December 8

John 16:12-24

[12] “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. [13] When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. [14] He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. [15] All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

Your Sorrow Will Turn into Joy

[16] “A little while, and you will see me no longer; and again a little while, and you will see me.” [17] So some of his disciples said to one another, “What is this that he says to us, ‘A little while, and you will not see me, and again a little while, and you will see me’; and, ‘because I am going to the Father’?” [18] So they were saying, “What does he mean by ‘a little while’? We do not know what he is talking about.” [19] Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him, so he said to them, “Is this what you are asking yourselves, what I meant by saying, ‘A little while and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me’? [20] Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy. [21] When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. [22] So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you. [23] In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. [24] Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.

Revelation 5

The Scroll and the Lamb

[1] Then I saw in the right hand of him who was seated on the throne a scroll written within and on the back, sealed with seven seals. [2] And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?” [3] And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it, [4] and I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it. [5] And one of the elders said to me, “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.”

[6] And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. [7] And he went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne. [8] And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. [9] And they sang a new song, saying, 

    “Worthy are you to take the scroll

        and to open its seals,

    for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God

        from every tribe and language and people and nation, 

    [10] and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God,

        and they shall reign on the earth.”

    [11] Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, [12] saying with a loud voice, 

    “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain,

    to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might

    and honor and glory and blessing!”

    [13] And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, 

    “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb

    be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!”

    [14] And the four living creatures said, “Amen!” and the elders fell down and worshiped.

Job 31:1-23

Job’s Final Appeal

    [1] “I have made a covenant with my eyes;

        how then could I gaze at a virgin? 

    [2] What would be my portion from God above

        and my heritage from the Almighty on high? 

    [3] Is not calamity for the unrighteous,

        and disaster for the workers of iniquity? 

    [4] Does not he see my ways

        and number all my steps?

    [5] “If I have walked with falsehood

        and my foot has hastened to deceit; 

    [6] (Let me be weighed in a just balance,

        and let God know my integrity!) 

    [7] if my step has turned aside from the way

        and my heart has gone after my eyes,

        and if any spot has stuck to my hands, 

    [8] then let me sow, and another eat,

        and let what grows for me be rooted out.

    [9] “If my heart has been enticed toward a woman,

        and I have lain in wait at my neighbor’s door, 

    [10] then let my wife grind for another,

        and let others bow down on her. 

    [11] For that would be a heinous crime;

        that would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges; 

    [12] for that would be a fire that consumes as far as Abaddon,

        and it would burn to the root all my increase.

    [13] “If I have rejected the cause of my manservant or my maidservant,

        when they brought a complaint against me, 

    [14] what then shall I do when God rises up?

        When he makes inquiry, what shall I answer him? 

    [15] Did not he who made me in the womb make him?

        And did not one fashion us in the womb?

    [16] “If I have withheld anything that the poor desired,

        or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail, 

    [17] or have eaten my morsel alone,

        and the fatherless has not eaten of it 

    [18] (for from my youth the fatherless grew up with me as with a father,

        and from my mother’s womb I guided the widow), 

    [19] if I have seen anyone perish for lack of clothing,

        or the needy without covering, 

    [20] if his body has not blessed me,

        and if he was not warmed with the fleece of my sheep, 

    [21] if I have raised my hand against the fatherless,

        because I saw my help in the gate, 

    [22] then let my shoulder blade fall from my shoulder,

        and let my arm be broken from its socket. 

    [23] For I was in terror of calamity from God,

        and I could not have faced his majesty.

Amos 1

[1] The words of Amos, who was among the shepherds of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.

Judgment on Israel’s Neighbors

[2] And he said: 

    “The LORD roars from Zion

        and utters his voice from Jerusalem;

    the pastures of the shepherds mourn,

        and the top of Carmel withers.”

    [3] Thus says the LORD: 

    “For three transgressions of Damascus,

        and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,

    because they have threshed Gilead

        with threshing sledges of iron. 

    [4] So I will send a fire upon the house of Hazael,

        and it shall devour the strongholds of Ben-hadad. 

    [5] I will break the gate-bar of Damascus,

        and cut off the inhabitants from the Valley of Aven,

    and him who holds the scepter from Beth-eden;

        and the people of Syria shall go into exile to Kir,”

    says the LORD.

    [6] Thus says the LORD: 

    “For three transgressions of Gaza,

        and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,

    because they carried into exile a whole people

        to deliver them up to Edom. 

    [7] So I will send a fire upon the wall of Gaza,

        and it shall devour her strongholds. 

    [8] I will cut off the inhabitants from Ashdod,

        and him who holds the scepter from Ashkelon;

    I will turn my hand against Ekron,

        and the remnant of the Philistines shall perish,”

    says the Lord GOD.

    [9] Thus says the LORD: 

    “For three transgressions of Tyre,

        and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,

    because they delivered up a whole people to Edom,

        and did not remember the covenant of brotherhood. 

    [10] So I will send a fire upon the wall of Tyre,

        and it shall devour her strongholds.”

    [11] Thus says the LORD: 

    “For three transgressions of Edom,

        and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,

    because he pursued his brother with the sword

        and cast off all pity,

    and his anger tore perpetually,

        and he kept his wrath forever. 

    [12] So I will send a fire upon Teman,

        and it shall devour the strongholds of Bozrah.”

    [13] Thus says the LORD: 

    “For three transgressions of the Ammonites,

        and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,

    because they have ripped open pregnant women in Gilead,

        that they might enlarge their border. 

    [14] So I will kindle a fire in the wall of Rabbah,

        and it shall devour her strongholds,

    with shouting on the day of battle,

        with a tempest in the day of the whirlwind; 

    [15] and their king shall go into exile,

        he and his princes together,”

    says the LORD.

Amos 2

[1] Thus says the LORD: 

    “For three transgressions of Moab,

        and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,

    because he burned to lime

        the bones of the king of Edom. 

    [2] So I will send a fire upon Moab,

        and it shall devour the strongholds of Kerioth,

    and Moab shall die amid uproar,

        amid shouting and the sound of the trumpet; 

    [3] I will cut off the ruler from its midst,

        and will kill all its princes with him,”

    says the LORD.

    Judgment on Judah

[4] Thus says the LORD: 

    “For three transgressions of Judah,

        and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,

    because they have rejected the law of the LORD,

        and have not kept his statutes,

    but their lies have led them astray,

        those after which their fathers walked. 

    [5] So I will send a fire upon Judah,

        and it shall devour the strongholds of Jerusalem.”

    Judgment on Israel

[6] Thus says the LORD: 

    “For three transgressions of Israel,

        and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,

    because they sell the righteous for silver,

        and the needy for a pair of sandals—

    [7] those who trample the head of the poor into the dust of the earth

        and turn aside the way of the afflicted;

    a man and his father go in to the same girl,

        so that my holy name is profaned; 

    [8] they lay themselves down beside every altar

        on garments taken in pledge,

    and in the house of their God they drink

        the wine of those who have been fined.

    [9] “Yet it was I who destroyed the Amorite before them,

        whose height was like the height of the cedars

        and who was as strong as the oaks;

    I destroyed his fruit above

        and his roots beneath. 

    [10] Also it was I who brought you up out of the land of Egypt

        and led you forty years in the wilderness,

        to possess the land of the Amorite. 

    [11] And I raised up some of your sons for prophets,

        and some of your young men for Nazirites.

        Is it not indeed so, O people of Israel?”

    declares the LORD.

    [12] “But you made the Nazirites drink wine,

        and commanded the prophets,

        saying, ‘You shall not prophesy.’

    [13] “Behold, I will press you down in your place,

        as a cart full of sheaves presses down. 

    [14] Flight shall perish from the swift,

        and the strong shall not retain his strength,

        nor shall the mighty save his life; 

    [15] he who handles the bow shall not stand,

        and he who is swift of foot shall not save himself,

        nor shall he who rides the horse save his life; 

    [16] and he who is stout of heart among the mighty

        shall flee away naked in that day,”

    declares the LORD.