the Week of Proper 19 / Ordinary 24
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Bible Reading Plan
Daily Bible Reading
December 28 - Straight Thru the Bible
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Revelation 5:1-9:11
Chapter 5
The Lamb Takes the Scroll
1 Then I saw in the right hand of the One seated on the throne a scroll with writing on the inside and on the back,(a) sealed with seven seals. 2 I also saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, "Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?" 3 But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or even to look in it. 4 And I cried and cried because no one was found worthy to open[a] the scroll or even to look in it.
5 Then one of the elders said to me, "Stop crying. Look! The Lion from the tribe of Judah,(b) the Root of David,(c) has been victorious(d) so that He may open the scroll and[b] its seven seals." 6 Then I saw One like a slaughtered lamb standing between[c] the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God(e) sent into all the earth. 7 He came and took the scroll[d] out of the right hand of the One seated on the throne.
The Lamb Is Worthy
8 When He took the scroll, the four living creatures and the 24 elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and gold bowls filled with incense, which are the prayers of the saints. 9 And they sang a new song:(f)
You are worthy to take the scroll
and to open its seals,
because You were slaughtered,
and You redeemed[e] people[f]
for God by Your blood
from every tribe and language
and people and nation.(g)
10 You made them a kingdom[g]
and priests to our God,(h)
and they will reign on the earth.
11 Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels around the throne, and also of the living creatures and of the elders. Their number was countless thousands, plus thousands of thousands. 12 They said with a loud voice:
The Lamb who was slaughtered is worthy
to receive power and riches
and wisdom and strength
and honor and glory and blessing!
13 I heard every creature in heaven, on earth, under the earth, on the sea, and everything in them say:
Blessing and honor and glory and dominion
to the One seated on the throne,
and to the Lamb, forever and ever!
14 The four living creatures said, "Amen," and the elders fell down and worshiped.
Chapter 6
The First Seal on the Scroll
1 Then I saw[a] the Lamb open one of the seven[b] seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures say with a voice like thunder, "Come!"[c][d] 2 I looked, and there was a white horse.(a) The horseman on it had a bow; a crown was given to him, and he went out as a victor to conquer.[e]
The Second Seal
3 When He opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, "Come!"[f][g] 4 Then another horse went out, a fiery red one, and its horseman was empowered[h] to take peace from the earth, so that people would slaughter one another. And a large sword was given to him.(b)
The Third Seal
5 When He opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, "Come!"[i][j] And I looked, and there was a black horse. The horseman on it had a set of scales in his hand. 6 Then I heard something like a voice among the four living creatures say, "A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius—but do not harm the olive oil and the wine."
The Fourth Seal
7 When He opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, "Come!"[k][l] 8 And I looked, and there was a pale green[m] horse. The horseman on it was named Death, and Hades was following after him. Authority was given to them[n](c) over a fourth of the earth, to kill by the sword, by famine, by plague, and by the wild animals of the earth.
The Fifth Seal
9 When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the people[o] slaughtered because of God's word and the testimony they had.[p](d) 10 They cried out with a loud voice: "Lord,[q] the One who is holy and true, how long until You judge and avenge our blood from those who live on the earth?" 11 So a white robe was given to each of them, and they were told to rest a little while longer until the number would be completed of their fellow slaves and their brothers, who were going to be killed just as they had been.
The Sixth Seal
12 Then I saw Him open[r] the sixth seal. A violent earthquake occurred; the sun turned black like sackcloth(e) made of goat hair; the entire moon[s] became like blood; 13 the stars[t] of heaven fell to the earth as a fig tree drops its unripe figs when shaken by a high wind; 14 the sky separated like a scroll being rolled up; and every mountain and island was moved from its place.
15 Then the kings of the earth, the nobles, the military commanders, the rich, the powerful, and every slave and free person hid in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains.(f) 16 And they said to the mountains and to the rocks, "Fall on us and hide us(g) from the face of the One seated on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb, 17 because the great day of Their[u] wrath has come! And who is able to stand?"(h)
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)
Chapter 8
The Seventh Seal
1 When He opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. 2 Then I saw the seven angels who stand in the presence of God; seven trumpets were given to them. 3 Another angel, with a gold incense burner, came and stood at the altar. He was given a large amount of incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the gold altar in front of the throne. 4 The smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, went up in the presence of God from the angel's hand. 5 The angel took the incense burner, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it to the earth; there were rumblings of thunder, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake. 6 And the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to blow them.
The First Trumpet
7 The first angel[a] blew his trumpet, and hail and fire, mixed with blood, were hurled to the earth. So a third of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.
The Second Trumpet
8 The second angel blew his trumpet, and something like a great mountain ablaze with fire was hurled into the sea.(a) So 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.
The Third Trumpet
10 The third angel blew his trumpet, and a great star, blazing like a torch, fell from heaven.(b) It fell on a third of the rivers and springs of water. 11 The name of the star is Wormwood, and a third of the waters became wormwood. So, many of the people died from the waters, because they had been made bitter.
The Fourth Trumpet
12 The fourth angel blew his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them were darkened. A third of the day was without light, and the night as well.(c)
13 I looked again and heard an eagle[b] flying high overhead, crying out in a loud voice, "Woe!(d) Woe! Woe to those who live on the earth, because of the remaining trumpet blasts that the three angels are about to sound!"
Chapter 9
The Fifth Trumpet
1 The fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from heaven to earth.(a) The key to the shaft of the abyss(b) was given to him. 2 He opened the shaft of the abyss, and smoke came up out of the shaft like smoke from a great[a] furnace so that the sun and the air were darkened by the smoke from the shaft. 3 Then locusts came out of the smoke on to the earth, and power[b] was given to them(c) like the power that scorpions have on the earth. 4 They were told not to harm the grass of the earth, or any green plant, or any tree, but only people who do not have God's seal on their foreheads. 5 They were not permitted to kill them but were to torment them for five months; their torment is like the torment caused by a scorpion when it strikes a man. 6 In those days people will seek death and will not find it; they will long to die, but death will flee from them.
7 The appearance of the locusts was like horses equipped for battle.(d) Something like gold crowns was on their heads; their faces were like men's faces; 8 they had hair like women's hair; their teeth were like lions' teeth;(e) 9 they had chests like iron breastplates; the sound of their wings was like the sound of chariots with many horses rushing into battle; 10 and they had tails with stingers like scorpions, so that with their tails they had the power[c] to harm people for five months. 11 They had as their king[d] the angel of the abyss; his name in Hebrew is Abaddon,[e] and in Greek he has the name Apollyon.[f]
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