the Week of Proper 28 / Ordinary 33
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Bible Reading Plan
Daily Bible Reading
December 15 - Old & New Testament
csb
Psalms 79,80
Psalm 79
Faith amid Confusion
A psalm of Asaph.(a)
1 God, the nations have invaded Your inheritance,
desecrated Your holy temple,
and turned Jerusalem into ruins.(b)
2 They gave the corpses of Your servants
to the birds of the sky for food,
the flesh of Your godly ones
to the beasts of the earth.(c)
3 They poured out their blood
like water all around Jerusalem,
and there was no one to bury them.(d)
4 We have become an object of reproach
to our neighbors,
a source of mockery and ridicule
to those around us.(e)
5 How long, Yahweh? Will You be angry forever?
Will Your jealousy keep burning like fire?(f)
6 Pour out Your wrath on the nations
that don't acknowledge You,
on the kingdoms that don't call on Your name,(g)
7 for they have devoured Jacob
and devastated his homeland.(h)
8 Do not hold past sins[a] against us;
let Your compassion come to us quickly,
for we have become weak.(i)
9 God of our salvation, help us(j)—
for the glory of Your name.
Deliver us and atone for[b] our sins,
because of Your name.(k)
10 Why should the nations ask,
"Where is their God?"(l)
Before our eyes,
let vengeance for the shed blood of Your servants
be known among the nations.(m)
11 Let the groans of the prisoners reach You;
according to Your great power,
preserve those condemned to die.(n)
12 Pay back sevenfold to our neighbors(o)
the reproach they have hurled at You, Lord.(p)
13 Then we, Your people, the sheep of Your pasture,(q)
will thank You forever;
we will declare Your praise
to generation after generation.(r)
Psalm 80
A Prayer for Restoration
For the choir director: according to "The Lilies."[a] A testimony of Asaph.(a) A psalm.
1 Listen, Shepherd of Israel,
who leads Joseph like a flock;(b)
You who sit enthroned on the cherubim,(c)
rise up(d)
2 before Ephraim,
Benjamin, and Manasseh.[b](e)
Rally Your power and come to save us.(f)
3 Restore us, God;
look on us with favor,
and we will be saved.(g)
4
Lord
God of Hosts,
how long will You be angry
with Your people's prayers?(h)
5 You fed them the bread of tears
and gave them a full measure[c]
of tears to drink.(i)
6 You make us quarrel with our neighbors;
our enemies make fun of us.(j)
7 Restore us, God of Hosts;
look on us with favor, and we will be saved.(k)
8 You uprooted a vine from Egypt;
You drove out the nations and planted it.(l)
9 You cleared a place for it;
it took root and filled the land.(m)
10 The mountains were covered by its shade,
and the mighty cedars[d] with its branches.(n)
11 It sent out sprouts toward the Sea[e]
and shoots toward the River.[f](o)
12 Why have You broken down its walls
so that all who pass by pick its fruit?(p)
13 The boar from the forest tears it
and creatures of the field feed on it.(q)
14 Return, God of Hosts.(r)
Look down from heaven and see;
take care of this vine,
15 the root[g] Your right hand has planted,
the shoot[h] that You made strong for Yourself.(s)
16 It was cut down and burned up;[i]
they[j] perish at the rebuke of Your countenance.(t)
17 Let Your hand be with the man at Your right hand,
with the son of man
You have made strong for Yourself.(u)
18 Then we will not turn away from You;
revive us, and we will call on Your name.(v)
19 Restore us, Yahweh, the God of Hosts;(w)
look on us with favor, and we will be saved.(x)
Revelation 7
Chapter 7
The Sealed of Israel
1 After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth,(a) restraining the four winds of the earth so that no wind could blow on the earth or on the sea or on any tree. 2 Then I saw another angel, who had the seal of the living God rise up from the east. He cried out in a loud voice to the four angels who were empowered[a] to harm the earth and the sea: 3 "Don't harm the earth or the sea or the trees until we seal the slaves of our God on their foreheads." 4 And I heard the number of those who were sealed:
144,000 sealed from every tribe of the Israelites:
5 12,000 sealed from the tribe of Judah,
12,000[b] 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 sealed from the tribe of Benjamin.
A Multitude from the Great Tribulation
9 After this I looked, and there was a vast multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and language, which no one could number, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were robed in white with palm branches in their hands. 10 And they cried out in a loud voice:
Salvation belongs to our God,
who is seated on the throne,
and to the Lamb!
11 All the angels stood around the throne, the elders, and the four living creatures, and they fell facedown before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying:
Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom
and thanksgiving and honor
and power and strength
be to our God forever and ever. Amen.
13 Then one of the elders asked me, "Who are these people robed in white, and where did they come from?"
14 I said to him, "Sir,[c] you know."
Then he told me:
These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation.
They washed their robes and made them white(b)
in the blood of the Lamb.
15 For this reason they are before the throne of God,
and they serve Him day and night in His sanctuary.
The One seated on the throne will shelter[d] them:
16 They will no longer hunger;
they will no longer thirst;
the sun will no longer strike them,
nor will any heat.(c)
17 For the Lamb who is at the center of the throne
will shepherd them;(d)
He will guide them to springs of living waters,(e)
and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.(f)
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