16:25 The trees shall give fruit, and who shall gather them?
16:26 The grapes shall ripen, and who shall tread them? for all places
shall be desolate of men:
16:27 So that one man shall desire to see another, and to hear his
voice.
16:28 For of a city there shall be ten left, and two of the field,
which shall hide themselves in the thick groves, and in the clefts of
the rocks.
16:29 As in an orchard of Olives upon every tree there are left three
or four olives;
16:30 Or as when a vineyard is gathered, there are left some clusters
of them that diligently seek through the vineyard:
16:31 Even so in those days there shall be three or four left by them
that search their houses with the sword.
16:32 And the earth shall be laid waste, and the fields thereof shall
wax old, and her ways and all her paths shall grow full of thorns,
because no man shall travel therethrough.
16:33 The virgins shall mourn, having no bridegrooms; the women shall
mourn, having no husbands; their daughters shall mourn, having no
helpers.
16:34 In the wars shall their bridegrooms be destroyed, and their
husbands shall perish of famine.
16:35 Hear now these things and understand them, ye servants of the
Lord.
16:36 Behold, the word of the Lord, receive it: believe not the gods of
whom the Lord spake.
16:37 Behold, the plagues draw nigh, and are not slack.
16:38 As when a woman with child in the ninth month bringeth forth her
son, with two or three hours of her birth great pains compass her womb,
which pains, when the child cometh forth, they slack not a moment:
16:39 Even so shall not the plagues be slack to come upon the earth,
and the world shall mourn, and sorrows shall come upon it on every
side.
16:40 O my people, hear my word: make you ready to thy battle, and in
those evils be even as pilgrims upon the earth.
16:41 He that selleth, let him be as he that fleeth away: and he that
buyeth, as one that will lose:
16:42 He that occupieth merchandise, as he that hath no profit by it:
and he that buildeth, as he that shall not dwell therein:
16:43 He that soweth, as if he should not reap: so also he that
planteth the vineyard, as he that shall not gather the grapes:
16:44 They that marry, as they that shall get no children; and they
that marry not, as the widowers.
16:45 And therefore they that labour labour in vain:
16:46 For strangers shall reap their fruits, and spoil their goods,
overthrow their houses, and take their children captives, for in
captivity and famine shall they get children.
16:47 And they that occupy their merchandise with robbery, the more
they deck their cities, their houses, their possessions, and their own
persons:
16:48 The more will I be angry with them for their sin, saith the Lord.
16:49 Like as a whore envieth a right honest and virtuous woman:
16:50 So shall righteousness hate iniquity, when she decketh herself,
and shall accuse her to her face, when he cometh that shall defend him
that diligently searcheth out every sin upon earth.
16:51 And therefore be ye not like thereunto, nor to the works thereof.
16:52 For yet a little, and iniquity shall be taken away out of the
earth, and righteousness shall reign among you.
16:53 Let not the sinner say that he hath not sinned: for God shall
burn coals of fire upon his head, which saith before the Lord God and
his glory, I have not sinned.
16:54 Behold, the Lord knoweth all the works of men, their
imaginations, their thoughts, and their hearts:
16:55 Which spake but the word, Let the earth be made; and it was made:
Let the heaven be made; and it was created.
16:56 In his word were the stars made, and he knoweth the number of
them.
16:57 He searcheth the deep, and the treasures thereof; he hath
measured the sea, and what it containeth.
16:58 He hath shut the sea in the midst of the waters, and with his
word hath he hanged the earth upon the waters.
16:59 He spreadeth out the heavens like a vault; upon the waters hath
he founded it.
16:60 In the desert hath he made springs of water, and pools upon the
tops of the mountains, that the floods might pour down from the high
rocks to water the earth.
16:61 He made man, and put his heart in the midst of the body, and gave
him breath, life, and understanding.
16:62 Yea and the Spirit of Almighty God, which made all things, and
searcheth out all hidden things in the secrets of the earth,
16:63 Surely he knoweth your inventions, and what ye think in your
hearts, even them that sin, and would hide their sin.
16:64 Therefore hath the Lord exactly searched out all your works, and
he will put you all to shame.
16:65 And when your sins are brought forth, ye shall be ashamed before
men, and your own sins shall be your accusers in that day.
16:66 What will ye do? or how will ye hide your sins before God and his
angels?
16:67 Behold, God himself is the judge, fear him: leave off from your
sins, and forget your iniquities, to meddle no more with them for ever:
so shall God lead you forth, and deliver you from all trouble.
16:68 For, behold, the burning wrath of a great multitude is kindled
over you, and they shall take away certain of you, and feed you, being
idle, with things offered unto idols.
16:69 And they that consent unto them shall be had in derision and in
reproach, and trodden under foot.
16:70 For there shall be in every place, and in the next cities, a
great insurrection upon those that fear the Lord.
16:71 They shall be like mad men, sparing none, but still spoiling and
destroying those that fear the Lord.
16:72 For they shall waste and take away their goods, and cast them out
of their houses.
16:73 Then shall they be known, who are my chosen; and they shall be
tried as the gold in the fire.
16:74 Hear, O ye my beloved, saith the Lord: behold, the days of
trouble are at hand, but I will deliver you from the same.
16:75 Be ye not afraid neither doubt; for God is your guide,
16:76 And the guide of them who keep my commandments and precepts,
saith the Lord God: let not your sins weigh you down, and let not your
iniquities lift up themselves.
16:77 Woe be unto them that are bound with their sins, and covered with
their iniquities like as a field is covered over with bushes, and the
path thereof covered with thorns, that no man may travel through!
16:78 It is left undressed, and is cast into the fire to be consumed
therewith.