43When He performed His signs in Egypt

And His marvels in the field of Zoan,

44And turned their rivers to blood,

And their streams, they could not drink.

45He sent among them swarms of flies which devoured them,

And frogs which destroyed them.

46He gave also their crops to the grasshopper

And the product of their labor to the locust.

47He destroyed their vines with hailstones

And their sycamore trees with frost.

48He gave over their cattle also to the hailstones

And their herds to bolts of lightning.

49He sent upon them His burning anger,

Fury and indignation and trouble,

A band of destroying angels.

50He leveled a path for His anger;

He did not spare their soul from death,

But gave over their life to the plague,

51And smote all the firstborn in Egypt,

The first issue of their virility in the tents of Ham.

2So the first angel went and poured out his bowl on the earth; and it became a loathsome and malignant sore on the people who had the mark of the beast and who worshiped his image.

3The second angel poured out his bowl into the sea, and it became blood like that of a dead man; and every living thing in the sea died.

4Then the third angel poured out his bowl into the rivers and the springs of waters; and they became blood. 5And I heard the angel of the waters saying, “Righteous are You, who are and who were, O Holy One, because You judged these things; 6for they poured out the blood of saints and prophets, and You have given them blood to drink. They deserve it.” 7And I heard the altar saying, “Yes, O Lord God, the Almighty, true and righteous are Your judgments.”

8The fourth angel poured out his bowl upon the sun, and it was given to it to scorch men with fire. 9Men were scorched with fierce heat; and they blasphemed the name of God who has the power over these plagues, and they did not repent so as to give Him glory.

10Then the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom became darkened; and they gnawed their tongues because of pain, 11and they blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores; and they did not repent of their deeds.

12The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river, the Euphrates; and its water was dried up, so that the way would be prepared for the kings from the east.

Armageddon

13And I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs; 14for they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them together for the war of the great day of God, the Almighty. 15(“Behold, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who stays awake and keeps his clothes, so that he will not walk about naked and men will not see his shame.”) 16And they gathered them together to the place which in Hebrew is called Har-Magedon.

Seventh Bowl of Wrath

17Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl upon the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple from the throne, saying, “It is done.” 18And there were flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder; and there was a great earthquake, such as there had not been since man came to be upon the earth, so great an earthquake was it, and so mighty. 19The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. Babylon the great was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of His fierce wrath. 20And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. 21And huge hailstones, about one hundred pounds each, *came down from heaven upon men; and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, because its plague *was extremely severe.

1) How does the psalmist recall the signs יהוה performed in Egypt?

2) How does John describe end-time plagues and hardness?

3) What keeps people resisting יהוה even under judgment?

PSALM 53

Folly and Wickedness of Men.

For the choir director; according to Mahalath. A Maskil of David.

1The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God,”

They are corrupt, and have committed abominable injustice;

There is no one who does good.

2God has looked down from heaven upon the sons of men

To see if there is anyone who understands,

Who seeks after God.

3Every one of them has turned aside; together they have become corrupt;

There is no one who does good, not even one.

4Have the workers of wickedness no knowledge,

Who eat up My people as though they ate bread

And have not called upon God?

5There they were in great fear where no fear had been;

For God scattered the bones of him who encamped against you;

You put them to shame, because God had rejected them.

6Oh, that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion!

When God restores His captive people,

Let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.

Warnings and Instructions

1Do not boast about tomorrow,

For you do not know what a day may bring forth.

2Let another praise you, and not your own mouth;

A stranger, and not your own lips.

3A stone is heavy and the sand weighty,

But the provocation of a fool is heavier than both of them.

4Wrath is fierce and anger is a flood,

But who can stand before jealousy?

5Better is open rebuke

Than love that is concealed.

6Faithful are the wounds of a friend,

But deceitful are the kisses of an enemy.

7A sated man loathes honey,

But to a famished man any bitter thing is sweet.

8Like a bird that wanders from her nest,

So is a man who wanders from his home.

9Oil and perfume make the heart glad,

So a man’s counsel is sweet to his friend.

10Do not forsake your own friend or your father’s friend,

And do not go to your brother’s house in the day of your calamity;

Better is a neighbor who is near than a brother far away.

11Be wise, my son, and make my heart glad,

That I may reply to him who reproaches me.

12A prudent man sees evil and hides himself,

The naive proceed and pay the penalty.

13Take his garment when he becomes surety for a stranger;

And for an adulterous woman hold him in pledge.

14He who blesses his friend with a loud voice early in the morning,

It will be reckoned a curse to him.

15A constant dripping on a day of steady rain

And a contentious woman are alike;

16He who would restrain her restrains the wind,

And grasps oil with his right hand.

17Iron sharpens iron,

So one man sharpens another.

18He who tends the fig tree will eat its fruit,

And he who cares for his master will be honored.

19As in water face reflects face,

So the heart of man reflects man.

20Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied,

Nor are the eyes of man ever satisfied.

21The crucible is for silver and the furnace for gold,

And each is tested by the praise accorded him.

22Though you pound a fool in a mortar with a pestle along with crushed grain,

Yet his foolishness will not depart from him.

23Know well the condition of your flocks,

And pay attention to your herds;

24For riches are not forever,

Nor does a crown endure to all generations.

25When the grass disappears, the new growth is seen,

And the herbs of the mountains are gathered in,

26The lambs will be for your clothing,

And the goats will bring the price of a field,

27And there will be goats’ milk enough for your food,

For the food of your household,

And sustenance for your maidens.

Ezra Journeys from Babylon to Jerusalem

1Now after these things, in the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia, there went up Ezra son of Seraiah, son of Azariah, son of Hilkiah, 2son of Shallum, son of Zadok, son of Ahitub, 3son of Amariah, son of Azariah, son of Meraioth, 4son of Zerahiah, son of Uzzi, son of Bukki, 5son of Abishua, son of Phinehas, son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the chief priest. 6This Ezra went up from Babylon, and he was a scribe skilled in the law of Moses, which the Lord God of Israel had given; and the king granted him all he requested because the hand of the Lord his God was upon him. 7Some of the sons of Israel and some of the priests, the Levites, the singers, the gatekeepers and the temple servants went up to Jerusalem in the seventh year of King Artaxerxes.

8He came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was in the seventh year of the king. 9For on the first of the first month he began to go up from Babylon; and on the first of the fifth month he came to Jerusalem, because the good hand of his God was upon him. 10For Ezra had set his heart to study the law of the Lord and to practice it, and to teach His statutes and ordinances in Israel.

King’s Decree on Behalf of Ezra

11Now this is the copy of the decree which King Artaxerxes gave to Ezra the priest, the scribe, learned in the words of the commandments of the Lord and His statutes to Israel: 12“Artaxerxes, king of kings, to Ezra the priest, the scribe of the law of the God of heaven, perfect peace. And now 13I have issued a decree that any of the people of Israel and their priests and the Levites in my kingdom who are willing to go to Jerusalem, may go with you. 14Forasmuch as you are sent by the king and his seven counselors to inquire concerning Judah and Jerusalem according to the law of your God which is in your hand, 15and to bring the silver and gold, which the king and his counselors have freely offered to the God of Israel, whose dwelling is in Jerusalem, 16with all the silver and gold which you find in the whole province of Babylon, along with the freewill offering of the people and of the priests, who offered willingly for the house of their God which is in Jerusalem; 17with this money, therefore, you shall diligently buy bulls, rams and lambs, with their grain offerings and their drink offerings and offer them on the altar of the house of your God which is in Jerusalem. 18Whatever seems good to you and to your brothers to do with the rest of the silver and gold, you may do according to the will of your God. 19Also the utensils which are given to you for the service of the house of your God, deliver in full before the God of Jerusalem. 20The rest of the needs for the house of your God, for which you may have occasion to provide, provide for it from the royal treasury.

21“I, even I, King Artaxerxes, issue a decree to all the treasurers who are in the provinces beyond the River, that whatever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the law of the God of heaven, may require of you, it shall be done diligently, 22even up to 100 talents of silver, 100 kors of wheat, 100 baths of wine, 100 baths of oil, and salt as needed. 23Whatever is commanded by the God of heaven, let it be done with zeal for the house of the God of heaven, so that there will not be wrath against the kingdom of the king and his sons. 24We also inform you that it is not allowed to impose tax, tribute or toll on any of the priests, Levites, singers, doorkeepers, Nethinim or servants of this house of God.

25“You, Ezra, according to the wisdom of your God which is in your hand, appoint magistrates and judges that they may judge all the people who are in the province beyond the River, even all those who know the laws of your God; and you may teach anyone who is ignorant of them. 26Whoever will not observe the law of your God and the law of the king, let judgment be executed upon him strictly, whether for death or for banishment or for confiscation of goods or for imprisonment.”

The King’s Kindness

27Blessed be the Lord, the God of our fathers, who has put such a thing as this in the king’s heart, to adorn the house of the Lord which is in Jerusalem, 28and has extended lovingkindness to me before the king and his counselors and before all the king’s mighty princes. Thus I was strengthened according to the hand of the Lord my God upon me, and I gathered leading men from Israel to go up with me.