Isaiah 61:2-3
61:2 to announce the year when the Lord will show his favor,
the day when our God will seek vengeance,
to console all who mourn,
61:3 to strengthen those who mourn in Zion,
by giving them a turban, instead of ashes,
oil symbolizing joy, instead of mourning,
a garment symbolizing praise, instead of discouragement.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
trees planted by the Lord to reveal his splendor.
Ezekiel 9:4
9:4 The
Lord said to him, “Go through the city of Jerusalem
and put a mark
on the foreheads of the people who moan and groan over all the abominations practiced in it.”
John 16:20-22
16:20 I tell you the solemn truth,
you will weep
and wail,
but the world will rejoice; you will be sad,
but your sadness will turn into
joy.
16:21 When a woman gives birth, she has distress
because her time
has come, but when her child is born, she no longer remembers the suffering because of her joy that a human being
has been born into the world.
16:22 So also you have sorrow
now, but
I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you.
Revelation 11:3-15
11:3 And I will grant my two witnesses authority
to prophesy for 1,260 days, dressed in sackcloth.
11:4 (These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth.)
11:5 If
anyone wants to harm them, fire comes out of their mouths
and completely consumes
their enemies. If
anyone wants to harm them, they must be killed this way.
11:6 These two have the power
to close up the sky so that it does not rain during the time
they are prophesying. They
have power
to turn the waters to blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague whenever they want.
11:7 When
they have completed their testimony, the beast that comes up from the abyss will make war on them and conquer
them and kill them.
11:8 Their
corpses will lie in the street
of the great city that is symbolically
called Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was also crucified.
11:9 For three and a half days those from every
people, tribe,
nation, and language will look at their corpses, because they will not permit them to be placed in a tomb.
11:10 And those who live on the earth will rejoice over them and celebrate, even sending gifts to each other, because these two prophets had tormented those who live on the earth.
11:11 But
after three and a half days a breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and tremendous fear seized
those who were watching them.
11:12 Then
they
heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them: “Come up here!” So the two prophets
went up to heaven in a cloud while
their enemies stared at them.
11:13 Just then
a major earthquake took place and a tenth of the city collapsed; seven thousand people
were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.
11:14 The second woe has come and gone; the third is coming quickly.
The Seventh Trumpet
11:15 Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven saying:
“The kingdom of the world
has become the kingdom of our Lord
and of his Christ,
and he will reign for ever and ever.”