December 16

John 19:1-16

Jesus Delivered to Be Crucified

[1] Then Pilate took Jesus and flogged him. [2] And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head and arrayed him in a purple robe. [3] They came up to him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and struck him with their hands. [4] Pilate went out again and said to them, “See, I am bringing him out to you that you may know that I find no guilt in him.” [5] So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Behold the man!” [6] When the chief priests and the officers saw him, they cried out, “Crucify him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and crucify him, for I find no guilt in him.” [7] The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he has made himself the Son of God.” [8] When Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid. [9] He entered his headquarters again and said to Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus gave him no answer. [10] So Pilate said to him, “You will not speak to me? Do you not know that I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you?” [11] Jesus answered him, “You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above. Therefore he who delivered me over to you has the greater sin.”

[12] From then on Pilate sought to release him, but the Jews cried out, “If you release this man, you are not Caesar’s friend. Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar.” [13] So when Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called The Stone Pavement, and in Aramaic Gabbatha. [14] Now it was the day of Preparation of the Passover. It was about the sixth hour. He said to the Jews, “Behold your King!” [15] They cried out, “Away with him, away with him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar.” [16] So he delivered him over to them to be crucified. 

Revelation 13

The First Beast

[1] And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems on its horns and blasphemous names on its heads. [2] And the beast that I saw was like a leopard; its feet were like a bear’s, and its mouth was like a lion’s mouth. And to it the dragon gave his power and his throne and great authority. [3] One of its heads seemed to have a mortal wound, but its mortal wound was healed, and the whole earth marveled as they followed the beast. [4] And they worshiped the dragon, for he had given his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?”

[5] And the beast was given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for forty-two months. [6] It opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling, that is, those who dwell in heaven. [7] Also it was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them. And authority was given it over every tribe and people and language and nation, [8] and all who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain. [9] If anyone has an ear, let him hear:

    [10] If anyone is to be taken captive,

        to captivity he goes;

    if anyone is to be slain with the sword,

        with the sword must he be slain.

    Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints. 

The Second Beast

[11] Then I saw another beast rising out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb and it spoke like a dragon. [12] It exercises all the authority of the first beast in its presence, and makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose mortal wound was healed. [13] It performs great signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in front of people, [14] and by the signs that it is allowed to work in the presence of the beast it deceives those who dwell on earth, telling them to make an image for the beast that was wounded by the sword and yet lived. [15] And it was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast might even speak and might cause those who would not worship the image of the beast to be slain. [16] Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead, [17] so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name. [18] This calls for wisdom: let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and his number is 666.

Job 36:1-15

Elihu Extols God’s Greatness

[1] And Elihu continued, and said:

    [2] “Bear with me a little, and I will show you,

        for I have yet something to say on God’s behalf. 

    [3] I will get my knowledge from afar

        and ascribe righteousness to my Maker. 

    [4] For truly my words are not false;

        one who is perfect in knowledge is with you.

    [5] “Behold, God is mighty, and does not despise any;

        he is mighty in strength of understanding. 

    [6] He does not keep the wicked alive,

        but gives the afflicted their right. 

    [7] He does not withdraw his eyes from the righteous,

        but with kings on the throne

        he sets them forever, and they are exalted. 

    [8] And if they are bound in chains

        and caught in the cords of affliction, 

    [9] then he declares to them their work

        and their transgressions, that they are behaving arrogantly. 

    [10] He opens their ears to instruction

        and commands that they return from iniquity. 

    [11] If they listen and serve him,

        they complete their days in prosperity,

        and their years in pleasantness. 

    [12] But if they do not listen, they perish by the sword

        and die without knowledge.

    [13] “The godless in heart cherish anger;

        they do not cry for help when he binds them. 

    [14] They die in youth,

        and their life ends among the cult prostitutes. 

    [15] He delivers the afflicted by their affliction

        and opens their ear by adversity.

Micah 6

The Indictment of the LORD

    [1] Hear what the LORD says:

    Arise, plead your case before the mountains,

        and let the hills hear your voice. 

    [2] Hear, you mountains, the indictment of the LORD,

        and you enduring foundations of the earth,

    for the LORD has an indictment against his people,

        and he will contend with Israel.

    [3] “O my people, what have I done to you?

        How have I wearied you? Answer me! 

    [4] For I brought you up from the land of Egypt

        and redeemed you from the house of slavery,

    and I sent before you Moses,

        Aaron, and Miriam. 

    [5] O my people, remember what Balak king of Moab devised,

        and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him,

    and what happened from Shittim to Gilgal,

        that you may know the righteous acts of the LORD.”

    What Does the LORD Require?

    [6] “With what shall I come before the LORD,

        and bow myself before God on high?

    Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,

        with calves a year old? 

    [7] Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams,

        with ten thousands of rivers of oil?

    Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,

        the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?” 

    [8] He has told you, O man, what is good;

        and what does the LORD require of you

    but to do justice, and to love kindness,

        and to walk humbly with your God?

    Destruction of the Wicked

    [9] The voice of the LORD cries to the city—

        and it is sound wisdom to fear your name:

    “Hear of the rod and of him who appointed it! 

    [10]     Can I forget any longer the treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked,

        and the scant measure that is accursed? 

    [11] Shall I acquit the man with wicked scales

        and with a bag of deceitful weights? 

    [12] Your rich men are full of violence;

        your inhabitants speak lies,

        and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth. 

    [13] Therefore I strike you with a grievous blow,

        making you desolate because of your sins. 

    [14] You shall eat, but not be satisfied,

        and there shall be hunger within you;

    you shall put away, but not preserve,

        and what you preserve I will give to the sword. 

    [15] You shall sow, but not reap;

        you shall tread olives, but not anoint yourselves with oil;

        you shall tread grapes, but not drink wine. 

    [16] For you have kept the statutes of Omri,

        and all the works of the house of Ahab;

        and you have walked in their counsels,

    that I may make you a desolation, and your inhabitants a hissing;

        so you shall bear the scorn of my people.”

Micah 7

Wait for the God of Salvation

    [1] Woe is me! For I have become

        as when the summer fruit has been gathered,

        as when the grapes have been gleaned:

    there is no cluster to eat,

        no first-ripe fig that my soul desires. 

    [2] The godly has perished from the earth,

        and there is no one upright among mankind;

    they all lie in wait for blood,

        and each hunts the other with a net. 

    [3] Their hands are on what is evil, to do it well;

        the prince and the judge ask for a bribe,

    and the great man utters the evil desire of his soul;

        thus they weave it together. 

    [4] The best of them is like a brier,

        the most upright of them a thorn hedge.

    The day of your watchmen, of your punishment, has come;

        now their confusion is at hand. 

    [5] Put no trust in a neighbor;

        have no confidence in a friend;

    guard the doors of your mouth

        from her who lies in your arms; 

    [6] for the son treats the father with contempt,

        the daughter rises up against her mother,

    the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;

        a man’s enemies are the men of his own house. 

    [7] But as for me, I will look to the LORD;

        I will wait for the God of my salvation;

        my God will hear me.

    [8] Rejoice not over me, O my enemy;

        when I fall, I shall rise;

    when I sit in darkness,

        the LORD will be a light to me. 

    [9] I will bear the indignation of the LORD

        because I have sinned against him,

    until he pleads my cause

        and executes judgment for me.

    He will bring me out to the light;

        I shall look upon his vindication. 

    [10] Then my enemy will see,

        and shame will cover her who said to me,

        “Where is the LORD your God?”

    My eyes will look upon her;

        now she will be trampled down

        like the mire of the streets.

    [11] A day for the building of your walls!

        In that day the boundary shall be far extended. 

    [12] In that day they will come to you,

        from Assyria and the cities of Egypt,

    and from Egypt to the River,

        from sea to sea and from mountain to mountain. 

    [13] But the earth will be desolate

        because of its inhabitants,

        for the fruit of their deeds.

    [14] Shepherd your people with your staff,

        the flock of your inheritance,

    who dwell alone in a forest

        in the midst of a garden land;

    let them graze in Bashan and Gilead

        as in the days of old. 

    [15] As in the days when you came out of the land of Egypt,

        I will show them marvelous things. 

    [16] The nations shall see and be ashamed of all their might;

    they shall lay their hands on their mouths;

        their ears shall be deaf; 

    [17] they shall lick the dust like a serpent,

        like the crawling things of the earth;

    they shall come trembling out of their strongholds;

        they shall turn in dread to the LORD our God,

        and they shall be in fear of you.

    God’s Steadfast Love and Compassion

    [18] Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity

        and passing over transgression

        for the remnant of his inheritance?

    He does not retain his anger forever,

        because he delights in steadfast love. 

    [19] He will again have compassion on us;

        he will tread our iniquities underfoot.

    You will cast all our sins

        into the depths of the sea. 

    [20] You will show faithfulness to Jacob

        and steadfast love to Abraham,

    as you have sworn to our fathers

        from the days of old.