ESV: Digging Deep into the Bible

ESV: Digging Deep into the Bible

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ESV: Digging Deep into the Bible episodes

  • 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
  • December 17: Psalm 137; Job 25–26; Isaiah 46–47; Revelation 7–8:5
    Psalms and Wisdom:
    Psalm 137
    Psalm 137 (Listen)
    How Shall We Sing the Lord’s Song?

    137   By the waters of Babylon,
        there we sat down and wept,
        when we remembered Zion.
    2   On the willowsOr poplars">1 there
        we hung up our lyres.
    3   For there our captors
        required of us songs,
      and our tormentors, mirth, saying,
        “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”
    4   How shall we sing the LORD’s song
        in a foreign land?
    5   If I forget you, O Jerusalem,
        let my right hand forget its skill!
    6   Let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth,
        if I do not remember you,
      if I do not set Jerusalem
        above my highest joy!
    7   Remember, O LORD, against the Edomites
        the day of Jerusalem,
      how they said, “Lay it bare, lay it bare,
        down to its foundations!”
    8   O daughter of Babylon, doomed to be destroyed,
        blessed shall he be who repays you
        with what you have done to us!
    9   Blessed shall he be who takes your little ones
        and dashes them against the rock!

    Footnotes

    [1] 137:2 Or poplars

    (ESV)

    Pentateuch and History:
    Job 25–26
    Job 25–26 (Listen)
    Bildad Speaks: Man Cannot Be Righteous

    25 Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said:

    2   “Dominion and fear are with God;Hebrew him">1
        he makes peace in his high heaven.
    3   Is there any number to his armies?
        Upon whom does his light not arise?
    4   How then can man be in the right before God?
        How can he who is born of woman be pure?
    5   Behold, even the moon is not bright,
        and the stars are not pure in his eyes;
    6   how much less man, who is a maggot,
        and the son of man, who is a worm!”

    Job Replies: God’s Majesty Is Unsearchable

    26 Then Job answered and said:

    2   “How you have helped him who has no power!
        How you have saved the arm that has no strength!
    3   How you have counseled him who has no wisdom,
        and plentifully declared sound knowledge!
    4   With whose help have you uttered words,
        and whose breath has come out from you?
    5   The dead tremble
        under the waters and their inhabitants.
    6   Sheol is naked before God,Hebrew him">2
        and Abaddon has no covering.
    7   He stretches out the north over the void
        and hangs the earth on nothing.
    8   He binds up the waters in his thick clouds,
        and the cloud is not split open under them.
    9   He covers the face of the full moonOr his throne">3
        and spreads over it his cloud.
    10   He has inscribed a circle on the face of the waters
        at the boundary between light and darkness.
    11   The pillars of heaven tremble
        and are astounded at his rebuke.
    12   By his power he stilled the sea;
        by his understanding he shattered Rahab.
    13   By his wind the heavens were made fair;
        his hand pierced the fleeing serpent.
    14   Behold, these are but the outskirts of his ways,
        and how small a whisper do we hear of him!
        But the thunder of his power who can understand?”

    Footnotes

    [1] 25:2 Hebrew him


    [2] 26:6 Hebrew him

    [3] 26:9 Or his throne

    (ESV)

    Chronicles and Prophets:
    Isaiah 46–47
    Isaiah 46–47 (Listen)
    The Idols of Babylon and the One True God

    46   Bel bows down; Nebo stoops;
        their idols are on beasts and livestock;
      these things you carry are borne
        as burdens on weary beasts.
    2   They stoop; they bow down together;
        they cannot save the burden,
        but themselves go into captivity.
    3   “Listen to me, O house of Jacob,
        all the remnant of the house of Israel,
      who have been borne by me from before your birth,
        carried from the womb;
    4   even to your old age I am he,
        and to gray hairs I will carry you.
      I have made, and I will bear;
        I will carry and will save.
    5   “To whom will you liken me and make me equal,
        and compare me, that we may be alike?
    6   Those who lavish gold from the purse,
        and weigh out silver in the scales,
      hire a goldsmith, and he makes it into a god;
        then they fall down and worship!
    7   They lift it to their shoulders, they carry it,
        they set it in its place, and it stands there;
        it cannot move from its place.
      If one cries to it, it does not answer
        or save him from his trouble.
    8   “Remember this and stand firm,
        recall it to mind, you transgressors,
    9     remember the former things of old;
      for I am God, and there is no other;
        I am God, and there is none like me,
    10   declaring the end from the beginning
        and from ancient times things not yet done,
      saying, ‘My counsel shall stand,
        and I will accomplish all my purpose,’
    11   calling a bird of prey from the east,
        the man of my counsel from a far country.
      I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass;
        I have purposed, and I will do it.
    12   “Listen to me, you stubborn of heart,
        you who are far from righteousness:
    13   I bring near my righteousness; it is not far off,
        and my salvation will not delay;
      I will put salvation in Zion,
        for Israel my glory.”

    The Humiliation of Babylon

    47   Come down and sit in the dust,
        O virgin daughter of Babylon;
      sit on the ground without a throne,
        O daughter of the Chaldeans!
      For you shall no more be called
        tender and delicate.
    2   Take the millstones and grind flour,
        put off your veil,
      strip off your robe, uncover your legs,
        pass through the rivers.
    3   Your nakedness shall be uncovered,
        and your disgrace shall be seen.
      I will take vengeance,
        and I will spare no one.
    4   Our Redeemer—the LORD of hosts is his name—
        is the Holy One of Israel.
    5   Sit in silence, and go into darkness,
        O daughter of the Chaldeans;
      for you shall no more be called
        the mistress of kingdoms.
    6   I was angry with my people;
        I profaned my heritage;
      I gave them into your hand;
        you showed them no mercy;
      on the aged you made your yoke exceedingly heavy.
    7   You said, “I shall be mistress forever,”
        so that you did not lay these things to heart
        or remember their end.
    8   Now therefore hear this, you lover of pleasures,
        who sit securely,
      who say in your heart,
        “I am, and there is no one besides me;
      I shall not sit as a widow
        or know the loss of children”:
    9   These two things shall come to you
        in a moment, in one day;
      the loss of children and widowhood
        shall come upon you in full measure,
      in spite of your many sorceries
        and the great power of your enchantments.
    10   You felt secure in your wickedness;
        you said, “No one sees me”;
      your wisdom and your knowledge led you astray,
      and you said in your heart,
        “I am, and there is no one besides me.”
    11   But evil shall come upon you,
        which you will not know how to charm away;
      disaster shall fall upon you,
        for which you will not be able to atone;
      and ruin shall come upon you suddenly,
        of which you know nothing.
    12   Stand fast in your enchantments
        and your many sorceries,
        with which you have labored from your youth;
      perhaps you may be able to succeed;
        perhaps you may inspire terror.
    13   You are wearied with your many counsels;
        let them stand forth and save you,
      those who divide the heavens,
        who gaze at the stars,
      who at the new moons make known
        what shall come upon you.
    14   Behold, they are like stubble;
        the fire consumes them;
      they cannot deliver themselves
        from the power of the flame.
      No coal for warming oneself is this,
        no fire to sit before!
    15   Such to you are those with whom you have labored,
        who have done business with you from your youth;
      they wander about, each in his own direction;
        there is no one to save you.

    (ESV)

    Gospels and Epistles:
    Revelation 7–8:5
    Revelation 7–8:5 (Listen)
    The 144,000 of Israel Sealed

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

    5   12,000 from the tribe of Judah were sealed,
      12,000 from the tribe of Reuben,
      12,000 from the tribe of Gad,
    6   12,000 from the tribe of Asher,
      12,000 from the tribe of Naphtali,
      12,000 from the tribe of Manasseh,
    7   12,000 from the tribe of Simeon,
      12,000 from the tribe of Levi,
      12,000 from the tribe of Issachar,
    8   12,000 from the tribe of Zebulun,
      12,000 from the tribe of Joseph,
      12,000 from the tribe of Benjamin were sealed.

    A Great Multitude from Every Nation

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

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

    15   “Therefore they are before the throne of God,
        and serve him day and night in his temple;
        and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence.
    16   They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore;
        the sun shall not strike them,
        nor any scorching heat.
    17   For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd,
        and he will guide them to springs of living water,
      and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

    The Seventh Seal and the Golden Censer

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

    Footnotes

    [1] 8:5 Or voices, or sounds

    (ESV)

    12 min
  • December 16: Psalm 136; Job 23–24; Isaiah 45; Revelation 6
    Psalms and Wisdom:
    Psalm 136
    Psalm 136 (Listen)
    His Steadfast Love Endures Forever

    136   Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good,
        for his steadfast love endures forever.
    2   Give thanks to the God of gods,
        for his steadfast love endures forever.
    3   Give thanks to the Lord of lords,
        for his steadfast love endures forever;
    4   to him who alone does great wonders,
        for his steadfast love endures forever;
    5   to him who by understanding made the heavens,
        for his steadfast love endures forever;
    6   to him who spread out the earth above the waters,
        for his steadfast love endures forever;
    7   to him who made the great lights,
        for his steadfast love endures forever;
    8   the sun to rule over the day,
        for his steadfast love endures forever;
    9   the moon and stars to rule over the night,
        for his steadfast love endures forever;
    10   to him who struck down the firstborn of Egypt,
        for his steadfast love endures forever;
    11   and brought Israel out from among them,
        for his steadfast love endures forever;
    12   with a strong hand and an outstretched arm,
        for his steadfast love endures forever;
    13   to him who divided the Red Sea in two,
        for his steadfast love endures forever;
    14   and made Israel pass through the midst of it,
        for his steadfast love endures forever;
    15   but overthrewHebrew shook off">1 Pharaoh and his host in the Red Sea,
        for his steadfast love endures forever;
    16   to him who led his people through the wilderness,
        for his steadfast love endures forever;
    17   to him who struck down great kings,
        for his steadfast love endures forever;
    18   and killed mighty kings,
        for his steadfast love endures forever;
    19   Sihon, king of the Amorites,
        for his steadfast love endures forever;
    20   and Og, king of Bashan,
        for his steadfast love endures forever;
    21   and gave their land as a heritage,
        for his steadfast love endures forever;
    22   a heritage to Israel his servant,
        for his steadfast love endures forever.
    23   It is he who remembered us in our low estate,
        for his steadfast love endures forever;
    24   and rescued us from our foes,
        for his steadfast love endures forever;
    25   he who gives food to all flesh,
        for his steadfast love endures forever.
    26   Give thanks to the God of heaven,
        for his steadfast love endures forever.

    Footnotes

    [1] 136:15 Hebrew shook off

    (ESV)

    Pentateuch and History:
    Job 23–24
    Job 23–24 (Listen)
    Job Replies: Where Is God?

    23 Then Job answered and said:

    2   “Today also my complaint is bitter;Or defiant">1
        my hand is heavy on account of my groaning.
    3   Oh, that I knew where I might find him,
        that I might come even to his seat!
    4   I would lay my case before him
        and fill my mouth with arguments.
    5   I would know what he would answer me
        and understand what he would say to me.
    6   Would he contend with me in the greatness of his power?
        No; he would pay attention to me.
    7   There an upright man could argue with him,
        and I would be acquitted forever by my judge.
    8   “Behold, I go forward, but he is not there,
        and backward, but I do not perceive him;
    9   on the left hand when he is working, I do not behold him;
        he turns to the right hand, but I do not see him.
    10   But he knows the way that I take;
        when he has tried me, I shall come out as gold.
    11   My foot has held fast to his steps;
        I have kept his way and have not turned aside.
    12   I have not departed from the commandment of his lips;
        I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my portion of food.
    13   But he is unchangeable,Or one">2 and who can turn him back?
        What he desires, that he does.
    14   For he will complete what he appoints for me,
        and many such things are in his mind.
    15   Therefore I am terrified at his presence;
        when I consider, I am in dread of him.
    16   God has made my heart faint;
        the Almighty has terrified me;
    17   yet I am not silenced because of the darkness,
        nor because thick darkness covers my face.
    24   “Why are not times of judgment kept by the Almighty,
        and why do those who know him never see his days?
    2   Some move landmarks;
        they seize flocks and pasture them.
    3   They drive away the donkey of the fatherless;
        they take the widow’s ox for a pledge.
    4   They thrust the poor off the road;
        the poor of the earth all hide themselves.
    5   Behold, like wild donkeys in the desert
        the poorHebrew they">3 go out to their toil, seeking game;
        the wasteland yields food for their children.
    6   They gather theirHebrew his">4 fodder in the field,
        and they glean the vineyard of the wicked man.
    7   They lie all night naked, without clothing,
        and have no covering in the cold.
    8   They are wet with the rain of the mountains
        and cling to the rock for lack of shelter.
    9   (There are those who snatch the fatherless child from the breast,
        and they take a pledge against the poor.)
    10   They go about naked, without clothing;
        hungry, they carry the sheaves;
    11   among the olive rows of the wickedHebrew their olive rows">5 they make oil;
        they tread the winepresses, but suffer thirst.
    12   From out of the city the dyingOr the men">6 groan,
        and the soul of the wounded cries for help;
        yet God charges no one with wrong.
    13   “There are those who rebel against the light,
        who are not acquainted with its ways,
        and do not stay in its paths.
    14   The murderer rises before it is light,
        that he may kill the poor and needy,
        and in the night he is like a thief.
    15   The eye of the adulterer also waits for the twilight,
        saying, ‘No eye will see me’;
        and he veils his face.
    16   In the dark they dig through houses;
        by day they shut themselves up;
        they do not know the light.
    17   For deep darkness is morning to all of them;
        for they are friends with the terrors of deep darkness.
    18   “You say, ‘Swift are they on the face of the waters;
        their portion is cursed in the land;
        no treader turns toward their vineyards.
    19   Drought and heat snatch away the snow waters;
        so does Sheol those who have sinned.
    20   The womb forgets them;
        the worm finds them sweet;
      they are no longer remembered,
        so wickedness is broken like a tree.’
    21   “They wrong the barren, childless woman,
        and do no good to the widow.
    22   Yet GodHebrew he">7 prolongs the life of the mighty by his power;
        they rise up when they despair of life.
    23   He gives them security, and they are supported,
        and his eyes are upon their ways.
    24   They are exalted a little while, and then are gone;
        they are brought low and gathered up like all others;
        they are cut off like the heads of grain.
    25   If it is not so, who will prove me a liar
        and show that there is nothing in what I say?”

    Footnotes

    [1] 23:2 Or defiant


    [2] 23:13 Or one

    [3] 24:5 Hebrew they

    [4] 24:6 Hebrew his

    [5] 24:11 Hebrew their olive rows

    [6] 24:12 Or the men

    [7] 24:22 Hebrew he

    (ESV)

    Chronicles and Prophets:
    Isaiah 45
    Isaiah 45 (Listen)
    Cyrus, God’s Instrument

    45   Thus says the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus,
        whose right hand I have grasped,
      to subdue nations before him
        and to loose the belts of kings,
      to open doors before him
        that gates may not be closed:
    2   “I will go before you
        and level the exalted places,Masoretic Text; Dead Sea Scroll, Septuagint level the mountains">1
      I will break in pieces the doors of bronze
        and cut through the bars of iron,
    3   I will give you the treasures of darkness
        and the hoards in secret places,
      that you may know that it is I, the LORD,
        the God of Israel, who call you by your name.
    4   For the sake of my servant Jacob,
        and Israel my chosen,
      I call you by your name,
        I name you, though you do not know me.
    5   I am the LORD, and there is no other,
        besides me there is no God;
        I equip you, though you do not know me,
    6   that people may know, from the rising of the sun
        and from the west, that there is none besides me;
        I am the LORD, and there is no other.
    7   I form light and create darkness;
        I make well-being and create calamity;
        I am the LORD, who does all these things.
    8   “Shower, O heavens, from above,
        and let the clouds rain down righteousness;
      let the earth open, that salvation and righteousness may bear fruit;
        let the earth cause them both to sprout;
        I the LORD have created it.
    9   “Woe to him who strives with him who formed him,
        a pot among earthen pots!
      Does the clay say to him who forms it, ‘What are you making?’
        or ‘Your work has no handles’?
    10   Woe to him who says to a father, ‘What are you begetting?’
        or to a woman, ‘With what are you in labor?’”
    11   Thus says the LORD,
        the Holy One of Israel, and the one who formed him:
      “Ask me of things to come;
        will you command me concerning my children and the work of my hands?A slight emendation yields will you question me about my children, or command me concerning the work of my hands?">2
    12   I made the earth
        and created man on it;
      it was my hands that stretched out the heavens,
        and I commanded all their host.
    13   I have stirred him up in righteousness,
        and I will make all his ways level;
      he shall build my city
        and set my exiles free,
      not for price or reward,”
        says the LORD of hosts.

    The Lord, the Only Savior

    14   Thus says the LORD:
      “The wealth of Egypt and the merchandise of Cush,
        and the Sabeans, men of stature,
      shall come over to you and be yours;
        they shall follow you;
        they shall come over in chains and bow down to you.
      They will plead with you, saying:
        ‘Surely God is in you, and there is no other,
        no god besides him.’”
    15   Truly, you are a God who hides himself,
        O God of Israel, the Savior.
    16   All of them are put to shame and confounded;
        the makers of idols go in confusion together.
    17   But Israel is saved by the LORD
        with everlasting salvation;
      you shall not be put to shame or confounded
        to all eternity.
    18   For thus says the LORD,
      who created the heavens
        (he is God!),
      who formed the earth and made it
        (he established it;
      he did not create it empty,
        he formed it to be inhabited!):
      “I am the LORD, and there is no other.
    19   I did not speak in secret,
        in a land of darkness;
      I did not say to the offspring of Jacob,
        ‘Seek me in vain.’Hebrew in emptiness">3
      I the LORD speak the truth;
        I declare what is right.
    20   “Assemble yourselves and come;
        draw near together,
        you survivors of the nations!
      They have no knowledge
        who carry about their wooden idols,
      and keep on praying to a god
        that cannot save.
    21   Declare and present your case;
        let them take counsel together!
      Who told this long ago?
        Who declared it of old?
      Was it not I, the LORD?
        And there is no other god besides me,
      a righteous God and a Savior;
        there is none besides me.
    22   “Turn to me and be saved,
        all the ends of the earth!
        For I am God, and there is no other.
    23   By myself I have sworn;
        from my mouth has gone out in righteousness
        a word that shall not return:
      ‘To me every knee shall bow,
        every tongue shall swear allegiance.’Septuagint every tongue shall confess to God">4
    24   “Only in the LORD, it shall be said of me,
        are righteousness and strength;
      to him shall come and be ashamed
        all who were incensed against him.
    25   In the LORD all the offspring of Israel
        shall be justified and shall glory.”

    Footnotes

    [1] 45:2 Masoretic Text; Dead Sea Scroll, Septuagint level the mountains


    [2] 45:11 A slight emendation yields will you question me about my children, or command me concerning the work of my hands?

    [3] 45:19 Hebrew in emptiness

    [4] 45:23 Septuagint every tongue shall confess to God

    (ESV)

    Gospels and Epistles:
    Revelation 6
    Revelation 6 (Listen)
    The Seven Seals

    6 Now I watched when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures say with a voice like thunder, “Come!” 2 And I looked, and behold, a white horse! And its rider had a bow, and a crown was given to him, and he came out conquering, and to conquer.

    3 When he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” 4 And out came another horse, bright red. Its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that people should slay one another, and he was given a great sword.

    5 When he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come!” And I looked, and behold, a black horse! And its rider had a pair of scales in his hand. 6 And I heard what seemed to be a voice in the midst of the four living creatures, saying, “A quartGreek choinix, a dry measure equal to about a quart">1 of wheat for a denarius,A denarius was a day’s wage for a laborer">2 and three quarts of barley for a denarius, and do not harm the oil and wine!”

    7 When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come!” 8 And I looked, and behold, a pale horse! And its rider’s name was Death, and Hades followed him. And they were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by wild beasts of the earth.

    9 When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne. 10 They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” 11 Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothersOr brothers and sisters. In New Testament usage, depending on the context, the plural Greek word adelphoi (translated “brothers”) may refer either to brothers or to brothers and sisters">3 should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been.

    12 When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood, 13 and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale. 14 The sky vanished like a scroll that is being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place. 15 Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slaveFor the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos, see Preface">4 and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, 16 calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, 17 for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?”

    Footnotes

    [1] 6:6 Greek choinix, a dry measure equal to about a quart


    [2] 6:6 A denarius was a day’s wage for a laborer

    [3] 6:11 Or brothers and sisters. In New Testament usage, depending on the context, the plural Greek word adelphoi (translated “brothers”) may refer either to brothers or to brothers and sisters

    [4] 6:15 For the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos, see Preface

    (ESV)

    15 min
  • December 15: Psalm 135; Job 22; Isaiah 44:6–28; Revelation 5
    Psalms and Wisdom:
    Psalm 135
    Psalm 135 (Listen)
    Your Name, O Lord, Endures Forever

    135   Praise the LORD!
      Praise the name of the LORD,
        give praise, O servants of the LORD,
    2   who stand in the house of the LORD,
        in the courts of the house of our God!
    3   Praise the LORD, for the LORD is good;
        sing to his name, for it is pleasant!Or for he is beautiful">1
    4   For the LORD has chosen Jacob for himself,
        Israel as his own possession.
    5   For I know that the LORD is great,
        and that our Lord is above all gods.
    6   Whatever the LORD pleases, he does,
        in heaven and on earth,
        in the seas and all deeps.
    7   He it is who makes the clouds rise at the end of the earth,
        who makes lightnings for the rain
        and brings forth the wind from his storehouses.
    8   He it was who struck down the firstborn of Egypt,
        both of man and of beast;
    9   who in your midst, O Egypt,
        sent signs and wonders
        against Pharaoh and all his servants;
    10   who struck down many nations
        and killed mighty kings,
    11   Sihon, king of the Amorites,
        and Og, king of Bashan,
        and all the kingdoms of Canaan,
    12   and gave their land as a heritage,
        a heritage to his people Israel.
    13   Your name, O LORD, endures forever,
        your renown,Or remembrance">2 O LORD, throughout all ages.
    14   For the LORD will vindicate his people
        and have compassion on his servants.
    15   The idols of the nations are silver and gold,
        the work of human hands.
    16   They have mouths, but do not speak;
        they have eyes, but do not see;
    17   they have ears, but do not hear,
        nor is there any breath in their mouths.
    18   Those who make them become like them,
        so do all who trust in them.
    19   O house of Israel, bless the LORD!
        O house of Aaron, bless the LORD!
    20   O house of Levi, bless the LORD!
        You who fear the LORD, bless the LORD!
    21   Blessed be the LORD from Zion,
        he who dwells in Jerusalem!
      Praise the LORD!

    Footnotes

    [1] 135:3 Or for he is beautiful


    [2] 135:13 Or remembrance

    (ESV)

    Pentateuch and History:
    Job 22
    Job 22 (Listen)
    Eliphaz Speaks: Job’s Wickedness Is Great

    22 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said:

    2   “Can a man be profitable to God?
        Surely he who is wise is profitable to himself.
    3   Is it any pleasure to the Almighty if you are in the right,
        or is it gain to him if you make your ways blameless?
    4   Is it for your fear of him that he reproves you
        and enters into judgment with you?
    5   Is not your evil abundant?
        There is no end to your iniquities.
    6   For you have exacted pledges of your brothers for nothing
        and stripped the naked of their clothing.
    7   You have given no water to the weary to drink,
        and you have withheld bread from the hungry.
    8   The man with power possessed the land,
        and the favored man lived in it.
    9   You have sent widows away empty,
        and the arms of the fatherless were crushed.
    10   Therefore snares are all around you,
        and sudden terror overwhelms you,
    11   or darkness, so that you cannot see,
        and a flood of water covers you.
    12   “Is not God high in the heavens?
        See the highest stars, how lofty they are!
    13   But you say, ‘What does God know?
        Can he judge through the deep darkness?
    14   Thick clouds veil him, so that he does not see,
        and he walks on the vault of heaven.’
    15   Will you keep to the old way
        that wicked men have trod?
    16   They were snatched away before their time;
        their foundation was washed away.Or their foundation was poured out as a stream (or river)">1
    17   They said to God, ‘Depart from us,’
        and ‘What can the Almighty do to us?’Hebrew them">2
    18   Yet he filled their houses with good things—
        but the counsel of the wicked is far from me.
    19   The righteous see it and are glad;
        the innocent one mocks at them,
    20   saying, ‘Surely our adversaries are cut off,
        and what they left the fire has consumed.’
    21   “Agree with God, and be at peace;
        thereby good will come to you.
    22   Receive instruction from his mouth,
        and lay up his words in your heart.
    23   If you return to the Almighty you will be built up;
        if you remove injustice far from your tents,
    24   if you lay gold in the dust,
        and gold of Ophir among the stones of the torrent-bed,
    25   then the Almighty will be your gold
        and your precious silver.
    26   For then you will delight yourself in the Almighty
        and lift up your face to God.
    27   You will make your prayer to him, and he will hear you,
        and you will pay your vows.
    28   You will decide on a matter, and it will be established for you,
        and light will shine on your ways.
    29   For when they are humbled you say, ‘It is because of pride’;Or you say, ‘It is exaltation’">3
        but he saves the lowly.
    30   He delivers even the one who is not innocent,
        who will be delivered through the cleanness of your hands.”

    Footnotes

    [1] 22:16 Or their foundation was poured out as a stream (or river)


    [2] 22:17 Hebrew them

    [3] 22:29 Or you say, ‘It is exaltation’

    (ESV)

    Chronicles and Prophets:
    Isaiah 44:6–28
    Isaiah 44:6–28 (Listen)
    Besides Me There Is No God

    6   Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel
        and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts:
      “I am the first and I am the last;
        besides me there is no god.
    7   Who is like me? Let him proclaim it.Or Who like me can proclaim it?">1
        Let him declare and set it before me,
      since I appointed an ancient people.
        Let them declare what is to come, and what will happen.
    8   Fear not, nor be afraid;
        have I not told you from of old and declared it?
        And you are my witnesses!
      Is there a God besides me?
        There is no Rock; I know not any.”

    The Folly of Idolatry

    9 All who fashion idols are nothing, and the things they delight in do not profit. Their witnesses neither see nor know, that they may be put to shame. 10 Who fashions a god or casts an idol that is profitable for nothing? 11 Behold, all his companions shall be put to shame, and the craftsmen are only human. Let them all assemble, let them stand forth. They shall be terrified; they shall be put to shame together.

    12 The ironsmith takes a cutting tool and works it over the coals. He fashions it with hammers and works it with his strong arm. He becomes hungry, and his strength fails; he drinks no water and is faint. 13 The carpenter stretches a line; he marks it out with a pencil.Hebrew stylus">2 He shapes it with planes and marks it with a compass. He shapes it into the figure of a man, with the beauty of a man, to dwell in a house. 14 He cuts down cedars, or he chooses a cypress tree or an oak and lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest. He plants a cedar and the rain nourishes it. 15 Then it becomes fuel for a man. He takes a part of it and warms himself; he kindles a fire and bakes bread. Also he makes a god and worships it; he makes it an idol and falls down before it. 16 Half of it he burns in the fire. Over the half he eats meat; he roasts it and is satisfied. Also he warms himself and says, “Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire!” 17 And the rest of it he makes into a god, his idol, and falls down to it and worships it. He prays to it and says, “Deliver me, for you are my god!”

    18 They know not, nor do they discern, for he has shut their eyes, so that they cannot see, and their hearts, so that they cannot understand. 19 No one considers, nor is there knowledge or discernment to say, “Half of it I burned in the fire; I also baked bread on its coals; I roasted meat and have eaten. And shall I make the rest of it an abomination? Shall I fall down before a block of wood?” 20 He feeds on ashes; a deluded heart has led him astray, and he cannot deliver himself or say, “Is there not a lie in my right hand?”

    The Lord Redeems Israel

    21   Remember these things, O Jacob,
        and Israel, for you are my servant;
      I formed you; you are my servant;
        O Israel, you will not be forgotten by me.
    22   I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud
        and your sins like mist;
      return to me, for I have redeemed you.
    23   Sing, O heavens, for the LORD has done it;
        shout, O depths of the earth;
      break forth into singing, O mountains,
        O forest, and every tree in it!
      For the LORD has redeemed Jacob,
        and will be glorifiedOr will display his beauty">3 in Israel.
    24   Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer,
        who formed you from the womb:
      “I am the LORD, who made all things,
        who alone stretched out the heavens,
        who spread out the earth by myself,
    25   who frustrates the signs of liars
        and makes fools of diviners,
      who turns wise men back
        and makes their knowledge foolish,
    26   who confirms the word of his servant
        and fulfills the counsel of his messengers,
      who says of Jerusalem, ‘She shall be inhabited,’
        and of the cities of Judah, ‘They shall be built,
        and I will raise up their ruins’;
    27   who says to the deep, ‘Be dry;
        I will dry up your rivers’;
    28   who says of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd,
        and he shall fulfill all my purpose’;
      saying of Jerusalem, ‘She shall be built,’
        and of the temple, ‘Your foundation shall be laid.’”

    Footnotes

    [1] 44:7 Or Who like me can proclaim it?


    [2] 44:13 Hebrew stylus

    [3] 44:23 Or will display his beauty

    (ESV)

    Gospels and Epistles:
    Revelation 5
    Revelation 5 (Listen)
    The Scroll and the Lamb

    5 Then I saw in the right hand of him who was seated on the throne a scroll written within and on the back, sealed with seven seals. 2 And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?” 3 And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it, 4 and I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it. 5 And one of the elders said to me, “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.”

    6 And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. 7 And he went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne. 8 And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. 9 And they sang a new song, saying,

      “Worthy are you to take the scroll
        and to open its seals,
      for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God
        from every tribe and language and people and nation,
    10   and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God,
        and they shall reign on the earth.”

    11 Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, 12 saying with a loud voice,

      “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain,
      to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might
      and honor and glory and blessing!”

    13 And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying,

      “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
      be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!”

    14 And the four living creatures said, “Amen!” and the elders fell down and worshiped.

    (ESV)

    12 min
  • December 14: Psalm 134; Job 21; Isaiah 43–44:5; Revelation 4
    Psalms and Wisdom:
    Psalm 134
    Psalm 134 (Listen)
    Come, Bless the Lord
    A Song of Ascents.

    134   Come, bless the LORD, all you servants of the LORD,
        who stand by night in the house of the LORD!
    2   Lift up your hands to the holy place
        and bless the LORD!
    3   May the LORD bless you from Zion,
        he who made heaven and earth!

    (ESV)

    Pentateuch and History:
    Job 21
    Job 21 (Listen)
    Job Replies: The Wicked Do Prosper

    21 Then Job answered and said:

    2   “Keep listening to my words,
        and let this be your comfort.
    3   Bear with me, and I will speak,
        and after I have spoken, mock on.
    4   As for me, is my complaint against man?
        Why should I not be impatient?
    5   Look at me and be appalled,
        and lay your hand over your mouth.
    6   When I remember, I am dismayed,
        and shuddering seizes my flesh.
    7   Why do the wicked live,
        reach old age, and grow mighty in power?
    8   Their offspring are established in their presence,
        and their descendants before their eyes.
    9   Their houses are safe from fear,
        and no rod of God is upon them.
    10   Their bull breeds without fail;
        their cow calves and does not miscarry.
    11   They send out their little boys like a flock,
        and their children dance.
    12   They sing to the tambourine and the lyre
        and rejoice to the sound of the pipe.
    13   They spend their days in prosperity,
        and in peace they go down to Sheol.
    14   They say to God, ‘Depart from us!
        We do not desire the knowledge of your ways.
    15   What is the Almighty, that we should serve him?
        And what profit do we get if we pray to him?’
    16   Behold, is not their prosperity in their hand?
        The counsel of the wicked is far from me.
    17   “How often is it that the lamp of the wicked is put out?
        That their calamity comes upon them?
        That GodHebrew he">1 distributes pains in his anger?
    18   That they are like straw before the wind,
        and like chaff that the storm carries away?
    19   You say, ‘God stores up their iniquity for their children.’
        Let him pay it out to them, that they may know it.
    20   Let their own eyes see their destruction,
        and let them drink of the wrath of the Almighty.
    21   For what do they care for their houses after them,
        when the number of their months is cut off?
    22   Will any teach God knowledge,
        seeing that he judges those who are on high?
    23   One dies in his full vigor,
        being wholly at ease and secure,
    24   his pailsThe meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain">2 full of milk
        and the marrow of his bones moist.
    25   Another dies in bitterness of soul,
        never having tasted of prosperity.
    26   They lie down alike in the dust,
        and the worms cover them.
    27   “Behold, I know your thoughts
        and your schemes to wrong me.
    28   For you say, ‘Where is the house of the prince?
        Where is the tent in which the wicked lived?’
    29   Have you not asked those who travel the roads,
        and do you not accept their testimony
    30   that the evil man is spared in the day of calamity,
        that he is rescued in the day of wrath?
    31   Who declares his way to his face,
        and who repays him for what he has done?
    32   When he is carried to the grave,
        watch is kept over his tomb.
    33   The clods of the valley are sweet to him;
        all mankind follows after him,
        and those who go before him are innumerable.
    34   How then will you comfort me with empty nothings?
        There is nothing left of your answers but falsehood.”

    Footnotes

    [1] 21:17 Hebrew he


    [2] 21:24 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain

    (ESV)

    Chronicles and Prophets:
    Isaiah 43–44:5
    Isaiah 43–44:5 (Listen)
    Israel’s Only Savior

    43   But now thus says the LORD,
      he who created you, O Jacob,
        he who formed you, O Israel:
      “Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
        I have called you by name, you are mine.
    2   When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
        and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;
      when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,
        and the flame shall not consume you.
    3   For I am the LORD your God,
        the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.
      I give Egypt as your ransom,
        Cush and Seba in exchange for you.
    4   Because you are precious in my eyes,
        and honored, and I love you,
      I give men in return for you,
        peoples in exchange for your life.
    5   Fear not, for I am with you;
        I will bring your offspring from the east,
        and from the west I will gather you.
    6   I will say to the north, Give up,
        and to the south, Do not withhold;
      bring my sons from afar
        and my daughters from the end of the earth,
    7   everyone who is called by my name,
        whom I created for my glory,
        whom I formed and made.”
    8   Bring out the people who are blind, yet have eyes,
        who are deaf, yet have ears!
    9   All the nations gather together,
        and the peoples assemble.
      Who among them can declare this,
        and show us the former things?
      Let them bring their witnesses to prove them right,
        and let them hear and say, It is true.
    10   “You are my witnesses,” declares the LORD,
        “and my servant whom I have chosen,
      that you may know and believe me
        and understand that I am he.
      Before me no god was formed,
        nor shall there be any after me.
    11   I, I am the LORD,
        and besides me there is no savior.
    12   I declared and saved and proclaimed,
        when there was no strange god among you;
        and you are my witnesses,” declares the LORD, “and I am God.
    13   Also henceforth I am he;
        there is none who can deliver from my hand;
        I work, and who can turn it back?”
    14   Thus says the LORD,
        your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:
      “For your sake I send to Babylon
        and bring them all down as fugitives,
        even the Chaldeans, in the ships in which they rejoice.
    15   I am the LORD, your Holy One,
        the Creator of Israel, your King.”
    16   Thus says the LORD,
        who makes a way in the sea,
        a path in the mighty waters,
    17   who brings forth chariot and horse,
        army and warrior;
      they lie down, they cannot rise,
        they are extinguished, quenched like a wick:
    18   “Remember not the former things,
        nor consider the things of old.
    19   Behold, I am doing a new thing;
        now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
      I will make a way in the wilderness
        and rivers in the desert.
    20   The wild beasts will honor me,
        the jackals and the ostriches,
      for I give water in the wilderness,
        rivers in the desert,
      to give drink to my chosen people,
    21     the people whom I formed for myself
      that they might declare my praise.
    22   “Yet you did not call upon me, O Jacob;
        but you have been weary of me, O Israel!
    23   You have not brought me your sheep for burnt offerings,
        or honored me with your sacrifices.
      I have not burdened you with offerings,
        or wearied you with frankincense.
    24   You have not bought me sweet cane with money,
        or satisfied me with the fat of your sacrifices.
      But you have burdened me with your sins;
        you have wearied me with your iniquities.
    25   “I, I am he
        who blots out your transgressions for my own sake,
        and I will not remember your sins.
    26   Put me in remembrance; let us argue together;
        set forth your case, that you may be proved right.
    27   Your first father sinned,
        and your mediators transgressed against me.
    28   Therefore I will profane the princes of the sanctuary,
        and deliver Jacob to utter destruction
        and Israel to reviling.

    Israel the Lord’s Chosen

    44   “But now hear, O Jacob my servant,
        Israel whom I have chosen!
    2   Thus says the LORD who made you,
        who formed you from the womb and will help you:
      Fear not, O Jacob my servant,
        Jeshurun whom I have chosen.
    3   For I will pour water on the thirsty land,
        and streams on the dry ground;
      I will pour my Spirit upon your offspring,
        and my blessing on your descendants.
    4   They shall spring up among the grass
        like willows by flowing streams.
    5   This one will say, ‘I am the LORD’s,’
        another will call on the name of Jacob,
      and another will write on his hand, ‘The LORD’s,’
        and name himself by the name of Israel.”

    (ESV)

    Gospels and Epistles:
    Revelation 4
    Revelation 4 (Listen)
    The Throne in Heaven

    4 After this I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.” 2 At once I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne. 3 And he who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian, and around the throne was a rainbow that had the appearance of an emerald. 4 Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones were twenty-four elders, clothed in white garments, with golden crowns on their heads. 5 From the throne came flashes of lightning, and rumblingsOr voices, or sounds">1 and peals of thunder, and before the throne were burning seven torches of fire, which are the seven spirits of God, 6 and before the throne there was as it were a sea of glass, like crystal.

    And around the throne, on each side of the throne, are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind: 7 the first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with the face of a man, and the fourth living creature like an eagle in flight. 8 And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say,

      “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty,
        who was and is and is to come!”

    9 And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, 10 the twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying,

    11   “Worthy are you, our Lord and God,
        to receive glory and honor and power,
      for you created all things,
        and by your will they existed and were created.”

    Footnotes

    [1] 4:5 Or voices, or sounds

    (ESV)

    11 min
  • December 13: Psalm 133; Job 20; Isaiah 42; Revelation 3
    Psalms and Wisdom:
    Psalm 133
    Psalm 133 (Listen)
    When Brothers Dwell in Unity
    A Song of Ascents. Of David.

    133   Behold, how good and pleasant it is
        when brothers dwell in unity!Or dwell together">1
    2   It is like the precious oil on the head,
        running down on the beard,
      on the beard of Aaron,
        running down on the collar of his robes!
    3   It is like the dew of Hermon,
        which falls on the mountains of Zion!
      For there the LORD has commanded the blessing,
        life forevermore.

    Footnotes

    [1] 133:1 Or dwell together

    (ESV)

    Pentateuch and History:
    Job 20
    Job 20 (Listen)
    Zophar Speaks: The Wicked Will Suffer

    20 Then Zophar the Naamathite answered and said:

    2   “Therefore my thoughts answer me,
        because of my haste within me.
    3   I hear censure that insults me,
        and out of my understanding a spirit answers me.
    4   Do you not know this from of old,
        since man was placed on earth,
    5   that the exulting of the wicked is short,
        and the joy of the godless but for a moment?
    6   Though his height mount up to the heavens,
        and his head reach to the clouds,
    7   he will perish forever like his own dung;
        those who have seen him will say, ‘Where is he?’
    8   He will fly away like a dream and not be found;
        he will be chased away like a vision of the night.
    9   The eye that saw him will see him no more,
        nor will his place any more behold him.
    10   His children will seek the favor of the poor,
        and his hands will give back his wealth.
    11   His bones are full of his youthful vigor,
        but it will lie down with him in the dust.
    12   “Though evil is sweet in his mouth,
        though he hides it under his tongue,
    13   though he is loath to let it go
        and holds it in his mouth,
    14   yet his food is turned in his stomach;
        it is the venom of cobras within him.
    15   He swallows down riches and vomits them up again;
        God casts them out of his belly.
    16   He will suck the poison of cobras;
        the tongue of a viper will kill him.
    17   He will not look upon the rivers,
        the streams flowing with honey and curds.
    18   He will give back the fruit of his toil
        and will not swallow it down;
      from the profit of his trading
        he will get no enjoyment.
    19   For he has crushed and abandoned the poor;
        he has seized a house that he did not build.
    20   “Because he knew no contentment in his belly,
        he will not let anything in which he delights escape him.
    21   There was nothing left after he had eaten;
        therefore his prosperity will not endure.
    22   In the fullness of his sufficiency he will be in distress;
        the hand of everyone in misery will come against him.
    23   To fill his belly to the full,
        GodHebrew he">1 will send his burning anger against him
        and rain it upon him into his body.
    24   He will flee from an iron weapon;
        a bronze arrow will strike him through.
    25   It is drawn forth and comes out of his body;
        the glittering point comes out of his gallbladder;
        terrors come upon him.
    26   Utter darkness is laid up for his treasures;
        a fire not fanned will devour him;
        what is left in his tent will be consumed.
    27   The heavens will reveal his iniquity,
        and the earth will rise up against him.
    28   The possessions of his house will be carried away,
        dragged off in the day of God’sHebrew his">2 wrath.
    29   This is the wicked man’s portion from God,
        the heritage decreed for him by God.”

    Footnotes

    [1] 20:23 Hebrew he


    [2] 20:28 Hebrew his

    (ESV)

    Chronicles and Prophets:
    Isaiah 42
    Isaiah 42 (Listen)
    The Lord’s Chosen Servant

    42   Behold my servant, whom I uphold,
        my chosen, in whom my soul delights;
      I have put my Spirit upon him;
        he will bring forth justice to the nations.
    2   He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice,
        or make it heard in the street;
    3   a bruised reed he will not break,
        and a faintly burning wick he will not quench;
        he will faithfully bring forth justice.
    4   He will not grow faint or be discouragedOr bruised">1
        till he has established justice in the earth;
        and the coastlands wait for his law.
    5   Thus says God, the LORD,
        who created the heavens and stretched them out,
        who spread out the earth and what comes from it,
      who gives breath to the people on it
        and spirit to those who walk in it:
    6   “I am the LORD; I have called youThe Hebrew for you is singular; four times in this verse">2 in righteousness;
        I will take you by the hand and keep you;
      I will give you as a covenant for the people,
        a light for the nations,
    7     to open the eyes that are blind,
      to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon,
        from the prison those who sit in darkness.
    8   I am the LORD; that is my name;
        my glory I give to no other,
        nor my praise to carved idols.
    9   Behold, the former things have come to pass,
        and new things I now declare;
      before they spring forth
        I tell you of them.”

    Sing to the Lord a New Song

    10   Sing to the LORD a new song,
        his praise from the end of the earth,
      you who go down to the sea, and all that fills it,
        the coastlands and their inhabitants.
    11   Let the desert and its cities lift up their voice,
        the villages that Kedar inhabits;
      let the habitants of Sela sing for joy,
        let them shout from the top of the mountains.
    12   Let them give glory to the LORD,
        and declare his praise in the coastlands.
    13   The LORD goes out like a mighty man,
        like a man of war he stirs up his zeal;
      he cries out, he shouts aloud,
        he shows himself mighty against his foes.
    14   For a long time I have held my peace;
        I have kept still and restrained myself;
      now I will cry out like a woman in labor;
        I will gasp and pant.
    15   I will lay waste mountains and hills,
        and dry up all their vegetation;
      I will turn the rivers into islands,Or into coastlands">3
        and dry up the pools.
    16   And I will lead the blind
        in a way that they do not know,
      in paths that they have not known
        I will guide them.
      I will turn the darkness before them into light,
        the rough places into level ground.
      These are the things I do,
        and I do not forsake them.
    17   They are turned back and utterly put to shame,
        who trust in carved idols,
      who say to metal images,
        “You are our gods.”

    Israel’s Failure to Hear and See

    18   Hear, you deaf,
        and look, you blind, that you may see!
    19   Who is blind but my servant,
        or deaf as my messenger whom I send?
      Who is blind as my dedicated one,Or as the one at peace with me">4
        or blind as the servant of the LORD?
    20   He sees many things, but does not observe them;
        his ears are open, but he does not hear.
    21   The LORD was pleased, for his righteousness’ sake,
        to magnify his law and make it glorious.
    22   But this is a people plundered and looted;
        they are all of them trapped in holes
        and hidden in prisons;
      they have become plunder with none to rescue,
        spoil with none to say, “Restore!”
    23   Who among you will give ear to this,
        will attend and listen for the time to come?
    24   Who gave up Jacob to the looter,
        and Israel to the plunderers?
      Was it not the LORD, against whom we have sinned,
        in whose ways they would not walk,
        and whose law they would not obey?
    25   So he poured on him the heat of his anger
        and the might of battle;
      it set him on fire all around, but he did not understand;
        it burned him up, but he did not take it to heart.

    Footnotes

    [1] 42:4 Or bruised


    [2] 42:6 The Hebrew for you is singular; four times in this verse

    [3] 42:15 Or into coastlands

    [4] 42:19 Or as the one at peace with me

    (ESV)

    Gospels and Epistles:
    Revelation 3
    Revelation 3 (Listen)
    To the Church in Sardis

    3 “And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: ‘The words of him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars.

    “‘I know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead. 2 Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God. 3 Remember, then, what you received and heard. Keep it, and repent. If you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come against you. 4 Yet you have still a few names in Sardis, people who have not soiled their garments, and they will walk with me in white, for they are worthy. 5 The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels. 6 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’

    To the Church in Philadelphia

    7 “And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: ‘The words of the holy one, the true one, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens.

    8 “‘I know your works. Behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut. I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. 9 Behold, I will make those of the synagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie—behold, I will make them come and bow down before your feet, and they will learn that I have loved you. 10 Because you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell on the earth. 11 I am coming soon. Hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown. 12 The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. Never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name. 13 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’

    To the Church in Laodicea

    14 “And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: ‘The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God’s creation.

    15 “‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! 16 So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. 17 For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. 18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. 19 Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent. 20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. 21 The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. 22 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’”

    (ESV)

    11 min

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