December 10

John 17:1-5

[1] When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, [2] since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. [3] And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. [4] I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. [5] And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.

Revelation 7

[1] After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth, that no wind might blow on earth or sea or against any tree. [2] Then I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, with the seal of the living God, and he called with a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm earth and sea, [3] saying, “Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.” [4] And I heard the number of the sealed, 144,000, sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel:

    [5] 12,000 from the tribe of Judah were sealed,

    12,000 from the tribe of Reuben,

    12,000 from the tribe of Gad, 

    [6] 12,000 from the tribe of Asher,

    12,000 from the tribe of Naphtali,

    12,000 from the tribe of Manasseh, 

    [7] 12,000 from the tribe of Simeon,

    12,000 from the tribe of Levi,

    12,000 from the tribe of Issachar, 

    [8] 12,000 from the tribe of Zebulun,

    12,000 from the tribe of Joseph,

    12,000 from the tribe of Benjamin were sealed.

    [9] After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, [10] and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” [11] And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, [12] saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”

[13] Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” [14] I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

    [15] “Therefore they are before the throne of God,

        and serve him day and night in his temple;

        and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence. 

    [16] They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore;

        the sun shall not strike them,

        nor any scorching heat. 

    [17] For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd,

        and he will guide them to springs of living water,

    and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

Job 32

[1] So these three men ceased to answer Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes. [2] Then Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, burned with anger. He burned with anger at Job because he justified himself rather than God. [3] He burned with anger also at Job’s three friends because they had found no answer, although they had declared Job to be in the wrong. [4] Now Elihu had waited to speak to Job because they were older than he. [5] And when Elihu saw that there was no answer in the mouth of these three men, he burned with anger.

[6] And Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite answered and said: 

    “I am young in years,

        and you are aged;

    therefore I was timid and afraid

        to declare my opinion to you. 

    [7] I said, ‘Let days speak,

        and many years teach wisdom.’ 

    [8] But it is the spirit in man,

        the breath of the Almighty, that makes him understand. 

    [9] It is not the old who are wise,

        nor the aged who understand what is right. 

    [10] Therefore I say, ‘Listen to me;

        let me also declare my opinion.’

    [11] “Behold, I waited for your words,

        I listened for your wise sayings,

        while you searched out what to say. 

    [12] I gave you my attention,

        and, behold, there was none among you who refuted Job

        or who answered his words. 

    [13] Beware lest you say, ‘We have found wisdom;

        God may vanquish him, not a man.’ 

    [14] He has not directed his words against me,

        and I will not answer him with your speeches.

    [15] “They are dismayed; they answer no more;

        they have not a word to say. 

    [16] And shall I wait, because they do not speak,

        because they stand there, and answer no more? 

    [17] I also will answer with my share;

        I also will declare my opinion. 

    [18] For I am full of words;

        the spirit within me constrains me. 

    [19] Behold, my belly is like wine that has no vent;

        like new wineskins ready to burst. 

    [20] I must speak, that I may find relief;

        I must open my lips and answer. 

    [21] I will not show partiality to any man

        or use flattery toward any person. 

    [22] For I do not know how to flatter,

        else my Maker would soon take me away.

Amos 5

[1] Hear this word that I take up over you in lamentation, O house of Israel:

    [2] “Fallen, no more to rise,

        is the virgin Israel;

    forsaken on her land,

        with none to raise her up.”

    [3] For thus says the Lord GOD: 

    “The city that went out a thousand

        shall have a hundred left,

    and that which went out a hundred

        shall have ten left

        to the house of Israel.”

    [4] For thus says the LORD to the house of Israel: 

    “Seek me and live; 

    [5]     but do not seek Bethel,

    and do not enter into Gilgal

        or cross over to Beersheba;

    for Gilgal shall surely go into exile,

        and Bethel shall come to nothing.”

    [6] Seek the LORD and live,

        lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph,

        and it devour, with none to quench it for Bethel, 

    [7] O you who turn justice to wormwood

        and cast down righteousness to the earth!

    [8] He who made the Pleiades and Orion,

        and turns deep darkness into the morning

        and darkens the day into night,

    who calls for the waters of the sea

        and pours them out on the surface of the earth,

    the LORD is his name; 

    [9] who makes destruction flash forth against the strong,

        so that destruction comes upon the fortress.

    [10] They hate him who reproves in the gate,

        and they abhor him who speaks the truth. 

    [11] Therefore because you trample on the poor

        and you exact taxes of grain from him,

    you have built houses of hewn stone,

        but you shall not dwell in them;

    you have planted pleasant vineyards,

        but you shall not drink their wine. 

    [12] For I know how many are your transgressions

        and how great are your sins—

    you who afflict the righteous, who take a bribe,

        and turn aside the needy in the gate. 

    [13] Therefore he who is prudent will keep silent in such a time,

        for it is an evil time.

    [14] Seek good, and not evil,

        that you may live;

    and so the LORD, the God of hosts, will be with you,

        as you have said. 

    [15] Hate evil, and love good,

        and establish justice in the gate;

    it may be that the LORD, the God of hosts,

        will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.

    [16] Therefore thus says the LORD, the God of hosts, the Lord: 

    “In all the squares there shall be wailing,

        and in all the streets they shall say, ‘Alas! Alas!’

    They shall call the farmers to mourning

        and to wailing those who are skilled in lamentation, 

    [17] and in all vineyards there shall be wailing,

        for I will pass through your midst,”

    says the LORD.

    [18] Woe to you who desire the day of the LORD!

        Why would you have the day of the LORD?

    It is darkness, and not light, 

    [19]     as if a man fled from a lion,

        and a bear met him,

    or went into the house and leaned his hand against the wall,

        and a serpent bit him. 

    [20] Is not the day of the LORD darkness, and not light,

        and gloom with no brightness in it?

    [21] “I hate, I despise your feasts,

        and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. 

    [22] Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings,

        I will not accept them;

    and the peace offerings of your fattened animals,

        I will not look upon them. 

    [23] Take away from me the noise of your songs;

        to the melody of your harps I will not listen. 

    [24] But let justice roll down like waters,

        and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

    [25] “Did you bring to me sacrifices and offerings during the forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel? [26] You shall take up Sikkuth your king, and Kiyyun your star-god—your images that you made for yourselves, [27] and I will send you into exile beyond Damascus,” says the LORD, whose name is the God of hosts.

Amos 6

    [1] “Woe to those who are at ease in Zion,

        and to those who feel secure on the mountain of Samaria,

    the notable men of the first of the nations,

        to whom the house of Israel comes! 

    [2] Pass over to Calneh, and see,

        and from there go to Hamath the great;

        then go down to Gath of the Philistines.

    Are you better than these kingdoms?

        Or is their territory greater than your territory, 

    [3] O you who put far away the day of disaster

        and bring near the seat of violence?

    [4] “Woe to those who lie on beds of ivory

        and stretch themselves out on their couches,

    and eat lambs from the flock

        and calves from the midst of the stall, 

    [5] who sing idle songs to the sound of the harp

        and like David invent for themselves instruments of music, 

    [6] who drink wine in bowls

        and anoint themselves with the finest oils,

        but are not grieved over the ruin of Joseph! 

    [7] Therefore they shall now be the first of those who go into exile,

        and the revelry of those who stretch themselves out shall pass away.”

    [8] The Lord GOD has sworn by himself, declares the LORD, the God of hosts: 

    “I abhor the pride of Jacob

        and hate his strongholds,

        and I will deliver up the city and all that is in it.”

    [9] And if ten men remain in one house, they shall die. [10] And when one’s relative, the one who anoints him for burial, shall take him up to bring the bones out of the house, and shall say to him who is in the innermost parts of the house, “Is there still anyone with you?” he shall say, “No”; and he shall say, “Silence! We must not mention the name of the LORD.”

    [11] For behold, the LORD commands,

        and the great house shall be struck down into fragments,

        and the little house into bits. 

    [12] Do horses run on rocks?

        Does one plow there with oxen?

    But you have turned justice into poison

        and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood—

    [13] you who rejoice in Lo-debar,

        who say, “Have we not by our own strength

        captured Karnaim for ourselves?” 

    [14] “For behold, I will raise up against you a nation,

        O house of Israel,” declares the LORD, the God of hosts;

    “and they shall oppress you from Lebo-hamath

        to the Brook of the Arabah.”