Monday, 16 December

1.   Then Jehoshaphat the king of Judah returned safely to his house in Jerusalem. 2.   And Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him, and said to King Jehoshaphat, "Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the LORD? Therefore the wrath of the LORD is upon you. 3.   "Nevertheless good things are found in you, in that you have removed the wooden images from the land, and have prepared your heart to seek God." 4.   So Jehoshaphat dwelt at Jerusalem; and he went out again among the people from Beersheba to the mountains of Ephraim, and brought them back to the LORD God of their fathers. 5.   Then he set judges in the land throughout all the fortified cities of Judah, city by city, 6.   and said to the judges, "Take heed to what you are doing, for you do not judge for man but for the LORD, who is with you in the judgment. 7.   "Now therefore, let the fear of the LORD be upon you; take care and do it , for there is no iniquity with the LORD our God, no partiality, nor taking of bribes." 8.   Moreover in Jerusalem, for the judgment of the LORD and for controversies, Jehoshaphat appointed some of the Levites and priests, and some of the chief fathers of Israel, when they returned to Jerusalem. 9.   And he commanded them, saying, "Thus you shall act in the fear of the LORD, faithfully and with a loyal heart: 10.   "Whatever case comes to you from your brethren who dwell in their cities, whether of bloodshed or offenses against law or commandment, against statutes or ordinances, you shall warn them, lest they trespass against the LORD and wrath come upon you and your brethren. Do this, and you will not be guilty. 11.   "And take notice: Amariah the chief priest is over you in all matters of the LORD; and Zebadiah the son of Ishmael, the ruler of the house of Judah, for all the king’s matters; also the Levites will be officials before you. Behave courageously, and the LORD will be with the good."

1.   The burden which the prophet Habakkuk saw. 2.   O LORD, how long shall I cry, And You will not hear? Even cry out to You, "Violence!" And You will not save. 3.   Why do You show me iniquity, And cause me to see trouble? For plundering and violence are before me; There is strife, and contention arises. 4.   Therefore the law is powerless, And justice never goes forth. For the wicked surround the righteous; Therefore perverse judgment proceeds. 5.   "Look among the nations and watch––Be utterly astounded! For I will work a work in your days Which you would not believe, though it were told you . 6.   For indeed I am raising up the Chaldeans, A bitter and hasty nation Which marches through the breadth of the earth, To possess dwelling places that are not theirs. 7.   They are terrible and dreadful; Their judgment and their dignity proceed from themselves. 8.   Their horses also are swifter than leopards, And more fierce than evening wolves. Their chargers charge ahead; Their cavalry comes from afar; They fly as the eagle that hastens to eat. 9.   "They all come for violence; Their faces are set like the east wind. They gather captives like sand. 10.   They scoff at kings, And princes are scorned by them. They deride every stronghold, For they heap up earthen mounds and seize it. 11.   Then his mind changes, and he transgresses; He commits offense, Ascribing this power to his god." 12.   Are You not from everlasting, O LORD my God, my Holy One? We shall not die. O LORD, You have appointed them for judgment; O Rock, You have marked them for correction. 13.   You are of purer eyes than to behold evil, And cannot look on wickedness. Why do You look on those who deal treacherously, And hold Your tongue when the wicked devours A person more righteous than he? 14.   Why do You make men like fish of the sea, Like creeping things that have no ruler over them? 15.   They take up all of them with a hook, They catch them in their net, And gather them in their dragnet. Therefore they rejoice and are glad. 16.   Therefore they sacrifice to their net, And burn incense to their dragnet; Because by them their share is sumptuous And their food plentiful. 17.   Shall they therefore empty their net, And continue to slay nations without pity?

1.   I will stand my watch And set myself on the rampart, And watch to see what He will say to me, And what I will answer when I am corrected. 2.   Then the LORD answered me and said: "Write the vision And make it plain on tablets, That he may run who reads it. 3.   For the vision is yet for an appointed time; But at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; Because it will surely come, It will not tarry. 4.   "Behold the proud, His soul is not upright in him; But the just shall live by his faith. 5.   "Indeed, because he transgresses by wine, He is a proud man, And he does not stay at home. Because he enlarges his desire as hell, And he is like death, and cannot be satisfied, He gathers to himself all nations And heaps up for himself all peoples. 6.   "Will not all these take up a proverb against him, And a taunting riddle against him, and say, ‘Woe to him who increases What is not his––how long? And to him who loads himself with many pledges’? 7.   Will not your creditors rise up suddenly? Will they not awaken who oppress you? And you will become their booty. 8.   Because you have plundered many nations, All the remnant of the people shall plunder you, Because of men’s blood And the violence of the land and the city, And of all who dwell in it. 9.   "Woe to him who covets evil gain for his house, That he may set his nest on high, That he may be delivered from the power of disaster! 10.   You give shameful counsel to your house, Cutting off many peoples, And sin against your soul. 11.   For the stone will cry out from the wall, And the beam from the timbers will answer it. 12.   "Woe to him who builds a town with bloodshed, Who establishes a city by iniquity! 13.   Behold, is it not of the LORD of hosts That the peoples labor to feed the fire, And nations weary themselves in vain? 14.   For the earth will be filled With the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, As the waters cover the sea. 15.   "Woe to him who gives drink to his neighbor, Pressing him to your bottle, Even to make him drunk, That you may look on his nakedness! 16.   You are filled with shame instead of glory. You also––drink! And be exposed as uncircumcised! The cup of the LORD’S right hand will be turned against you, And utter shame will be on your glory. 17.   For the violence done to Lebanon will cover you, And the plunder of beasts which made them afraid, Because of men’s blood And the violence of the land and the city, And of all who dwell in it. 18.   "What profit is the image, that its maker should carve it, The molded image, a teacher of lies, That the maker of its mold should trust in it, To make mute idols? 19.   Woe to him who says to wood, ‘Awake!’ To silent stone, ‘Arise! It shall teach!’ Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, Yet in it there is no breath at all. 20.   But the LORD is in His holy temple. Let all the earth keep silence before Him."

1.   After these things I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, on the sea, or on any tree. 2.   Then I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God. And he cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea, 3.   saying, "Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads." 4.   And I heard the number of those who were sealed. One hundred and forty–four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel were sealed: 5.   of the tribe of Judah twelve thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Gad twelve thousand were sealed; 6.   of the tribe of Asher twelve thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand were sealed; 7.   of the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Levi twelve thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand were sealed; 8.   of the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Benjamin twelve thousand were sealed. 9.   After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10.   and crying out with a loud voice, saying, "Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!" 11.   All the angels stood around the throne and the elders and the four living creatures, and fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12.   saying: "Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom, Thanksgiving and honor and power and might, Be to our God forever and ever. Amen." 13.   Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, "Who are these arrayed in white robes, and where did they come from?" 14.   And I said to him, "Sir, you know." So he said to me, "These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and 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 dwell among them. 16.   "They shall neither hunger anymore nor thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any heat; 17.   "for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."