Bible Reading for December 30 and 31
World English Bible
Dec.
30
Zechariah
13, 14
Zec
13:1 "In that day there will be a spring opened to the house of
David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for
uncleanness.
Zec
13:2 It will come to pass in that day, says Yahweh of Armies, that I
will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, and they will be
remembered no more. I will also cause the prophets and the spirit of
impurity to pass out of the land.
Zec
13:3 It will happen that, when anyone still prophesies, then his
father and his mother who bore him will tell him, 'You must die,
because you speak lies in the name of Yahweh;' and his father and his
mother who bore him will stab him when he prophesies.
Zec
13:4 It will happen in that day, that the prophets will each be
ashamed of his vision, when he prophesies; neither will they wear a
hairy mantle to deceive:
Zec
13:5 but he will say, 'I am no prophet, I am a tiller of the ground;
for I have been made a bondservant from my youth.'
Zec
13:6 One will say to him, 'What are these wounds between your arms?'
Then he will answer, 'Those with which I was wounded in the house of
my friends.'
Zec
13:7 "Awake, sword, against my shepherd, and against the man
who is close to me," says Yahweh of Armies. "Strike the
shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered; and I will turn my hand
against the little ones.
Zec
13:8 It shall happen that in all the land," says Yahweh, "two
parts in it will be cut off and die; but the third will be left in
it.
Zec
13:9 I will bring the third part into the fire, and will refine them
as silver is refined, and will test them like gold is tested. They
will call on my name, and I will hear them. I will say, 'It is my
people;' and they will say, 'Yahweh is my God.' "
Zec
14:1 Behold, a day of Yahweh comes, when your spoil will be divided
in your midst.
Zec
14:2 For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and
the city will be taken, the houses rifled, and the women ravished.
Half of the city will go out into captivity, and the rest of the
people will not be cut off from the city.
Zec
14:3 Then Yahweh will go out and fight against those nations, as
when he fought in the day of battle.
Zec
14:4 His feet will stand in that day on the Mount of Olives, which
is before Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives will be
split in two, from east to west, making a very great valley. Half of
the mountain will move toward the north, and half of it toward the
south.
Zec
14:5 You shall flee by the valley of my mountains; for the valley of
the mountains shall reach to Azel; yes, you shall flee, just like you
fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah.
Yahweh my God will come, and all the holy ones with you.
Zec
14:6 It will happen in that day, that there will not be light, cold,
or frost.
Zec
14:7 It will be a unique day which is known to Yahweh; not day, and
not night; but it will come to pass, that at evening time there will
be light.
Zec
14:8 It will happen in that day, that living waters will go out from
Jerusalem; half of them toward the eastern sea, and half of them
toward the western sea; in summer and in winter will it be.
Zec
14:9 Yahweh will be King over all the earth. In that day Yahweh will
be one, and his name one.
Zec
14:10 All the land will be made like the Arabah, from Geba to Rimmon
south of Jerusalem; and she will be lifted up, and will dwell in her
place, from Benjamin's gate to the place of the first gate, to the
corner gate, and from the tower of Hananel to the king's winepresses.
Zec
14:11 Men will dwell therein, and there will be no more curse; but
Jerusalem will dwell safely.
Zec
14:12 This will be the plague with which Yahweh will strike all the
peoples who have warred against Jerusalem: their flesh will consume
away while they stand on their feet, and their eyes will consume away
in their sockets, and their tongue will consume away in their mouth.
Zec
14:13 It will happen in that day, that a great panic from Yahweh
will be among them; and they will lay hold everyone on the hand of
his neighbor, and his hand will rise up against the hand of his
neighbor.
Zec
14:14 Judah also will fight at Jerusalem; and the wealth of all the
surrounding nations will be gathered together: gold, and silver, and
clothing, in great abundance.
Zec
14:15 So will be the plague of the horse, of the mule, of the camel,
and of the donkey, and of all the animals that will be in those
camps, as that plague.
Zec
14:16 It will happen that everyone who is left of all the nations
that came against Jerusalem will go up from year to year to worship
the King, Yahweh of Armies, and to keep the feast of tents.
Zec
14:17 It will be, that whoever of all the families of the earth
doesn't go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, Yahweh of Armies, on
them there will be no rain.
Zec
14:18 If the family of Egypt doesn't go up, and doesn't come,
neither will it rain on them. This will be the plague with which
Yahweh will strike the nations that don't go up to keep the feast of
tents.
Zec
14:19 This will be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of
all the nations that don't go up to keep the feast of tents.
Zec
14:20 In that day there will be on the bells of the horses, "HOLY
TO YAHWEH;" and the pots in Yahweh's house will be like the
bowls before the altar.
Zec
14:21 Yes, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah will be holy to
Yahweh of Armies; and all those who sacrifice will come and take of
them, and cook in them. In that day there will no longer be a
Canaanite in the house of Yahweh of Armies.
Dec.
31
Malachi
1-4
Mal
1:1 An oracle: the word of Yahweh to Israel by Malachi.
Mal
1:2 "I have loved you," says Yahweh. Yet you say, "How
have you loved us?" "Wasn't Esau Jacob's brother?"
says Yahweh, "Yet I loved Jacob;
Mal
1:3 but Esau I hated, and made his mountains a desolation, and gave
his heritage to the jackals of the wilderness."
Mal
1:4 Whereas Edom says, "We are beaten down, but we will return
and build the waste places;" thus says Yahweh of Armies, "They
shall build, but I will throw down; and men will call them 'The
Wicked Land,' even the people against whom Yahweh shows wrath
forever."
Mal
1:5 Your eyes will see, and you will say, "Yahweh is
great--even beyond the border of Israel!"
Mal
1:6 "A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If I am
a father, then where is my honor? And if I am a master, where is the
respect due me? Says Yahweh of Armies to you, priests, who despise my
name. You say, 'How have we despised your name?'
Mal
1:7 You offer polluted bread on my altar. You say, 'How have we
polluted you?' In that you say, 'Yahweh's table contemptible.'
Mal
1:8 When you offer the blind for sacrifice, isn't that evil? And
when you offer the lame and sick, isn't that evil? Present it now to
your governor! Will he be pleased with you? Or will he accept your
person?" says Yahweh of Armies.
Mal
1:9 "Now, please entreat the favor of God, that he may be
gracious to us. With this, will he accept any of you?" says
Yahweh of Armies.
Mal
1:10 "Oh that there were one among you who would shut the
doors, that you might not kindle fire on my altar in vain! I have no
pleasure in you," says Yahweh of Armies, "neither will I
accept an offering at your hand.
Mal
1:11 For from the rising of the sun even to the going down of the
same, my name is great among the nations, and in every place incense
will be offered to my name, and a pure offering: for my name is great
among the nations," says Yahweh of Armies.
Mal
1:12 "But you profane it, in that you say, 'Yahweh's table is
polluted, and its fruit, even its food, is contemptible.'
Mal
1:13 You say also, 'Behold, what a weariness it is!' and you have
sniffed at it," says Yahweh of Armies; "and you have
brought that which was taken by violence, the lame, and the sick;
thus you bring the offering. Should I accept this at your hand?"
says Yahweh.
Mal
1:14 "But the deceiver is cursed, who has in his flock a male,
and vows, and sacrifices to the Lord a blemished thing; for I am a
great King," says Yahweh of Armies, "and my name is awesome
among the nations."
Mal
2:1 "Now, you priests, this commandment is for you.
Mal
2:2 If you will not listen, and if you will not lay it to heart, to
give glory to my name," says Yahweh of Armies, "then will I
send the curse on you, and I will curse your blessings. Indeed, I
have cursed them already, because you do not lay it to heart.
Mal
2:3 Behold, I will rebuke your seed, and will spread dung on your
faces, even the dung of your feasts; and you will be taken away with
it.
Mal
2:4 You will know that I have sent this commandment to you, that my
covenant may be with Levi," says Yahweh of Armies.
Mal
2:5 "My covenant was with him of life and peace; and I gave
them to him who he might be reverent toward me; and he was reverent
toward me, and stood in awe of my name.
Mal
2:6 The law of truth was in his mouth, and unrighteousness was not
found in his lips. He walked with me in peace and uprightness, and
turned many away from iniquity.
Mal
2:7 For the priest's lips should keep knowledge, and they should
seek the law at his mouth; for he is the messenger of Yahweh of
Armies.
Mal
2:8 But you have turned aside out of the way. You have caused many
to stumble in the law. You have corrupted the covenant of Levi,"
says Yahweh of Armies.
Mal
2:9 "Therefore I have also made you contemptible and base
before all the people, according to the way you have not kept my
ways, but have had respect for persons in the law.
Mal
2:10 Don't we all have one father? Hasn't one God created us? Why do
we deal treacherously every man against his brother, profaning the
covenant of our fathers?
Mal
2:11 Judah has dealt treacherously, and an abomination is committed
in Israel and in Jerusalem; for Judah has profaned the holiness of
Yahweh which he loves, and has married the daughter of a foreign god.
Mal
2:12 Yahweh will cut off, to the man who does this, him who wakes
and him who answers, out of the tents of Jacob, and him who offers an
offering to Yahweh of Armies.
Mal
2:13 This again you do: you cover the altar of Yahweh with tears,
with weeping, and with sighing, because he doesn't regard the
offering any more, neither receives it with good will at your hand.
Mal
2:14 Yet you say, 'Why?' Because Yahweh has been witness between you
and the wife of your youth, against whom you have dealt
treacherously, though she is your companion, and the wife of your
covenant.
Mal
2:15 Did he not make one, although he had the residue of the Spirit?
Why one? He sought a godly seed. Therefore take heed to your spirit,
and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth.
Mal
2:16 For I hate divorce," says Yahweh, the God of Israel, "and
him who covers his garment with violence!" says Yahweh of
Armies. "Therefore take heed to your spirit, that you don't deal
treacherously.
Mal
2:17 You have wearied Yahweh with your words. Yet you say, 'How have
we wearied him?' In that you say, 'Everyone who does evil is good in
the sight of Yahweh, and he delights in them;' or 'Where is the God
of justice?'
Mal
3:1 "Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way
before me; and the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to his
temple; and the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, behold,
he comes!" says Yahweh of Armies.
Mal
3:2 "But who can endure the day of his coming? And who will
stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner's fire, and like
launderer's soap;
Mal
3:3 and he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will
purify the sons of Levi, and refine them as gold and silver; and they
shall offer to Yahweh offerings in righteousness.
Mal
3:4 Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasant to
Yahweh, as in the days of old, and as in ancient years.
Mal
3:5 I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift
witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and
against the perjurers, and against those who oppress the hireling in
his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and who deprive the
foreigner of justice, and don't fear me," says Yahweh of Armies.
Mal
3:6 "For I, Yahweh, don't change; therefore you, sons of Jacob,
are not consumed.
Mal
3:7 From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my
ordinances, and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return
to you," says Yahweh of Armies. "But you say, 'How shall we
return?'
Mal
3:8 Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me! But you say, 'How have we
robbed you?' In tithes and offerings.
Mal
3:9 You are cursed with the curse; for you rob me, even this whole
nation.
Mal
3:10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be
food in my house, and test me now in this," says Yahweh of
Armies, "if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour
you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough for.
Mal
3:11 I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not
destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast its
fruit before its time in the field," says Yahweh of Armies.
Mal
3:12 "All nations shall call you blessed, for you will be a
delightful land," says Yahweh of Armies.
Mal
3:13 "Your words have been stout against me," says Yahweh.
"Yet you say, 'What have we spoken against you?'
Mal
3:14 You have said, 'It is vain to serve God;' and 'What profit is
it that we have followed his instructions, and that we have walked
mournfully before Yahweh of Armies?
Mal
3:15 Now we call the proud happy; yes, those who work wickedness are
built up; yes, they tempt God, and escape.'
Mal
3:16 Then those who feared Yahweh spoke one with another; and Yahweh
listened, and heard, and a book of memory was written before him, for
those who feared Yahweh, and who honored his name.
Mal
3:17 They shall be mine," says Yahweh of Armies, "my own
possession in the day that I make, and I will spare them, as a man
spares his own son who serves him.
Mal
3:18 Then you shall return and discern between the righteous and the
wicked, between him who serves God and him who doesn't serve him.
Mal
4:1 "For, behold, the day comes, it burns as a furnace; and all
the proud, and all who work wickedness, will be stubble; and the day
that comes will burn them up," says Yahweh of Armies, "that
it shall leave them neither root nor branch.
Mal
4:2 But to you who fear my name shall the sun of righteousness arise
with healing in its wings. You will go out, and leap like calves of
the stall.
Mal
4:3 You shall tread down the wicked; for they will be ashes under
the soles of your feet in the day that I make," says Yahweh of
Armies.
Mal
4:4 "Remember the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded to
him in Horeb for all Israel, even statutes and ordinances.
Mal
4:5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and
terrible day of Yahweh comes.
Mal
4:6 He will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the
hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the
earth with a curse."
Dec. 30
Revelation
21, 22
Rev
21:1 I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and
the first earth have passed away, and the sea is no more.
Rev
21:2 I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven
from God, made ready like a bride adorned for her husband.
Rev
21:3 I heard a loud voice out of heaven saying, "Behold, God's
dwelling is with people, and he will dwell with them, and they will
be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.
Rev
21:4 He will wipe away from them every tear from their eyes. Death
will be no more; neither will there be mourning, nor crying, nor
pain, any more. The first things have passed away."
Rev
21:5 He who sits on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all
things new." He said, "Write, for these words of God are
faithful and true."
Rev
21:6 He said to me, "It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega,
the Beginning and the End. I will give freely to him who is thirsty
from the spring of the water of life.
Rev
21:7 He who overcomes, I will give him these things. I will be his
God, and he will be my son.
Rev
21:8 But for the cowardly, unbelieving, sinners, abominable,
murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars,
their part is in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is
the second death."
Rev
21:9 One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls, who were
loaded with the seven last plagues came, and he spoke with me,
saying, "Come here. I will show you the wife, the Lamb's bride."
Rev
21:10 He carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain,
and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven
from God,
Rev
21:11 having the glory of God. Her light was like a most precious
stone, as if it was a jasper stone, clear as crystal;
Rev
21:12 having a great and high wall; having twelve gates, and at the
gates twelve angels; and names written on them, which are the names
of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel.
Rev
21:13 On the east were three gates; and on the north three gates;
and on the south three gates; and on the west three gates.
Rev
21:14 The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them
twelve names of the twelve Apostles of the Lamb.
Rev
21:15 He who spoke with me had for a measure, a golden reed, to
measure the city, its gates, and its walls.
Rev
21:16 The city lies foursquare, and its length is as great as its
breadth. He measured the city with the reed, Twelve thousand twelve
stadia. Its length, breadth, and height are equal.
Rev
21:17 Its wall is one hundred forty-four cubits, by the measure of a
man, that is, of an angel.
Rev
21:18 The construction of its wall was jasper. The city was pure
gold, like pure glass.
Rev
21:19 The foundations of the city's wall were adorned with all kinds
of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second,
sapphire; the third, chalcedony; the fourth, emerald;
Rev
21:20 the fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh,
chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, topaz; the tenth,
chrysoprasus; the eleventh, jacinth; and the twelfth, amethyst.
Rev
21:21 The twelve gates were twelve pearls. Each one of the gates was
made of one pearl. The street of the city was pure gold, like
transparent glass.
Rev
21:22 I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God, the Almighty, and the
Lamb, are its temple.
Rev
21:23 The city has no need for the sun, neither of the moon, to
shine, for the very glory of God illuminated it, and its lamp is the
Lamb.
Rev
21:24 The nations will walk in its light. The kings of the earth
bring the glory and honor of the nations into it.
Rev
21:25 Its gates will in no way be shut by day (for there will be no
night there),
Rev
21:26 and they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations
into it so that they may enter.
Rev
21:27 There will in no way enter into it anything profane, or one
who causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in
the Lamb's book of life.
Rev
22:1 He showed me a river of water of life, clear as crystal,
proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb,
Rev
22:2 in the middle of its street. On this side of the river and on
that was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruits, yielding
its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of
the nations.
Rev
22:3 There will be no curse any more. The throne of God and of the
Lamb will be in it, and his servants serve him.
Rev
22:4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their
foreheads.
Rev
22:5 There will be no night, and they need no lamp light; for the
Lord God will illuminate them. They will reign forever and ever.
Rev
22:6 He said to me, "These words are faithful and true. The
Lord God of the spirits of the prophets sent his angel to show to his
bondservants the things which must happen soon."
Rev
22:7 "Behold, I come quickly. Blessed is he who keeps the words
of the prophecy of this book."
Rev
22:8 Now I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. When I
heard and saw, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel
who had shown me these things.
Rev
22:9 He said to me, "See you don't do it! I am a fellow
bondservant with you and with your brothers, the prophets, and with
those who keep the words of this book. Worship God."
Rev
22:10 He said to me, "Don't seal up the words of the prophecy
of this book, for the time is at hand.
Rev
22:11 He who acts unjustly, let him act unjustly still. He who is
filthy, let him be filthy still. He who is righteous, let him do
righteousness still. He who is holy, let him be holy still."
Rev
22:12 "Behold, I come quickly. My reward is with me, to repay
to each man according to his work.
Rev
22:13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the
Beginning and the End.
Rev
22:14 Blessed are those who do his commandments, that they may have
the right to the tree of life, and may enter in by the gates into the
city.
Rev
22:15 Outside are the dogs, the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the
murderers, the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices
falsehood.
Rev
22:16 I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify these things to you
for the assemblies. I am the root and the offspring of David; the
Bright and Morning Star."
Rev
22:17 The Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" He who hears,
let him say, "Come!" He who is thirsty, let him come. He
who desires, let him take the water of life freely.
Rev
22:18 I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of
this book, if anyone adds to them, may God add to him the plagues
which are written in this book.
Rev
22:19 If anyone takes away from the words of the book of this
prophecy, may God take away his part from the tree of life, and out
of the holy city, which are written in this book.
Rev
22:20 He who testifies these things says, "Yes, I come
quickly." Amen! Yes, come, Lord Jesus.
Rev
22:21 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with all the saints.
Amen.
