Bible Reading
December 29
The World English Bible
Dec.
29
Zechariah
9-12
Zec
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;
Zec
9:2 and Hamath, also, which borders on it; Tyre and Sidon, because
they are very wise.
Zec
9:3 Tyre built herself a stronghold, and heaped up silver like the
dust, and fine gold like the mire of the streets.
Zec
9:4 Behold, the Lord will dispossess her, and he will strike her
power in the sea; and she will be devoured with fire.
Zec
9:5 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.
Zec
9:6 Foreigners will dwell in Ashdod, and I will cut off the pride of
the Philistines.
Zec
9:7 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.
Zec
9:8 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.
Zec
9:9 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.
Zec
9:10 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.
Zec
9:11 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.
Zec
9:12 Turn to the stronghold, you prisoners of hope! Even today I
declare that I will restore double to you.
Zec
9:13 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.
Zec
9:14 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.
Zec
9:15 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.
Zec
9:16 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.
Zec
9:17 For how great is his goodness, and how great is his beauty!
Grain will make the young men flourish, and new wine the virgins.
Zec
10:1 Ask of Yahweh rain in the spring time, Yahweh who makes storm
clouds, and he gives rain showers to everyone for the plants in the
field.
Zec
10:2 For the teraphim have spoken vanity, and the diviners have seen
a lie; and they have told false dreams. They comfort in vain.
Therefore they go their way like sheep. They are oppressed, because
there is no shepherd.
Zec
10:3 My anger is kindled against the shepherds, and I will punish
the male goats; For Yahweh of Armies has visited his flock, the house
of Judah, and will make them as his majestic horse in the battle.
Zec
10:4 From him will come forth the cornerstone, from him the nail,
from him the battle bow, from him every ruler together.
Zec
10:5 They shall be as mighty men, treading down muddy streets in the
battle; and they shall fight, because Yahweh is with them; and the
riders on horses will be confounded.
Zec
10:6 "I will strengthen the house of Judah, and I will save the
house of Joseph, and I will bring them back; for I have mercy on
them; and they will be as though I had not cast them off: for I am
Yahweh their God, and I will hear them.
Zec
10:7 Ephraim will be like a mighty man, and their heart will rejoice
as through wine; yes, their children will see it, and rejoice. Their
heart will be glad in Yahweh.
Zec
10:8 I will signal for them, and gather them; for I have redeemed
them; and they will increase as they have increased.
Zec
10:9 I will sow them among the peoples; and they will remember me in
far countries; and they will live with their children, and will
return.
Zec
10:10 I will bring them again also out of the land of Egypt, and
gather them out of Assyria; and I will bring them into the land of
Gilead and Lebanon; and there won't be room enough for them.
Zec
10:11 He will pass through the sea of affliction, and will strike
the waves in the sea, and all the depths of the Nile will dry up; and
the pride of Assyria will be brought down, and the scepter of Egypt
will depart.
Zec
10:12 I will strengthen them in Yahweh; and they will walk up and
down in his name," says Yahweh.
Zec
11:1 Open your doors, Lebanon, that the fire may devour your cedars.
Zec
11:2 Wail, fir tree, for the cedar has fallen, because the stately
ones are destroyed. Wail, you oaks of Bashan, for the strong forest
has come down.
Zec
11:3 A voice of the wailing of the shepherds! For their glory is
destroyed: a voice of the roaring of young lions! For the pride of
the Jordan is ruined.
Zec
11:4 Thus says Yahweh my God: "Feed the flock of slaughter.
Zec
11:5 Their buyers slaughter them, and go unpunished. Those who sell
them say, 'Blessed be Yahweh, for I am rich;' and their own shepherds
don't pity them.
Zec
11:6 For I will no more pity the inhabitants of the land," says
Yahweh; "but, behold, I will deliver the men everyone into his
neighbor's hand, and into the hand of his king. They will strike the
land, and out of their hand I will not deliver them."
Zec
11:7 So I fed the flock of slaughter, especially the oppressed of
the flock. I took for myself two staffs. The one I called "Favor,"
and the other I called "Union," and I fed the flock.
Zec
11:8 I cut off the three shepherds in one month; for my soul was
weary of them, and their soul also loathed me.
Zec
11:9 Then I said, "I will not feed you. That which dies, let it
die; and that which is to be cut off, let it be cut off; and let
those who are left eat each other's flesh."
Zec
11:10 I took my staff Favor, and cut it apart, that I might break my
covenant that I had made with all the peoples.
Zec
11:11 It was broken in that day; and thus the poor of the flock that
listened to me knew that it was the word of Yahweh.
Zec
11:12 I said to them, "If you think it best, give me my wages;
and if not, keep them." So they weighed for my wages thirty
pieces of silver.
Zec
11:13 Yahweh said to me, "Throw it to the potter, the handsome
price that I was valued at by them!" I took the thirty pieces of
silver, and threw them to the potter, in the house of Yahweh.
Zec
11:14 Then I cut apart my other staff, even Union, that I might
break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.
Zec
11:15 Yahweh said to me, "Take for yourself yet again the
equipment of a foolish shepherd.
Zec
11:16 For, behold, I will raise up a shepherd in the land, who will
not visit those who are cut off, neither will seek those who are
scattered, nor heal that which is broken, nor feed that which is
sound; but he will eat the flesh of the fat sheep, and will tear
their hoofs in pieces.
Zec
11:17 Woe to the worthless shepherd who leaves the flock! The sword
will be on his arm, and on his right eye. His arm will be completely
withered, and his right eye will be totally blinded!"
Zec
12:1 An oracle. The word of Yahweh concerning Israel. Yahweh, who
stretches out the heavens, and lays the foundation of the earth, and
forms the spirit of man within him says:
Zec
12:2 "Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of reeling to all the
surrounding peoples, and on Judah also will it be in the siege
against Jerusalem.
Zec
12:3 It will happen in that day, that I will make Jerusalem a
burdensome stone for all the peoples. All who burden themselves with
it will be severely wounded, and all the nations of the earth will be
gathered together against it.
Zec
12:4 In that day," says Yahweh, "I will strike every horse
with terror, and his rider with madness; and I will open my eyes on
the house of Judah, and will strike every horse of the peoples with
blindness.
Zec
12:5 The chieftains of Judah will say in their heart, 'The
inhabitants of Jerusalem are my strength in Yahweh of Armies their
God.'
Zec
12:6 In that day I will make the chieftains of Judah like a pan of
fire among wood, and like a flaming torch among sheaves; and they
will devour all the surrounding peoples, on the right hand and on the
left; and Jerusalem will yet again dwell in their own place, even in
Jerusalem.
Zec
12:7 Yahweh also will save the tents of Judah first, that the glory
of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem
not be magnified above Judah.
Zec
12:8 In that day Yahweh will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem. He
who is feeble among them at that day will be like David, and the
house of David will be like God, like the angel of Yahweh before
them.
Zec
12:9 It will happen in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the
nations that come against Jerusalem.
Zec
12:10 I will pour on the house of David, and on the inhabitants of
Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplication; and they will
look to me whom they have pierced; and they shall mourn for him, as
one mourns for his only son, and will grieve bitterly for him, as one
grieves for his firstborn.
Zec
12:11 In that day there will be a great mourning in Jerusalem, like
the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon.
Zec
12:12 The land will mourn, every family apart; the family of the
house of David apart, and their wives apart; the family of the house
of Nathan apart, and their wives apart;
Zec
12:13 the family of the house of Levi apart, and their wives apart;
the family of the Shimeites apart, and their wives apart;
Zec
12:14 all the families who remain, every family apart, and their
wives apart.
Dec.
29
Revelation
19, 20
Rev
19:1 After these things I heard something like a loud voice of a
great multitude in heaven, saying, "Hallelujah! Salvation,
power, and glory belong to our God:
Rev
19:2 for true and righteous are his judgments. For he has judged the
great prostitute, who corrupted the earth with her sexual immorality,
and he has avenged the blood of his servants at her hand."
Rev
19:3 A second said, "Hallelujah! Her smoke goes up forever and
ever."
Rev
19:4 The twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down
and worshiped God who sits on the throne, saying, "Amen!
Hallelujah!"
Rev
19:5 A voice came forth from the throne, saying, "Give praise
to our God, all you his servants, you who fear him, the small and the
great!"
Rev
19:6 I heard something like the voice of a great multitude, and like
the voice of many waters, and like the voice of mighty thunders,
saying, "Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns!
Rev
19:7 Let us rejoice and be exceedingly glad, and let us give the
glory to him. For the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his wife has
made herself ready."
Rev
19:8 It was given to her that she would array herself in bright,
pure, fine linen: for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the
saints.
Rev
19:9 He said to me, "Write, 'Blessed are those who are invited
to the marriage supper of the Lamb.' " He said to me, "These
are true words of God."
Rev
19:10 I fell down before his feet to worship him. He said to me,
"Look! Don't do it! I am a fellow bondservant with you and with
your brothers who hold the testimony of Jesus. Worship God, for the
testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of Prophecy."
Rev
19:11 I saw the heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and he who
sat on it is called Faithful and True. In righteousness he judges and
makes war.
Rev
19:12 His eyes are a flame of fire, and on his head are many crowns.
He has names written and a name written which no one knows but he
himself.
Rev
19:13 He is clothed in a garment sprinkled with blood. His name is
called "The Word of God."
Rev
19:14 The armies which are in heaven followed him on white horses,
clothed in white, pure, fine linen.
Rev
19:15 Out of his mouth proceeds a sharp, double-edged sword, that
with it he should strike the nations. He will rule them with an iron
rod. He treads the winepress of the fierceness of the wrath of God,
the Almighty.
Rev
19:16 He has on his garment and on his thigh a name written, "KING
OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS."
Rev
19:17 I saw an angel standing in the sun. He cried with a loud
voice, saying to all the birds that fly in the sky, "Come! Be
gathered together to the great supper of God,
Rev
19:18 that you may eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains,
the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses and of those who sit
on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and slave, and small and
great."
Rev
19:19 I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies,
gathered together to make war against him who sat on the horse, and
against his army.
Rev
19:20 The beast was taken, and with him the false prophet who worked
the signs in his sight, with which he deceived those who had received
the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. These two
were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur.
Rev
19:21 The rest were killed with the sword of him who sat on the
horse, the sword which came forth out of his mouth. All the birds
were filled with their flesh.
Rev
20:1 I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key of the
abyss and a great chain in his hand.
Rev
20:2 He seized the dragon, the old serpent, which is the devil and
Satan, who deceives the whole inhabited earth, and bound him for a
thousand years,
Rev
20:3 and cast him into the abyss, and shut it, and sealed it over
him, that he should deceive the nations no more, until the thousand
years were finished. After this, he must be freed for a short time.
Rev
20:4 I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to
them. I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the
testimony of Jesus, and for the word of God, and such as didn't
worship the beast nor his image, and didn't receive the mark on their
forehead and on their hand. They lived, and reigned with Christ for a
thousand years.
Rev
20:5 The rest of the dead didn't live until the thousand years were
finished. This is the first resurrection.
Rev
20:6 Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection.
Over these, the second death has no power, but they will be priests
of God and of Christ, and will reign with him one thousand years.
Rev
20:7 And after the thousand years, Satan will be released from his
prison,
Rev
20:8 and he will come out to deceive the nations which are in the
four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to
the war; the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.
Rev
20:9 They went up over the breadth of the earth, and surrounded the
camp of the saints, and the beloved city. Fire came down out of
heaven from God, and devoured them.
Rev
20:10 The devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire
and sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet are also. They will
be tormented day and night forever and ever.
Rev
20:11 I saw a great white throne, and him who sat on it, from whose
face the earth and the heaven fled away. There was found no place for
them.
Rev
20:12 I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the
throne, and they opened books. Another book was opened, which is the
book of life. The dead were judged out of the things which were
written in the books, according to their works.
Rev
20:13 The sea gave up the dead who were in it. Death and Hades gave
up the dead who were in them. They were judged, each one according to
his works.
Rev
20:14 Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the
second death, the lake of fire.
Rev
20:15 If anyone was not found written in the book of life, he was
cast into the lake of fire.
Many
theories have been advanced to account for the origin of demons. Some
say demons are the offspring of angels cohabiting with women (Genesis
6:1-4). But angels are sexless beings who apparently are incapable of
such unions (Matthew 22:30). Instead, “sons of God” and “daughters of
men” in Genesis chapter six is an idiomatic expression for the
intermingling of good people with bad people—which inevitably results in
moral corruption (1 Corinthians 15:33) [see Major, 1993].