December 17: Obadiah; Revelation 8

Morning:

Obadiah

Obadiah (Listen)

1 The vision of Obadiah.

Edom Will Be Humbled

  Thus says the Lord GOD concerning Edom:  We have heard a report from the LORD,    and a messenger has been sent among the nations:  “Rise up! Let us rise against her for battle!”2   Behold, I will make you small among the nations;    you shall be utterly despised.Or Behold, I have made you small among the nations; you are utterly despised">13   The pride of your heart has deceived you,    you who live in the clefts of the rock,Or of Sela">2    in your lofty dwelling,  who say in your heart,    “Who will bring me down to the ground?”4   Though you soar aloft like the eagle,    though your nest is set among the stars,    from there I will bring you down,      declares the LORD.

5   If thieves came to you,    if plunderers came by night—    how you have been destroyed!—    would they not steal only enough for themselves?  If grape gatherers came to you,    would they not leave gleanings?6   How Esau has been pillaged,    his treasures sought out!7   All your allies have driven you to your border;    those at peace with you have deceived you;  they have prevailed against you;    those who eat your breadHebrew lacks those who eat">3 have set a trap beneath you—    you haveHebrew he has">4 no understanding.

8   Will I not on that day, declares the LORD,    destroy the wise men out of Edom,    and understanding out of Mount Esau?9   And your mighty men shall be dismayed, O Teman,    so that every man from Mount Esau will be cut off by slaughter.

Edom’s Violence Against Jacob

10   Because of the violence done to your brother Jacob,    shame shall cover you,    and you shall be cut off forever.11   On the day that you stood aloof,    on the day that strangers carried off his wealth  and foreigners entered his gates    and cast lots for Jerusalem,    you were like one of them.12   But do not gloat over the day of your brother    in the day of his misfortune;  do not rejoice over the people of Judah    in the day of their ruin;  do not boastHebrew do not enlarge your mouth">5    in the day of distress.13   Do not enter the gate of my people    in the day of their calamity;  do not gloat over his disaster    in the day of his calamity;  do not loot his wealth    in the day of his calamity.14   Do not stand at the crossroads    to cut off his fugitives;  do not hand over his survivors    in the day of distress.

The Day of the Lord Is Near

15   For the day of the LORD is near upon all the nations.  As you have done, it shall be done to you;    your deeds shall return on your own head.16   For as you have drunk on my holy mountain,    so all the nations shall drink continually;  they shall drink and swallow,    and shall be as though they had never been.17   But in Mount Zion there shall be those who escape,    and it shall be holy,  and the house of Jacob shall possess their own possessions.18   The house of Jacob shall be a fire,    and the house of Joseph a flame,    and the house of Esau stubble;  they shall burn them and consume them,    and there shall be no survivor for the house of Esau,      for the LORD has spoken.

The Kingdom of the Lord

19   Those of the Negeb shall possess Mount Esau,    and those of the Shephelah shall possess the land of the Philistines;  they shall possess the land of Ephraim and the land of Samaria,    and Benjamin shall possess Gilead.20   The exiles of this host of the people of Israel    shall possess the land of the Canaanites as far as Zarephath,  and the exiles of Jerusalem who are in Sepharad    shall possess the cities of the Negeb.21   Saviors shall go up to Mount Zion    to rule Mount Esau,    and the kingdom shall be the LORD’s.

Footnotes

[1] 1:2 Or Behold, I have made you small among the nations; you are utterly despised

[2] 1:3 Or of Sela

[3] 1:7 Hebrew lacks those who eat

[4] 1:7 Hebrew he has

[5] 1:12 Hebrew do not enlarge your mouth

(ESV)

Evening:

Revelation 8

Revelation 8 (Listen)

The Seventh Seal and the Golden Censer

8 When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. 2 Then I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them. 3 And another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censer, and he was given much incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar before the throne, 4 and the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose before God from the hand of the angel. 5 Then the angel took the censer and filled it with fire from the altar and threw it on the earth, and there were peals of thunder, rumblings,Or voices, or sounds">1 flashes of lightning, and an earthquake.

The Seven Trumpets

6 Now the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to blow them.

7 The first angel blew his trumpet, and there followed hail and fire, mixed with blood, and these were thrown upon the earth. And a third of the earth was burned up, and a third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up.

8 The second angel blew his trumpet, and something like a great mountain, burning with fire, was thrown into the sea, and a third of the sea became blood. 9 A third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.

10 The third angel blew his trumpet, and a great star fell from heaven, blazing like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water. 11 The name of the star is Wormwood.Wormwood is the name of a plant and of the bitter-tasting extract derived from it">2 A third of the waters became wormwood, and many people died from the water, because it had been made bitter.

12 The fourth angel blew his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, and a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of their light might be darkened, and a third of the day might be kept from shining, and likewise a third of the night.

13 Then I looked, and I heard an eagle crying with a loud voice as it flew directly overhead, “Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth, at the blasts of the other trumpets that the three angels are about to blow!”

Footnotes

[1] 8:5 Or voices, or sounds

[2] 8:11 Wormwood is the name of a plant and of the bitter-tasting extract derived from it

(ESV)