A Conception:

May the Most Precious Blood that that pours out from the Sacred Head of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Temple of Divine Wisdom, Tabernacle of Divine Knowledge, and Sunshine of Heaven and Earth, cover us now and forever. Amen

~ new world order~

And when I shall cover the sky with clouds, my bow shall appear in the clouds: And I will remember my covenant with you, and with every living soul that beareth flesh: and there shall no more be waters of a flood to destroy all flesh.

~The flood subsided~

And in the seventh month of the seventeenth day of the month, the ark came to rest upon the mountains of Ararat.

~Moses on the mountain~

And the glory of Yahweh rested on Mount Sinai and the clouds covered for six days. On the seventh day Yahweh called Moses from inside the cloud.

-The vision~

So he came near where I stood; and when he came, I was frightened, and fell on my face; but he said to me, “Understand, son of man; for the vision

belongs to the time of the end.”

καὶὅτε εἶδον αὐτόν, ἔπεσα πρὸς τοὺς πόδας αὐτοῦὡς νεκρός: καὶἔθηκεν τὴν δεξιὰν αὐτοῦἐπ' ἐμὲλέγων, μὴφοβοῦ: ἐγώ εἰμι ὁπρῶτος καὶὁἔσχατος,

At the sight of him, I fell down at his feet like a dead man; and he, laying his right hand on me, spoke thus: Do not be afraid; I am before all, I am at the end of all,

Et cum vidissem eum, cecidi ad pedes ejus tamquam mortuus. Et posuit dexteram suam super me, dicens: Noli timere: ego sum primus,

et novissimus,

~The vision of the angel~

He said to me, Daniel, you greatly beloved man, understand the words that I speak to you, and stand upright; for I have been sent to you, now. When he had spoken this word to me, I stood trembling.

~The song of Azariah in the furnace:

And they walked in heart of the flames, praising God and blessing the Lord. ~Israelʼs conduct at Horeb; Moses Intercedes~

'Remember; never forget

how you provoked Yahweh your God in the desert. From the very day that you left Egypt until you arrived here, you have been rebels against Yahweh.

At Horeb, you provoked Yahweh, and Yahweh was so angry with you that he was ready to destroy you. I had gone up the mountain to receive the stone tablets, the tablets of the covenant that Yahweh was making with you. I stayed forty days and forty nights on the mountain, with nothing to eat or drink.

Yahweh gave me the two stone tablets inscribed by

the finger of God, exactly corresponding to what Yahweh had said to you on the mountain, from the heart of the fire, on the day of the Assembly. After forty days and forty nights, having given me the two stone tablets, the tablets of the covenant, Yahweh said to me, "Get up, go down quickly, for your people, whom you have brought out of Egypt, are corrupting one another. They have been quick to leave the way I marked out for them; they have cast themselves a metal idol."

Yahweh then said to me, "I have seen this people, and what an obstinate people they are!

Leave me, I am going to destroy them and wipe out their name under heaven; and I shall make you into a mightier and more numerous nation than they are!"

I went back down the mountain, which was blazing with fire, and in my hands were the two tablets of the covenant. When I looked, I saw that you had been sinning against Yahweh your God. You had cast yourselves a metal calf; you had been quick to leave the way marked out for you by Yahweh.

I seized the two tablets and with my two hands threw them down and broke them before your eyes. Then I fell prostrate before Yahweh; as before, I spent forty days and forty nights with nothing to eat or drink, on account of all the sins which you had committed, by doing what was displeasing to Yahweh and thus arousing his anger.

For I was afraid of this anger, of the fury which so roused Yahweh against you that he was ready to destroy you. And, once again, Yahweh heard my prayer.

Yahweh was enraged with Aaron and was ready to destroy him too; I also pleaded for Aaron on that occasion. That work of sin, the calf you had made, I took and burned and broke to pieces; having ground it to the finest dust, I threw its dust into the stream that comes down from the mountain.

At Taberah too and at Massah and Kibroth-ha- Taavah, you provoked Yahweh. And when Yahweh, meaning you to leave Kadesh-Barnea, said, "Go up and take possession of the country which I have given you," you rebelled against the command of Yahweh your God and would not believe him or listen to his voice. You have been rebels against Yahweh from the day he first knew you.

~The place of worship~ 'You must completely destroy all the places where the nations you dispossess have served their gods, on high mountains, on hills, under anyspreading tree;

~Moses blesses the tribes~

This is the blessing that Moses, man of God, pronounced over the Israelites before he died. He said: Yahweh came from Sinai, from Seir he dawned on us, from Mount Paran blazed forth, For them he came, after the mustering at Kadesh, from his zenith as far as the foothills.

You who love the ancestors! Your holy ones are all at your command. At your feet they fell, under your guidance went swiftly on.

(Moses enjoined a law on us.) The assembly of Jacob comes into its inheritance; there was a king in Jeshurun when the heads of the people

foregathered and the tribes of Israel were all assembled!

May Reuben survive and not die out, survive though his men be few! Of Judah he said this: Listen, Yahweh, to the voice of Judah, and bring him back to his people. That his hands may defend his rights, come to his help against his foes!

Of Levi he said: To Levi, give your urim, to your faithful one, your thummim, having tested him at Massah, having striven with him at the Waters of Meribah.

Of his father and mother,

he says, 'I have not seen them.' He does not acknowledge his brothers, nor does he know his own children. Yes, they have kept your word, they hold firmly to your covenant.

They will teach your customs to Jacob, and your Law to Israel. They will put incense before you and burnt offerings on your altar.

Yahweh, bless his worthiness, and accept the actions he performs. Crush the loins of those who rise against him and of his foes, so that they rise no more!

Of Benjamin he said:

Beloved of Yahweh, he rests trustfully near him. The Most High protects him day after day and dwells between his hillsides.

Of Joseph he said: His land is blessed by Yahweh. For him the best of heaven's dew and of the deep that lies below, the best of what the sun makes grow, of what springs with every month, the first-fruits of the ancient mountains, the best from the hills of old the best of the land and all it holds, the favour of him who dwells in the Bush. May the hair grow thick on the head of

Joseph, on the brow of the consecrated one among his brothers! First-born of the Bull, his the glory. His horns are the wild ox's horns, with which he gores the peoples to the very ends of the earth. Such are the myriads of Ephraim, such are the thousands of Manasseh.

Of Zebulun he said: Prosper, Zebulun, in your expeditions, and you, Issachar, in your tents! On the mountain where the people come to pray they offer upright sacrifices, for they taste the riches of the seas and the treasures hidden in

the sands.

Of Gad he said: Blessed be he who gives Gad space enough! He lies there like a lioness; he has savaged arm and face and head.

Then he took the first portion for himself, saw that there was stored up for him a leader's share. He has come at the head of the people, has carried out the saving justice of Yahweh and his judgements on Israel. Of Dan he said :Danisa lion cub leaping from Bashan.

Of Naphtali he said: Naphtali, sated with favours, filled with the blessings of Yahweh: the west and south are to be his domain.

Of Asher he said: Most blessed of the sons let Asher be! Let him be the most privileged of his brothers and let him bathe his feet in oil!

Be your bolts of iron and of bronze and your security as lasting as your days!

No one is like the God of Jeshurun: he rides the heavens to your rescue, rides the clouds in his majesty! The God of old is your refuge, his the eternal arm which here below drives the enemy before you; he it is who

says, 'Destroy!'

Israel rests trustfully. The well-spring of Jacob is chosen out for a land of corn and wine; there heaven itself rains down dew.

Blessed are you, O Israel! Who is like you, O victorious people? Yahweh is the shield that protects you and the sword that leads you to triumph. Your enemies will try to corrupt you, but you yourself will trample on their backs.

~The call of Jeremiah~ Do not be afraid of confronting them, for I am with you to rescue you, Yahweh declares.

'As for you, prepare yourself for action. Stand up and tell them all I command you. Have no fear of them and in their presence I will make you fearless.

~Yahweh, sun of saving justice~.

more desirable than gold, even than the finest gold; his words are sweeter than honey, that drips from the comb. ~Jeremiahʼs call renewed~. When your words came, I devoured them: your word was my delight and the joy of my heart; for I was called by your Name, Yahweh, God Sabaoth.

Καὶεἶδον ἐπὶτὴν δεξιὰν τοῦκαθημένου ἐπὶτοῦθρόνου βιβλίον γεγραμμένον ἔσωθεν καὶὄπισθεν, κατεσφραγισμένον σφραγῖσιν ἑπτά. And now I saw that he who sat on the throne carried in his right hand a scroll. The inside of the page and the outside were both written on, and it was sealed with seven seals. Et vidi in dextera sedentis supra thronum, librum scriptum intus et foris, signatum sigillis septem.

καὶἔχων ἐν τῇχειρὶαὐτοῦβιβλαρίδιον ἠνεῳγμένον. καὶἔθηκεν

τὸν πόδα αὐτοῦτὸν δεξιὸν ἐπὶτῆς θαλάσσης, τὸν δὲεὐώνυμον ἐπὶτῆς γῆς,

He carried in his hand an open book. Setting his right foot on the sea, and his left on the dry land,

et habebat in manu sua libellum apertum: et posuit pedem suum dextrum super mare, sinistrum autem super terram:

~Yahweh, sun of loving justice~ more desirable than gold, even than the finest gold; his words are sweeter than honey, that drips from the comb ~The call of Jeremiah renewed~.

When your words came, I devoured them: your word was my delight and the joy of my heart; for I was called by your Name, Yahweh, God Sabaoth. καὶἡφωνὴἣν ἤκουσα ἐκ τοῦοὐρανοῦ, πάλιν λαλοῦσαν μετ' ἐμοῦκαὶλέγουσαν, ὕπαγε λάβε τὸβιβλίον τὸἠνεῳγμένον ἐν τῇχειρὶτοῦἀγγέλου τοῦἑστῶτος ἐπὶτῆς θαλάσσης καὶἐπὶτῆς γῆς. καὶἀπῆλθα πρὸς τὸν ἄγγελον λέγων αὐτῷδοῦναί μοι τὸβιβλαρίδιον. καὶλέγει μοι, λάβε καὶκατάφαγε αὐτό, καὶπικρανεῖσου τὴν κοιλίαν, ἀλλ' ἐν τῷστόματί σου ἔσται γλυκὺὡς μέλι. καὶἔλαβον τὸβιβλαρίδιον ἐκ τῆς χειρὸς τοῦἀγγέλου καὶκατέφαγον αὐτό, καὶἦν ἐν τῷστόματί μου ὡς μέλι γλυκύ: καὶὅτε ἔφαγον αὐτό, ἐπικράνθη ἡκοιλία μου.καὶλέγουσίν μοι: δεῖσε πάλιν προφητεῦσαι ἐπὶλαοῖς καὶἔθνεσιν καὶγλώσσαις καὶβασιλεῦσιν πολλοῖς. Then once more I heard the voice speaking to me from heaven, thus: Go and take the open book from the hand of that angel, whose feet are on the sea and on the dry land. So I went to the angel, bidding him give me the book. Take it, he said, and eat it; it will turn thy belly sour, though in thy mouth it be as sweet as honey. So I took the book from the angelʼs hand and ate it; it was sweet as honey in my mouth, but my belly turned sour once I had eaten it. Then he said to me, Thou art to make a fresh prophecy, which concerns many peoples, many races, many languages, and many kings

Et audivi vocem de cælo iterum loquentem mecum, et dicentem: Vade, et accipe librum apertum de manu angeli stantis super mare, et

super terram. Et abii ad angelum, dicens ei, ut daret mihi librum. Et dixit mihi: Accipe librum, et devora illum: et faciet amaricari ventrem tuum, sed in ore tuo erit dulce tamquam mel. Et accepi librum de manu angeli, et devoravi illum: et erat in ore meo tamquam mel dulce, et cum devorassem eum, amaricatus est venter meus: et dixit mihi: Oportet te iterum prophetare gentibus, et populis, et linguis, et regibus multis.

~Worship without sincerity~ So you will tell them all this, but they will not listen to you; You will call them but they will not answer you. ~Against false prophets~

Whom does he think he is lecturing? Whom does he think his message is for? Babies just weaned? Babies just taken from the breast?

With his

“Sav lasav, sav lasav, kav lakav, kav lakav, zeer sham, zeer sham!" Now, with stammering lips and in a foreign language, he will talk to this nation.

He used to say to them, Here you can rest! Here you can let the

weary rest! Here all is quiet.'

But they refused to listen.

Now Yahweh is going to say this to them, 'Sav lasav, sav lasav, kav lakav, kav lakav, zeer sham, zeer sham.' So that when they walk they will fall over backwards and so be broken, trapped and taken captive.

~The expected deliverance~ No more will you see that insolent people, that people of unintelligible speech, of barbarous and meaningless tongue. ~The conversion of Nineveh~ The word of Yahweh was addressed to Jonah a second time. 'Up!' he said, 'Go to Nineveh, the great city, and preach to it as I shall tell you.'

Jonah set out and went to Nineveh in obedience to the word of Yahweh. Now Nineveh was a city great beyond compare; to cross it took three days. Jonah began by going a day's journey into the city and then proclaimed, 'Only forty days more and Nineveh will be overthrown.'

And the people of Nineveh believed in God; they proclaimed a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the

least.

When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his robe, put on sackcloth and sat down in ashes.

He then had it proclaimed throughout Nineveh, by decree of the king and his nobles, as follows: 'No person or animal, herd or flock, may eat anything; they may not graze, they may not drink any water. All must put on sackcloth and call on God with all their might; and let everyone renounce his evil ways and violent behavior.

Who knows? Perhaps God will change his mind and relent and renounce his burning wrath, so that we shall not perish.'

God saw their efforts to renounce their evil ways. And God relented about the disaster which he had threatened to bring on them, and did not bring it. ~Lament over the lake-towns~ Alas for you, Chorazin! Alas for you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.

Still, I tell you that it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on Judgement Day than for you.

And as for you, Capernaum, did you want to be raised as high as heaven? You shall be flung down to hell. For if the miracles done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have been standing yet.

Still, I tell you that it will be more bearable for Sodom on Judgement Day than for you.'

Then some of the scribes and Pharisees spoke up. 'Master,' they said, 'we should like to see a sign from you.'

~The sign of Jonah~ He replied, 'It is an evil and unfaithful generation

that asks for a sign! The only sign it will be given is the sign of the prophet Jonah.

For as Jonah remained in the belly of the sea-monster for three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights.

On Judgement Day the men of Nineveh will appear against this generation and they will be its condemnation, because when Jonah preached they repented; and look, there is something greater than Jonah here. On Judgement Day the Queen of the South will appear against this generation and be its condemnation, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and look, there is something greater than Solomon here. ~Third song of the servant~

Lord Yahweh comes to my help, this is why insult has not touched me, this is why I have set my face like flint and know that I shall not be put to shame.

~Elijah and Obadiah~

But as soon as I leave you, the spirit of Yahweh will carry you away and I shall not know where; I shall go and tell Ahab; he will not be able to find you, and then he will kill me. Yet from his youth your servant has revered Yahweh.

~Elijah is taken into heaven and Elisha succeeds him~

Look,' they said, 'your servants have fifty strong men with them, let them go and look for your master; the Spirit of Yahweh may have taken him up and thrown him down on a mountain or into a valley.' 'Send no one,' Now as they walked on, talking as they

went, a chariot of fire appeared and horses of fire coming between the two of them; and Elijah went up to heaven in the whirlwind.

Elisha saw it, and shouted, 'My father! My father! Chariot of Israel and its chargers!' Then he lost sight of him, and taking hold of his own clothes he tore them in half.

He picked up Elijah's cloak which had fallen, and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan.

He took Elijah's cloak and struck the water. 'Where is Yahweh, the God of

Elijah?' he cried. As he struck the water it divided to right and left, and Elisha crossed over.

The brotherhood of prophets saw him in the distance, and said, 'The spirit of Elijah has come to rest on Elisha'; they went to meet him and bowed to the ground before him.

‘Look,' they said, 'your servants have fifty strong men with them, let them go and look for your master; the Spirit of Yahweh may have taken him up and thrown him down on a mountain or into a valley.' 'Send no one,' he replied.

~The birth of Jesus and visit of the shepherds~

And all at once with the angel there was a great throng of the hosts of heaven, praising God with the words:

Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace for those he favours

~The prophet as watchman~ Woe to you, destroying though not yourself destroyed, betraying though not yourself betrayed; when you have finished destroying, you will be destroyed, when you have stopped betraying, you will be betrayed. Yahweh, show us your mercy, we hope in you. Be our arm every morning and our salvation in time of distress.

At the sound of tumult the peoples flee, when you stand up the nations scatter.

Your spoil is gathered in as a grasshopper gathers in, like a swarm of locusts people descend on it. Yahweh is exalted, for he is enthroned above, he has filled Zion with fair judgement and saving justice.

You can count on this all your days: wisdom and knowledge are the riches

that save, the fear of Yahweh is his treasure. Look, Ariel is lamenting in the streets, the ambassadors of peace are weeping bitterly.

The highways are deserted, no travellers any more on the roads. Agreements are broken, witnesses held in contempt, there is respect for no one.

The land pines away in mourning, the Lebanon is withering with shame, Sharon has become like the wasteland, Bashan and Carmel are shuddering.

~The fall of Babylon~ For this is what the Lord has told me, 'Go, post a look-out, let him report what he sees.ʼ

Then the look-out shouted 'On the watchtower, Lord, I stay all day and at my post I stand

~On Edom~

Proclamation about Humah

From Seir, someone shouts to me, Watchman, what time of night? Watchman, what time of night?

~The sacrifice on Carmel ~ You must call on the name of your god, and I shall call on the name of Yahweh; the god who answers with fire, is God indeed.' The people all answered, 'Agreed!'

~The expected deliverance ~

The peoples will be burnt up as though by quicklime, like cut thorns they will be burnt on the fire.

You who are far away, listen to what I have done, and you who are near, realise my strength. ~The punishment to come~ It would have been better for them never to have learnt the way of uprightness, than

to learn it and then desert the holy commandment that was entrusted to them.

Exodus 24: 1-8

24:1 He then said to Moses, 'Come up to Yahweh, you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel and bow down at a distance.

24:2 Moses alone will approach Yahweh; the others will not approach, nor will the people come up with him.'

24:3 Moses went and told the people all Yahweh's words and all the laws, and all the people answered with one voice, 'All the words Yahweh has spoken we will carry out!'

24:4 Moses put all Yahweh's words into writing, and early next morning he built an altar at the foot of the mountain, with twelve standing-stones for the twelve tribes of Israel.

24:5 Then he sent certain young Israelites to offer burnt offerings and sacrifice bullocks to Yahweh as communion sacrifices.

24:6 Moses then took half the blood and put it into basins, and the other half he sprinkled on the altar.

24:7 Then, taking the Book of the Covenant, he read it to the listening people, who then said, 'We shall do everything that Yahweh has said; we shall obey.'

24:8 Moses then took the blood and sprinkled it over the people, saying, 'This is the blood of the covenant which Yahweh has made with you, entailing all these stipulations.'

Hebrews 9:21-28 9:21 And he sprinkled both the tent and all the liturgical vessels with blood in the same way.

9:22 In fact, according to the Law, practically every purification takes place by means of blood; and if there is no shedding of blood, there is no remission.

9:23 Only the copies of heavenly things are purified in this way; the heavenly things themselves have to be purified by a higher sort of sacrifice than this.

9:24 It is not as though Christ had entered a man-made sanctuary which was merely a model of the real one; he entered heaven itself, so that he now appears in the presence of God on our behalf.

9:25 And he does not have to offer himself again and again, as the high priest goes into the sanctuary year after year with the blood that is not his own,

9:26 or else he would have had to suffer over and over again since the world began. As it is, he has made his appearance once and for all, at the end of the last age, to do away with sin by sacrificing himself.

9:27 Since human beings die only once, after which comes judgement,

9:28 so Christ too, having offered himself only once to bear the sin of many, will manifest himself a second time, sin being no more, to those who are waiting for him, to bring them salvation.

Hebrews 10: 1-9

10:1 So, since the Law contains no more than a reflection of the good things which were still to come, and no true image of them, it is quite incapable of bringing the worshippers to perfection, by means of the same sacrifices repeatedly offered year after year.

10:2 Otherwise, surely the offering of them would have stopped, because the worshippers, when they had been purified once, would have no awareness of sins.

10:3 But in fact the sins are recalled year after year in the sacrifices.

10:4 Bulls' blood and goats' blood are incapable of taking away sins,

10:5 and that is why he said, on coming into the world: You wanted no sacrifice or cereal offering, but you gave me a body.

10:6 You took no pleasure in burnt offering or sacrifice for sin;

10:7 then I said, 'Here I am, I am coming,' in the scroll of the book it is written of me, to do your will, God.

10:8 He says first You did not want what the Law lays down as the things to be offered, that is: the sacrifices, the cereal offerings, the burnt offerings and the sacrifices for sin, and you took no pleasure in them;

10:9 and then he says: Here I am! I am coming to do your will. He is abolishing the first sort to establish the second. Mathew 26: 27-28

26:27 Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he handed it to them saying, 'Drink from this, all of you,

26:28 for this is my blood, the blood of the covenant, poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. Mark 14: 23-24 14:23 Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he handed it to them, and all drank from it,

14:24 and he said to them, 'This is my blood, the blood of the covenant, poured out for many.

1 Corinthians 11:25 And in the same way, with the cup after supper, saying, 'This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Whenever you drink it, do this as a memorial of me.' Hebrews 9: 19-22. 19:19 and why, after Moses had promulgated all the commandments of the Law to the people, he took the calves' blood, the goats' blood and some water, and with these he sprinkled the book itself and all the people, using scarlet wool and hyssop;

9:20 saying as he did so: This is the blood of the covenant that God has made with you.

9:21 And he sprinkled both the tent and all the liturgical vessels with blood in the same way.

9:22 In fact, according to the Law, practically every purification takes place by means of blood; and if there is no shedding of blood, there is no remission.

Hebrews 10:29 10:29 and you may be sure that anyone who tramples on the Son of God, and who treats the blood of the covenant which sanctified him as if it were not holy, and who insults the Spirit of grace, will be condemned to a far severer punishment. Hebrews 12: 22-27 12:22 But what you have come to is Mount Zion and the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem where the millions of angels have gathered for the festival,

12:23 with the whole Church of first-born sons, enrolled as citizens of heaven. You have come to God himself, the supreme Judge, and to the spirits of the upright who have been made perfect;

12:24 and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to purifying blood which pleads more insistently than Abel's.

12:25 Make sure that you never refuse to listen when he speaks. If the people who on earth refused to listen to a warning could not escape their punishment, how shall we possibly escape if we turn away from a voice that warns us from heaven?

12:26 That time his voice made the earth shake, but now he has given us this promise: I am going to shake the earth once more and not only the earth but heaven as well.

12:27 The words once more indicate the removal of what is shaken, since these are created things, so that what is not shaken remains. 1 John 5: 6-12

5:6 He it is who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ, not with water alone but with water and blood, and it is the Spirit that bears witness, for the Spirit is Truth.

5:7 So there are three witnesses,

5:8 the Spirit, water and blood; and the three of them coincide.

5:9 If we accept the testimony of human witnesses, God's testimony is greater, for this is God's testimony which he gave about his Son.

5:10 Whoever believes in the Son of God has this testimony within him, and whoever does not believe is making God a liar, because he has not believed the testimony God has given about his Son.

5:11 This is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.

5:12 Whoever has the Son has life, and whoever has not the Son of God has not life.

Hebrews 13: 10-16 13:16 We have our own altar from which those who serve the Tent have no right to eat.

13:11 The bodies of the animals whose blood is taken into the sanctuary by the high priest for the rite of expiation are burnt outside the camp,

13:12 and so Jesus too suffered outside the gate to sanctify the people with his own blood.

13:13 Let us go to him, then, outside the camp, and bear his humiliation.

13:14 There is no permanent city for us here; we are looking for the one which is yet to be.

13:15 Through him, let us offer God an unending sacrifice of praise, the fruit of the lips of those who acknowledge his name.

13:16 Keep doing good works and sharing your resources, for these are the kinds of sacrifice that please God. Revelation 7: 8-17 7:8 from the tribe of Zebulun, twelve thousand; and from the tribe of Benjamin, twelve thousand had been sealed.

7:9 After that I saw that there was a huge number, impossible for anyone to count, of people from every nation, race, tribe and language; they were standing in front of the throne and in front of the Lamb, dressed in white robes and holding palms in their hands. They shouted in a loud voice,

7:10 'Salvation to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!'

7:11 And all the angels who were standing in a circle round the throne, surrounding the elders and the four living creatures, prostrated themselves before the throne, and touched the ground with their foreheads, worshipping God

7:12 with these words: Amen. Praise and glory and wisdom, thanksgiving and honour and power and strength to our God for ever and ever. Amen.

7:13 One of the elders then spoke and asked me, 'Who are these people, dressed in white robes, and where have they come from?'

7:14 I answered him, 'You can tell me, sir.' Then he said, 'These are the people who have been through the great trial; they have washed their robes white again in the blood of the Lamb.

7:15 That is why they are standing in front of God's throne and serving him day and night in his sanctuary; and the One who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them.

7:16 They will never hunger or thirst again; sun and scorching wind will never plague them,

7:17 because the Lamb who is at the heart of the throne will be their shepherd and will guide them to springs of living water; and God will wipe away all tears from their eyes.'