Then I heard the angel of the waters say to God, “You are the one who is and who always was. You are the Holy One. You are right in these judgments you have made.
The elders said, “We give thanks to you, Lord God All-Powerful. You are the one who is and who always was. We thank you because you have used your great power and have begun to rule.
From John, To the seven churches in the province of Asia: Grace and peace to you from the one who is, who always was, and who is coming; and from the seven spirits before his throne;
Each of these four living beings had six wings. They were covered all over with eyes, inside and out. Day and night they never stopped saying, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God All-Powerful. He always was, he is, and he is coming.”
But you are so stubborn! You refuse to change. So you are making your own punishment greater and greater. You will be punished on the day when God will show his anger. On that day everyone will see how right God is to judge people.
Surely you would not destroy the city. You would not destroy fifty good people to kill those who are evil. If that happened, those who are good would be the same as those who are evil—both would be punished. As the judge of the whole world, surely you would do the right thing!”
When we do wrong, that shows more clearly that God is right. So can we say that God does wrong when he punishes us? (That’s the way some people think.)
The Lord kept the terrible things ready for us—he made them happen to us. The Lord our God did this because he is fair in everything he does. But we still have not listened to him.
Now Jerusalem says, “I refused to listen to the Lord, so he is right for doing these things. So listen, all you people! Look at my pain! My young women and men have gone into captivity.
His judgments are true and right. Our God has punished the prostitute. She is the one who ruined the earth with her sexual sin. God has punished the prostitute to pay her back for the death of his servants.”