John 20:10-18
[10] Then the disciples went back to their homes.
[11]
But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to
look into the tomb. [12] And she saw two angels in white, sitting where
the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. [13]
They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They
have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.”
[14] Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she
did not know that it was Jesus. [15] Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are
you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing him to be the gardener,
she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you
have laid him, and I will take him away.” [16] Jesus said to her,
“Mary.” She turned and said to him in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means
Teacher). [17] Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not
yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am
ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” [18]
Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the
Lord”—and that he had said these things to her.
Revelation 18
[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
[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.”
[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
[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.’”
[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.”
[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.”
