Matthew 24:15-35
[15]
“So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet
Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), [16]
then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. [17] Let the one
who is on the housetop not go down to take what is in his house, [18]
and let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak.
[19] And alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing
infants in those days! [20] Pray that your flight may not be in winter
or on a Sabbath. [21] For then there will be great tribulation, such as
has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never
will be. [22] And if those days had not been cut short, no human being
would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut
short. [23] Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or
‘There he is!’ do not believe it. [24] For false christs and false
prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead
astray, if possible, even the elect. [25] See, I have told you
beforehand. [26] So, if they say to you, ‘Look, he is in the
wilderness,’ do not go out. If they say, ‘Look, he is in the inner
rooms,’ do not believe it. [27] For as the lightning comes from the east
and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.
[28] Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.
[29]
“Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be
darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall
from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. [30] Then
will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the
tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming
on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. [31] And he will
send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his
elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
[32]
“From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes
tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. [33] So
also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near, at the
very gates. [34] Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away
until all these things take place. [35] Heaven and earth will pass
away, but my words will not pass away.
Romans 7:1-12
[1]
Or do you not know, brothers—for I am speaking to those who know the
law—that the law is binding on a person only as long as he lives? [2]
For a married woman is bound by law to her husband while he lives, but
if her husband dies she is released from the law of marriage. [3]
Accordingly, she will be called an adulteress if she lives with another
man while her husband is alive. But if her husband dies, she is free
from that law, and if she marries another man she is not an adulteress.
[4]
Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body
of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised
from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God. [5] For while
we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law,
were at work in our members to bear fruit for death. [6] But now we are
released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so
that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the
written code.
[7]
What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had
not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have
known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not
covet.” [8] But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment,
produced in me all kinds of covetousness. For apart from the law, sin
lies dead. [9] I was once alive apart from the law, but when the
commandment came, sin came alive and I died. [10] The very commandment
that promised life proved to be death to me. [11] For sin, seizing an
opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed
me. [12] So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous
and good.
Psalm 57
To the choirmaster: according to Do Not Destroy. A Miktam of David, when he fled from Saul, in the cave.
[1] Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me,
for in you my soul takes refuge;
in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge,
till the storms of destruction pass by.
[2] I cry out to God Most High,
to God who fulfills his purpose for me.
[3] He will send from heaven and save me;
he will put to shame him who tramples on me. Selah
God will send out his steadfast love and his faithfulness!
[4] My soul is in the midst of lions;
I lie down amid fiery beasts—
the children of man, whose teeth are spears and arrows,
whose tongues are sharp swords.
[5] Be exalted, O God, above the heavens!
Let your glory be over all the earth!
[6] They set a net for my steps;
my soul was bowed down.
They dug a pit in my way,
but they have fallen into it themselves. Selah
[7] My heart is steadfast, O God,
my heart is steadfast!
I will sing and make melody!
[8] Awake, my glory!
Awake, O harp and lyre!
I will awake the dawn!
[9] I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples;
I will sing praises to you among the nations.
[10] For your steadfast love is great to the heavens,
your faithfulness to the clouds.
[11] Be exalted, O God, above the heavens!
Let your glory be over all the earth!
Numbers 23
[1]
And Balaam said to Balak, “Build for me here seven altars, and prepare
for me here seven bulls and seven rams.” [2] Balak did as Balaam had
said. And Balak and Balaam offered on each altar a bull and a ram. [3]
And Balaam said to Balak, “Stand beside your burnt offering, and I will
go. Perhaps the LORD will come to meet me, and whatever he shows me I
will tell you.” And he went to a bare height, [4] and God met Balaam.
And Balaam said to him, “I have arranged the seven altars and I have
offered on each altar a bull and a ram.” [5] And the LORD put a word in
Balaam’s mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and thus you shall speak.”
[6] And he returned to him, and behold, he and all the princes of Moab
were standing beside his burnt offering. [7] And Balaam took up his
discourse and said,
“From Aram Balak has brought me,
the king of Moab from the eastern mountains:
‘Come, curse Jacob for me,
and come, denounce Israel!’
[8] How can I curse whom God has not cursed?
How can I denounce whom the LORD has not denounced?
[9] For from the top of the crags I see him,
from the hills I behold him;
behold, a people dwelling alone,
and not counting itself among the nations!
[10] Who can count the dust of Jacob
or number the fourth part of Israel?
Let me die the death of the upright,
and let my end be like his!”
[11] And Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I took you
to curse my enemies, and behold, you have done nothing but bless them.”
[12] And he answered and said, “Must I not take care to speak what the
LORD puts in my mouth?”
[13]
And Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place, from
which you may see them. You shall see only a fraction of them and shall
not see them all. Then curse them for me from there.” [14] And he took
him to the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and built seven altars
and offered a bull and a ram on each altar. [15] Balaam said to Balak,
“Stand here beside your burnt offering, while I meet the LORD over
there.” [16] And the LORD met Balaam and put a word in his mouth and
said, “Return to Balak, and thus shall you speak.” [17] And he came to
him, and behold, he was standing beside his burnt offering, and the
princes of Moab with him. And Balak said to him, “What has the LORD
spoken?” [18] And Balaam took up his discourse and said,
“Rise, Balak, and hear;
give ear to me, O son of Zippor:
[19] God is not man, that he should lie,
or a son of man, that he should change his mind.
Has he said, and will he not do it?
Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?
[20] Behold, I received a command to bless:
he has blessed, and I cannot revoke it.
[21] He has not beheld misfortune in Jacob,
nor has he seen trouble in Israel.
The LORD their God is with them,
and the shout of a king is among them.
[22] God brings them out of Egypt
and is for them like the horns of the wild ox.
[23] For there is no enchantment against Jacob,
no divination against Israel;
now it shall be said of Jacob and Israel,
‘What has God wrought!’
[24] Behold, a people! As a lioness it rises up
and as a lion it lifts itself;
it does not lie down until it has devoured the prey
and drunk the blood of the slain.”
[25] And Balak said to Balaam, “Do not curse them at all, and do not
bless them at all.” [26] But Balaam answered Balak, “Did I not tell you,
‘All that the LORD says, that I must do’?” [27] And Balak said to
Balaam, “Come now, I will take you to another place. Perhaps it will
please God that you may curse them for me from there.” [28] So Balak
took Balaam to the top of Peor, which overlooks the desert. [29] And
Balaam said to Balak, “Build for me here seven altars and prepare for me
here seven bulls and seven rams.” [30] And Balak did as Balaam had
said, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
Numbers 24
[1]
When Balaam saw that it pleased the LORD to bless Israel, he did not
go, as at other times, to look for omens, but set his face toward the
wilderness. [2] And Balaam lifted up his eyes and saw Israel camping
tribe by tribe. And the Spirit of God came upon him, [3] and he took up
his discourse and said,
“The oracle of Balaam the son of Beor,
the oracle of the man whose eye is opened,
[4] the oracle of him who hears the words of God,
who sees the vision of the Almighty,
falling down with his eyes uncovered:
[5] How lovely are your tents, O Jacob,
your encampments, O Israel!
[6] Like palm groves that stretch afar,
like gardens beside a river,
like aloes that the LORD has planted,
like cedar trees beside the waters.
[7] Water shall flow from his buckets,
and his seed shall be in many waters;
his king shall be higher than Agag,
and his kingdom shall be exalted.
[8] God brings him out of Egypt
and is for him like the horns of the wild ox;
he shall eat up the nations, his adversaries,
and shall break their bones in pieces
and pierce them through with his arrows.
[9] He crouched, he lay down like a lion
and like a lioness; who will rouse him up?
Blessed are those who bless you,
and cursed are those who curse you.”
[10] And Balak’s anger was kindled against Balaam, and he struck his
hands together. And Balak said to Balaam, “I called you to curse my
enemies, and behold, you have blessed them these three times. [11]
Therefore now flee to your own place. I said, ‘I will certainly honor
you,’ but the LORD has held you back from honor.” [12] And Balaam said
to Balak, “Did I not tell your messengers whom you sent to me, [13] ‘If
Balak should give me his house full of silver and gold, I would not be
able to go beyond the word of the LORD, to do either good or bad of my
own will. What the LORD speaks, that will I speak’? [14] And now,
behold, I am going to my people. Come, I will let you know what this
people will do to your people in the latter days.”
[15] And he took up his discourse and said,
“The oracle of Balaam the son of Beor,
the oracle of the man whose eye is opened,
[16] the oracle of him who hears the words of God,
and knows the knowledge of the Most High,
who sees the vision of the Almighty,
falling down with his eyes uncovered:
[17] I see him, but not now;
I behold him, but not near:
a star shall come out of Jacob,
and a scepter shall rise out of Israel;
it shall crush the forehead of Moab
and break down all the sons of Sheth.
[18] Edom shall be dispossessed;
Seir also, his enemies, shall be dispossessed.
Israel is doing valiantly.
[19] And one from Jacob shall exercise dominion
and destroy the survivors of cities!”
[20] Then he looked on Amalek and took up his discourse and said,
“Amalek was the first among the nations,
but its end is utter destruction.”
[21] And he looked on the Kenite, and took up his discourse and said,
“Enduring is your dwelling place,
and your nest is set in the rock.
[22] Nevertheless, Kain shall be burned
when Asshur takes you away captive.”
[23] And he took up his discourse and said,
“Alas, who shall live when God does this?
[24] But ships shall come from Kittim
and shall afflict Asshur and Eber;
and he too shall come to utter destruction.”
[25] Then Balaam rose and went back to his place. And Balak also went his way.
Numbers 25
[1]
While Israel lived in Shittim, the people began to whore with the
daughters of Moab. [2] These invited the people to the sacrifices of
their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. [3] So
Israel yoked himself to Baal of Peor. And the anger of the LORD was
kindled against Israel. [4] And the LORD said to Moses, “Take all the
chiefs of the people and hang them in the sun before the LORD, that the
fierce anger of the LORD may turn away from Israel.” [5] And Moses said
to the judges of Israel, “Each of you kill those of his men who have
yoked themselves to Baal of Peor.”
[6]
And behold, one of the people of Israel came and brought a Midianite
woman to his family, in the sight of Moses and in the sight of the whole
congregation of the people of Israel, while they were weeping in the
entrance of the tent of meeting. [7] When Phinehas the son of Eleazar,
son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose and left the congregation and
took a spear in his hand [8] and went after the man of Israel into the
chamber and pierced both of them, the man of Israel and the woman
through her belly. Thus the plague on the people of Israel was stopped.
[9] Nevertheless, those who died by the plague were twenty-four
thousand.
[10]
And the LORD said to Moses, [11] “Phinehas the son of Eleazar, son of
Aaron the priest, has turned back my wrath from the people of Israel, in
that he was jealous with my jealousy among them, so that I did not
consume the people of Israel in my jealousy. [12] Therefore say,
‘Behold, I give to him my covenant of peace, [13] and it shall be to him
and to his descendants after him the covenant of a perpetual
priesthood, because he was jealous for his God and made atonement for
the people of Israel.’”
[14]
The name of the slain man of Israel, who was killed with the Midianite
woman, was Zimri the son of Salu, chief of a father’s house belonging to
the Simeonites. [15] And the name of the Midianite woman who was killed
was Cozbi the daughter of Zur, who was the tribal head of a father’s
house in Midian.
[16]
And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, [17] “Harass the Midianites and
strike them down, [18] for they have harassed you with their wiles, with
which they beguiled you in the matter of Peor, and in the matter of
Cozbi, the daughter of the chief of Midian, their sister, who was killed
on the day of the plague on account of Peor.”
