Messianic devotional
Vaera
וָאֵרָא
Shabbat · January 9, 2027
Torah: Exodus 6:2–9:35 · Haftarah: Ezekiel 28:25–29:21 · Brit Hadashah: Romans 9:14-33; Revelation 16:1-21
✦ The portion this week
Portion summary
God tells Moses His name is YHWH, and He recommits to the covenant sworn to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, promising to bring Israel out of Egypt and into the land. Moses and Aaron are sent to Pharaoh, and a genealogy anchors them within the tribe of Levi before the confrontation begins. Aaron's staff becomes a serpent and swallows the magicians' staffs, and then, plague by plague — blood, frogs, gnats, flies, pestilence, boils, hail — the LORD strikes Egypt while Pharaoh's heart hardens again and again. Each plague ends the same way: relief granted, promise broken, heart hardened, "just as the LORD had said."
The thread of the parashah
A phrase runs through this portion like a drumbeat: "that you may know that I am the LORD." It is spoken before Abraham's God had a name attached to deliverance, and it is spoken again and again through water turned to blood, through frogs and boils and fire mixed with hail. The plagues are not random cruelty; they are a dismantling, one Egyptian claim to power at a time — the Nile, the livestock, the very dust of the ground — until Pharaoh's officials themselves say, "This is the finger of God" (Exodus 8:19). Yet knowledge does not produce surrender. Pharaoh sees, concedes, even confesses sin ("The LORD is righteous, and I and my people are wicked," Exodus 9:27), and still his heart closes again the moment pressure lifts.
The genealogy tucked between the commissioning and the confrontation (Exodus 6:14–25) is not filler. It roots the deliverers in flesh and blood, in ordinary families with ordinary names, showing that redemption comes through a particular lineage, not an abstraction. God does not simply announce His name; He acts through named, embodied covenant people.
The haftarah
Ezekiel's oracle against Pharaoh completes what Exodus began. Centuries after the plagues, Egypt's king still speaks like the Pharaoh of old: "The Nile is mine; I made it myself" (Ezekiel 29:3). The same arrogance, the same claim to self-made sovereignty over the river that God once turned to blood, draws the same verdict — Pharaoh will be hauled out "like a great monster," and Egypt reduced to desolation, "then they will know that I am the LORD" (Ezekiel 29:6, 29:9). Ezekiel calls Egypt "a staff of reeds" that splintered Israel's hand when they leaned on it (Ezekiel 29:6–7) — a warning that trust misplaced in Egypt, whether in Moses's day or Ezekiel's, breaks the one who leans on it.
Messiah in the portion
Paul reaches directly into this portion in Romans, quoting the LORD's own words to Pharaoh — "I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display My power in you" (Romans 9:17, echoing Exodus 9:16) — to argue that mercy and hardening both serve God's larger purpose of mercy toward "vessels of His mercy... including us, whom He has called not only from the Jews, but also from the Gentiles" (Romans 9:23–24). Pharaoh's hardened heart becomes, in Paul's hands, the dark backdrop against which mercy is shown to be mercy and not entitlement. And where Israel stumbled "over the stumbling stone" (Romans 9:32–33), the pattern of the plagues themselves returns, intensified, in the bowls of Revelation — blood in the sea and rivers, boils, hail — poured out not on Egypt only but on the whole world that still refuses to repent (Revelation 16:2–4, 16:21). What Egypt refused to learn from mercy, the earth is shown again at the end, this time with no Goshen exempted by geography, only by the Lamb.
For the week
Notice this week where you, like Pharaoh, ask for relief without intending repentance — a pattern easier to see in him than in yourself. Choose one concrete place to act differently the second time pressure returns, not merely to feel sorry the first time it does.
AI-generated Messianic devotional reflection on the portion texts, checkable against the cited readings.
✦ Toraheach verse number opens its Hebrew interlinear
Aliyah 1 · Exodus 6:2-13
6:2 God also told Moses, “ I am the LORD. 6:3 I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as God Almighty, but by My name the LORD I did not make Myself known to them. 6:4 I also established My covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, the land where they lived as foreigners. 6:5 Furthermore, I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are enslaving, and I have remembered My covenant. 6:6 Therefore tell the Israelites: ‘ I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians and deliver you from their bondage. I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. 6:7 I will take you as My own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. 6:8 And I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the LORD!’” 6:9 Moses relayed this message to the Israelites, but on account of their broken spirit and cruel bondage, they did not listen to him. 6:10 So the LORD said to Moses, 6:11 “ Go and tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the Israelites go out of his land.” 6:12 But in the LORD ’s presence Moses replied, “ If the Israelites will not listen to me, then why would Pharaoh listen to me, since I am unskilled in speech?” 6:13 Then the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron and gave them a charge concerning both the Israelites and Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring the Israelites out of the land of Egypt. Genealogies of Moses and Aaron
Aliyah 2 · Exodus 6:14-28
6:14 These were the heads of their fathers’ houses: The sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel, were Hanoch and Pallu, Hezron and Carmi. These were the clans of Reuben. 6:15 The sons of Simeon were Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul, the son of a Canaanite woman. These were the clans of Simeon. 6:16 These were the names of the sons of Levi according to their records: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. Levi lived 137 years. 6:17 The sons of Gershon were Libni and Shimei, by their clans. 6:18 The sons of Kohath were Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. Kohath lived 133 years. 6:19 The sons of Merari were Mahli and Mushi. These were the clans of the Levites according to their records. 6:20 And Amram married his father’s sister Jochebed, and she bore him Aaron and Moses. Amram lived 137 years. 6:21 The sons of Izhar were Korah, Nepheg, and Zichri. 6:22 The sons of Uzziel were Mishael, Elzaphan, and Sithri. 6:23 And Aaron married Elisheba, the daughter of Amminadab and sister of Nahshon, and she bore him Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. 6:24 The sons of Korah were Assir, Elkanah, and Abiasaph. These were the clans of the Korahites. 6:25 Aaron’s son Eleazar married one of the daughters of Putiel, and she bore him Phinehas. These were the heads of the Levite families by their clans. 6:26 It was this Aaron and Moses to whom the LORD said, “ Bring the Israelites out of the land of Egypt by their divisions.” 6:27 Moses and Aaron were the ones who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt in order to bring the Israelites out of Egypt. 6:28 Now on the day that the LORD spoke to Moses in Egypt,
Aliyah 3 · Exodus 6:29–7:7
6:29 He said to him, “ I am the LORD; tell Pharaoh king of Egypt everything I say to you.” 6:30 But in the LORD ’s presence Moses replied, “ Since I am unskilled in speech, why would Pharaoh listen to me?” 7:1 The LORD answered Moses, “ See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will be your prophet. 7:2 You are to speak all that I command you, and your brother Aaron is to tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites go out of his land. 7:3 But I will harden Pharaoh ’s heart, and though I will multiply My signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, 7:4 Pharaoh will not listen to you. Then I will lay My hand on Egypt, and by mighty acts of judgment I will bring the divisions of My people the Israelites out of the land of Egypt. 7:5 And the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD, when I stretch out My hand against Egypt and bring the Israelites out from among them.” 7:6 So Moses and Aaron did just as the LORD had commanded them. 7:7 Moses was eighty years old and Aaron was eighty-three when they spoke to Pharaoh. Aaron’s Staff
Aliyah 4 · Exodus 7:8–8:6
7:8 The LORD said to Moses and Aaron, 7:9 “ When Pharaoh tells you, ‘ Perform a miracle,’ you are to say to Aaron, ‘ Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh,’ and it will become a serpent.” 7:10 So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the LORD had commanded. Aaron threw his staff down before Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a serpent. 7:11 But Pharaoh called the wise men and sorcerers and magicians of Egypt, and they also did the same things by their magic arts. 7:12 Each one threw down his staff, and it became a serpent. But Aaron’s staff swallowed up the other staffs. 7:13 Still, Pharaoh ’s heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, just as the LORD had said. The First Plague: Blood 7:14 Then the LORD said to Moses, “ Pharaoh ’s heart is unyielding; he refuses to let the people go. 7:15 Go to Pharaoh in the morning as you see him walking out to the water. Wait on the bank of the Nile to meet him, and take in your hand the staff that was changed into a snake. 7:16 Then say to him, ‘ The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to tell you: Let My people go, so that they may worship Me in the wilderness. But you have not listened until now. 7:17 This is what the LORD says: By this you will know that I am the LORD. Behold, with the staff in my hand I will strike the water of the Nile, and it will turn to blood. 7:18 The fish in the Nile will die, the river will stink, and the Egyptians will be unable to drink its water.’” 7:19 And the LORD said to Moses, “ Tell Aaron, ‘ Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt — over their rivers and canals and ponds and reservoirs — that they may become blood.’ There will be blood throughout the land of Egypt, even in the vessels of wood and stone.” 7:20 Moses and Aaron did just as the LORD had commanded; in the presence of Pharaoh and his officials, Aaron raised the staff and struck the water of the Nile, and all the water was turned to blood. 7:21 The fish in the Nile died, and the river smelled so bad that the Egyptians could not drink its water. And there was blood throughout the land of Egypt. 7:22 But the magicians of Egypt did the same things by their magic arts. So Pharaoh ’s heart was hardened, and he would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the LORD had said. 7:23 Instead, Pharaoh turned around, went into his palace, and did not take any of this to heart. 7:24 So all the Egyptians dug around the Nile for water to drink, because they could not drink the water from the river. 7:25 And seven full days passed after the LORD had struck the Nile. 8:1 Then the LORD said to Moses, “ Go to Pharaoh and tell him that this is what the LORD says: ‘ Let My people go, so that they may worship Me. 8:2 But if you refuse to let them go, I will plague your whole country with frogs. 8:3 The Nile will teem with frogs, and they will come into your palace and up to your bedroom and onto your bed, into the houses of your officials and your people, and into your ovens and kneading bowls. 8:4 The frogs will come up on you and your people and all your officials.’” 8:5 And the LORD said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Stretch out your hand with your staff over the rivers and canals and ponds, and cause the frogs to come up onto the land of Egypt.’” 8:6 So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt.
Aliyah 5 · Exodus 8:7-18
8:7 But the magicians did the same thing by their magic arts, and they also brought frogs up onto the land of Egypt. 8:8 Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Pray to the LORD to take the frogs away from me and my people. Then I will let your people go, that they may sacrifice to the LORD.” 8:9 Moses said to Pharaoh, “ You may have the honor over me. When shall I pray for you and your officials and your people that the frogs (except for those in the Nile) may be taken away from you and your houses?” 8:10 “Tomorrow,” Pharaoh answered. “May it be as you say,” Moses replied, “so that you may know that there is no one like the LORD our God. 8:11 The frogs will depart from you and your houses and your officials and your people; they will remain only in the Nile.” 8:12 After Moses and Aaron had left Pharaoh, Moses cried out to the LORD for help with the frogs that He had brought against Pharaoh. 8:13 And the LORD did as Moses requested, and the frogs in the houses, the courtyards, and the fields died. 8:14 They were piled into countless heaps, and there was a terrible stench in the land. 8:15 When Pharaoh saw that there was relief, however, he hardened his heart and would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the LORD had said. The Third Plague: Gnats 8:16 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘ Stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the earth, that it may turn into swarms of gnats throughout the land of Egypt.’” 8:17 This they did, and when Aaron stretched out his hand with his staff and struck the dust of the earth, gnats came upon man and beast. All the dust of the earth turned into gnats throughout the land of Egypt. 8:18 The magicians tried to produce gnats using their magic arts, but they could not. And the gnats remained on man and beast.
Aliyah 6 · Exodus 8:19–9:16
8:19 “ This is the finger of God,” the magicians said to Pharaoh. But Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, just as the LORD had said. The Fourth Plague: Flies 8:20 Then the LORD said to Moses, “ Get up early in the morning, and when Pharaoh goes out to the water, stand before him and tell him that this is what the LORD says: ‘ Let My people go, so that they may worship Me. 8:21 But if you will not let My people go, I will send swarms of flies upon you and your officials and your people and your houses. The houses of the Egyptians and even the ground where they stand will be full of flies. 8:22 But on that day I will give special treatment to the land of Goshen, where My people live; no swarms of flies will be found there. In this way you will know that I, the LORD, am in the land. 8:23 I will make a distinction between My people and your people. This sign will take place tomorrow.’” 8:24 And the LORD did so. Thick swarms of flies poured into Pharaoh ’s palace and into the houses of his officials. Throughout Egypt the land was ruined by swarms of flies. 8:25 Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “ Go, sacrifice to your God within this land.” 8:26 But Moses replied, “ It would not be right to do that, because the sacrifices we offer to the LORD our God would be detestable to the Egyptians. If we offer sacrifices that are detestable before the Egyptians, will they not stone us? 8:27 We must make a three-day journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to the LORD our God as He commands us.” 8:28 Pharaoh answered, “ I will let you go and sacrifice to the LORD your God in the wilderness, but you must not go very far. Now pray for me.” 8:29 “As soon as I leave you,” Moses said, “I will pray to the LORD, so that tomorrow the swarms of flies will depart from Pharaoh and his officials and his people. But Pharaoh must not act deceitfully again by refusing to let the people go and sacrifice to the LORD.” 8:30 Then Moses left Pharaoh and prayed to the LORD, 8:31 and the LORD did as Moses requested. He removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh and his officials and his people; not one fly remained. 8:32 But Pharaoh hardened his heart this time as well, and he would not let the people go. 9:1 Then the LORD said to Moses, “ Go to Pharaoh and tell him that this is what the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, says: ‘ Let My people go, so that they may worship Me. 9:2 But if you continue to restrain them and refuse to let them go, 9:3 then the hand of the LORD will bring a severe plague on your livestock in the field — on your horses, donkeys, camels, herds, and flocks. 9:4 But the LORD will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt, so that no animal belonging to the Israelites will die.’” 9:5 The LORD set a time, saying, “ Tomorrow the LORD will do this in the land.” 9:6 And the next day the LORD did just that. All the livestock of the Egyptians died, but not one animal belonging to the Israelites died. 9:7 Pharaoh sent officials and found that none of the livestock of the Israelites had died. But Pharaoh ’s heart was hardened, and he would not let the people go. The Sixth Plague: Boils 9:8 Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “ Take handfuls of soot from the furnace; in the sight of Pharaoh, Moses is to toss it into the air. 9:9 It will become fine dust over all the land of Egypt, and festering boils will break out on man and beast throughout the land.” 9:10 So they took soot from the furnace and stood before Pharaoh. Moses tossed it into the air, and festering boils broke out on man and beast. 9:11 The magicians could not stand before Moses, because the boils had broken out on them and on all the Egyptians. 9:12 But the LORD hardened Pharaoh ’s heart, and he would not listen to them, just as the LORD had said to Moses. The Seventh Plague: Hail 9:13 Then the LORD said to Moses, “ Get up early in the morning, stand before Pharaoh, and tell him that this is what the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, says: ‘ Let My people go, so that they may worship Me. 9:14 Otherwise, I will send all My plagues against you and your officials and your people, so you may know that there is no one like Me in all the earth. 9:15 For by this time I could have stretched out My hand and struck you and your people with a plague to wipe you off the earth. 9:16 But I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display My power to you, and that My name might be proclaimed in all the earth.
Aliyah 7 · Exodus 9:17-35
9:17 Still, you lord it over My people and do not allow them to go. 9:18 Behold, at this time tomorrow I will rain down the worst hail that has ever fallen on Egypt, from the day it was founded until now. 9:19 So give orders now to shelter your livestock and everything you have in the field. Every man or beast that remains in the field and is not brought inside will die when the hail comes down upon them.’” 9:20 Those among Pharaoh ’s officials who feared the word of the LORD hurried to bring their servants and livestock to shelter, 9:21 but those who disregarded the word of the LORD left their servants and livestock in the field. 9:22 Then the LORD said to Moses, “ Stretch out your hand toward heaven, so that hail may fall on all the land of Egypt — on man and beast and every plant of the field throughout the land of Egypt.” 9:23 So Moses stretched out his staff toward heaven, and the LORD sent thunder and hail, and lightning struck the earth. So the LORD rained down hail upon the land of Egypt. 9:24 The hail fell and the lightning continued flashing through it. The hail was so severe that nothing like it had ever been seen in all the land of Egypt from the time it became a nation. 9:25 Throughout the land of Egypt, the hail struck down everything in the field, both man and beast; it beat down every plant of the field and stripped every tree. 9:26 The only place where it did not hail was in the land of Goshen, where the Israelites lived. 9:27 Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron. “ This time I have sinned,” he said. “ The LORD is righteous, and I and my people are wicked. 9:28 Pray to the LORD, for there has been enough of God ’s thunder and hail. I will let you go; you do not need to stay any longer.” 9:29 Moses said to him, “ When I have left the city, I will spread out my hands to the LORD. The thunder will cease, and there will be no more hail, so that you may know that the earth is the LORD ’s. 9:30 But as for you and your officials, I know that you still do not fear the LORD our God.” 9:31 ( Now the flax and barley were destroyed, since the barley was ripe and the flax was in bloom; 9:32 but the wheat and spelt were not destroyed, because they are late crops.) 9:33 Then Moses departed from Pharaoh, went out of the city, and spread out his hands to the LORD. The thunder and hail ceased, and the rain no longer poured down on the land. 9:34 When Pharaoh saw that the rain and hail and thunder had ceased, he sinned again and hardened his heart — he and his officials. 9:35 So Pharaoh ’s heart was hardened, and he would not let the Israelites go, just as the LORD had said through Moses.
✦ Haftarah (Prophets)
28:25 This is what the Lord GOD says: ‘ When I gather the house of Israel from the peoples among whom they have been scattered, I will show Myself holy among them in the sight of the nations. Then they will dwell in their own land, which I have given to My servant Jacob. 28:26 And there they will dwell securely, build houses, and plant vineyards. They will dwell securely when I execute judgments against all those around them who treat them with contempt. Then they will know that I am the LORD their God.’” 29:1 In the tenth year, on the twelfth day of the tenth month, the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 29:2 “ Son of man, set your face against Pharaoh king of Egypt and prophesy against him and against all Egypt. 29:3 Speak to him and tell him that this is what the Lord GOD says: Behold, I am against you, O Pharaoh king of Egypt, O great monster who lies among his rivers, who says, ‘ The Nile is mine; I made it myself.’ 29:4 But I will put hooks in your jaws and cause the fish of your streams to cling to your scales. I will haul you up out of your rivers, and all the fish of your streams will cling to your scales. 29:5 I will leave you in the desert, you and all the fish of your streams. You will fall on the open field and will not be taken away or gathered for burial. I have given you as food to the beasts of the earth and the birds of the air. 29:6 Then all the people of Egypt will know that I am the LORD. For you were only a staff of reeds to the house of Israel. 29:7 When Israel took hold of you with their hands, you splintered, tearing all their shoulders; when they leaned on you, you broke, and their backs were wrenched. The Desolation of Egypt 29:8 Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: I will bring a sword against you and cut off from you man and beast. 29:9 The land of Egypt will become a desolate wasteland. Then they will know that I am the LORD. Because you said, ‘ The Nile is mine; I made it,’ 29:10 therefore I am against you and against your rivers. I will turn the land of Egypt into a ruin, a desolate wasteland from Migdol to Syene, and as far as the border of Cush. 29:11 No foot of man or beast will pass through, and it will be uninhabited for forty years. 29:12 I will make the land of Egypt a desolation among desolate lands, and her cities will lie desolate for forty years among the ruined cities. And I will disperse the Egyptians among the nations and scatter them throughout the countries. 29:13 For this is what the Lord GOD says: At the end of forty years I will gather the Egyptians from the nations to which they were scattered. 29:14 I will restore Egypt from captivity and bring them back to the land of Pathros, the land of their origin. There they will be a lowly kingdom. 29:15 Egypt will be the lowliest of kingdoms and will never again exalt itself above the nations. For I will diminish Egypt so that it will never again rule over the nations. 29:16 Egypt will never again be an object of trust for the house of Israel, but will remind them of their iniquity in turning to the Egyptians. Then they will know that I am the Lord GOD.” Egypt the Reward of Nebuchadnezzar 29:17 In the twenty-seventh year, on the first day of the first month, the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 29:18 “ Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon caused his army to labor strenuously against Tyre. Every head was made bald and every shoulder made raw. But he and his army received no wages from Tyre for the labor they expended on it. 29:19 Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: I will give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, who will carry off its wealth, seize its spoil, and remove its plunder. This will be the wages for his army. 29:20 I have given him the land of Egypt as the reward for his labor, because it was done for Me, declares the Lord GOD. 29:21 In that day I will cause a horn to sprout for the house of Israel, and I will open your mouth to speak among them. Then they will know that I am the LORD.”
✦ Brit Hadashah (Renewed Covenant)
9:14 What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Certainly not! 9:15 For He says to Moses: “ I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” 9:16 So then, it does not depend on man ’s desire or effort, but on God ’s mercy. 9:17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh: “ I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display My power in you, and that My name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” 9:18 Therefore God has mercy on whom He wants to have mercy, and He hardens whom He wants to harden. 9:19 One of you will say to me, “ Then why does God still find fault? For who can resist His will?” 9:20 But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? Shall what is formed say to Him who formed it, “ Why did You make me like this?” 9:21 Does not the potter have the right to make from the same lump of clay one vessel for special occasions and another for common use? 9:22 What if God, intending to show His wrath and make His power known, bore with great patience the vessels of His wrath, prepared for destruction? 9:23 What if He did this to make the riches of His glory known to the vessels of His mercy, whom He prepared in advance for glory — 9:24 including us, whom He has called not only from the Jews, but also from the Gentiles? 9:25 As He says in Hosea: “ I will call them ‘ My People ’ who are not My people, and I will call her ‘ My Beloved’ who is not My beloved,” 9:26 and, “ It will happen that in the very place where it was said to them, ‘ You are not My people,’ they will be called ‘ sons of the living God.’” 9:27 Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: “ Though the number of the Israelites is like the sand of the sea, only the remnant will be saved. 9:28 For the Lord will carry out His sentence on the earth thoroughly and decisively.” 9:29 It is just as Isaiah foretold: “ Unless the Lord of Hosts had left us descendants, we would have become like Sodom, we would have resembled Gomorrah.” Israel’s Unbelief 9:30 What then will we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith; 9:31 but Israel, who pursued a law of righteousness, has not attained it. 9:32 Why not? Because their pursuit was not by faith, but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone, 9:33 as it is written: “ See, I lay in Zion a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense; and the one who believes in Him will never be put to shame.”
16:1 Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, “ Go, pour out on the earth the seven bowls of God ’s wrath.” 16:2 So the first angel went and poured out his bowl on the earth, and loathsome, malignant sores broke out on those who had the mark of the beast and worshiped its image. 16:3 And the second angel poured out his bowl into the sea, and it turned to blood like that of the dead, and every living thing in the sea died. 16:4 And the third angel poured out his bowl into the rivers and springs of water, and they turned to blood. 16:5 And I heard the angel of the waters say: “ Righteous are You, O Holy One, who is and was, because You have brought these judgments. 16:6 For they have spilled the blood of saints and prophets, and You have given them blood to drink, as they deserve.” 16:7 And I heard the altar reply: “ Yes, Lord God Almighty, true and just are Your judgments.” 16:8 Then the fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and it was given power to scorch the people with fire. 16:9 And the people were scorched by intense heat, and they cursed the name of God, who had authority over these plagues; yet they did not repent and give Him glory. 16:10 And the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom was plunged into darkness, and men began to gnaw their tongues in anguish 16:11 and curse the God of heaven for their pains and sores; yet they did not repent of their deeds. 16:12 And the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up to prepare the way for the kings of the East. 16:13 And I saw three unclean spirits that looked like frogs coming out of the mouths of the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet. 16:14 These are demonic spirits that perform signs and go out to all the kings of the earth, to assemble them for battle on the great day of God the Almighty. 16:15 “ Behold, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who remains awake and clothed, so that he will not go naked and let his shame be exposed.” 16:16 And they assembled the kings in the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon. The Seventh Bowl of Wrath 16:17 Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came from the throne in the temple, saying, “ It is done!” 16:18 And there were flashes of lightning, and rumblings, and peals of thunder, and a great earthquake the likes of which had not occurred since men were upon the earth — so mighty was the great quake. 16:19 The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations collapsed. And God remembered Babylon the great and gave her the cup of the wine of the fury of His wrath. 16:20 Then every island fled, and no mountain could be found. 16:21 And great hailstones weighing almost a hundred pounds each rained down on them from above. And men cursed God for the plague of hail, because it was so horrendous.