December 21

Luke 20:10-18

[10] When the time came, he sent a servant to the tenants, so that they would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the tenants beat him and sent him away empty-handed. [11] And he sent another servant. But they also beat and treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed. [12] And he sent yet a third. This one also they wounded and cast out. [13] Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my beloved son; perhaps they will respect him.’ [14] But when the tenants saw him, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Let us kill him, so that the inheritance may be ours.’ [15] And they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? [16] He will come and destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others.” When they heard this, they said, “Surely not!” [17] But he looked directly at them and said, “What then is this that is written: 

    “‘The stone that the builders rejected

        has become the cornerstone’?

    [18] Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.”

Revelation 18

The Fall of Babylon

[1] After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was made bright with his glory. [2] And he called out with a mighty voice, 

    “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great!

        She has become a dwelling place for demons,

    a haunt for every unclean spirit,

        a haunt for every unclean bird,

        a haunt for every unclean and detestable beast. 

    [3] For all nations have drunk

        the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality,

    and the kings of the earth have committed immorality with her,

        and the merchants of the earth have grown rich from the power of her luxurious living.”

    [4] Then I heard another voice from heaven saying, 

    “Come out of her, my people,

        lest you take part in her sins,

    lest you share in her plagues; 

    [5] for her sins are heaped high as heaven,

        and God has remembered her iniquities. 

    [6] Pay her back as she herself has paid back others,

        and repay her double for her deeds;

        mix a double portion for her in the cup she mixed. 

    [7] As she glorified herself and lived in luxury,

        so give her a like measure of torment and mourning,

    since in her heart she says,

        ‘I sit as a queen,

    I am no widow,

        and mourning I shall never see.’ 

    [8] For this reason her plagues will come in a single day,

        death and mourning and famine,

    and she will be burned up with fire;

        for mighty is the Lord God who has judged her.”

    [9] And the kings of the earth, who committed sexual immorality and lived in luxury with her, will weep and wail over her when they see the smoke of her burning. [10] They will stand far off, in fear of her torment, and say, 

    “Alas! Alas! You great city,

        you mighty city, Babylon!

    For in a single hour your judgment has come.”

    [11] And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn for her, since no one buys their cargo anymore, [12] cargo of gold, silver, jewels, pearls, fine linen, purple cloth, silk, scarlet cloth, all kinds of scented wood, all kinds of articles of ivory, all kinds of articles of costly wood, bronze, iron and marble, [13] cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh, frankincense, wine, oil, fine flour, wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, and slaves, that is, human souls.

    [14] “The fruit for which your soul longed

        has gone from you,

    and all your delicacies and your splendors

        are lost to you,

        never to be found again!”

    [15] The merchants of these wares, who gained wealth from her, will stand far off, in fear of her torment, weeping and mourning aloud,

    [16] “Alas, alas, for the great city

        that was clothed in fine linen,

    in purple and scarlet,

        adorned with gold,

    with jewels, and with pearls! 

    [17] For in a single hour all this wealth has been laid waste.”

    And all shipmasters and seafaring men, sailors and all whose trade is on the sea, stood far off  [18] and cried out as they saw the smoke of her burning, 

    “What city was like the great city?”

    [19] And they threw dust on their heads as they wept and mourned, crying out, 

    “Alas, alas, for the great city

        where all who had ships at sea

        grew rich by her wealth!

    For in a single hour she has been laid waste. 

    [20] Rejoice over her, O heaven,

        and you saints and apostles and prophets,

    for God has given judgment for you against her!”

    [21] Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, 

    “So will Babylon the great city be thrown down with violence,

        and will be found no more; 

    [22] and the sound of harpists and musicians, of flute players and trumpeters,

        will be heard in you no more,

    and a craftsman of any craft

        will be found in you no more,

    and the sound of the mill

        will be heard in you no more, 

    [23] and the light of a lamp

        will shine in you no more,

    and the voice of bridegroom and bride

        will be heard in you no more,

    for your merchants were the great ones of the earth,

        and all nations were deceived by your sorcery. 

    [24] And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints,

        and of all who have been slain on earth.”

Job 39

    [1] “Do you know when the mountain goats give birth?

        Do you observe the calving of the does? 

    [2] 

    Can you number the months that they fulfill,

        and do you know the time when they give birth, 

    [3] 

    when they crouch, bring forth their offspring,

        and are delivered of their young? 

    [4] 

    Their young ones become strong; they grow up in the open;

        they go out and do not return to them.

    [5] 

    “Who has let the wild donkey go free?

        Who has loosed the bonds of the swift donkey, 

    [6] 

    to whom I have given the arid plain for his home

        and the salt land for his dwelling place? 

    [7] 

    He scorns the tumult of the city;

        he hears not the shouts of the driver. 

    [8] 

    He ranges the mountains as his pasture,

        and he searches after every green thing.

    [9] 

    “Is the wild ox willing to serve you?

        Will he spend the night at your manger? 

    [10] 

    Can you bind him in the furrow with ropes,

        or will he harrow the valleys after you? 

    [11] 

    Will you depend on him because his strength is great,

        and will you leave to him your labor? 

    [12] 

    Do you have faith in him that he will return your grain

        and gather it to your threshing floor?

    [13] 

    “The wings of the ostrich wave proudly,

        but are they the pinions and plumage of love? 

    [14] 

    For she leaves her eggs to the earth

        and lets them be warmed on the ground, 

    [15] 

    forgetting that a foot may crush them

        and that the wild beast may trample them. 

    [16] 

    She deals cruelly with her young, as if they were not hers;

        though her labor be in vain, yet she has no fear, 

    [17] 

    because God has made her forget wisdom

        and given her no share in understanding. 

    [18] 

    When she rouses herself to flee,

        she laughs at the horse and his rider.

    [19] 

    “Do you give the horse his might?

        Do you clothe his neck with a mane? 

    [20] 

    Do you make him leap like the locust?

        His majestic snorting is terrifying. 

    [21] 

    He paws in the valley and exults in his strength;

        he goes out to meet the weapons. 

    [22] 

    He laughs at fear and is not dismayed;

        he does not turn back from the sword. 

    [23] 

    Upon him rattle the quiver,

        the flashing spear, and the javelin. 

    [24] 

    With fierceness and rage he swallows the ground;

        he cannot stand still at the sound of the trumpet. 

    [25] 

    When the trumpet sounds, he says ‘Aha!’

        He smells the battle from afar,

        the thunder of the captains, and the shouting.

    [26] 

    “Is it by your understanding that the hawk soars

        and spreads his wings toward the south? 

    [27] 

    Is it at your command that the eagle mounts up

        and makes his nest on high? 

    [28] 

    On the rock he dwells and makes his home,

        on the rocky crag and stronghold. 

    [29] 

    From there he spies out the prey;

        his eyes behold it from far away. 

    [30] 

    His young ones suck up blood,

        and where the slain are, there is he.”

Haggai 1

The Command to Rebuild the Temple

[1] In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, on the first day of the month, the word of the LORD came by the hand of Haggai the prophet to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest: [2] “Thus says the LORD of hosts: These people say the time has not yet come to rebuild the house of the LORD.” [3] Then the word of the LORD came by the hand of Haggai the prophet, [4] “Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins? [5] Now, therefore, thus says the LORD of hosts: Consider your ways. [6] You have sown much, and harvested little. You eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. And he who earns wages does so to put them into a bag with holes.

[7] “Thus says the LORD of hosts: Consider your ways. [8] Go up to the hills and bring wood and build the house, that I may take pleasure in it and that I may be glorified, says the LORD. [9] You looked for much, and behold, it came to little. And when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why? declares the LORD of hosts. Because of my house that lies in ruins, while each of you busies himself with his own house. [10] Therefore the heavens above you have withheld the dew, and the earth has withheld its produce. [11] And I have called for a drought on the land and the hills, on the grain, the new wine, the oil, on what the ground brings forth, on man and beast, and on all their labors.”

The People Obey the LORD

[12] Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the LORD their God, and the words of Haggai the prophet, as the LORD their God had sent him. And the people feared the LORD. [13] Then Haggai, the messenger of the LORD, spoke to the people with the LORD’s message, “I am with you, declares the LORD.” [14] And the LORD stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people. And they came and worked on the house of the LORD of hosts, their God, [15] on the twenty-fourth day of the month, in the sixth month, in the second year of Darius the king.

Haggai 2

The Coming Glory of the Temple

[1] In the seventh month, on the twenty-first day of the month, the word of the LORD came by the hand of Haggai the prophet: [2] “Speak now to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to all the remnant of the people, and say, [3] ‘Who is left among you who saw this house in its former glory? How do you see it now? Is it not as nothing in your eyes? [4] Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, declares the LORD. Be strong, O Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land, declares the LORD. Work, for I am with you, declares the LORD of hosts, [5] according to the covenant that I made with you when you came out of Egypt. My Spirit remains in your midst. Fear not. [6] For thus says the LORD of hosts: Yet once more, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land. [7] And I will shake all nations, so that the treasures of all nations shall come in, and I will fill this house with glory, says the LORD of hosts. [8] The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, declares the LORD of hosts. [9] The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, says the LORD of hosts. And in this place I will give peace, declares the LORD of hosts.’”

Blessings for a Defiled People

[10] On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of the LORD came by Haggai the prophet, [11] “Thus says the LORD of hosts: Ask the priests about the law: [12] ‘If someone carries holy meat in the fold of his garment and touches with his fold bread or stew or wine or oil or any kind of food, does it become holy?’” The priests answered and said, “No.” [13] Then Haggai said, “If someone who is unclean by contact with a dead body touches any of these, does it become unclean?” The priests answered and said, “It does become unclean.” [14] Then Haggai answered and said, “So is it with this people, and with this nation before me, declares the LORD, and so with every work of their hands. And what they offer there is unclean. [15] Now then, consider from this day onward. Before stone was placed upon stone in the temple of the LORD, [16] how did you fare? When one came to a heap of twenty measures, there were but ten. When one came to the wine vat to draw fifty measures, there were but twenty. [17] I struck you and all the products of your toil with blight and with mildew and with hail, yet you did not turn to me, declares the LORD. [18] Consider from this day onward, from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month. Since the day that the foundation of the LORD’s temple was laid, consider: [19] Is the seed yet in the barn? Indeed, the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive tree have yielded nothing. But from this day on I will bless you.”

Zerubbabel Chosen as a Signet

[20] The word of the LORD came a second time to Haggai on the twenty-fourth day of the month, [21] “Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying, I am about to shake the heavens and the earth, [22] and to overthrow the throne of kingdoms. I am about to destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the nations, and overthrow the chariots and their riders. And the horses and their riders shall go down, every one by the sword of his brother. [23] On that day, declares the LORD of hosts, I will take you, O Zerubbabel my servant, the son of Shealtiel, declares the LORD, and make you like a signet ring, for I have chosen you, declares the LORD of hosts.”