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Daily Readings for December 21
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Job 28
1."Surely there is a mine for silver, and a place for gold which they refine. 2.Iron is taken out of the earth, and copper is smelted out of the ore. 3.Man sets an end to darkness, and searches out, to the furthest bound, the stones of obscurity and of thick darkness. 4.He breaks open a shaft away from where people live. They are forgotten by the foot. They hang far from men, they swing back and forth. 5.As for the earth, out of it comes bread; Underneath it is turned up as it were by fire. 6.Sapphires come from its rocks. It has dust of gold. 7.That path no bird of prey knows, neither has the falcon's eye seen it. 8.The proud animals have not trodden it, nor has the fierce lion passed by there. 9.He puts forth his hand on the flinty rock, and he overturns the mountains by the roots. 10.He cuts out channels among the rocks. His eye sees every precious thing. 11.He binds the streams that they don't trickle. The thing that is hidden he brings forth to light.
12."But where shall wisdom be found? Where is the place of understanding? 13.Man doesn't know its price; Neither is it found in the land of the living. 14.The deep says, 'It isn't in me.' The sea says, 'It isn't with me.' 15.It can't be gotten for gold, neither shall silver be weighed for its price. 16.It can't be valued with the gold of Ophir, with the precious onyx, or the sapphire12. 17.Gold and glass can't equal it, neither shall it be exchanged for jewels of fine gold. 18.No mention shall be made of coral or of crystal. Yes, the price of wisdom is above rubies. 19.The topaz of Ethiopia shall not equal it, Neither shall it be valued with pure gold. 20.Where then does wisdom come from? Where is the place of understanding? 21.Seeing it is hidden from the eyes of all living, and kept close from the birds of the sky. 22.Destruction and Death say, 'We have heard a rumor of it with our ears.'
23."God understands its way, and he knows its place. 24.For he looks to the ends of the earth, and sees under the whole sky. 25.He establishes the force of the wind. Yes, he measures out the waters by measure. 26.When he made a decree for the rain, and a way for the lightning of the thunder; 27.then he saw it, and declared it. He established it, yes, and searched it out. 28.To man he said, 'Behold, the fear of the Lord13, that is wisdom. To depart from evil is understanding.'"
Zechariah 4
1.The angel who talked with me came again, and wakened me, as a man who is wakened out of his sleep. 2.He said to me, "What do you see?"
I said, "I have seen, and behold, a lampstand all of gold, with its bowl on the top of it, and its seven lamps thereon; there are seven pipes to each of the lamps, which are on the top of it; 3.and two olive trees by it, one on the right side of the bowl, and the other on the left side of it."
4.I answered and spoke to the angel who talked with me, saying, "What are these, my lord?"
I said, "No, my lord."
5.Then the angel who talked with me answered me, "Don't you know what these are?"
6.Then he answered and spoke to me, saying, "This is the word of Yahweh to Zerubbabel, saying, 'Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit,' says Yahweh of Armies. 7.Who are you, great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you are a plain; and he will bring out the capstone with shouts of 'Grace, grace, to it!'"
8.Moreover the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 9."The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house. His hands shall also finish it; and you will know that Yahweh of Armies has sent me to you. 10.Indeed, who despises the day of small things? For these seven shall rejoice, and shall see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel. These are the eyes of Yahweh, which run back and forth through the whole earth."
11.Then I asked him, "What are these two olive trees on the right side of the lampstand and on the left side of it?"
12.I asked him the second time, "What are these two olive branches, which are beside the two golden spouts, that pour the golden oil out of themselves?"
13.He answered me, "Don't you know what these are?"
I said, "No, my lord."
14.Then he said, "These are the two anointed ones who stand by the Lord2 of the whole earth."
Zechariah 5
1.Then again I lifted up my eyes, and saw, and behold, a flying scroll. 2.He said to me, "What do you see?"
I answered, "I see a flying scroll; its length is twenty cubits, and its breadth ten cubits."
3.Then he said to me, "This is the curse that goes out over the surface of the whole land; for everyone who steals shall be cut off according to it on the one side; and everyone who swears falsely shall be cut off according to it on the other side. 4.I will cause it to go out," says Yahweh of Armies, "and it will enter into the house of the thief, and into the house of him who swears falsely by my name; and it will remain in the midst of his house, and will destroy it with its timber and its stones."
5.Then the angel who talked with me came forward, and said to me, "Lift up now your eyes, and see what is this that is appearing."
6.I said, "What is it?"
He said, "This is the ephah3 basket that is appearing." He said moreover, "This is their appearance in all the land 7.(and behold, a talent4 of lead was lifted up); and this is a woman sitting in the midst of the ephah basket." 8.He said, "This is Wickedness;" and he threw her down into the midst of the ephah basket; and he threw the weight of lead on its mouth.
9.Then lifted I up my eyes, and saw, and behold, there were two women, and the wind was in their wings. Now they had wings like the wings of a stork, and they lifted up the ephah basket between earth and the sky. 10.Then I said to the angel who talked with me, "Where are these carrying the ephah basket?"
11.He said to me, "To build her a house in the land of Shinar. When it is prepared, she will be set there in her own place."
Revelation 1
1.This is the Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things which must happen soon, which he sent and made known by his angel1 to his servant, John, 2.who testified to God's word, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, about everything that he saw.
3.Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and keep the things that are written in it, for the time is at hand.
4.John, to the seven assemblies that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace, from God, who is and who was and who is to come; and from the seven Spirits who are before his throne; 5.and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us, and washed us from our sins by his blood; 6.and he made us to be a Kingdom, priests2 to his God and Father; to him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.
7.Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, including those who pierced him. All the tribes of the earth will mourn over him. Even so, Amen.
8."I am the Alpha and the Omega,3" says the Lord God,4 "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty."
9.I John, your brother and partner with you in oppression, Kingdom, and perseverance in Christ Jesus, was on the isle that is called Patmos because of God's Word and the testimony of Jesus Christ. 10.I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, like a trumpet 11.saying, "5What you see, write in a book and send to the seven assemblies6: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and to Laodicea."
12.I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. Having turned, I saw seven golden lampstands. 13.And among the lampstands was one like a son of man,7 clothed with a robe reaching down to his feet, and with a golden sash around his chest. 14.His head and his hair were white as white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire. 15.His feet were like burnished brass, as if it had been refined in a furnace. His voice was like the voice of many waters. 16.He had seven stars in his right hand. Out of his mouth proceeded a sharp two-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining at its brightest. 17.When I saw him, I fell at his feet like a dead man.
He laid his right hand on me, saying, "Don't be afraid. I am the first and the last, 18.and the Living one. I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. I have the keys of Death and of Hades8. 19.Write therefore the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will happen hereafter; 20.the mystery of the seven stars which you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands. The seven stars are the angels9 of the seven assemblies. The seven lampstands are seven assemblies.
Revelation 2
1."To the angel of the assembly in Ephesus write:
"He who holds the seven stars in his right hand, he who walks among the seven golden lampstands says these things:
2."I know your works, and your toil and perseverance, and that you can't tolerate evil men, and have tested those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and found them false. 3.You have perseverance and have endured for my name's sake, and have10 not grown weary. 4.But I have this against you, that you left your first love. 5.Remember therefore from where you have fallen, and repent and do the first works; or else I am coming to you swiftly, and will move your lampstand out of its place, unless you repent. 6.But this you have, that you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. 7.He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies. To him who overcomes I will give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of my God.
8."To the angel of the assembly in Smyrna write:
"The first and the last, who was dead, and has come to life says these things:
9."I know your works, oppression, and your poverty (but you are rich), and the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews, and they are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. 10.Don't be afraid of the things which you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested; and you will have oppression for ten days. Be faithful to death, and I will give you the crown of life. 11.He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies. He who overcomes won't be harmed by the second death.
12."To the angel of the assembly in Pergamum write:
"He who has the sharp two-edged sword says these things:
13."I know your works and where you dwell, where Satan's throne is. You hold firmly to my name, and didn't deny my faith in the days of Antipas my witness, my faithful one, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells. 14.But I have a few things against you, because you have there some who hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to throw a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality. 15.So you also have some who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans likewise11. 16.Repent therefore, or else I am coming to you quickly, and I will make war against them with the sword of my mouth. 17.He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies. To him who overcomes, to him I will give of the hidden manna,12 and I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written, which no one knows but he who receives it.
18."To the angel of the assembly in Thyatira write:
"The Son of God, who has his eyes like a flame of fire, and his feet are like burnished brass, says these things:
19."I know your works, your love, faith, service, patient endurance, and that your last works are more than the first. 20.But I have this against you, that you tolerate your13 woman, Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess. She teaches and seduces my servants to commit sexual immorality, and to eat things sacrificed to idols. 21.I gave her time to repent, but she refuses to repent of her sexual immorality. 22.Behold, I will throw her into a bed, and those who commit adultery with her into great oppression, unless they repent of her works. 23.I will kill her children with Death, and all the assemblies will know that I am he who searches the minds and hearts. I will give to each one of you according to your deeds. 24.But to you I say, to the rest who are in Thyatira, as many as don't have this teaching, who don't know what some call 'the deep things of Satan,' to you I say, I am not putting any other burden on you. 25.Nevertheless, hold that which you have firmly until I come. 26.He who overcomes, and he who keeps my works to the end, to him I will give authority over the nations. 27.He will rule them with a rod of iron, shattering them like clay pots;14 as I also have received of my Father: 28.and I will give him the morning star. 29.He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies.