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Tuesday, April 23rd, 2024
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Daily Bible Reading

December 11 - Old & New Testament
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Jump to: Zechariah 11,12 • Revelation 2

Zechariah 11,12

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¹ Open your doors, Lebanon,^(a)
     so that fire^(b) may devour your cedars!
² Wail, you juniper, for the cedar has fallen;
     the stately trees are ruined!
Wail, oaks^(c) of Bashan;
     the dense forest^(d) has been cut down!^(e)
³ Listen to the wail of the shepherds;
     their rich pastures are destroyed!
Listen to the roar of the lions;^(f)
     the lush thicket of the Jordan is ruined!^(g)

Two Shepherds

⁴ This is what the Lord my God says: "Shepherd the flock marked for slaughter.^(h) ⁵ Their buyers slaughter them and go unpunished. Those who sell them say, ‘Praise the Lord , I am rich!' Their own shepherds do not spare them.⁽ⁱ⁾ ⁶ For I will no longer have pity on the people of the land," declares the Lord . "I will give everyone into the hands of their neighbors^(j) and their king. They will devastate the land, and I will not rescue anyone from their hands."^(k)

⁷ So I shepherded the flock marked for slaughter,^(l) particularly the oppressed of the flock. Then I took two staffs and called one Favor and the other Union, and I shepherded the flock. ⁸ In one month I got rid of the three shepherds.

The flock detested^(m) me, and I grew weary of them ⁹ and said, "I will not be your shepherd. Let the dying die, and the perishing perish.⁽ⁿ⁾ Let those who are left eat^(o) one another's flesh."

¹⁰ Then I took my staff called Favor^(p) and broke it, revoking^(q) the covenant I had made with all the nations. ¹¹ It was revoked on that day, and so the oppressed of the flock who were watching me knew it was the word of the Lord .

¹² I told them, "If you think it best, give me my pay; but if not, keep it." So they paid me thirty pieces of silver.^(r)

¹³ And the Lord said to me, "Throw it to the potter"—the handsome price at which they valued me! So I took the thirty pieces of silver^(s) and threw them to the potter at the house of the Lord .^(t)

¹⁴ Then I broke my second staff called Union, breaking the family bond between Judah and Israel.

¹⁵ Then the Lord said to me, "Take again the equipment of a foolish shepherd. ¹⁶ For I am going to raise up a shepherd over the land who will not care for the lost, or seek the young, or heal the injured, or feed the healthy, but will eat the meat of the choice sheep, tearing off their hooves.

¹⁷ "Woe to the worthless shepherd,^(u)
     who deserts the flock!
May the sword strike his arm^(v) and his right eye!
     May his arm be completely withered,
     his right eye totally blinded!"^(w)

Jerusalem's Enemies to Be Destroyed

¹ A prophecy:^(a) The word of the Lord concerning Israel.

The Lord , who stretches out the heavens,^(b) who lays the foundation of the earth,^(c) and who forms the human spirit within a person,^(d) declares: ² "I am going to make Jerusalem a cup^(e) that sends all the surrounding peoples reeling.^(f) Judah^(g) will be besieged as well as Jerusalem. ³ On that day, when all the nations^(h) of the earth are gathered against her, I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock⁽ⁱ⁾ for all the nations. All who try to move it will injure^(j) themselves. ⁴ On that day I will strike every horse with panic and its rider with madness," declares the Lord . "I will keep a watchful eye over Judah, but I will blind all the horses of the nations.^(k) ⁵ Then the clans of Judah will say in their hearts, ‘The people of Jerusalem are strong,^(l) because the Lord Almighty is their God.'

⁶ "On that day I will make the clans of Judah like a firepot^(m) in a woodpile, like a flaming torch among sheaves. They will consume⁽ⁿ⁾ all the surrounding peoples right and left, but Jerusalem will remain intact^(o) in her place.

⁷ "The Lord will save the dwellings of Judah first, so that the honor of the house of David and of Jerusalem's inhabitants may not be greater than that of Judah.^(p) ⁸ On that day the Lord will shield^(q) those who live in Jerusalem, so that the feeblest^(r) among them will be like David, and the house of David will be like God,^(s) like the angel of the Lord going before^(t) them. ⁹ On that day I will set out to destroy all the nations^(u) that attack Jerusalem.^(v)

Mourning for the One They Pierced

¹⁰ "And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit^[a]^(w) of grace and supplication.^(x) They will look on^[b] me, the one they have pierced,^(y) and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child,^(z) and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son.^(aa) ¹¹ On that day the weeping^(ab) in Jerusalem will be as great as the weeping of Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo.^(ac) ¹² The land will mourn,^(ad) each clan by itself, with their wives by themselves: the clan of the house of David and their wives, the clan of the house of Nathan and their wives, ¹³ the clan of the house of Levi and their wives, the clan of Shimei and their wives, ¹⁴ and all the rest of the clans and their wives.^(ae)

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Revelation 2

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Chapter 2 To the Church in Ephesus

¹ "To the angel^[a] of the church in Ephesus^(a) write:

These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand^(b) and walks among the seven golden lampstands.^(c) ² I know your deeds,^(d) your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested^(e) those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false.^(f) ³ You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name,^(g) and have not grown weary.

⁴ Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first.^(h) ⁵ Consider how far you have fallen! Repent⁽ⁱ⁾ and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand^(j) from its place. ⁶ But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans,^(k) which I also hate.

⁷ Whoever has ears, let them hear^(l) what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious,^(m) I will give the right to eat from the tree of life,⁽ⁿ⁾ which is in the paradise^(o) of God.

To the Church in Smyrna

⁸ "To the angel of the church in Smyrna^(p) write:

These are the words of him who is the First and the Last,^(q) who died and came to life again.^(r) ⁹ I know your afflictions and your poverty—yet you are rich!^(s) I know about the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not,^(t) but are a synagogue of Satan.^(u) ¹⁰ Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you,^(v) and you will suffer persecution for ten days.^(w) Be faithful,^(x) even to the point of death, and I will give you life as your victor's crown.^(y)

¹¹ Whoever has ears, let them hear^(z) what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who is victorious will not be hurt at all by the second death.^(aa)

To the Church in Pergamum

¹² "To the angel of the church in Pergamum^(ab) write:

These are the words of him who has the sharp, double-edged sword.^(ac) ¹³ I know where you live—where Satan has his throne. Yet you remain true to my name. You did not renounce your faith in me,^(ad) not even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness,^(ae) who was put to death in your city—where Satan lives.^(af)

¹⁴ Nevertheless, I have a few things against you:^(ag) There are some among you who hold to the teaching of Balaam,^(ah) who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin so that they ate food sacrificed to idols^(ai) and committed sexual immorality.^(aj) ¹⁵ Likewise, you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans.^(ak) ¹⁶ Repent^(al) therefore! Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.^(am)

¹⁷ Whoever has ears, let them hear^(an) what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious,^(ao) I will give some of the hidden manna.^(ap) I will also give that person a white stone with a new name^(aq) written on it, known only to the one who receives it.^(ar)

To the Church in Thyatira

¹⁸ "To the angel of the church in Thyatira^(as) write:

These are the words of the Son of God,^(at) whose eyes are like blazing fire and whose feet are like burnished bronze.^(au) ¹⁹ I know your deeds,^(av) your love and faith, your service and perseverance, and that you are now doing more than you did at first.

²⁰ Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel,^(aw) who calls herself a prophet. By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols.^(ax) ²¹ I have given her time^(ay) to repent of her immorality, but she is unwilling.^(az) ²² So I will cast her on a bed of suffering, and I will make those who commit adultery^(ba) with her suffer intensely, unless they repent of her ways. ²³ I will strike her children dead. Then all the churches will know that I am he who searches hearts and minds,^(bb) and I will repay each of you according to your deeds.^(bc)

²⁴ Now I say to the rest of you in Thyatira, to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan's so-called deep secrets, ‘I will not impose any other burden on you,^(bd) ²⁵ except to hold on to what you have^(be) until I come.'^(bf)

²⁶ To the one who is victorious^(bg) and does my will to the end,^(bh) I will give authority over the nations^(bi)— ²⁷ that one ‘will rule them with an iron scepter^(bj) and will dash them to pieces like pottery'^[b]^(bk)—just as I have received authority from my Father. ²⁸ I will also give that one the morning star.^(bl) ²⁹ Whoever has ears, let them hear^(bm) what the Spirit says to the churches.