"This God is our God forever and ever; he will lead us for all time to come."

Our God is a God who saves; he is the LORD, our Lord, who rescues us from death.

He who gives his testimony to all this says, "Yes indeed! I am coming soon!" So be it. Come, Lord Jesus!

You have done all this, and I have said nothing, so you thought that I am like you. But now I reprimand you and make the matter plain to you.

O God, do not keep silent; do not be still, do not be quiet!

The LORD goes out to fight like a warrior; he is ready and eager for battle. He gives a war cry, a battle shout; he shows his power against his enemies.

God says, "For a long time I kept silent; I did not answer my people. But now the time to act has come; I cry out like a woman in labor.

"I have already decided on their punishment, and their sentence is written down. I will not overlook what they have done, but will repay them

for their sins and the sins of their ancestors. They have burned incense at pagan hill shrines and spoken evil of me. So I will punish them as their past deeds deserve."

Fire goes in front of him and burns up his enemies around him.

All of Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the LORD had come down on it in fire. The smoke went up like the smoke of a furnace, and all the people trembled violently.

Suddenly the LORD sent fire, and it burned them to death there in the presence of the LORD.

Then the LORD sent a fire that blazed out and burned up the 250 men who had presented the incense.

But now you will see for yourselves that the LORD your God will go ahead of you like a raging fire. He will defeat them as you advance, so that you will drive them out and destroy them quickly, as he promised.

"Go out and stand before me on top of the mountain," the LORD said to him. Then the LORD passed by and sent a furious wind that split the hills and shattered the rocks---but the LORD was not in the wind. The wind stopped blowing, and then there was an earthquake---but the LORD was not in the earthquake.

After the earthquake there was a fire---but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire there was the soft whisper of a voice.

and a stream of fire was pouring out from it. There were many thousands of people there to serve him, and millions of people stood before him. The court began its session, and the books were opened.

Mountains quake in the presence of the LORD; hills melt before him. The earth shakes when the LORD appears; the world and all its people tremble.

The LORD is good; he protects his people in times of trouble; he takes care of those who turn to him.

He sends disease before him and commands death to follow him.

But who will be able to endure the day when he comes? Who will be able to survive when he appears? He will be like strong soap, like a fire that refines metal.

He will come to judge like one who refines and purifies silver. As a metalworker refines silver and gold, so the LORD's messenger will purify the priests, so that they will bring to the LORD the right kind of offerings.

The LORD Almighty says, "The day is coming when all proud and evil people will burn like straw. On that day they will burn up, and there will be nothing left of them.

He has his winnowing shovel with him to thresh out all the grain. He will gather his wheat into his barn, but he will burn the chaff in a fire that never goes out."

with a flaming fire, to punish those who reject God and who do not obey the Good News about our Lord Jesus.

They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, separated from the presence of the Lord and from his glorious might,

How, then, shall we escape if we pay no attention to such a great salvation? The Lord himself first announced this salvation, and those who heard him proved to us that it is true.

Anyone who disobeys the Law of Moses is put to death without any mercy when judged guilty from the evidence of two or more witnesses.

What, then, of those who despise the Son of God? who treat as a cheap thing the blood of God's covenant which purified them from sin? who insult the Spirit of grace? Just think how much worse is the punishment they will deserve!

You have not come, as the people of Israel came, to what you can feel, to Mount Sinai with its blazing fire, the darkness and the gloom, the storm,

because they could not bear the order which said, "If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned to death."

Then the earth trembled and shook; the foundations of the mountains rocked and quivered, because God was angry.

He tore the sky open and came down with a dark cloud under his feet.

He covered himself with darkness; thick clouds, full of water, surrounded him.

Then the LORD thundered from the sky; and the voice of the Most High was heard.

The floor of the ocean was laid bare, and the foundations of the earth were uncovered, when you rebuked your enemies, LORD, and roared at them in anger.

His lightning lights up the world; the earth sees it and trembles.

The hills melt like wax before the LORD, before the Lord of all the earth.