Tuesday, 10 December

1.   It came to pass at the end of twenty years, in which Solomon had built the house of the LORD and his own house, 2.   that the cities which Hiram had given to Solomon, Solomon built them; and he settled the children of Israel there. 3.   And Solomon went to Hamath Zobah and seized it. 4.   He also built Tadmor in the wilderness, and all the storage cities which he built in Hamath. 5.   He built Upper Beth Horon and Lower Beth Horon, fortified cities with walls, gates, and bars, 6.   also Baalath and all the storage cities that Solomon had, and all the chariot cities and the cities of the cavalry, and all that Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion. 7.   All the people who were left of the Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, who were not of Israel–– 8.   that is, their descendants who were left in the land after them, whom the children of Israel did not destroy––from these Solomon raised forced labor, as it is to this day. 9.   But Solomon did not make the children of Israel servants for his work. Some were men of war, captains of his officers, captains of his chariots, and his cavalry. 10.   And others were chiefs of the officials of King Solomon: two hundred and fifty, who ruled over the people. 11.   Now Solomon brought the daughter of Pharaoh up from the City of David to the house he had built for her, for he said, "My wife shall not dwell in the house of David king of Israel, because the places to which the ark of the LORD has come are holy." 12.   Then Solomon offered burnt offerings to the LORD on the altar of the LORD which he had built before the vestibule, 13.   according to the daily rate, offering according to the commandment of Moses, for the Sabbaths, the New Moons, and the three appointed yearly feasts––the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Tabernacles. 14.   And, according to the order of David his father, he appointed the divisions of the priests for their service, the Levites for their duties (to praise and serve before the priests) as the duty of each day required, and the gatekeepers by their divisions at each gate; for so David the man of God had commanded. 15.   They did not depart from the command of the king to the priests and Levites concerning any matter or concerning the treasuries. 16.   Now all the work of Solomon was well–ordered from the day of the foundation of the house of the LORD until it was finished. So the house of the LORD was completed. 17.   Then Solomon went to Ezion Geber and Elath on the seacoast, in the land of Edom. 18.   And Hiram sent him ships by the hand of his servants, and servants who knew the sea. They went with the servants of Solomon to Ophir, and acquired four hundred and fifty talents of gold from there, and brought it to King Solomon.

1.   The word of the LORD that came to Micah of Moresheth in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem. 2.   Hear, all you peoples! Listen, O earth, and all that is in it! Let the Lord GOD be a witness against you, The Lord from His holy temple. 3.   For behold, the LORD is coming out of His place; He will come down And tread on the high places of the earth. 4.   The mountains will melt under Him, And the valleys will split Like wax before the fire, Like waters poured down a steep place. 5.   All this is for the transgression of Jacob And for the sins of the house of Israel. What is the transgression of Jacob? Is it not Samaria? And what are the high places of Judah? Are they not Jerusalem? 6.   "Therefore I will make Samaria a heap of ruins in the field, Places for planting a vineyard; I will pour down her stones into the valley, And I will uncover her foundations. 7.   All her carved images shall be beaten to pieces, And all her pay as a harlot shall be burned with the fire; All her idols I will lay desolate, For she gathered it from the pay of a harlot, And they shall return to the pay of a harlot." 8.   Therefore I will wail and howl, I will go stripped and naked; I will make a wailing like the jackals And a mourning like the ostriches, 9.   For her wounds are incurable. For it has come to Judah; It has come to the gate of My people––To Jerusalem. 10.   Tell it not in Gath, Weep not at all; In Beth Aphrah Roll yourself in the dust. 11.   Pass by in naked shame, you inhabitant of Shaphir; The inhabitant of Zaanan does not go out. Beth Ezel mourns; Its place to stand is taken away from you. 12.   For the inhabitant of Maroth pined for good, But disaster came down from the LORD To the gate of Jerusalem. 13.   O inhabitant of Lachish, Harness the chariot to the swift steeds (She was the beginning of sin to the daughter of Zion), For the transgressions of Israel were found in you. 14.   Therefore you shall give presents to Moresheth Gath; The houses of Achzib shall be a lie to the kings of Israel. 15.   I will yet bring an heir to you, O inhabitant of Mareshah; The glory of Israel shall come to Adullam. 16.   Make yourself bald and cut off your hair, Because of your precious children; Enlarge your baldness like an eagle, For they shall go from you into captivity.

1.   Woe to those who devise iniquity, And work out evil on their beds! At morning light they practice it, Because it is in the power of their hand. 2.   They covet fields and take them by violence, Also houses, and seize them . So they oppress a man and his house, A man and his inheritance. 3.   Therefore thus says the LORD: "Behold, against this family I am devising disaster, From which you cannot remove your necks; Nor shall you walk haughtily, For this is an evil time. 4.   In that day one shall take up a proverb against you, And lament with a bitter lamentation, saying: ‘We are utterly destroyed! He has changed the heritage of my people; How He has removed it from me! To a turncoat He has divided our fields.’" 5.   Therefore you will have no one to determine boundaries by lot In the assembly of the LORD. 6.   "Do not prattle," you say to those who prophesy. So they shall not prophesy to you; They shall not return insult for insult. 7.   You who are named the house of Jacob: "Is the Spirit of the LORD restricted? Are these His doings? Do not My words do good To him who walks uprightly? 8.   "Lately My people have risen up as an enemy––You pull off the robe with the garment From those who trust you , as they pass by, Like men returned from war. 9.   The women of My people you cast out From their pleasant houses; From their children You have taken away My glory forever. 10.   "Arise and depart, For this is not your rest; Because it is defiled, it shall destroy, Yes, with utter destruction. 11.   If a man should walk in a false spirit And speak a lie, saying , ‘I will prophesy to you of wine and drink,’ Even he would be the prattler of this people. 12.   "I will surely assemble all of you, O Jacob, I will surely gather the remnant of Israel; I will put them together like sheep of the fold, Like a flock in the midst of their pasture; They shall make a loud noise because of so many people. 13.   The one who breaks open will come up before them; They will break out, Pass through the gate, And go out by it; Their king will pass before them, With the LORD at their head."

1.   The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants––things which must shortly take place. And He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John, 2.   who bore witness to the word of God, and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, to all things that he saw. 3.   Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near. 4.   John, to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne, 5.   and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, 6.   and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. 7.   Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen. 8.   "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End," says the Lord, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty." 9.   I, John, both your brother and companion in the tribulation and kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was on the island that is called Patmos for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. 10.   I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet, 11.   saying, "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last," and, "What you see, write in a book and send it to the seven churches which are in Asia: to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamos, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea." 12.   Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands, 13.   and in the midst of the seven lampstands One like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band. 14.   His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire; 15.   His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, and His voice as the sound of many waters; 16.   He had in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two–edged sword, and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength. 17.   And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, "Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last. 18.   "I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death. 19.   "Write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after this. 20.   "The mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands which you saw are the seven churches.