oppression; For righteousness, but, behold, a cry of distress. ⁸Woe to those who join house to house, Who lay field to field, until there is no room, And you are made to dwell alone in the midst of the land! ⁹In my ears, Yahweh of Hosts says: "Surely many houses will be desolate, Even great and beautiful, unoccupied. ¹⁰For ten acres{Literally, ten yokes, or the amount of land that ten yokes of oxen can plow in one day, which is about 10 acres or 4 hectares.} of vineyard shall yield one bath,{1 bath is about 22 litres, 5.8 U. S. gallons, or 4.8 imperial gallons} And a homer{1 homer is about 220 litres or 6 bushels} of seed shall yield an ephah.{1 ephah is about 22 litres or 0.6 bushels or about 2 pecks)-- only one tenth of what was sown.}" ¹¹Woe to those who rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; Who stay late into the night, until wine inflames them! ¹²The harp, lyre, tambourine, and flute, with wine, are at their feasts; But they don't regard the work of Yahweh, Neither have they considered the operation of his hands. ¹³Therefore my people go into captivity for lack of knowledge; Their honorable men are famished, And their multitudes are parched with thirst. ¹⁴Therefore Sheol{Sheol is the place of the dead.} has enlarged its desire, And opened its mouth without measure; And their glory, their multitude, their pomp, and he who rejoices among them, descend into it. ¹⁵So man is brought low, Mankind is humbled, And the eyes of the arrogant ones are humbled; ¹⁶But Yahweh of Hosts is exalted in justice, And God the Holy One is sanctified in righteousness. ¹⁷Then the lambs will graze as in their pasture, And strangers will eat the ruins of the rich. ¹⁸Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of falsehood, And wickedness as with cart rope; ¹⁹Who say, "Let him make speed, let him hasten his work, that we may see it; And let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw near and come, That we may know it!" ²⁰Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, And light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, And sweet for bitter! ²¹Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, And prudent in their own sight! ²²Woe to those who are mighty to drink wine, And champions at mixing strong drink; ²³Who acquit the guilty for a bribe, But deny justice for the innocent! ²⁴Therefore as the tongue of fire devours the stubble, And as the dry grass sinks down in the flame, So their root shall be as rottenness, And their blossom shall go up as dust; Because they have rejected the law of Yahweh of Hosts, And despised the word of the Holy One of Israel. ²⁵Therefore Yahweh's anger burns against his people, And he has stretched out his hand against them, and has struck them. The mountains tremble, And their dead bodies are as refuse in the midst of the streets. For all this, his anger is not turned away, But his hand is still stretched out. ²⁶He will lift up a banner to the nations from far, And he will whistle for them from the end of the earth. Behold, they will come speedily and swiftly. ²⁷None shall be weary nor stumble among them; None shall slumber nor sleep; Neither shall the belt of their loins be untied, Nor the latchet of their shoes be broken: ²⁸Whose arrows are sharp, And all their bows bent. Their horses' hoofs will be like flint, And their wheels like a whirlwind. ²⁹Their roaring will be like a lioness. They will roar like young lions. Yes, they shall roar, And seize their prey and carry it off, And there will be no one to deliver. ³⁰They will roar against them in that day like the roaring of the sea. If one looks to the land, behold, darkness and distress. The light is darkened in its clouds.

¹To the angel of the assembly in Ephesus write: "He who holds the seven stars in his right hand, he who walks among the seven golden lampstands says these things: ²"I know your works, and your toil and perseverance, and that you can't tolerate evil men, and have tested those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and found them false. ³You have perseverance and have endured for my name's sake, and have{TR adds "have labored and"} not grown weary. ⁴But I have this against you, that you left your first love. ⁵Remember therefore from where you have fallen, and repent and do the first works; or else I am coming to you swiftly, and will move your lampstand out of its place, unless you repent. ⁶But this you have, that you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. ⁷He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies. To him who overcomes I will give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of my God. ⁸"To the angel of the assembly in Smyrna write: "The first and the last, who was dead, and has come to life says these things: ⁹"I know your works, oppression, and your poverty (but you are rich), and the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews, and they are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. ¹⁰Don't be afraid of the things which you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested; and you will have oppression for ten days. Be faithful to death, and I will give you the crown of life. ¹¹He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies. He who overcomes won't be harmed by the second death. ¹²"To the angel of the assembly in Pergamum write: "He who has the sharp two-edged sword says these things: ¹³"I know your works and where you dwell, where Satan's throne is. You hold firmly to my name, and didn't deny my faith in the days of Antipas my witness, my faithful one, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells. ¹⁴But I have a few things against you, because you have there some who hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to throw a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality. ¹⁵So you also have some who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans likewise{TR reads "which I hate" instead of "likewise"}. ¹⁶Repent therefore, or else I am coming to you quickly, and I will make war against them with the sword of my mouth. ¹⁷He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies. To him who overcomes, to him I will give of the hidden manna,{Manna is supernatural food, named after the Hebrew for "What is it?". See Exodus 11:7-9.} and I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written, which no one knows but he who receives it. ¹⁸"To the angel of the assembly in Thyatira write: "The Son of God, who has his eyes like a flame of fire, and his feet are like burnished brass, says these things: ¹⁹I know your works, your love, faith, service, patient endurance, and that your last works are more than the first. ²⁰But I have this against you, that you tolerate your{TR, NU read "that" instead of "your"} woman, Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess. She teaches and seduces my servants to commit sexual immorality, and to eat things sacrificed to idols. ²¹I gave her time to repent, but she refuses to repent of her sexual immorality. ²²Behold, I will throw her into a bed, and those who commit adultery with her into great oppression, unless they repent of her works. ²³I will kill her children with Death, and all the assemblies will know that I am he who searches the minds and hearts. I will give to each one of you according to your deeds. ²⁴But to you I say, to the rest who are in Thyatira, as many as don't have this teaching, who don't know what some call 'the deep things of Satan,' to you I say, I am not putting any other burden on you. ²⁵Nevertheless, hold firmly that which you have, until I come. ²⁶He who overcomes, and he who keeps my works to the end, to him I will give authority over the nations. ²⁷He will rule them with a rod of iron, shattering them like clay pots; as I also have received of my Father: ²⁸and I will give him the morning star. ²⁹He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies.