ESV: Digging Deep into the Bible

ESV: Digging Deep into the Bible

Download on the App Store

ESV: Digging Deep into the Bible episodes

  • December 27: Psalm 147; Job 36:22–37:24; Isaiah 60; Revelation 18
    Psalms and Wisdom:
    Psalm 147
    Psalm 147 (Listen)
    He Heals the Brokenhearted

    147   Praise the LORD!
      For it is good to sing praises to our God;
        for it is pleasant,Or for he is beautiful">1 and a song of praise is fitting.
    2   The LORD builds up Jerusalem;
        he gathers the outcasts of Israel.
    3   He heals the brokenhearted
        and binds up their wounds.
    4   He determines the number of the stars;
        he gives to all of them their names.
    5   Great is our Lord, and abundant in power;
        his understanding is beyond measure.
    6   The LORD lifts up the humble;Or afflicted">2
        he casts the wicked to the ground.
    7   Sing to the LORD with thanksgiving;
        make melody to our God on the lyre!
    8   He covers the heavens with clouds;
        he prepares rain for the earth;
        he makes grass grow on the hills.
    9   He gives to the beasts their food,
        and to the young ravens that cry.
    10   His delight is not in the strength of the horse,
        nor his pleasure in the legs of a man,
    11   but the LORD takes pleasure in those who fear him,
        in those who hope in his steadfast love.
    12   Praise the LORD, O Jerusalem!
        Praise your God, O Zion!
    13   For he strengthens the bars of your gates;
        he blesses your children within you.
    14   He makes peace in your borders;
        he fills you with the finest of the wheat.
    15   He sends out his command to the earth;
        his word runs swiftly.
    16   He gives snow like wool;
        he scatters frost like ashes.
    17   He hurls down his crystals of ice like crumbs;
        who can stand before his cold?
    18   He sends out his word, and melts them;
        he makes his wind blow and the waters flow.
    19   He declares his word to Jacob,
        his statutes and rulesOr and just decrees">3 to Israel.
    20   He has not dealt thus with any other nation;
        they do not know his rules.Or his just decrees">4
      Praise the LORD!

    Footnotes

    [1] 147:1 Or for he is beautiful


    [2] 147:6 Or afflicted

    [3] 147:19 Or and just decrees

    [4] 147:20 Or his just decrees

    (ESV)

    Pentateuch and History:
    Job 36:22–37:24
    Job 36:22–37:24 (Listen)

    22   Behold, God is exalted in his power;
        who is a teacher like him?
    23   Who has prescribed for him his way,
        or who can say, ‘You have done wrong’?
    24   “Remember to extol his work,
        of which men have sung.
    25   All mankind has looked on it;
        man beholds it from afar.
    26   Behold, God is great, and we know him not;
        the number of his years is unsearchable.
    27   For he draws up the drops of water;
        they distill his mist in rain,
    28   which the skies pour down
        and drop on mankind abundantly.
    29   Can anyone understand the spreading of the clouds,
        the thunderings of his pavilion?
    30   Behold, he scatters his lightning about him
        and covers the roots of the sea.
    31   For by these he judges peoples;
        he gives food in abundance.
    32   He covers his hands with the lightning
        and commands it to strike the mark.
    33   Its crashing declares his presence;Hebrew declares concerning him">1
        the cattle also declare that he rises.

    Elihu Proclaims God's Majesty

    37   “At this also my heart trembles
        and leaps out of its place.
    2   Keep listening to the thunder of his voice
        and the rumbling that comes from his mouth.
    3   Under the whole heaven he lets it go,
        and his lightning to the corners of the earth.
    4   After it his voice roars;
        he thunders with his majestic voice,
        and he does not restrain the lightningsHebrew them">2 when his voice is heard.
    5   God thunders wondrously with his voice;
        he does great things that we cannot comprehend.
    6   For to the snow he says, ‘Fall on the earth,’
        likewise to the downpour, his mighty downpour.
    7   He seals up the hand of every man,
        that all men whom he made may know it.
    8   Then the beasts go into their lairs,
        and remain in their dens.
    9   From its chamber comes the whirlwind,
        and cold from the scattering winds.
    10   By the breath of God ice is given,
        and the broad waters are frozen fast.
    11   He loads the thick cloud with moisture;
        the clouds scatter his lightning.
    12   They turn around and around by his guidance,
        to accomplish all that he commands them
        on the face of the habitable world.
    13   Whether for correction or for his land
        or for love, he causes it to happen.
    14   “Hear this, O Job;
        stop and consider the wondrous works of God.
    15   Do you know how God lays his command upon them
        and causes the lightning of his cloud to shine?
    16   Do you know the balancingsOr hoverings">3 of the clouds,
        the wondrous works of him who is perfect in knowledge,
    17   you whose garments are hot
        when the earth is still because of the south wind?
    18   Can you, like him, spread out the skies,
        hard as a cast metal mirror?
    19   Teach us what we shall say to him;
        we cannot draw up our case because of darkness.
    20   Shall it be told him that I would speak?
        Did a man ever wish that he would be swallowed up?
    21   “And now no one looks on the light
        when it is bright in the skies,
        when the wind has passed and cleared them.
    22   Out of the north comes golden splendor;
        God is clothed with awesome majesty.
    23   The Almighty—we cannot find him;
        he is great in power;
        justice and abundant righteousness he will not violate.
    24   Therefore men fear him;
        he does not regard any who are wise in their own conceit.”Hebrew in heart">4

    Footnotes

    [1] 36:33 Hebrew declares concerning him


    [2] 37:4 Hebrew them

    [3] 37:16 Or hoverings

    [4] 37:24 Hebrew in heart

    (ESV)

    Chronicles and Prophets:
    Isaiah 60
    Isaiah 60 (Listen)
    The Future Glory of Israel

    60   Arise, shine, for your light has come,
        and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you.
    2   For behold, darkness shall cover the earth,
        and thick darkness the peoples;
      but the LORD will arise upon you,
        and his glory will be seen upon you.
    3   And nations shall come to your light,
        and kings to the brightness of your rising.
    4   Lift up your eyes all around, and see;
        they all gather together, they come to you;
      your sons shall come from afar,
        and your daughters shall be carried on the hip.
    5   Then you shall see and be radiant;
        your heart shall thrill and exult,Hebrew your heart shall tremble and grow wide">1
      because the abundance of the sea shall be turned to you,
        the wealth of the nations shall come to you.
    6   A multitude of camels shall cover you,
        the young camels of Midian and Ephah;
        all those from Sheba shall come.
      They shall bring gold and frankincense,
        and shall bring good news, the praises of the LORD.
    7   All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered to you;
        the rams of Nebaioth shall minister to you;
      they shall come up with acceptance on my altar,
        and I will beautify my beautiful house.
    8   Who are these that fly like a cloud,
        and like doves to their windows?
    9   For the coastlands shall hope for me,
        the ships of Tarshish first,
      to bring your children from afar,
        their silver and gold with them,
      for the name of the LORD your God,
        and for the Holy One of Israel,
        because he has made you beautiful.
    10   Foreigners shall build up your walls,
        and their kings shall minister to you;
      for in my wrath I struck you,
        but in my favor I have had mercy on you.
    11   Your gates shall be open continually;
        day and night they shall not be shut,
      that people may bring to you the wealth of the nations,
        with their kings led in procession.
    12   For the nation and kingdom
        that will not serve you shall perish;
        those nations shall be utterly laid waste.
    13   The glory of Lebanon shall come to you,
        the cypress, the plane, and the pine,
      to beautify the place of my sanctuary,
        and I will make the place of my feet glorious.
    14   The sons of those who afflicted you
        shall come bending low to you,
      and all who despised you
        shall bow down at your feet;
      they shall call you the City of the LORD,
        the Zion of the Holy One of Israel.
    15   Whereas you have been forsaken and hated,
        with no one passing through,
      I will make you majestic forever,
        a joy from age to age.
    16   You shall suck the milk of nations;
        you shall nurse at the breast of kings;
      and you shall know that I, the LORD, am your Savior
        and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.
    17   Instead of bronze I will bring gold,
        and instead of iron I will bring silver;
      instead of wood, bronze,
        instead of stones, iron.
      I will make your overseers peace
        and your taskmasters righteousness.
    18   Violence shall no more be heard in your land,
        devastation or destruction within your borders;
      you shall call your walls Salvation,
        and your gates Praise.
    19   The sun shall be no more
        your light by day,
      nor for brightness shall the moon
        give you light;Masoretic Text; Dead Sea Scroll, Septuagint, Targum add by night">2
      but the LORD will be your everlasting light,
        and your God will be your glory.Or your beauty">3
    20   Your sun shall no more go down,
        nor your moon withdraw itself;
      for the LORD will be your everlasting light,
        and your days of mourning shall be ended.
    21   Your people shall all be righteous;
        they shall possess the land forever,
      the branch of my planting, the work of my hands,
        that I might be glorified.Or that I might display my beauty">4
    22   The least one shall become a clan,
        and the smallest one a mighty nation;
      I am the LORD;
        in its time I will hasten it.

    Footnotes

    [1] 60:5 Hebrew your heart shall tremble and grow wide


    [2] 60:19 Masoretic Text; Dead Sea Scroll, Septuagint, Targum add by night

    [3] 60:19 Or your beauty

    [4] 60:21 Or that I might display my beauty

    (ESV)

    Gospels and Epistles:
    Revelation 18
    Revelation 18 (Listen)
    The Fall of Babylon

    18 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 drunkSome manuscripts fallen by">1
        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.Or and slaves, and human lives">2

    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.”

    Footnotes

    [1] 18:3 Some manuscripts fallen by


    [2] 18:13 Or and slaves, and human lives

    (ESV)

    14 min
  • December 26: Psalm 146; Job 36:1–21; Isaiah 59; Revelation 17
    Psalms and Wisdom:
    Psalm 146
    Psalm 146 (Listen)
    Put Not Your Trust in Princes

    146   Praise the LORD!
      Praise the LORD, O my soul!
    2   I will praise the LORD as long as I live;
        I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.
    3   Put not your trust in princes,
        in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation.
    4   When his breath departs, he returns to the earth;
        on that very day his plans perish.
    5   Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,
        whose hope is in the LORD his God,
    6   who made heaven and earth,
        the sea, and all that is in them,
      who keeps faith forever;
    7     who executes justice for the oppressed,
        who gives food to the hungry.
      The LORD sets the prisoners free;
    8     the LORD opens the eyes of the blind.
      The LORD lifts up those who are bowed down;
        the LORD loves the righteous.
    9   The LORD watches over the sojourners;
        he upholds the widow and the fatherless,
        but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.
    10   The LORD will reign forever,
        your God, O Zion, to all generations.
      Praise the LORD!

    (ESV)

    Pentateuch and History:
    Job 36:1–21
    Job 36:1–21 (Listen)
    Elihu Extols God's Greatness

    36 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.
    16   He also allured you out of distress
        into a broad place where there was no cramping,
        and what was set on your table was full of fatness.
    17   “But you are full of the judgment on the wicked;
        judgment and justice seize you.
    18   Beware lest wrath entice you into scoffing,
        and let not the greatness of the ransom turn you aside.
    19   Will your cry for help avail to keep you from distress,
        or all the force of your strength?
    20   Do not long for the night,
        when peoples vanish in their place.
    21   Take care; do not turn to iniquity,
        for this you have chosen rather than affliction.

    (ESV)

    Chronicles and Prophets:
    Isaiah 59
    Isaiah 59 (Listen)
    Evil and Oppression

    59   Behold, the LORD's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save,
        or his ear dull, that it cannot hear;
    2   but your iniquities have made a separation
        between you and your God,
      and your sins have hidden his face from you
        so that he does not hear.
    3   For your hands are defiled with blood
        and your fingers with iniquity;
      your lips have spoken lies;
        your tongue mutters wickedness.
    4   No one enters suit justly;
        no one goes to law honestly;
      they rely on empty pleas, they speak lies,
        they conceive mischief and give birth to iniquity.
    5   They hatch adders' eggs;
        they weave the spider's web;
      he who eats their eggs dies,
        and from one that is crushed a viper is hatched.
    6   Their webs will not serve as clothing;
        men will not cover themselves with what they make.
      Their works are works of iniquity,
        and deeds of violence are in their hands.
    7   Their feet run to evil,
        and they are swift to shed innocent blood;
      their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity;
        desolation and destruction are in their highways.
    8   The way of peace they do not know,
        and there is no justice in their paths;
      they have made their roads crooked;
        no one who treads on them knows peace.
    9   Therefore justice is far from us,
        and righteousness does not overtake us;
      we hope for light, and behold, darkness,
        and for brightness, but we walk in gloom.
    10   We grope for the wall like the blind;
        we grope like those who have no eyes;
      we stumble at noon as in the twilight,
        among those in full vigor we are like dead men.
    11   We all growl like bears;
        we moan and moan like doves;
      we hope for justice, but there is none;
        for salvation, but it is far from us.
    12   For our transgressions are multiplied before you,
        and our sins testify against us;
      for our transgressions are with us,
        and we know our iniquities:
    13   transgressing, and denying the LORD,
        and turning back from following our God,
      speaking oppression and revolt,
        conceiving and uttering from the heart lying words.

    Judgment and Redemption

    14   Justice is turned back,
        and righteousness stands far away;
      for truth has stumbled in the public squares,
        and uprightness cannot enter.
    15   Truth is lacking,
        and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey.

      The LORD saw it, and it displeased himHebrew and it was evil in his eyes">1
        that there was no justice.
    16   He saw that there was no man,
        and wondered that there was no one to intercede;
      then his own arm brought him salvation,
        and his righteousness upheld him.
    17   He put on righteousness as a breastplate,
        and a helmet of salvation on his head;
      he put on garments of vengeance for clothing,
        and wrapped himself in zeal as a cloak.
    18   According to their deeds, so will he repay,
        wrath to his adversaries, repayment to his enemies;
        to the coastlands he will render repayment.
    19   So they shall fear the name of the LORD from the west,
        and his glory from the rising of the sun;
      for he will come like a rushing stream,Hebrew a narrow river">2
        which the wind of the LORD drives.
    20   “And a Redeemer will come to Zion,
        to those in Jacob who turn from transgression,” declares the LORD.

    21 “And as for me, this is my covenant with them,” says the LORD: “My Spirit that is upon you, and my words that I have put in your mouth, shall not depart out of your mouth, or out of the mouth of your offspring, or out of the mouth of your children's offspring,” says the LORD, “from this time forth and forevermore.”

    Footnotes

    [1] 59:15 Hebrew and it was evil in his eyes


    [2] 59:19 Hebrew a narrow river

    (ESV)

    Gospels and Epistles:
    Revelation 17
    Revelation 17 (Listen)
    The Great Prostitute and the Beast

    17 Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the judgment of the great prostitute who is seated on many waters, 2 with whom the kings of the earth have committed sexual immorality, and with the wine of whose sexual immorality the dwellers on earth have become drunk.” 3 And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was full of blasphemous names, and it had seven heads and ten horns. 4 The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and jewels and pearls, holding in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her sexual immorality. 5 And on her forehead was written a name of mystery: “Babylon the great, mother of prostitutes and of earth's abominations.” 6 And I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints, the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.Greek the witnesses to Jesus">1

    When I saw her, I marveled greatly. 7 But the angel said to me, “Why do you marvel? I will tell you the mystery of the woman, and of the beast with seven heads and ten horns that carries her. 8 The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to rise from the bottomless pitGreek the abyss">2 and go to destruction. And the dwellers on earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world will marvel to see the beast, because it was and is not and is to come. 9 This calls for a mind with wisdom: the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman is seated; 10 they are also seven kings, five of whom have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come, and when he does come he must remain only a little while. 11 As for the beast that was and is not, it is an eighth but it belongs to the seven, and it goes to destruction. 12 And the ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received royal power, but they are to receive authority as kings for one hour, together with the beast. 13 These are of one mind, and they hand over their power and authority to the beast. 14 They will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful.”

    15 And the angelGreek he">3 said to me, “The waters that you saw, where the prostitute is seated, are peoples and multitudes and nations and languages. 16 And the ten horns that you saw, they and the beast will hate the prostitute. They will make her desolate and naked, and devour her flesh and burn her up with fire, 17 for God has put it into their hearts to carry out his purpose by being of one mind and handing over their royal power to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled. 18 And the woman that you saw is the great city that has dominion over the kings of the earth.”

    Footnotes

    [1] 17:6 Greek the witnesses to Jesus


    [2] 17:8 Greek the abyss

    [3] 17:15 Greek he

    (ESV)

    11 min
  • December 25: Psalm 145; Job 34–35; Isaiah 58; Revelation 16
    Psalms and Wisdom:
    Psalm 145
    Psalm 145 (Listen)
    Great Is the Lord
    A Song of Praise. Of David.

    145   I will extol you, my God and King,
        and bless your name forever and ever.
    2   Every day I will bless you
        and praise your name forever and ever.
    3   Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised,
        and his greatness is unsearchable.
    4   One generation shall commend your works to another,
        and shall declare your mighty acts.
    5   On the glorious splendor of your majesty,
        and on your wondrous works, I will meditate.
    6   They shall speak of the might of your awesome deeds,
        and I will declare your greatness.
    7   They shall pour forth the fame of your abundant goodness
        and shall sing aloud of your righteousness.
    8   The LORD is gracious and merciful,
        slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
    9   The LORD is good to all,
        and his mercy is over all that he has made.
    10   All your works shall give thanks to you, O LORD,
        and all your saints shall bless you!
    11   They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom
        and tell of your power,
    12   to make known to the children of man yourHebrew his; also next line">1 mighty deeds,
        and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.
    13   Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
        and your dominion endures throughout all generations.
      [The LORD is faithful in all his words
        and kind in all his works.]These two lines are supplied by one Hebrew manuscript, Septuagint, Syriac (compare Dead Sea Scroll)">2
    14   The LORD upholds all who are falling
        and raises up all who are bowed down.
    15   The eyes of all look to you,
        and you give them their food in due season.
    16   You open your hand;
        you satisfy the desire of every living thing.
    17   The LORD is righteous in all his ways
        and kind in all his works.
    18   The LORD is near to all who call on him,
        to all who call on him in truth.
    19   He fulfills the desire of those who fear him;
        he also hears their cry and saves them.
    20   The LORD preserves all who love him,
        but all the wicked he will destroy.
    21   My mouth will speak the praise of the LORD,
        and let all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever.

    Footnotes

    [1] 145:12 Hebrew his; also next line


    [2] 145:13 These two lines are supplied by one Hebrew manuscript, Septuagint, Syriac (compare Dead Sea Scroll)

    (ESV)

    Pentateuch and History:
    Job 34–35
    Job 34–35 (Listen)
    Elihu Asserts God's Justice

    34 Then Elihu answered and said:

    2   “Hear my words, you wise men,
        and give ear to me, you who know;
    3   for the ear tests words
        as the palate tastes food.
    4   Let us choose what is right;
        let us know among ourselves what is good.
    5   For Job has said, ‘I am in the right,
        and God has taken away my right;
    6   in spite of my right I am counted a liar;
        my wound is incurable, though I am without transgression.’
    7   What man is like Job,
        who drinks up scoffing like water,
    8   who travels in company with evildoers
        and walks with wicked men?
    9   For he has said, ‘It profits a man nothing
        that he should take delight in God.’
    10   “Therefore, hear me, you men of understanding:
        far be it from God that he should do wickedness,
        and from the Almighty that he should do wrong.
    11   For according to the work of a man he will repay him,
        and according to his ways he will make it befall him.
    12   Of a truth, God will not do wickedly,
        and the Almighty will not pervert justice.
    13   Who gave him charge over the earth,
        and who laid on himHebrew lacks on him">1 the whole world?
    14   If he should set his heart to it
        and gather to himself his spirit and his breath,
    15   all flesh would perish together,
        and man would return to dust.
    16   “If you have understanding, hear this;
        listen to what I say.
    17   Shall one who hates justice govern?
        Will you condemn him who is righteous and mighty,
    18   who says to a king, ‘Worthless one,’
        and to nobles, ‘Wicked man,’
    19   who shows no partiality to princes,
        nor regards the rich more than the poor,
        for they are all the work of his hands?
    20   In a moment they die;
        at midnight the people are shaken and pass away,
        and the mighty are taken away by no human hand.
    21   “For his eyes are on the ways of a man,
        and he sees all his steps.
    22   There is no gloom or deep darkness
        where evildoers may hide themselves.
    23   For GodHebrew he">2 has no need to consider a man further,
        that he should go before God in judgment.
    24   He shatters the mighty without investigation
        and sets others in their place.
    25   Thus, knowing their works,
        he overturns them in the night, and they are crushed.
    26   He strikes them for their wickedness
        in a place for all to see,
    27   because they turned aside from following him
        and had no regard for any of his ways,
    28   so that they caused the cry of the poor to come to him,
        and he heard the cry of the afflicted—
    29   When he is quiet, who can condemn?
        When he hides his face, who can behold him,
        whether it be a nation or a man?—
    30   that a godless man should not reign,
        that he should not ensnare the people.
    31   “For has anyone said to God,
        ‘I have borne punishment; I will not offend any more;
    32   teach me what I do not see;
        if I have done iniquity, I will do it no more’?
    33   Will he then make repayment to suit you,
        because you reject it?
      For you must choose, and not I;
        therefore declare what you know.The meaning of the Hebrew in verses 29–33 is uncertain">3
    34   Men of understanding will say to me,
        and the wise man who hears me will say:
    35   ‘Job speaks without knowledge;
        his words are without insight.’
    36   Would that Job were tried to the end,
        because he answers like wicked men.
    37   For he adds rebellion to his sin;
        he claps his hands among us
        and multiplies his words against God.”

    Elihu Condemns Job

    35 And Elihu answered and said:

    2   “Do you think this to be just?
        Do you say, ‘It is my right before God,’
    3   that you ask, ‘What advantage have I?
        How am I better off than if I had sinned?’
    4   I will answer you
        and your friends with you.
    5   Look at the heavens, and see;
        and behold the clouds, which are higher than you.
    6   If you have sinned, what do you accomplish against him?
        And if your transgressions are multiplied, what do you do to him?
    7   If you are righteous, what do you give to him?
        Or what does he receive from your hand?
    8   Your wickedness concerns a man like yourself,
        and your righteousness a son of man.
    9   “Because of the multitude of oppressions people cry out;
        they call for help because of the arm of the mighty.Or the many">4
    10   But none says, ‘Where is God my Maker,
        who gives songs in the night,
    11   who teaches us more than the beasts of the earth
        and makes us wiser than the birds of the heavens?’
    12   There they cry out, but he does not answer,
        because of the pride of evil men.
    13   Surely God does not hear an empty cry,
        nor does the Almighty regard it.
    14   How much less when you say that you do not see him,
        that the case is before him, and you are waiting for him!
    15   And now, because his anger does not punish,
        and he does not take much note of transgression,Theodotion, Symmachus (compare Vulgate); the meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain">5
    16   Job opens his mouth in empty talk;
        he multiplies words without knowledge.”

    Footnotes

    [1] 34:13 Hebrew lacks on him


    [2] 34:23 Hebrew he

    [3] 34:33 The meaning of the Hebrew in verses 29–33 is uncertain

    [4] 35:9 Or the many

    [5] 35:15 Theodotion, Symmachus (compare Vulgate); the meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain

    (ESV)

    Chronicles and Prophets:
    Isaiah 58
    Isaiah 58 (Listen)
    True and False Fasting

    58   “Cry aloud; do not hold back;
        lift up your voice like a trumpet;
      declare to my people their transgression,
        to the house of Jacob their sins.
    2   Yet they seek me daily
        and delight to know my ways,
      as if they were a nation that did righteousness
        and did not forsake the judgment of their God;
      they ask of me righteous judgments;
        they delight to draw near to God.
    3   ‘Why have we fasted, and you see it not?
        Why have we humbled ourselves, and you take no knowledge of it?’
      Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure,Or pursue your own business">1
        and oppress all your workers.
    4   Behold, you fast only to quarrel and to fight
        and to hit with a wicked fist.
      Fasting like yours this day
        will not make your voice to be heard on high.
    5   Is such the fast that I choose,
        a day for a person to humble himself?
      Is it to bow down his head like a reed,
        and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him?
      Will you call this a fast,
        and a day acceptable to the LORD?
    6   “Is not this the fast that I choose:
        to loose the bonds of wickedness,
        to undo the straps of the yoke,
      to let the oppressedOr bruised">2 go free,
        and to break every yoke?
    7   Is it not to share your bread with the hungry
        and bring the homeless poor into your house;
      when you see the naked, to cover him,
        and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?
    8   Then shall your light break forth like the dawn,
        and your healing shall spring up speedily;
      your righteousness shall go before you;
        the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard.
    9   Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer;
        you shall cry, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’
      If you take away the yoke from your midst,
        the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness,
    10   if you pour yourself out for the hungry
        and satisfy the desire of the afflicted,
      then shall your light rise in the darkness
        and your gloom be as the noonday.
    11   And the LORD will guide you continually
        and satisfy your desire in scorched places
        and make your bones strong;
      and you shall be like a watered garden,
        like a spring of water,
        whose waters do not fail.
    12   And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt;
        you shall raise up the foundations of many generations;
      you shall be called the repairer of the breach,
        the restorer of streets to dwell in.
    13   “If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath,
        from doing your pleasureOr business">3 on my holy day,
      and call the Sabbath a delight
        and the holy day of the LORD honorable;
      if you honor it, not going your own ways,
        or seeking your own pleasure,Or pursuing your own business">4 or talking idly;Hebrew or speaking a word">5
    14   then you shall take delight in the LORD,
        and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth;Or of the land">6
      I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father,
        for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”

    Footnotes

    [1] 58:3 Or pursue your own business


    [2] 58:6 Or bruised

    [3] 58:13 Or business

    [4] 58:13 Or pursuing your own business

    [5] 58:13 Hebrew or speaking a word

    [6] 58:14 Or of the land

    (ESV)

    Gospels and Epistles:
    Revelation 16
    Revelation 16 (Listen)
    The Seven Bowls of God's Wrath

    16 Then I heard a loud voice from the temple telling the seven angels, “Go and pour out on the earth the seven bowls of the wrath of God.”

    2 So the first angel went and poured out his bowl on the earth, and harmful and painful sores came upon the people who bore the mark of the beast and worshiped its image.

    3 The second angel poured out his bowl into the sea, and it became like the blood of a corpse, and every living thing died that was in the sea.

    4 The third angel poured out his bowl into the rivers and the springs of water, and they became blood. 5 And I heard the angel in charge of the watersGreek angel of the waters">1 say,

      “Just are you, O Holy One, who is and who was,
        for you brought these judgments.
    6   For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets,
        and you have given them blood to drink.
      It is what they deserve!”

    7 And I heard the altar saying,

      “Yes, Lord God the Almighty,
        true and just are your judgments!”

    8 The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and it was allowed to scorch people with fire. 9 They were scorched by the fierce heat, and they cursedGreek blasphemed; also verses 11, 21">2 the name of God who had power over these plagues. They did not repent and give him glory.

    10 The fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom was plunged into darkness. People gnawed their tongues in anguish 11 and cursed the God of heaven for their pain and sores. They did not repent of their deeds.

    12 The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up, to prepare the way for the kings from the east. 13 And I saw, coming out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs. 14 For they are demonic spirits, performing signs, who go abroad to the kings of the whole world, to assemble them for battle on the great day of God the Almighty. 15 (“Behold, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake, keeping his garments on, that he may not go about naked and be seen exposed!”) 16 And they assembled them at the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon.

    The Seventh Bowl

    17 The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple, from the throne, saying, “It is done!” 18 And there were flashes of lightning, rumblings,Or voices, or sounds">3 peals of thunder, and a great earthquake such as there had never been since man was on the earth, so great was that earthquake. 19 The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell, and God remembered Babylon the great, to make her drain the cup of the wine of the fury of his wrath. 20 And every island fled away, and no mountains were to be found. 21 And great hailstones, about one hundred poundsGreek a talent in weight">4 each, fell from heaven on people; and they cursed God for the plague of the hail, because the plague was so severe.

    Footnotes

    [1] 16:5 Greek angel of the waters


    [2] 16:9 Greek blasphemed; also verses 11, 21

    [3] 16:18 Or voices, or sounds

    [4] 16:21 Greek a talent in weight

    (ESV)

    14 min
  • December 24: Psalm 144; Job 33; Isaiah 56–57; Revelation 15
    Psalms and Wisdom:
    Psalm 144
    Psalm 144 (Listen)
    My Rock and My Fortress
    Of David.

    144   Blessed be the LORD, my rock,
        who trains my hands for war,
        and my fingers for battle;
    2   he is my steadfast love and my fortress,
        my stronghold and my deliverer,
      my shield and he in whom I take refuge,
        who subdues peoplesMany Hebrew manuscripts, Dead Sea Scroll, Jerome, Syriac, Aquila; most Hebrew manuscripts subdues my people">1 under me.
    3   O LORD, what is man that you regard him,
        or the son of man that you think of him?
    4   Man is like a breath;
        his days are like a passing shadow.
    5   Bow your heavens, O LORD, and come down!
        Touch the mountains so that they smoke!
    6   Flash forth the lightning and scatter them;
        send out your arrows and rout them!
    7   Stretch out your hand from on high;
        rescue me and deliver me from the many waters,
        from the hand of foreigners,
    8   whose mouths speak lies
        and whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood.
    9   I will sing a new song to you, O God;
        upon a ten-stringed harp I will play to you,
    10   who gives victory to kings,
        who rescues David his servant from the cruel sword.
    11   Rescue me and deliver me
        from the hand of foreigners,
      whose mouths speak lies
        and whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood.
    12   May our sons in their youth
        be like plants full grown,
      our daughters like corner pillars
        cut for the structure of a palace;
    13   may our granaries be full,
        providing all kinds of produce;
      may our sheep bring forth thousands
        and ten thousands in our fields;
    14   may our cattle be heavy with young,
        suffering no mishap or failure in bearing;Hebrew with no breaking in or going out">2
      may there be no cry of distress in our streets!
    15   Blessed are the people to whom such blessings fall!
        Blessed are the people whose God is the LORD!

    Footnotes

    [1] 144:2 Many Hebrew manuscripts, Dead Sea Scroll, Jerome, Syriac, Aquila; most Hebrew manuscripts subdues my people


    [2] 144:14 Hebrew with no breaking in or going out

    (ESV)

    Pentateuch and History:
    Job 33
    Job 33 (Listen)
    Elihu Rebukes Job

    33   “But now, hear my speech, O Job,
        and listen to all my words.
    2   Behold, I open my mouth;
        the tongue in my mouth speaks.
    3   My words declare the uprightness of my heart,
        and what my lips know they speak sincerely.
    4   The Spirit of God has made me,
        and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.
    5   Answer me, if you can;
        set your words in order before me; take your stand.
    6   Behold, I am toward God as you are;
        I too was pinched off from a piece of clay.
    7   Behold, no fear of me need terrify you;
        my pressure will not be heavy upon you.
    8   “Surely you have spoken in my ears,
        and I have heard the sound of your words.
    9   You say, ‘I am pure, without transgression;
        I am clean, and there is no iniquity in me.
    10   Behold, he finds occasions against me,
        he counts me as his enemy,
    11   he puts my feet in the stocks
        and watches all my paths.’
    12   “Behold, in this you are not right. I will answer you,
        for God is greater than man.
    13   Why do you contend against him,
        saying, ‘He will answer none of man'sHebrew his">1 words’?Or He will not answer for any of his own words">2
    14   For God speaks in one way,
        and in two, though man does not perceive it.
    15   In a dream, in a vision of the night,
        when deep sleep falls on men,
        while they slumber on their beds,
    16   then he opens the ears of men
        and terrifiesOr seals">3 them with warnings,
    17   that he may turn man aside from his deed
        and conceal pride from a man;
    18   he keeps back his soul from the pit,
        his life from perishing by the sword.
    19   “Man is also rebuked with pain on his bed
        and with continual strife in his bones,
    20   so that his life loathes bread,
        and his appetite the choicest food.
    21   His flesh is so wasted away that it cannot be seen,
        and his bones that were not seen stick out.
    22   His soul draws near the pit,
        and his life to those who bring death.
    23   If there be for him an angel,
        a mediator, one of the thousand,
        to declare to man what is right for him,
    24   and he is merciful to him, and says,
        ‘Deliver him from going down into the pit;
        I have found a ransom;
    25   let his flesh become fresh with youth;
        let him return to the days of his youthful vigor’;
    26   then manHebrew he">4 prays to God, and he accepts him;
        he sees his face with a shout of joy,
      and he restores to man his righteousness.
    27     He sings before men and says:
      ‘I sinned and perverted what was right,
        and it was not repaid to me.
    28   He has redeemed my soul from going down into the pit,
        and my life shall look upon the light.’
    29   “Behold, God does all these things,
        twice, three times, with a man,
    30   to bring back his soul from the pit,
        that he may be lighted with the light of life.
    31   Pay attention, O Job, listen to me;
        be silent, and I will speak.
    32   If you have any words, answer me;
        speak, for I desire to justify you.
    33   If not, listen to me;
        be silent, and I will teach you wisdom.”

    Footnotes

    [1] 33:13 Hebrew his


    [2] 33:13 Or He will not answer for any of his own words

    [3] 33:16 Or seals

    [4] 33:26 Hebrew he

    (ESV)

    Chronicles and Prophets:
    Isaiah 56–57
    Isaiah 56–57 (Listen)
    Salvation for Foreigners

    56   Thus says the LORD:
      “Keep justice, and do righteousness,
      for soon my salvation will come,
        and my righteousness be revealed.
    2   Blessed is the man who does this,
        and the son of man who holds it fast,
      who keeps the Sabbath, not profaning it,
        and keeps his hand from doing any evil.”
    3   Let not the foreigner who has joined himself to the LORD say,
        “The LORD will surely separate me from his people”;
      and let not the eunuch say,
        “Behold, I am a dry tree.”
    4   For thus says the LORD:
      “To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths,
        who choose the things that please me
        and hold fast my covenant,
    5   I will give in my house and within my walls
        a monument and a name
        better than sons and daughters;
      I will give them an everlasting name
        that shall not be cut off.
    6   “And the foreigners who join themselves to the LORD,
        to minister to him, to love the name of the LORD,
        and to be his servants,
      everyone who keeps the Sabbath and does not profane it,
        and holds fast my covenant—
    7   these I will bring to my holy mountain,
        and make them joyful in my house of prayer;
      their burnt offerings and their sacrifices
        will be accepted on my altar;
      for my house shall be called a house of prayer
        for all peoples.”
    8   The Lord GOD,
        who gathers the outcasts of Israel, declares,
      “I will gather yet others to him
        besides those already gathered.”

    Israel's Irresponsible Leaders

    9   All you beasts of the field, come to devour—
        all you beasts in the forest.
    10   His watchmen are blind;
        they are all without knowledge;
      they are all silent dogs;
        they cannot bark,
      dreaming, lying down,
        loving to slumber.
    11   The dogs have a mighty appetite;
        they never have enough.
      But they are shepherds who have no understanding;
        they have all turned to their own way,
        each to his own gain, one and all.
    12   “Come,” they say, “let me get wine;
        let us fill ourselves with strong drink;
      and tomorrow will be like this day,
        great beyond measure.”

    Israel's Futile Idolatry

    57   The righteous man perishes,
        and no one lays it to heart;
      devout men are taken away,
        while no one understands.
      For the righteous man is taken away from calamity;
    2     he enters into peace;
      they rest in their beds
        who walk in their uprightness.
    3   But you, draw near,
        sons of the sorceress,
        offspring of the adulterer and the loose woman.
    4   Whom are you mocking?
        Against whom do you open your mouth wide
        and stick out your tongue?
      Are you not children of transgression,
        the offspring of deceit,
    5   you who burn with lust among the oaks,Or among the terebinths">1
        under every green tree,
      who slaughter your children in the valleys,
        under the clefts of the rocks?
    6   Among the smooth stones of the valley is your portion;
        they, they, are your lot;
      to them you have poured out a drink offering,
        you have brought a grain offering.
        Shall I relent for these things?
    7   On a high and lofty mountain
        you have set your bed,
        and there you went up to offer sacrifice.
    8   Behind the door and the doorpost
        you have set up your memorial;
      for, deserting me, you have uncovered your bed,
        you have gone up to it,
        you have made it wide;
      and you have made a covenant for yourself with them,
        you have loved their bed,
        you have looked on nakedness.Or on a monument (see 56:5); Hebrew on a hand">2
    9   You journeyed to the king with oil
        and multiplied your perfumes;
      you sent your envoys far off,
        and sent down even to Sheol.
    10   You were wearied with the length of your way,
        but you did not say, “It is hopeless”;
      you found new life for your strength,
        and so you were not faint.Hebrew and so you were not sick">3
    11   Whom did you dread and fear,
        so that you lied,
      and did not remember me,
        did not lay it to heart?
      Have I not held my peace, even for a long time,
        and you do not fear me?
    12   I will declare your righteousness and your deeds,
        but they will not profit you.
    13   When you cry out, let your collection of idols deliver you!
        The wind will carry them all off,
        a breath will take them away.
      But he who takes refuge in me shall possess the land
        and shall inherit my holy mountain.

    Comfort for the Contrite

    14   And it shall be said,
      “Build up, build up, prepare the way,
        remove every obstruction from my people's way.”
    15   For thus says the One who is high and lifted up,
        who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy:
      “I dwell in the high and holy place,
        and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit,
      to revive the spirit of the lowly,
        and to revive the heart of the contrite.
    16   For I will not contend forever,
        nor will I always be angry;
      for the spirit would grow faint before me,
        and the breath of life that I made.
    17   Because of the iniquity of his unjust gain I was angry,
        I struck him; I hid my face and was angry,
        but he went on backsliding in the way of his own heart.
    18   I have seen his ways, but I will heal him;
        I will lead him and restore comfort to him and his mourners,
    19     creating the fruit of the lips.
      Peace, peace, to the far and to the near,” says the LORD,
        “and I will heal him.
    20   But the wicked are like the tossing sea;
        for it cannot be quiet,
        and its waters toss up mire and dirt.
    21   There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.”

    Footnotes

    [1] 57:5 Or among the terebinths


    [2] 57:8 Or on a monument (see 56:5); Hebrew on a hand

    [3] 57:10 Hebrew and so you were not sick

    (ESV)

    Gospels and Epistles:
    Revelation 15
    Revelation 15 (Listen)
    The Seven Angels with Seven Plagues

    15 Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and amazing, seven angels with seven plagues, which are the last, for with them the wrath of God is finished.

    2 And I saw what appeared to be a sea of glass mingled with fire—and also those who had conquered the beast and its image and the number of its name, standing beside the sea of glass with harps of God in their hands. 3 And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying,

      “Great and amazing are your deeds,
        O Lord God the Almighty!
      Just and true are your ways,
        O King of the nations!Some manuscripts the ages">1
    4   Who will not fear, O Lord,
        and glorify your name?
      For you alone are holy.
        All nations will come
        and worship you,
      for your righteous acts have been revealed.”

    5 After this I looked, and the sanctuary of the tentOr tabernacle">2 of witness in heaven was opened, 6 and out of the sanctuary came the seven angels with the seven plagues, clothed in pure, bright linen, with golden sashes around their chests. 7 And one of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God who lives forever and ever, 8 and the sanctuary was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power, and no one could enter the sanctuary until the seven plagues of the seven angels were finished.

    Footnotes

    [1] 15:3 Some manuscripts the ages


    [2] 15:5 Or tabernacle

    (ESV)

    13 min
  • December 23: Psalm 143; Job 32; Isaiah 55; Revelation 14
    Psalms and Wisdom:
    Psalm 143
    Psalm 143 (Listen)
    My Soul Thirsts for You
    A Psalm of David.

    143   Hear my prayer, O LORD;
        give ear to my pleas for mercy!
        In your faithfulness answer me, in your righteousness!
    2   Enter not into judgment with your servant,
        for no one living is righteous before you.
    3   For the enemy has pursued my soul;
        he has crushed my life to the ground;
        he has made me sit in darkness like those long dead.
    4   Therefore my spirit faints within me;
        my heart within me is appalled.
    5   I remember the days of old;
        I meditate on all that you have done;
        I ponder the work of your hands.
    6   I stretch out my hands to you;
        my soul thirsts for you like a parched land. Selah
    7   Answer me quickly, O LORD!
        My spirit fails!
      Hide not your face from me,
        lest I be like those who go down to the pit.
    8   Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love,
        for in you I trust.
      Make me know the way I should go,
        for to you I lift up my soul.
    9   Deliver me from my enemies, O LORD!
        I have fled to you for refuge.One Hebrew manuscript, Septuagint; most Hebrew manuscripts To you I have covered">1
    10   Teach me to do your will,
        for you are my God!
      Let your good Spirit lead me
        on level ground!
    11   For your name's sake, O LORD, preserve my life!
        In your righteousness bring my soul out of trouble!
    12   And in your steadfast love you will cut off my enemies,
        and you will destroy all the adversaries of my soul,
        for I am your servant.

    Footnotes

    [1] 143:9 One Hebrew manuscript, Septuagint; most Hebrew manuscripts To you I have covered

    (ESV)

    Pentateuch and History:
    Job 32
    Job 32 (Listen)
    Elihu Rebukes Job's Three Friends

    32 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 oldHebrew many [in years]">1 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.

    Footnotes

    [1] 32:9 Hebrew many [in years]

    (ESV)

    Chronicles and Prophets:
    Isaiah 55
    Isaiah 55 (Listen)
    The Compassion of the Lord

    55   “Come, everyone who thirsts,
        come to the waters;
      and he who has no money,
        come, buy and eat!
      Come, buy wine and milk
        without money and without price.
    2   Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread,
        and your labor for that which does not satisfy?
      Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good,
        and delight yourselves in rich food.
    3   Incline your ear, and come to me;
        hear, that your soul may live;
      and I will make with you an everlasting covenant,
        my steadfast, sure love for David.
    4   Behold, I made him a witness to the peoples,
        a leader and commander for the peoples.
    5   Behold, you shall call a nation that you do not know,
        and a nation that did not know you shall run to you,
      because of the LORD your God, and of the Holy One of Israel,
        for he has glorified you.
    6   “Seek the LORD while he may be found;
        call upon him while he is near;
    7   let the wicked forsake his way,
        and the unrighteous man his thoughts;
      let him return to the LORD, that he may have compassion on him,
        and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
    8   For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
        neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD.
    9   For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
        so are my ways higher than your ways
        and my thoughts than your thoughts.
    10   “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven
        and do not return there but water the earth,
      making it bring forth and sprout,
        giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
    11   so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
        it shall not return to me empty,
      but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
        and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.
    12   “For you shall go out in joy
        and be led forth in peace;
      the mountains and the hills before you
        shall break forth into singing,
        and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
    13   Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress;
        instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle;
      and it shall make a name for the LORD,
        an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.”

    (ESV)

    Gospels and Epistles:
    Revelation 14
    Revelation 14 (Listen)
    The Lamb and the 144,000

    14 Then I looked, and behold, on Mount Zion stood the Lamb, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father's name written on their foreheads. 2 And I heard a voice from heaven like the roar of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder. The voice I heard was like the sound of harpists playing on their harps, 3 and they were singing a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and before the elders. No one could learn that song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. 4 It is these who have not defiled themselves with women, for they are virgins. It is these who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These have been redeemed from mankind as firstfruits for God and the Lamb, 5 and in their mouth no lie was found, for they are blameless.

    The Messages of the Three Angels

    6 Then I saw another angel flying directly overhead, with an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who dwell on earth, to every nation and tribe and language and people. 7 And he said with a loud voice, “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come, and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water.”

    8 Another angel, a second, followed, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, she who made all nations drink the wine of the passionOr wrath">1 of her sexual immorality.”

    9 And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, 10 he also will drink the wine of God's wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. 11 And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name.”

    12 Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.Greek and the faith of Jesus">2

    13 And I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Blessed indeed,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!”

    The Harvest of the Earth

    14 Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and seated on the cloud one like a son of man, with a golden crown on his head, and a sharp sickle in his hand. 15 And another angel came out of the temple, calling with a loud voice to him who sat on the cloud, “Put in your sickle, and reap, for the hour to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is fully ripe.” 16 So he who sat on the cloud swung his sickle across the earth, and the earth was reaped.

    17 Then another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle. 18 And another angel came out from the altar, the angel who has authority over the fire, and he called with a loud voice to the one who had the sharp sickle, “Put in your sickle and gather the clusters from the vine of the earth, for its grapes are ripe.” 19 So the angel swung his sickle across the earth and gathered the grape harvest of the earth and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. 20 And the winepress was trodden outside the city, and blood flowed from the winepress, as high as a horse's bridle, for 1,600 stadia.About 184 miles; a stadion was about 607 feet or 185 meters">3

    Footnotes

    [1] 14:8 Or wrath


    [2] 14:12 Greek and the faith of Jesus

    [3] 14:20 About 184 miles; a stadion was about 607 feet or 185 meters

    (ESV)

    11 min
  • December 22: Psalm 142; Job 31; Isaiah 54; Revelation 13
    Psalms and Wisdom:
    Psalm 142
    Psalm 142 (Listen)
    You Are My Refuge
    A MaskilProbably a musical or liturgical term">1 of David, when he was in the cave. A Prayer.

    142   With my voice I cry out to the LORD;
        with my voice I plead for mercy to the LORD.
    2   I pour out my complaint before him;
        I tell my trouble before him.
    3   When my spirit faints within me,
        you know my way!
      In the path where I walk
        they have hidden a trap for me.
    4   Look to the right and see:
        there is none who takes notice of me;
      no refuge remains to me;
        no one cares for my soul.
    5   I cry to you, O LORD;
        I say, “You are my refuge,
        my portion in the land of the living.”
    6   Attend to my cry,
        for I am brought very low!
      Deliver me from my persecutors,
        for they are too strong for me!
    7   Bring me out of prison,
        that I may give thanks to your name!
      The righteous will surround me,
        for you will deal bountifully with me.

    Footnotes

    [1] 142:1 Probably a musical or liturgical term

    (ESV)

    Pentateuch and History:
    Job 31
    Job 31 (Listen)
    Job's Final Appeal

    31   “I have made a covenant with my eyes;
        how then could I gaze at a virgin?
    2   What would be my portion from God above
        and my heritage from the Almighty on high?
    3   Is not calamity for the unrighteous,
        and disaster for the workers of iniquity?
    4   Does not he see my ways
        and number all my steps?
    5   “If I have walked with falsehood
        and my foot has hastened to deceit;
    6   (Let me be weighed in a just balance,
        and let God know my integrity!)
    7   if my step has turned aside from the way
        and my heart has gone after my eyes,
        and if any spot has stuck to my hands,
    8   then let me sow, and another eat,
        and let what grows for meOr let my descendants">1 be rooted out.
    9   “If my heart has been enticed toward a woman,
        and I have lain in wait at my neighbor's door,
    10   then let my wife grind for another,
        and let others bow down on her.
    11   For that would be a heinous crime;
        that would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges;
    12   for that would be a fire that consumes as far as Abaddon,
        and it would burn to the root all my increase.
    13   “If I have rejected the cause of my manservant or my maidservant,
        when they brought a complaint against me,
    14   what then shall I do when God rises up?
        When he makes inquiry, what shall I answer him?
    15   Did not he who made me in the womb make him?
        And did not one fashion us in the womb?
    16   “If I have withheld anything that the poor desired,
        or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail,
    17   or have eaten my morsel alone,
        and the fatherless has not eaten of it
    18   (for from my youth the fatherlessHebrew he">2 grew up with me as with a father,
        and from my mother's womb I guided the widowHebrew her">3),
    19   if I have seen anyone perish for lack of clothing,
        or the needy without covering,
    20   if his body has not blessed me,Hebrew if his loins have not blessed me">4
        and if he was not warmed with the fleece of my sheep,
    21   if I have raised my hand against the fatherless,
        because I saw my help in the gate,
    22   then let my shoulder blade fall from my shoulder,
        and let my arm be broken from its socket.
    23   For I was in terror of calamity from God,
        and I could not have faced his majesty.
    24   “If I have made gold my trust
        or called fine gold my confidence,
    25   if I have rejoiced because my wealth was abundant
        or because my hand had found much,
    26   if I have looked at the sunHebrew the light">5 when it shone,
        or the moon moving in splendor,
    27   and my heart has been secretly enticed,
        and my mouth has kissed my hand,
    28   this also would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges,
        for I would have been false to God above.
    29   “If I have rejoiced at the ruin of him who hated me,
        or exulted when evil overtook him
    30   (I have not let my mouth sin
        by asking for his life with a curse),
    31   if the men of my tent have not said,
        ‘Who is there that has not been filled with his meat?’
    32   (the sojourner has not lodged in the street;
        I have opened my doors to the traveler),
    33   if I have concealed my transgressions as others doOr as Adam did">6
        by hiding my iniquity in my heart,
    34   because I stood in great fear of the multitude,
        and the contempt of families terrified me,
        so that I kept silence, and did not go out of doors—
    35   Oh, that I had one to hear me!
        (Here is my signature! Let the Almighty answer me!)
        Oh, that I had the indictment written by my adversary!
    36   Surely I would carry it on my shoulder;
        I would bind it on me as a crown;
    37   I would give him an account of all my steps;
        like a prince I would approach him.
    38   “If my land has cried out against me
        and its furrows have wept together,
    39   if I have eaten its yield without payment
        and made its owners breathe their last,
    40   let thorns grow instead of wheat,
        and foul weeds instead of barley.”

    The words of Job are ended.

    Footnotes

    [1] 31:8 Or let my descendants


    [2] 31:18 Hebrew he

    [3] 31:18 Hebrew her

    [4] 31:20 Hebrew if his loins have not blessed me

    [5] 31:26 Hebrew the light

    [6] 31:33 Or as Adam did

    (ESV)

    Chronicles and Prophets:
    Isaiah 54
    Isaiah 54 (Listen)
    The Eternal Covenant of Peace

    54   “Sing, O barren one, who did not bear;
        break forth into singing and cry aloud,
        you who have not been in labor!
      For the children of the desolate one will be more
        than the children of her who is married,” says the LORD.
    2   “Enlarge the place of your tent,
        and let the curtains of your habitations be stretched out;
      do not hold back; lengthen your cords
        and strengthen your stakes.
    3   For you will spread abroad to the right and to the left,
        and your offspring will possess the nations
        and will people the desolate cities.
    4   “Fear not, for you will not be ashamed;
        be not confounded, for you will not be disgraced;
      for you will forget the shame of your youth,
        and the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more.
    5   For your Maker is your husband,
        the LORD of hosts is his name;
      and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer,
        the God of the whole earth he is called.
    6   For the LORD has called you
        like a wife deserted and grieved in spirit,
      like a wife of youth when she is cast off,
        says your God.
    7   For a brief moment I deserted you,
        but with great compassion I will gather you.
    8   In overflowing anger for a moment
        I hid my face from you,
      but with everlasting love I will have compassion on you,”
        says the LORD, your Redeemer.
    9   “This is like the days of NoahSome manuscripts For this is as the waters of Noah">1 to me:
        as I swore that the waters of Noah
        should no more go over the earth,
      so I have sworn that I will not be angry with you,
        and will not rebuke you.
    10   For the mountains may depart
        and the hills be removed,
      but my steadfast love shall not depart from you,
        and my covenant of peace shall not be removed,”
        says the LORD, who has compassion on you.
    11   “O afflicted one, storm-tossed and not comforted,
        behold, I will set your stones in antimony,
        and lay your foundations with sapphires.Or lapis lazuli">2
    12   I will make your pinnacles of agate,Or jasper, or ruby">3
        your gates of carbuncles,Or crystal">4
        and all your wall of precious stones.
    13   All your children shall be taught by the LORD,
        and great shall be the peace of your children.
    14   In righteousness you shall be established;
        you shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear;
        and from terror, for it shall not come near you.
    15   If anyone stirs up strife,
        it is not from me;
      whoever stirs up strife with you
        shall fall because of you.
    16   Behold, I have created the smith
        who blows the fire of coals
        and produces a weapon for its purpose.
      I have also created the ravager to destroy;
    17     no weapon that is fashioned against you shall succeed,
        and you shall refute every tongue that rises against you in judgment.
      This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD
        and their vindicationOr righteousness">5 from me, declares the LORD.”

    Footnotes

    [1] 54:9 Some manuscripts For this is as the waters of Noah


    [2] 54:11 Or lapis lazuli

    [3] 54:12 Or jasper, or ruby

    [4] 54:12 Or crystal

    [5] 54:17 Or righteousness

    (ESV)

    Gospels and Epistles:
    Revelation 13
    Revelation 13 (Listen)
    The First Beast

    13 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,Or tabernacle">1 that is, those who dwell in heaven. 7 Also it was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them.Some manuscripts omit this sentence">2 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,Or on its behalf">3 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 ofOr on behalf of">4 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,For the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos, see Preface">5 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.Some manuscripts 616">6

    Footnotes

    [1] 13:6 Or tabernacle


    [2] 13:7 Some manuscripts omit this sentence

    [3] 13:12 Or on its behalf

    [4] 13:14 Or on behalf of

    [5] 13:16 For the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos, see Preface

    [6] 13:18 Some manuscripts 616

    (ESV)

    11 min
  • December 21: Psalm 141; Job 30; Isaiah 52:13–53:12; Revelation 12
    Psalms and Wisdom:
    Psalm 141
    Psalm 141 (Listen)
    Give Ear to My Voice
    A Psalm of David.

    141   O LORD, I call upon you; hasten to me!
        Give ear to my voice when I call to you!
    2   Let my prayer be counted as incense before you,
        and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice!
    3   Set a guard, O LORD, over my mouth;
        keep watch over the door of my lips!
    4   Do not let my heart incline to any evil,
        to busy myself with wicked deeds
      in company with men who work iniquity,
        and let me not eat of their delicacies!
    5   Let a righteous man strike me—it is a kindness;
        let him rebuke me—it is oil for my head;
        let my head not refuse it.
      Yet my prayer is continually against their evil deeds.
    6   When their judges are thrown over the cliff,Or When their judges fall into the hands of the Rock">1
        then they shall hear my words, for they are pleasant.
    7   As when one plows and breaks up the earth,
        so shall our bones be scattered at the mouth of Sheol.The meaning of the Hebrew in verses 6, 7 is uncertain">2
    8   But my eyes are toward you, O GOD, my Lord;
        in you I seek refuge; leave me not defenseless!Hebrew refuge; do not pour out my life!">3
    9   Keep me from the trap that they have laid for me
        and from the snares of evildoers!
    10   Let the wicked fall into their own nets,
        while I pass by safely.

    Footnotes

    [1] 141:6 Or When their judges fall into the hands of the Rock


    [2] 141:7 The meaning of the Hebrew in verses 6, 7 is uncertain

    [3] 141:8 Hebrew refuge; do not pour out my life!

    (ESV)

    Pentateuch and History:
    Job 30
    Job 30 (Listen)

    30   “But now they laugh at me,
        men who are younger than I,
      whose fathers I would have disdained
        to set with the dogs of my flock.
    2   What could I gain from the strength of their hands,
        men whose vigor is gone?
    3   Through want and hard hunger
        they gnaw the dry ground by night in waste and desolation;
    4   they pick saltwort and the leaves of bushes,
        and the roots of the broom tree for their food.Or warmth">1
    5   They are driven out from human company;
        they shout after them as after a thief.
    6   In the gullies of the torrents they must dwell,
        in holes of the earth and of the rocks.
    7   Among the bushes they bray;
        under the nettles they huddle together.
    8   A senseless, a nameless brood,
        they have been whipped out of the land.
    9   “And now I have become their song;
        I am a byword to them.
    10   They abhor me; they keep aloof from me;
        they do not hesitate to spit at the sight of me.
    11   Because God has loosed my cord and humbled me,
        they have cast off restraintHebrew the bridle">2 in my presence.
    12   On my right hand the rabble rise;
        they push away my feet;
        they cast up against me their ways of destruction.
    13   They break up my path;
        they promote my calamity;
        they need no one to help them.
    14   As through a wide breach they come;
        amid the crash they roll on.
    15   Terrors are turned upon me;
        my honor is pursued as by the wind,
        and my prosperity has passed away like a cloud.
    16   “And now my soul is poured out within me;
        days of affliction have taken hold of me.
    17   The night racks my bones,
        and the pain that gnaws me takes no rest.
    18   With great force my garment is disfigured;
        it binds me about like the collar of my tunic.
    19   GodHebrew He">3 has cast me into the mire,
        and I have become like dust and ashes.
    20   I cry to you for help and you do not answer me;
        I stand, and you only look at me.
    21   You have turned cruel to me;
        with the might of your hand you persecute me.
    22   You lift me up on the wind; you make me ride on it,
        and you toss me about in the roar of the storm.
    23   For I know that you will bring me to death
        and to the house appointed for all living.
    24   “Yet does not one in a heap of ruins stretch out his hand,
        and in his disaster cry for help?The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain">4
    25   Did not I weep for him whose day was hard?
        Was not my soul grieved for the needy?
    26   But when I hoped for good, evil came,
        and when I waited for light, darkness came.
    27   My inward parts are in turmoil and never still;
        days of affliction come to meet me.
    28   I go about darkened, but not by the sun;
        I stand up in the assembly and cry for help.
    29   I am a brother of jackals
        and a companion of ostriches.
    30   My skin turns black and falls from me,
        and my bones burn with heat.
    31   My lyre is turned to mourning,
        and my pipe to the voice of those who weep.

    Footnotes

    [1] 30:4 Or warmth


    [2] 30:11 Hebrew the bridle

    [3] 30:19 Hebrew He

    [4] 30:24 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain

    (ESV)

    Chronicles and Prophets:
    Isaiah 52:13–53:12
    Isaiah 52:13–53:12 (Listen)
    He Was Pierced for Our Transgressions

    13   Behold, my servant shall act wisely;Or shall prosper">1
        he shall be high and lifted up,
        and shall be exalted.
    14   As many were astonished at you—
        his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance,
        and his form beyond that of the children of mankind—
    15   so shall he sprinkleOr startle">2 many nations.
        Kings shall shut their mouths because of him,
      for that which has not been told them they see,
        and that which they have not heard they understand.
    53   Who has believed what he has heard from us?Or Who has believed what we have heard?">3
        And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
    2   For he grew up before him like a young plant,
        and like a root out of dry ground;
      he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,
        and no beauty that we should desire him.
    3   He was despised and rejectedOr forsaken">4 by men,
        a man of sorrowsOr pains; also verse 4">5 and acquainted withOr and knowing">6 grief;Or sickness; also verse 4">7
      and as one from whom men hide their facesOr as one who hides his face from us">8
        he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
    4   Surely he has borne our griefs
        and carried our sorrows;
      yet we esteemed him stricken,
        smitten by God, and afflicted.
    5   But he was pierced for our transgressions;
        he was crushed for our iniquities;
      upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
        and with his wounds we are healed.
    6   All we like sheep have gone astray;
        we have turned—every one—to his own way;
      and the LORD has laid on him
        the iniquity of us all.
    7   He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
        yet he opened not his mouth;
      like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
        and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
        so he opened not his mouth.
    8   By oppression and judgment he was taken away;
        and as for his generation, who considered
      that he was cut off out of the land of the living,
        stricken for the transgression of my people?
    9   And they made his grave with the wicked
        and with a rich man in his death,
      although he had done no violence,
        and there was no deceit in his mouth.
    10   Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him;
        he has put him to grief;Or he has made him sick">9
      when his soul makesOr when you make his soul">10 an offering for guilt,
        he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days;
      the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.
    11   Out of the anguish of his soul he shall seeMasoretic Text; Dead Sea Scroll he shall see light">11 and be satisfied;
      by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant,
        make many to be accounted righteous,
        and he shall bear their iniquities.
    12   Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many,Or with the great">12
        and he shall divide the spoil with the strong,Or with the numerous">13
      because he poured out his soul to death
        and was numbered with the transgressors;
      yet he bore the sin of many,
        and makes intercession for the transgressors.

    Footnotes

    [1] 52:13 Or shall prosper


    [2] 52:15 Or startle

    [3] 53:1 Or Who has believed what we have heard?

    [4] 53:3 Or forsaken

    [5] 53:3 Or pains; also verse 4

    [6] 53:3 Or and knowing

    [7] 53:3 Or sickness; also verse 4

    [8] 53:3 Or as one who hides his face from us

    [9] 53:10 Or he has made him sick

    [10] 53:10 Or when you make his soul

    [11] 53:11 Masoretic Text; Dead Sea Scroll he shall see light

    [12] 53:12 Or with the great

    [13] 53:12 Or with the numerous

    (ESV)

    Gospels and Epistles:
    Revelation 12
    Revelation 12 (Listen)
    The Woman and the Dragon

    12 And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. 2 She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth. 3 And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems. 4 His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her child he might devour it. 5 She gave birth to a male child, one who is to ruleGreek shepherd">1 all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne, 6 and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, in which she is to be nourished for 1,260 days.

    Satan Thrown Down to Earth

    7 Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, 8 but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. 9 And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. 10 And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothersOr brothers and sisters">2 has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. 11 And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death. 12 Therefore, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!”

    13 And when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. 14 But the woman was given the two wings of the great eagle so that she might fly from the serpent into the wilderness, to the place where she is to be nourished for a time, and times, and half a time. 15 The serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, to sweep her away with a flood. 16 But the earth came to the help of the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed the river that the dragon had poured from his mouth. 17 Then the dragon became furious with the woman and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus. And he stoodSome manuscripts And I stood, connecting the sentence with 13:1">3 on the sand of the sea.

    Footnotes

    [1] 12:5 Greek shepherd


    [2] 12:10 Or brothers and sisters

    [3] 12:17 Some manuscripts And I stood, connecting the sentence with 13:1

    (ESV)

    11 min
  • December 20: Psalm 140; Job 29; Isaiah 51–52:12; Revelation 11
    Psalms and Wisdom:
    Psalm 140
    Psalm 140 (Listen)
    Deliver Me, O Lord, from Evil Men
    To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

    140   Deliver me, O LORD, from evil men;
        preserve me from violent men,
    2   who plan evil things in their heart
        and stir up wars continually.
    3   They make their tongue sharp as a serpent's,
        and under their lips is the venom of asps. Selah
    4   Guard me, O LORD, from the hands of the wicked;
        preserve me from violent men,
        who have planned to trip up my feet.
    5   The arrogant have hidden a trap for me,
        and with cords they have spread a net;Or they have spread cords as a net">1
        beside the way they have set snares for me. Selah
    6   I say to the LORD, You are my God;
        give ear to the voice of my pleas for mercy, O LORD!
    7   O LORD, my Lord, the strength of my salvation,
        you have covered my head in the day of battle.
    8   Grant not, O LORD, the desires of the wicked;
        do not further theirHebrew his">2 evil plot, or they will be exalted! Selah
    9   As for the head of those who surround me,
        let the mischief of their lips overwhelm them!
    10   Let burning coals fall upon them!
        Let them be cast into fire,
        into miry pits, no more to rise!
    11   Let not the slanderer be established in the land;
        let evil hunt down the violent man speedily!
    12   I know that the LORD will maintain the cause of the afflicted,
        and will execute justice for the needy.
    13   Surely the righteous shall give thanks to your name;
        the upright shall dwell in your presence.

    Footnotes

    [1] 140:5 Or they have spread cords as a net


    [2] 140:8 Hebrew his

    (ESV)

    Pentateuch and History:
    Job 29
    Job 29 (Listen)
    Job's Summary Defense

    29 And Job again took up his discourse, and said:

    2   “Oh, that I were as in the months of old,
        as in the days when God watched over me,
    3   when his lamp shone upon my head,
        and by his light I walked through darkness,
    4   as I was in my prime,Hebrew my autumn days">1
        when the friendship of God was upon my tent,
    5   when the Almighty was yet with me,
        when my children were all around me,
    6   when my steps were washed with butter,
        and the rock poured out for me streams of oil!
    7   When I went out to the gate of the city,
        when I prepared my seat in the square,
    8   the young men saw me and withdrew,
        and the aged rose and stood;
    9   the princes refrained from talking
        and laid their hand on their mouth;
    10   the voice of the nobles was hushed,
        and their tongue stuck to the roof of their mouth.
    11   When the ear heard, it called me blessed,
        and when the eye saw, it approved,
    12   because I delivered the poor who cried for help,
        and the fatherless who had none to help him.
    13   The blessing of him who was about to perish came upon me,
        and I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy.
    14   I put on righteousness, and it clothed me;
        my justice was like a robe and a turban.
    15   I was eyes to the blind
        and feet to the lame.
    16   I was a father to the needy,
        and I searched out the cause of him whom I did not know.
    17   I broke the fangs of the unrighteous
        and made him drop his prey from his teeth.
    18   Then I thought, ‘I shall die in my nest,
        and I shall multiply my days as the sand,
    19   my roots spread out to the waters,
        with the dew all night on my branches,
    20   my glory fresh with me,
        and my bow ever new in my hand.’
    21   “Men listened to me and waited
        and kept silence for my counsel.
    22   After I spoke they did not speak again,
        and my word dropped upon them.
    23   They waited for me as for the rain,
        and they opened their mouths as for the spring rain.
    24   I smiled on them when they had no confidence,
        and the light of my face they did not cast down.
    25   I chose their way and sat as chief,
        and I lived like a king among his troops,
        like one who comforts mourners.

    Footnotes

    [1] 29:4 Hebrew my autumn days

    (ESV)

    Chronicles and Prophets:
    Isaiah 51–52:12
    Isaiah 51–52:12 (Listen)
    The Lord's Comfort for Zion

    51   “Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness,
        you who seek the LORD:
      look to the rock from which you were hewn,
        and to the quarry from which you were dug.
    2   Look to Abraham your father
        and to Sarah who bore you;
      for he was but one when I called him,
        that I might bless him and multiply him.
    3   For the LORD comforts Zion;
        he comforts all her waste places
      and makes her wilderness like Eden,
        her desert like the garden of the LORD;
      joy and gladness will be found in her,
        thanksgiving and the voice of song.
    4   “Give attention to me, my people,
        and give ear to me, my nation;
      for a lawOr for teaching; also verse 7">1 will go out from me,
        and I will set my justice for a light to the peoples.
    5   My righteousness draws near,
        my salvation has gone out,
        and my arms will judge the peoples;
      the coastlands hope for me,
        and for my arm they wait.
    6   Lift up your eyes to the heavens,
        and look at the earth beneath;
      for the heavens vanish like smoke,
        the earth will wear out like a garment,
        and they who dwell in it will die in like manner;Or will die like gnats">2
      but my salvation will be forever,
        and my righteousness will never be dismayed.
    7   “Listen to me, you who know righteousness,
        the people in whose heart is my law;
      fear not the reproach of man,
        nor be dismayed at their revilings.
    8   For the moth will eat them up like a garment,
        and the worm will eat them like wool,
      but my righteousness will be forever,
        and my salvation to all generations.”
    9   Awake, awake, put on strength,
        O arm of the LORD;
      awake, as in days of old,
        the generations of long ago.
      Was it not you who cut Rahab in pieces,
        who pierced the dragon?
    10   Was it not you who dried up the sea,
        the waters of the great deep,
      who made the depths of the sea a way
        for the redeemed to pass over?
    11   And the ransomed of the LORD shall return
        and come to Zion with singing;
      everlasting joy shall be upon their heads;
        they shall obtain gladness and joy,
        and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
    12   “I, I am he who comforts you;
        who are you that you are afraid of man who dies,
        of the son of man who is made like grass,
    13   and have forgotten the LORD, your Maker,
        who stretched out the heavens
        and laid the foundations of the earth,
      and you fear continually all the day
        because of the wrath of the oppressor,
      when he sets himself to destroy?
        And where is the wrath of the oppressor?
    14   He who is bowed down shall speedily be released;
        he shall not die and go down to the pit,
        neither shall his bread be lacking.
    15   I am the LORD your God,
        who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—
        the LORD of hosts is his name.
    16   And I have put my words in your mouth
        and covered you in the shadow of my hand,
      establishingOr planting">3 the heavens
        and laying the foundations of the earth,
        and saying to Zion, ‘You are my people.’”
    17   Wake yourself, wake yourself,
        stand up, O Jerusalem,
      you who have drunk from the hand of the LORD
        the cup of his wrath,
      who have drunk to the dregs
        the bowl, the cup of staggering.
    18   There is none to guide her
        among all the sons she has borne;
      there is none to take her by the hand
        among all the sons she has brought up.
    19   These two things have happened to you—
        who will console you?—
      devastation and destruction, famine and sword;
        who will comfort you?Dead Sea Scroll, Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate; Masoretic Text how shall I comfort you">4
    20   Your sons have fainted;
        they lie at the head of every street
        like an antelope in a net;
      they are full of the wrath of the LORD,
        the rebuke of your God.
    21   Therefore hear this, you who are afflicted,
        who are drunk, but not with wine:
    22   Thus says your Lord, the LORD,
        your God who pleads the cause of his people:
      “Behold, I have taken from your hand the cup of staggering;
      the bowl of my wrath you shall drink no more;
    23   and I will put it into the hand of your tormentors,
        who have said to you,
        ‘Bow down, that we may pass over’;
      and you have made your back like the ground
        and like the street for them to pass over.”

    The Lord's Coming Salvation

    52   Awake, awake,
        put on your strength, O Zion;
      put on your beautiful garments,
        O Jerusalem, the holy city;
      for there shall no more come into you
        the uncircumcised and the unclean.
    2   Shake yourself from the dust and arise;
        be seated, O Jerusalem;
      loose the bonds from your neck,
        O captive daughter of Zion.

    3 For thus says the LORD: “You were sold for nothing, and you shall be redeemed without money.” 4 For thus says the Lord GOD: “My people went down at the first into Egypt to sojourn there, and the Assyrian oppressed them for nothing.Or the Assyrian has oppressed them of late">5 5 Now therefore what have I here,” declares the LORD, “seeing that my people are taken away for nothing? Their rulers wail,” declares the LORD, “and continually all the day my name is despised. 6 Therefore my people shall know my name. Therefore in that day they shall know that it is I who speak; here I am.”

    7   How beautiful upon the mountains
        are the feet of him who brings good news,
      who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness,
        who publishes salvation,
        who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.”
    8   The voice of your watchmen—they lift up their voice;
        together they sing for joy;
      for eye to eye they see
        the return of the LORD to Zion.
    9   Break forth together into singing,
        you waste places of Jerusalem,
      for the LORD has comforted his people;
        he has redeemed Jerusalem.
    10   The LORD has bared his holy arm
        before the eyes of all the nations,
      and all the ends of the earth shall see
        the salvation of our God.
    11   Depart, depart, go out from there;
        touch no unclean thing;
      go out from the midst of her; purify yourselves,
        you who bear the vessels of the LORD.
    12   For you shall not go out in haste,
        and you shall not go in flight,
      for the LORD will go before you,
        and the God of Israel will be your rear guard.

    Footnotes

    [1] 51:4 Or for teaching; also verse 7


    [2] 51:6 Or will die like gnats

    [3] 51:16 Or planting

    [4] 51:19 Dead Sea Scroll, Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate; Masoretic Text how shall I comfort you

    [5] 52:4 Or the Assyrian has oppressed them of late

    (ESV)

    Gospels and Epistles:
    Revelation 11
    Revelation 11 (Listen)
    The Two Witnesses

    11 Then I was given a measuring rod like a staff, and I was told, “Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship there, 2 but do not measure the court outside the temple; leave that out, for it is given over to the nations, and they will trample the holy city for forty-two months. 3 And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.”

    4 These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. 5 And if anyone would harm them, fire pours from their mouth and consumes their foes. If anyone would harm them, this is how he is doomed to be killed. 6 They have the power to shut the sky, that no rain may fall during the days of their prophesying, and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague, as often as they desire. 7 And when they have finished their testimony, the beast that rises from the bottomless pitOr the abyss">1 will make war on them and conquer them and kill them, 8 and their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city that symbolicallyGreek spiritually">2 is called Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was crucified. 9 For three and a half days some from the peoples and tribes and languages and nations will gaze at their dead bodies and refuse to let them be placed in a tomb, 10 and those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and make merry and exchange presents, because these two prophets had been a torment to those who dwell on the earth. 11 But after the three and a half days a breath of life from God entered them, and they stood up on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them. 12 Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here!” And they went up to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies watched them. 13 And at that hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.

    14 The second woe has passed; behold, the third woe is soon to come.

    The Seventh Trumpet

    15 Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.” 16 And the twenty-four elders who sit on their thrones before God fell on their faces and worshiped God, 17 saying,

      “We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty,
        who is and who was,
      for you have taken your great power
        and begun to reign.
    18   The nations raged,
        but your wrath came,
        and the time for the dead to be judged,
      and for rewarding your servants, the prophets and saints,
        and those who fear your name,
        both small and great,
      and for destroying the destroyers of the earth.”

    19 Then God's temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple. There were flashes of lightning, rumblings,Or voices, or sounds">3 peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail.

    Footnotes

    [1] 11:7 Or the abyss


    [2] 11:8 Greek spiritually

    [3] 11:19 Or voices, or sounds

    (ESV)

    14 min
  • December 19: Psalm 139; Job 28; Isaiah 50; Revelation 10
    Psalms and Wisdom:
    Psalm 139
    Psalm 139 (Listen)
    Search Me, O God, and Know My Heart
    To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

    139   O LORD, you have searched me and known me!
    2   You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
        you discern my thoughts from afar.
    3   You search out my path and my lying down
        and are acquainted with all my ways.
    4   Even before a word is on my tongue,
        behold, O LORD, you know it altogether.
    5   You hem me in, behind and before,
        and lay your hand upon me.
    6   Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
        it is high; I cannot attain it.
    7   Where shall I go from your Spirit?
        Or where shall I flee from your presence?
    8   If I ascend to heaven, you are there!
        If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
    9   If I take the wings of the morning
        and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
    10   even there your hand shall lead me,
        and your right hand shall hold me.
    11   If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,
        and the light about me be night,”
    12   even the darkness is not dark to you;
        the night is bright as the day,
        for darkness is as light with you.
    13   For you formed my inward parts;
        you knitted me together in my mother's womb.
    14   I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.Or for I am fearfully set apart">1
      Wonderful are your works;
        my soul knows it very well.
    15   My frame was not hidden from you,
      when I was being made in secret,
        intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
    16   Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
      in your book were written, every one of them,
        the days that were formed for me,
        when as yet there was none of them.
    17   How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
        How vast is the sum of them!
    18   If I would count them, they are more than the sand.
        I awake, and I am still with you.
    19   Oh that you would slay the wicked, O God!
        O men of blood, depart from me!
    20   They speak against you with malicious intent;
        your enemies take your name in vain.Hebrew lacks your name">2
    21   Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD?
        And do I not loathe those who rise up against you?
    22   I hate them with complete hatred;
        I count them my enemies.
    23   Search me, O God, and know my heart!
        Try me and know my thoughts!Or cares">3
    24   And see if there be any grievous way in me,
        and lead me in the way everlasting!Or in the ancient way (compare Jeremiah 6:16)">4

    Footnotes

    [1] 139:14 Or for I am fearfully set apart


    [2] 139:20 Hebrew lacks your name

    [3] 139:23 Or cares

    [4] 139:24 Or in the ancient way (compare Jeremiah 6:16)

    (ESV)

    Pentateuch and History:
    Job 28
    Job 28 (Listen)
    Job Continues: Where Is Wisdom?

    28   “Surely there is a mine for silver,
        and a place for gold that they refine.
    2   Iron is taken out of the earth,
        and copper is smelted from the ore.
    3   Man puts an end to darkness
        and searches out to the farthest limit
        the ore in gloom and deep darkness.
    4   He opens shafts in a valley away from where anyone lives;
        they are forgotten by travelers;
        they hang in the air, far away from mankind; they swing to and fro.
    5   As for the earth, out of it comes bread,
        but underneath it is turned up as by fire.
    6   Its stones are the place of sapphires,Or lapis lazuli; also verse 16">1
        and it has dust of gold.
    7   “That path no bird of prey knows,
        and the falcon's eye has not seen it.
    8   The proud beasts have not trodden it;
        the lion has not passed over it.
    9   “Man puts his hand to the flinty rock
        and overturns mountains by the roots.
    10   He cuts out channels in the rocks,
        and his eye sees every precious thing.
    11   He dams up the streams so that they do not trickle,
        and the thing that is hidden he brings out to light.
    12   “But where shall wisdom be found?
        And where is the place of understanding?
    13   Man does not know its worth,
        and it is not found in the land of the living.
    14   The deep says, ‘It is not in me,’
        and the sea says, ‘It is not with me.’
    15   It cannot be bought for gold,
        and silver cannot be weighed as its price.
    16   It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir,
        in precious onyx or sapphire.
    17   Gold and glass cannot equal it,
        nor can it be exchanged for jewels of fine gold.
    18   No mention shall be made of coral or of crystal;
        the price of wisdom is above pearls.
    19   The topaz of Ethiopia cannot equal it,
        nor can it be valued in pure gold.
    20   “From where, then, does wisdom come?
        And where is the place of understanding?
    21   It is hidden from the eyes of all living
        and concealed from the birds of the air.
    22   Abaddon and Death say,
        ‘We have heard a rumor of it with our ears.’
    23   “God understands the way to it,
        and he knows its place.
    24   For he looks to the ends of the earth
        and sees everything under the heavens.
    25   When he gave to the wind its weight
        and apportioned the waters by measure,
    26   when he made a decree for the rain
        and a way for the lightning of the thunder,
    27   then he saw it and declared it;
        he established it, and searched it out.
    28   And he said to man,
      ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom,
        and to turn away from evil is understanding.’”

    Footnotes

    [1] 28:6 Or lapis lazuli; also verse 16

    (ESV)

    Chronicles and Prophets:
    Isaiah 50
    Isaiah 50 (Listen)
    Israel's Sin and the Servant's Obedience

    50   Thus says the LORD:
      “Where is your mother's certificate of divorce,
        with which I sent her away?
      Or which of my creditors is it
        to whom I have sold you?
      Behold, for your iniquities you were sold,
        and for your transgressions your mother was sent away.
    2   Why, when I came, was there no man;
        why, when I called, was there no one to answer?
      Is my hand shortened, that it cannot redeem?
        Or have I no power to deliver?
      Behold, by my rebuke I dry up the sea,
        I make the rivers a desert;
      their fish stink for lack of water
        and die of thirst.
    3   I clothe the heavens with blackness
        and make sackcloth their covering.”
    4   The Lord GOD has given me
        the tongue of those who are taught,
      that I may know how to sustain with a word
        him who is weary.
      Morning by morning he awakens;
        he awakens my ear
        to hear as those who are taught.
    5   The Lord GOD has opened my ear,
        and I was not rebellious;
        I turned not backward.
    6   I gave my back to those who strike,
        and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard;
      I hid not my face
        from disgrace and spitting.
    7   But the Lord GOD helps me;
        therefore I have not been disgraced;
      therefore I have set my face like a flint,
        and I know that I shall not be put to shame.
    8     He who vindicates me is near.
      Who will contend with me?
        Let us stand up together.
      Who is my adversary?
        Let him come near to me.
    9   Behold, the Lord GOD helps me;
        who will declare me guilty?
      Behold, all of them will wear out like a garment;
        the moth will eat them up.
    10   Who among you fears the LORD
        and obeys the voice of his servant?
      Let him who walks in darkness
        and has no light
      trust in the name of the LORD
        and rely on his God.
    11   Behold, all you who kindle a fire,
        who equip yourselves with burning torches!
      Walk by the light of your fire,
        and by the torches that you have kindled!
      This you have from my hand:
        you shall lie down in torment.

    (ESV)

    Gospels and Epistles:
    Revelation 10
    Revelation 10 (Listen)
    The Angel and the Little Scroll

    10 Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven, wrapped in a cloud, with a rainbow over his head, and his face was like the sun, and his legs like pillars of fire. 2 He had a little scroll open in his hand. And he set his right foot on the sea, and his left foot on the land, 3 and called out with a loud voice, like a lion roaring. When he called out, the seven thunders sounded. 4 And when the seven thunders had sounded, I was about to write, but I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Seal up what the seven thunders have said, and do not write it down.” 5 And the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven 6 and swore by him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and what is in it, the earth and what is in it, and the sea and what is in it, that there would be no more delay, 7 but that in the days of the trumpet call to be sounded by the seventh angel, the mystery of God would be fulfilled, just as he announced to his servants the prophets.

    8 Then the voice that I had heard from heaven spoke to me again, saying, “Go, take the scroll that is open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.” 9 So I went to the angel and told him to give me the little scroll. And he said to me, “Take and eat it; it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey.” 10 And I took the little scroll from the hand of the angel and ate it. It was sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it my stomach was made bitter. 11 And I was told, “You must again prophesy about many peoples and nations and languages and kings.”

    (ESV)

    10 min
  • December 18: Psalm 138; Job 27; Isaiah 48–49; Revelation 8:6–9:21
    Psalms and Wisdom:
    Psalm 138
    Psalm 138 (Listen)
    Give Thanks to the Lord
    Of David.

    138   I give you thanks, O LORD, with my whole heart;
        before the gods I sing your praise;
    2   I bow down toward your holy temple
        and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness,
        for you have exalted above all things
        your name and your word.Or you have exalted your word above all your name">1
    3   On the day I called, you answered me;
        my strength of soul you increased.Hebrew you made me bold in my soul with strength">2
    4   All the kings of the earth shall give you thanks, O LORD,
        for they have heard the words of your mouth,
    5   and they shall sing of the ways of the LORD,
        for great is the glory of the LORD.
    6   For though the LORD is high, he regards the lowly,
        but the haughty he knows from afar.
    7   Though I walk in the midst of trouble,
        you preserve my life;
      you stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies,
        and your right hand delivers me.
    8   The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me;
        your steadfast love, O LORD, endures forever.
        Do not forsake the work of your hands.

    Footnotes

    [1] 138:2 Or you have exalted your word above all your name


    [2] 138:3 Hebrew you made me bold in my soul with strength

    (ESV)

    Pentateuch and History:
    Job 27
    Job 27 (Listen)
    Job Continues: I Will Maintain My Integrity

    27 And Job again took up his discourse, and said:

    2   “As God lives, who has taken away my right,
        and the Almighty, who has made my soul bitter,
    3   as long as my breath is in me,
        and the spirit of God is in my nostrils,
    4   my lips will not speak falsehood,
        and my tongue will not utter deceit.
    5   Far be it from me to say that you are right;
        till I die I will not put away my integrity from me.
    6   I hold fast my righteousness and will not let it go;
        my heart does not reproach me for any of my days.
    7   “Let my enemy be as the wicked,
        and let him who rises up against me be as the unrighteous.
    8   For what is the hope of the godless when God cuts him off,
        when God takes away his life?
    9   Will God hear his cry
        when distress comes upon him?
    10   Will he take delight in the Almighty?
        Will he call upon God at all times?
    11   I will teach you concerning the hand of God;
        what is with the Almighty I will not conceal.
    12   Behold, all of you have seen it yourselves;
        why then have you become altogether vain?
    13   “This is the portion of a wicked man with God,
        and the heritage that oppressors receive from the Almighty:
    14   If his children are multiplied, it is for the sword,
        and his descendants have not enough bread.
    15   Those who survive him the pestilence buries,
        and his widows do not weep.
    16   Though he heap up silver like dust,
        and pile up clothing like clay,
    17   he may pile it up, but the righteous will wear it,
        and the innocent will divide the silver.
    18   He builds his house like a moth's,
        like a booth that a watchman makes.
    19   He goes to bed rich, but will do so no more;
        he opens his eyes, and his wealth is gone.
    20   Terrors overtake him like a flood;
        in the night a whirlwind carries him off.
    21   The east wind lifts him up and he is gone;
        it sweeps him out of his place.
    22   ItOr He (that is, God); also verse 23">1 hurls at him without pity;
        he flees from itsOr his; also verse 23">2 power in headlong flight.
    23   It claps its hands at him
        and hisses at him from its place.

    Footnotes

    [1] 27:22 Or He (that is, God); also verse 23


    [2] 27:22 Or his; also verse 23

    (ESV)

    Chronicles and Prophets:
    Isaiah 48–49
    Isaiah 48–49 (Listen)
    Israel Refined for God's Glory

    48   Hear this, O house of Jacob,
        who are called by the name of Israel,
        and who came from the waters of Judah,
      who swear by the name of the LORD
        and confess the God of Israel,
        but not in truth or right.
    2   For they call themselves after the holy city,
        and stay themselves on the God of Israel;
        the LORD of hosts is his name.
    3   “The former things I declared of old;
        they went out from my mouth, and I announced them;
        then suddenly I did them, and they came to pass.
    4   Because I know that you are obstinate,
        and your neck is an iron sinew
        and your forehead brass,
    5   I declared them to you from of old,
        before they came to pass I announced them to you,
      lest you should say, ‘My idol did them,
        my carved image and my metal image commanded them.’
    6   “You have heard; now see all this;
        and will you not declare it?
      From this time forth I announce to you new things,
        hidden things that you have not known.
    7   They are created now, not long ago;
        before today you have never heard of them,
        lest you should say, ‘Behold, I knew them.’
    8   You have never heard, you have never known,
        from of old your ear has not been opened.
      For I knew that you would surely deal treacherously,
        and that from before birth you were called a rebel.
    9   “For my name's sake I defer my anger;
        for the sake of my praise I restrain it for you,
        that I may not cut you off.
    10   Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver;
        I have triedOr I have chosen">1 you in the furnace of affliction.
    11   For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it,
        for how should my nameHebrew lacks my name">2 be profaned?
        My glory I will not give to another.

    The Lord's Call to Israel

    12   “Listen to me, O Jacob,
        and Israel, whom I called!
      I am he; I am the first,
        and I am the last.
    13   My hand laid the foundation of the earth,
        and my right hand spread out the heavens;
      when I call to them,
        they stand forth together.
    14   “Assemble, all of you, and listen!
        Who among them has declared these things?
      The LORD loves him;
        he shall perform his purpose on Babylon,
        and his arm shall be against the Chaldeans.
    15   I, even I, have spoken and called him;
        I have brought him, and he will prosper in his way.
    16   Draw near to me, hear this:
        from the beginning I have not spoken in secret,
        from the time it came to be I have been there.”
      And now the Lord GOD has sent me, and his Spirit.
    17   Thus says the LORD,
        your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:
      “I am the LORD your God,
        who teaches you to profit,
        who leads you in the way you should go.
    18   Oh that you had paid attention to my commandments!
        Then your peace would have been like a river,
        and your righteousness like the waves of the sea;
    19   your offspring would have been like the sand,
        and your descendants like its grains;
      their name would never be cut off
        or destroyed from before me.”
    20   Go out from Babylon, flee from Chaldea,
        declare this with a shout of joy, proclaim it,
      send it out to the end of the earth;
        say, “The LORD has redeemed his servant Jacob!”
    21   They did not thirst when he led them through the deserts;
        he made water flow for them from the rock;
        he split the rock and the water gushed out.
    22   “There is no peace,” says the LORD, “for the wicked.”

    The Servant of the Lord

    49   Listen to me, O coastlands,
        and give attention, you peoples from afar.
      The LORD called me from the womb,
        from the body of my mother he named my name.
    2   He made my mouth like a sharp sword;
        in the shadow of his hand he hid me;
      he made me a polished arrow;
        in his quiver he hid me away.
    3   And he said to me, “You are my servant,
        Israel, in whom I will be glorified.”Or I will display my beauty">3
    4   But I said, “I have labored in vain;
        I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity;
      yet surely my right is with the LORD,
        and my recompense with my God.”
    5   And now the LORD says,
        he who formed me from the womb to be his servant,
      to bring Jacob back to him;
        and that Israel might be gathered to him—
      for I am honored in the eyes of the LORD,
        and my God has become my strength—
    6   he says:
      “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant
        to raise up the tribes of Jacob
        and to bring back the preserved of Israel;
      I will make you as a light for the nations,
        that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”
    7   Thus says the LORD,
        the Redeemer of Israel and his Holy One,
      to one deeply despised, abhorred by the nation,
        the servant of rulers:
      “Kings shall see and arise;
        princes, and they shall prostrate themselves;
      because of the LORD, who is faithful,
        the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.”

    The Restoration of Israel

    8   Thus says the LORD:
      “In a time of favor I have answered you;
        in a day of salvation I have helped you;
      I will keep you and give you
        as a covenant to the people,
      to establish the land,
        to apportion the desolate heritages,
    9   saying to the prisoners, ‘Come out,’
        to those who are in darkness, ‘Appear.’
      They shall feed along the ways;
        on all bare heights shall be their pasture;
    10   they shall not hunger or thirst,
        neither scorching wind nor sun shall strike them,
      for he who has pity on them will lead them,
        and by springs of water will guide them.
    11   And I will make all my mountains a road,
        and my highways shall be raised up.
    12   Behold, these shall come from afar,
        and behold, these from the north and from the west,Hebrew from the sea">4
        and these from the land of Syene.”Dead Sea Scroll; Masoretic Text Sinim">5
    13   Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth;
        break forth, O mountains, into singing!
      For the LORD has comforted his people
        and will have compassion on his afflicted.
    14   But Zion said, “The LORD has forsaken me;
        my Lord has forgotten me.”
    15   “Can a woman forget her nursing child,
        that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb?
      Even these may forget,
        yet I will not forget you.
    16   Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands;
        your walls are continually before me.
    17   Your builders make haste;Dead Sea Scroll; Masoretic Text Your children make haste">6
        your destroyers and those who laid you waste go out from you.
    18   Lift up your eyes around and see;
        they all gather, they come to you.
      As I live, declares the LORD,
        you shall put them all on as an ornament;
        you shall bind them on as a bride does.
    19   “Surely your waste and your desolate places
        and your devastated land—
      surely now you will be too narrow for your inhabitants,
        and those who swallowed you up will be far away.
    20   The children of your bereavement
        will yet say in your ears:
      ‘The place is too narrow for me;
        make room for me to dwell in.’
    21   Then you will say in your heart:
        ‘Who has borne me these?
      I was bereaved and barren,
        exiled and put away,
        but who has brought up these?
      Behold, I was left alone;
        from where have these come?’”
    22   Thus says the Lord GOD:
      “Behold, I will lift up my hand to the nations,
        and raise my signal to the peoples;
      and they shall bring your sons in their arms,Hebrew in their bosom">7
        and your daughters shall be carried on their shoulders.
    23   Kings shall be your foster fathers,
        and their queens your nursing mothers.
      With their faces to the ground they shall bow down to you,
        and lick the dust of your feet.
      Then you will know that I am the LORD;
        those who wait for me shall not be put to shame.”
    24   Can the prey be taken from the mighty,
        or the captives of a tyrantDead Sea Scroll, Syriac, Vulgate (see also verse 25); Masoretic Text of a righteous man">8 be rescued?
    25   For thus says the LORD:
      “Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken,
        and the prey of the tyrant be rescued,
      for I will contend with those who contend with you,
        and I will save your children.
    26   I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh,
        and they shall be drunk with their own blood as with wine.
      Then all flesh shall know
        that I am the LORD your Savior,
        and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.”

    Footnotes

    [1] 48:10 Or I have chosen


    [2] 48:11 Hebrew lacks my name

    [3] 49:3 Or I will display my beauty

    [4] 49:12 Hebrew from the sea

    [5] 49:12 Dead Sea Scroll; Masoretic Text Sinim

    [6] 49:17 Dead Sea Scroll; Masoretic Text Your children make haste

    [7] 49:22 Hebrew in their bosom

    [8] 49:24 Dead Sea Scroll, Syriac, Vulgate (see also verse 25); Masoretic Text of a righteous man

    (ESV)

    Gospels and Epistles:
    Revelation 8:6–9:21
    Revelation 8:6–9:21 (Listen)
    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">1 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!”

    9 And the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star fallen from heaven to earth, and he was given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit.Greek the abyss; also verses 2, 11">2 2 He opened the shaft of the bottomless pit, and from the shaft rose smoke like the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun and the air were darkened with the smoke from the shaft. 3 Then from the smoke came locusts on the earth, and they were given power like the power of scorpions of the earth. 4 They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any green plant or any tree, but only those people who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. 5 They were allowed to torment them for five months, but not to kill them, and their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it stings someone. 6 And in those days people will seek death and will not find it. They will long to die, but death will flee from them.

    7 In appearance the locusts were like horses prepared for battle: on their heads were what looked like crowns of gold; their faces were like human faces, 8 their hair like women's hair, and their teeth like lions' teeth; 9 they had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the noise of their wings was like the noise of many chariots with horses rushing into battle. 10 They have tails and stings like scorpions, and their power to hurt people for five months is in their tails. 11 They have as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit. His name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek he is called Apollyon.Abaddon means destruction; Apollyon means destroyer">3

    12 The first woe has passed; behold, two woes are still to come.

    13 Then the sixth angel blew his trumpet, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar before God, 14 saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.” 15 So the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour, the day, the month, and the year, were released to kill a third of mankind. 16 The number of mounted troops was twice ten thousand times ten thousand; I heard their number. 17 And this is how I saw the horses in my vision and those who rode them: they wore breastplates the color of fire and of sapphireGreek hyacinth">4 and of sulfur, and the heads of the horses were like lions' heads, and fire and smoke and sulfur came out of their mouths. 18 By these three plagues a third of mankind was killed, by the fire and smoke and sulfur coming out of their mouths. 19 For the power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails, for their tails are like serpents with heads, and by means of them they wound.

    20 The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands nor give up worshiping demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk, 21 nor did they repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.

    Footnotes

    [1] 8:11 Wormwood is the name of a plant and of the bitter-tasting extract derived from it


    [2] 9:1 Greek the abyss; also verses 2, 11

    [3] 9:11 Abaddon means destruction; Apollyon means destroyer

    [4] 9:17 Greek hyacinth

    (ESV)

    17 min

About ESV: Digging Deep into the Bible

From the publisher's feed

Understand the Bible in a Deeper Way