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Reaping the Earth’s Harvest

14 Then I looked, and there was a white cloud, and seated on the cloud was one like the Son of Man, with a golden crown on his head, and a sharp sickle in his hand! ¹⁵Another angel came out of the temple, calling with a loud voice to the one who sat on the cloud, ‘Use your sickle and reap, for the hour to reap has come, because the harvest of the earth is fully ripe.’ ¹⁶So the one who sat on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the earth was reaped.

17 Then another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle. ¹⁸Then another angel came out from the altar, the angel who has authority over fire, and he called with a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, ‘Use your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth, for its grapes are ripe.’ ¹⁹So the angel swung his sickle over the earth and gathered the vintage of the earth, and he threw it into the great wine press of the wrath of God. ²⁰And the wine press was trodden outside the city, and blood flowed from the wine press, as high as a horse’s bridle, for a distance of about two hundred miles.^*

Psalm 96

1  Sing to the Lord a new song; ♦︎
   sing to the Lord, all the earth.
2  Sing to the Lord and bless his name; ♦︎
   tell out his salvation from day to day.
3  Declare his glory among the nations ♦︎
   and his wonders among all peoples.
4  For great is the Lord and greatly to be praised; ♦︎
   he is more to be feared than all gods.
5  For all the gods of the nations are but idols; ♦︎
   it is the Lord who made the heavens.
6  Honour and majesty are before him; ♦︎
   power and splendour are in his sanctuary.
7  Ascribe to the Lord, you families of the peoples; ♦︎
   ascribe to the Lord honour and strength.
8  Ascribe to the Lord the honour due to his name; ♦︎
   bring offerings and come into his courts.
9  O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness; ♦︎
   let the whole earth tremble before him.
10  Tell it out among the nations that the Lord is king. ♦︎
   He has made the world so firm that it cannot be moved;
      he will judge the peoples with equity.
11  Let the heavens rejoice and let the earth be glad; ♦︎
   let the sea thunder and all that is in it;
12  Let the fields be joyful and all that is in them; ♦︎
   let all the trees of the wood shout for joy before the Lord.
13  For he comes, he comes to judge the earth; ♦︎
   with righteousness he will judge the world
      and the peoples with his truth.

The Destruction of the Temple Foretold

5 When some were speaking about the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and gifts dedicated to God, he said, ⁶‘As for these things that you see, the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another; all will be thrown down.’

Signs and Persecutions

7 They asked him, ‘Teacher, when will this be, and what will be the sign that this is about to take place?’ ⁸And he said, ‘Beware that you are not led astray; for many will come in my name and say, “I am he!”^* and, “The time is near!”^* Do not go after them.

9 ‘When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified; for these things must take place first, but the end will not follow immediately.’ ¹⁰Then he said to them, ‘Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; ¹¹there will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and plagues; and there will be dreadful portents and great signs from heaven.