December 13th - Day 347

Obadiah 1:1-21



Obadiah 1

1 The vision of Obadiah.

This is what the Sovereign LORD says about Edom—

We have heard a message from the LORD :

An envoy was sent to the nations to say,

"Rise, and let us go against her for battle"-

2 "See, I will make you small among the nations;

you will be utterly despised.

3 The pride of your heart has deceived you,

you who live in the clefts of the rocks [a]

and make your home on the heights,

you who say to yourself,

'Who can bring me down to the ground?'

4 Though you soar like the eagle

and make your nest among the stars,

from there I will bring you down,"

declares the LORD.

5 "If thieves came to you,

if robbers in the night—

Oh, what a disaster awaits you—

would they not steal only as much as they wanted?

If grape pickers came to you,

would they not leave a few grapes?

6 But how Esau will be ransacked,

his hidden treasures pillaged!

7 All your allies will force you to the border;

your friends will deceive and overpower you;

those who eat your bread will set a trap for you, [b]

but you will not detect it.

8 "In that day," declares the LORD,

"will I not destroy the wise men of Edom,

men of understanding in the mountains of Esau?

9 Your warriors, O Teman, will be terrified,

and everyone in Esau's mountains

will be cut down in the slaughter.

10 Because of the violence against your brother Jacob,

you will be covered with shame;

you will be destroyed forever.

11 On the day you stood aloof

while strangers carried off his wealth

and foreigners entered his gates

and cast lots for Jerusalem,

you were like one of them.

12 You should not look down on your brother

in the day of his misfortune,

nor rejoice over the people of Judah

in the day of their destruction,

nor boast so much

in the day of their trouble.

13 You should not march through the gates of my people

in the day of their disaster,

nor look down on them in their calamity

in the day of their disaster,

nor seize their wealth

in the day of their disaster.

14 You should not wait at the crossroads

to cut down their fugitives,

nor hand over their survivors

in the day of their trouble.

15 "The day of the LORD is near

for all nations.

As you have done, it will be done to you;

your deeds will return upon your own head.

16 Just as you drank on my holy hill,

so all the nations will drink continually;

they will drink and drink

and be as if they had never been.

17 But on Mount Zion will be deliverance;

it will be holy,

and the house of Jacob

will possess its inheritance.

18 The house of Jacob will be a fire

and the house of Joseph a flame;

the house of Esau will be stubble,

and they will set it on fire and consume it.

There will be no survivors

from the house of Esau."

The LORD has spoken.

19 People from the Negev will occupy

the mountains of Esau,

and people from the foothills will possess

the land of the Philistines.

They will occupy the fields of Ephraim and Samaria,

and Benjamin will possess Gilead.

20 This company of Israelite exiles who are in Canaan

will possess the land as far as Zarephath;

the exiles from Jerusalem who are in Sepharad

will possess the towns of the Negev.

21 Deliverers will go up on [c] Mount Zion

to govern the mountains of Esau.

And the kingdom will be the LORD's.

Footnotes:

1. Obadiah 1:3 Or of Sela
   
2. Obadiah 1:7 The meaning of the Hebrew for this clause is uncertain
   
3. Obadiah 1:21 Or from

Revelation 4:1-11



Revelation 4

The Throne in Heaven

1After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, "Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this." 2At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it. 3And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian. A rainbow, resembling an emerald, encircled the throne. 4Surrounding the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and seated on them were twenty-four elders. They were dressed in white and had crowns of gold on their heads. 5From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder. Before the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are the seven spirits[a] of God. 6Also before the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal.

In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures, and they were covered with eyes, in front and in back. 7The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle. 8Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under his wings. Day and night they never stop saying: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come." 9Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, 10the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne, and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say:

11"You are worthy, our Lord and God,

to receive glory and honor and power,

for you created all things,

and by your will they were created

and have their being."

Footnotes:

1. Revelation 4:5 Or the sevenfold Spirit

Psalm 132:1-18



Psalm 132

A song of ascents.

1 O LORD, remember David

and all the hardships he endured.

2 He swore an oath to the LORD

and made a vow to the Mighty One of Jacob:

3 "I will not enter my house

or go to my bed-

4 I will allow no sleep to my eyes,

no slumber to my eyelids,

5 till I find a place for the LORD,

a dwelling for the Mighty One of Jacob."

6 We heard it in Ephrathah,

we came upon it in the fields of Jaar [a] : [b]

7 "Let us go to his dwelling place;

let us worship at his footstool-

8 arise, O LORD, and come to your resting place,

you and the ark of your might.

9 May your priests be clothed with righteousness;

may your saints sing for joy."

10 For the sake of David your servant,

do not reject your anointed one.

11 The LORD swore an oath to David,

a sure oath that he will not revoke:

"One of your own descendants

I will place on your throne-

12 if your sons keep my covenant

and the statutes I teach them,

then their sons will sit

on your throne for ever and ever."

13 For the LORD has chosen Zion,

he has desired it for his dwelling:

14 "This is my resting place for ever and ever;

here I will sit enthroned, for I have desired it-

15 I will bless her with abundant provisions;

her poor will I satisfy with food.

16 I will clothe her priests with salvation,

and her saints will ever sing for joy.

17 "Here I will make a horn [c] grow for David

and set up a lamp for my anointed one.

18 I will clothe his enemies with shame,

but the crown on his head will be resplendent."

Footnotes:

1. Psalm 132:6 That is, Kiriath Jearim
   
2. Psalm 132:6 Or heard of it in Ephrathah, / we found it in the fields of Jaar . (And no quotes around verses 7-9)
   
3. Psalm 132:17 Horn here symbolizes strong one, that is, king.

Proverbs 29:24-25



24 The accomplice of a thief is his own enemy;

he is put under oath and dare not testify.

25 Fear of man will prove to be a snare,

but whoever trusts in the LORD is kept safe.