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Daily Readings for December 24
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Job 33
1."However, Job, please hear my speech, and listen to all my words. 2.See now, I have opened my mouth. My tongue has spoken in my mouth. 3.My words shall utter the uprightness of my heart. That which my lips know they shall speak sincerely. 4.The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life. 5.If you can, answer me. Set your words in order before me, and stand forth. 6.Behold, I am toward God even as you are. I am also formed out of the clay. 7.Behold, my terror shall not make you afraid, neither shall my pressure be heavy on you.
8."Surely you have spoken in my hearing, I have heard the voice of your words, saying, 9.'I am clean, without disobedience. I am innocent, neither is there iniquity in me. 10.Behold, he finds occasions against me. He counts me for his enemy. 11.He puts my feet in the stocks. He marks all my paths.'
12."Behold, I will answer you. In this you are not just, for God is greater than man. 13.Why do you strive against him, because he doesn't give account of any of his matters? 14.For God speaks once, yes twice, though man pays no attention. 15.In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls on men, in slumbering on the bed; 16.Then he opens the ears of men, and seals their instruction, 17.That he may withdraw man from his purpose, and hide pride from man. 18.He keeps back his soul from the pit, and his life from perishing by the sword. 19.He is chastened also with pain on his bed, with continual strife in his bones; 20.So that his life abhors bread, and his soul dainty food. 21.His flesh is so consumed away, that it can't be seen. His bones that were not seen stick out. 22.Yes, his soul draws near to the pit, and his life to the destroyers.
23."If there is beside him an angel, an interpreter, one among a thousand, to show to man what is right for him; 24.then God is gracious to him, and says, 'Deliver him from going down to the pit, I have found a ransom.' 25.His flesh shall be fresher than a child's. He returns to the days of his youth. 26.He prays to God, and he is favorable to him, so that he sees his face with joy. He restores to man his righteousness. 27.He sings before men, and says, 'I have sinned, and perverted that which was right, and it didn't profit me. 28.He has redeemed my soul from going into the pit. My life shall see the light.'
29."Behold, God works all these things, twice, yes three times, with a man, 30.to bring back his soul from the pit, that he may be enlightened with the light of the living. 31.Mark well, Job, and listen to me. Hold your peace, and I will speak. 32.If you have anything to say, answer me. Speak, for I desire to justify you. 33.If not, listen to me. Hold your peace, and I will teach you wisdom."
Zechariah 9
1.An oracle. The word of Yahweh is against the land of Hadrach, and will rest upon Damascus; for the eye of man and of all the tribes of Israel is toward Yahweh; 2.and Hamath, also, which borders on it; Tyre and Sidon, because they are very wise. 3.Tyre built herself a stronghold, and heaped up silver like the dust, and fine gold like the mire of the streets. 4.Behold, the Lord will dispossess her, and he will strike her power in the sea; and she will be devoured with fire. 5.Ashkelon will see it, and fear; Gaza also, and will writhe in agony; as will Ekron, for her expectation will be disappointed; and the king will perish from Gaza, and Ashkelon will not be inhabited. 6.Foreigners will dwell in Ashdod, and I will cut off the pride of the Philistines. 7.I will take away his blood out of his mouth, and his abominations from between his teeth; and he also will be a remnant for our God; and he will be as a chieftain in Judah, and Ekron as a Jebusite. 8.I will encamp around my house against the army, that none pass through or return; and no oppressor will pass through them any more: for now I have seen with my eyes. 9.Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion! Shout, daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King comes to you! He is righteous, and having salvation; lowly, and riding on a donkey, even on a colt, the foal of a donkey. 10.I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem; and the battle bow will be cut off; and he will speak peace to the nations: and his dominion will be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth. 11.As for you also, because of the blood of your covenant, I have set free your prisoners from the pit in which is no water. 12.Turn to the stronghold, you prisoners of hope! Even today I declare that I will restore double to you. 13.For indeed I bend Judah as a bow for me. I have filled the bow with Ephraim; and I will stir up your sons, Zion, against your sons, Greece, and will make you like the sword of a mighty man. 14.Yahweh will be seen over them; and his arrow will go flash like lightning; and the Lord Yahweh will blow the trumpet, and will go with whirlwinds of the south. 15.Yahweh of Armies will defend them; and they will destroy and overcome with sling stones; and they will drink, and roar as through wine; and they will be filled like bowls, like the corners of the altar. 16.Yahweh their God will save them in that day as the flock of his people; for they are like the jewels of a crown, lifted on high over his land. 17.For how great is his goodness, and how great is his beauty! Grain will make the young men flourish, and new wine the virgins.
Revelation 7
1.After this, I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, so that no wind would blow on the earth, or on the sea, or on any tree. 2.I saw another angel ascend from the sunrise, having the seal of the living God. He cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was given to harm the earth and the sea, 3.saying, "Don't harm the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, until we have sealed the bondservants of our God on their foreheads!" 4.I heard the number of those who were sealed, one hundred forty-four thousand, sealed out of every tribe of the children of Israel: 5.of the tribe of Judah were sealed twelve thousand, of the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand, of the tribe of Gad twelve thousand, 6.of the tribe of Asher twelve thousand, of the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand, of the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand, 7.of the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand, of the tribe of Levi twelve thousand, of the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand, 8.of the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand, of the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand, of the tribe of Benjamin were sealed twelve thousand.
9.After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude, which no man could number, out of every nation and of all tribes, peoples, and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, dressed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands. 10.They cried with a loud voice, saying, "Salvation be to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!"
11.All the angels were standing around the throne, the elders, and the four living creatures; and they fell on their faces before his throne, and worshiped God, 12.saying, "Amen! Blessing, glory, wisdom, thanksgiving, honor, power, and might, be to our God forever and ever! Amen."
13.One of the elders answered, saying to me, "These who are arrayed in white robes, who are they, and from where did they come?"
14.I told him, "My lord, you know."
He said to me, "These are those who came out of the great tribulation. They washed their robes, and made them white in the Lamb's blood. 15.Therefore they are before the throne of God, they serve him day and night in his temple. He who sits on the throne will spread his tabernacle over them. 16.They will never be hungry, neither thirsty any more; neither will the sun beat on them, nor any heat; 17.for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne shepherds them, and leads them to springs of waters of life. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."
Revelation 8
1.When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. 2.I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them. 3.Another angel came and stood over the altar, having a golden censer. Much incense was given to him, that he should add it to the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar which was before the throne. 4.The smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, went up before God out of the angel's hand. 5.The angel took the censer, and he filled it with the fire of the altar, and threw it on the earth. There followed thunders, sounds, lightnings, and an earthquake.
6.The seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound. 7.The first sounded, and there followed hail and fire, mixed with blood, and they were thrown to the earth. One third of the earth was burnt up,23 and one third of the trees were burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.
8.The second angel sounded, and something like a great burning mountain was thrown into the sea. One third of the sea became blood, 9.and one third of the living creatures which were in the sea died. One third of the ships were destroyed.
10.The third angel sounded, and a great star fell from the sky, burning like a torch, and it fell on one third of the rivers, and on the springs of the waters. 11.The name of the star is called "Wormwood." One third of the waters became wormwood. Many people died from the waters, because they were made bitter.
12.The fourth angel sounded, and one third of the sun was struck, and one third of the moon, and one third of the stars; so that one third of them would be darkened, and the day wouldn't shine for one third of it, and the night in the same way. 13.I saw, and I heard an eagle,24 flying in mid heaven, saying with a loud voice, "Woe! Woe! Woe for those who dwell on the earth, because of the other voices of the trumpets of the three angels, who are yet to sound!"
Revelation 9
1.The fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star from the sky which had fallen to the earth. The key to the pit of the abyss was given to him. 2.He opened the pit of the abyss, and smoke went up out of the pit, like the smoke from a25 burning furnace. The sun and the air were darkened because of the smoke from the pit. 3.Then out of the smoke came forth locusts on the earth, and power was given to them, as the scorpions of the earth have power. 4.They were told that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree, but only those people who don't have God's seal on their foreheads. 5.They were given power not to kill them, but to torment them for five months. Their torment was like the torment of a scorpion, when it strikes a person. 6.In those days people will seek death, and will in no way find it. They will desire to die, and death will flee from them. 7.The shapes of the locusts were like horses prepared for war. On their heads were something like golden crowns, and their faces were like people's faces. 8.They had hair like women's hair, and their teeth were like those of lions. 9.They had breastplates, like breastplates of iron. The sound of their wings was like the sound of chariots, or of many horses rushing to war. 10.They have tails like those of scorpions, and stings. In their tails they have power to harm men for five months. 11.They have over them as king the angel of the abyss. His name in Hebrew is "Abaddon,"26 but in Greek, he has the name "Apollyon."27 12.The first woe is past. Behold, there are still two woes coming after this.
13.The sixth angel sounded. I heard a voice from the horns of the golden altar which is before God, 14.saying to the sixth angel who had one trumpet, "Free the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates!"
15.The four angels were freed who had been prepared for that hour and day and month and year, so that they might kill one third of mankind. 16.The number of the armies of the horsemen was two hundred million28. I heard the number of them. 17.Thus I saw the horses in the vision, and those who sat on them, having breastplates of fiery red, hyacinth blue, and sulfur yellow; and the heads of lions. Out of their mouths proceed fire, smoke, and sulfur. 18.By these three plagues were one third of mankind killed: by the fire, the smoke, and the sulfur, which proceeded out of their mouths. 19.For the power of the horses is in their mouths, and in their tails. For their tails are like serpents, and have heads, and with them they harm. 20.The rest of mankind, who were not killed with these plagues, didn't repent of the works of their hands, that they wouldn't worship demons, and the idols of gold, and of silver, and of brass, and of stone, and of wood; which can neither see, nor hear, nor walk. 21.They didn't repent of their murders, nor of their sorceries,29 nor of their sexual immorality, nor of their thefts.