Saturday, December 22, 2007

December 22nd - Day 356

Zechariah 2-3:10



Zechariah 2
A Man With a Measuring Line

1 Then I looked up—and there before me was a man with a measuring line in his hand! 2 I asked, "Where are you going?"

He answered me, "To measure Jerusalem, to find out how wide and how long it is."

3 Then the angel who was speaking to me left, and another angel came to meet him 4 and said to him: "Run, tell that young man, 'Jerusalem will be a city without walls because of the great number of men and livestock in it. 5 And I myself will be a wall of fire around it,' declares the LORD, 'and I will be its glory within.'

6 "Come! Come! Flee from the land of the north," declares the LORD, "for I have scattered you to the four winds of heaven," declares the LORD.

7 "Come, O Zion! Escape, you who live in the Daughter of Babylon!" 8 For this is what the LORD Almighty says: "After he has honored me and has sent me against the nations that have plundered you—for whoever touches you touches the apple of his eye- 9 I will surely raise my hand against them so that their slaves will plunder them. [a] Then you will know that the LORD Almighty has sent me.

10 "Shout and be glad, O Daughter of Zion. For I am coming, and I will live among you," declares the LORD. 11 "Many nations will be joined with the LORD in that day and will become my people. I will live among you and you will know that the LORD Almighty has sent me to you. 12 The LORD will inherit Judah as his portion in the holy land and will again choose Jerusalem. 13 Be still before the LORD, all mankind, because he has roused himself from his holy dwelling."

Zechariah 3


Clean Garments for the High Priest

1 Then he showed me Joshua [b] the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan [c] standing at his right side to accuse him. 2 The LORD said to Satan, "The LORD rebuke you, Satan! The LORD, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you! Is not this man a burning stick snatched from the fire?"

3 Now Joshua was dressed in filthy clothes as he stood before the angel. 4 The angel said to those who were standing before him, "Take off his filthy clothes."

Then he said to Joshua, "See, I have taken away your sin, and I will put rich garments on you."

5 Then I said, "Put a clean turban on his head." So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him, while the angel of the LORD stood by.

6 The angel of the LORD gave this charge to Joshua: 7 "This is what the LORD Almighty says: 'If you will walk in my ways and keep my requirements, then you will govern my house and have charge of my courts, and I will give you a place among these standing here.

8 " 'Listen, O high priest Joshua and your associates seated before you, who are men symbolic of things to come: I am going to bring my servant, the Branch. 9 See, the stone I have set in front of Joshua! There are seven eyes [d] on that one stone, and I will engrave an inscription on it,' says the LORD Almighty, 'and I will remove the sin of this land in a single day.

10 " 'In that day each of you will invite his neighbor to sit under his vine and fig tree,' declares the LORD Almighty."


Footnotes:


  1. Zechariah 2:9 Or says after ? eye: 9 "I ? plunder them."
  2. Zechariah 3:1 A variant of Jeshua ; here and elsewhere in Zechariah
  3. Zechariah 3:1 Satan means accuser .
  4. Zechariah 3:9 Or facets


Revelation 13:1-18



Revelation 13


1And the dragon[a] stood on the shore of the sea.

The Beast out of the Sea

And I saw a beast coming out of the sea. He had ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on his horns, and on each head a blasphemous name. 2The beast I saw resembled a leopard, but had feet like those of a bear and a mouth like that of a lion. The dragon gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority. 3One of the heads of the beast seemed to have had a fatal wound, but the fatal wound had been healed. The whole world was astonished and followed the beast. 4Men worshiped the dragon because he had given authority to the beast, and they also worshiped the beast and asked, "Who is like the beast? Who can make war against him?"

5The beast was given a mouth to utter proud words and blasphemies and to exercise his authority for forty-two months. 6He opened his mouth to blaspheme God, and to slander his name and his dwelling place and those who live in heaven. 7He was given power to make war against the saints and to conquer them. And he was given authority over every tribe, people, language and nation. 8All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast—all whose names have not been written in the book of life belonging to the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world.[b]

9He who has an ear, let him hear.

10If anyone is to go into captivity,

into captivity he will go.

If anyone is to be killed[
c] with the sword,

with the sword he will be killed. This calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of the saints.

The Beast out of the Earth

11Then I saw another beast, coming out of the earth. He had two horns like a lamb, but he spoke like a dragon. 12He exercised all the authority of the first beast on his behalf, and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose fatal wound had been healed. 13And he performed great and miraculous signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to earth in full view of men. 14Because of the signs he was given power to do on behalf of the first beast, he deceived the inhabitants of the earth. He ordered them to set up an image in honor of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived. 15He was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that it could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed. 16He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, 17so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name.

18This calls for wisdom. If anyone has insight, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is man's number. His number is 666.


Footnotes:


  1. Revelation 13:1 Some late manuscripts And I
  2. Revelation 13:8 Or written from the creation of the world in the book of life belonging to the Lamb that was slain
  3. Revelation 13:10 Some manuscripts anyone kills


Psalm 141:1-10



Psalm 141


A psalm of David.

1 O LORD, I call to you; come quickly to me.

Hear my voice when I call to you.

2 May my prayer be set before you like incense;

may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice.

3 Set a guard over my mouth, O LORD;

keep watch over the door of my lips.

4 Let not my heart be drawn to what is evil,

to take part in wicked deeds

with men who are evildoers;

let me not eat of their delicacies.

5 Let a righteous man [a] strike me—it is a kindness;

let him rebuke me—it is oil on my head.

My head will not refuse it.

Yet my prayer is ever against the deeds of evildoers;

6 their rulers will be thrown down from the cliffs,

and the wicked will learn that my words were well spoken.

7 They will say, "As one plows and breaks up the earth,

so our bones have been scattered at the mouth of the grave. [
b] "

8 But my eyes are fixed on you, O Sovereign LORD;

in you I take refuge—do not give me over to death.

9 Keep me from the snares they have laid for me,

from the traps set by evildoers.

10 Let the wicked fall into their own nets,

while I pass by in safety.


Footnotes:


  1. Psalm 141:5 Or Let the Righteous One
  2. Psalm 141:7 Hebrew Sheol


Proverbs 30:18-20



18 "There are three things that are too amazing for me,

four that I do not understand:


19 the way of an eagle in the sky,

the way of a snake on a rock,

the way of a ship on the high seas,

and the way of a man with a maiden.

20 "This is the way of an adulteress:

She eats and wipes her mouth

and says, 'I've done nothing wrong.'

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