Day 360 reading

Wisdom·Proverbs 30:10–17

¹⁰Do not slander a servant to his master, or he will curse you, and you will bear the guilt. ¹¹There is a generation of those who curse their fathers and do not bless their mothers. ¹²There is a generation of those who are pure in their own eyes and yet unwashed of their filth. ¹³There is a generation—how haughty are their eyes and pretentious are their glances— ¹⁴there is a generation whose teeth are swords and whose jaws are knives, devouring the oppressed from the earth and the needy from among men. ¹⁵The leech has two daughters: Give and Give. There are three things that are never satisfied, four that never say, ‘Enough!’: ¹⁶Sheol, the barren womb, land never satisfied with water, and fire that never says, ‘Enough!’ ¹⁷As for the eye that mocks a father and scorns obedience to a mother, may the ravens of the valley pluck it out and young vultures devour it.

New Testament·Revelation 17

¹Then one of the seven angels with the seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the punishment of the great prostitute, who sits on many waters. ²The kings of the earth were immoral with her, and those who dwell on the earth were intoxicated with the wine of her immorality.” ³And the angel carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness, where I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was covered with blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten horns. ⁴The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls. She held in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her sexual immorality. ⁵And on her forehead a mysterious name was written: BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF PROSTITUTES AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. ⁶I could see that the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints and witnesses for Jesus. And I was utterly amazed at the sight of her. ⁷“Why are you so amazed?” said the angel. “I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and ten horns. ⁸The beast that you saw—it was, and now is no more, but is about to come up out of the Abyss and go to its destruction. And those who dwell on the earth whose names were not written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world will marvel when they see the beast that was, and is not, and yet will be. ⁹This calls for a mind with wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits. ¹⁰There are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, and the other has not yet come; but when he does come, he must remain for only a little while. ¹¹The beast that was, and now is not, is an eighth king, who belongs to the other seven and is going into destruction. ¹²The ten horns you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but will receive one hour of authority as kings, along with the beast. ¹³These kings have one purpose: to yield their power and authority to the beast. ¹⁴They will make war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will triumph over them, because He is Lord of lords and King of kings; and He will be accompanied by His called and chosen and faithful ones.” ¹⁵Then the angel said to me, “The waters you saw, where the prostitute was seated, are peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues. ¹⁶And the ten horns and the beast that you saw will hate the prostitute. They will leave her desolate and naked, and will eat her flesh and burn her with fire. ¹⁷For God has put it into their hearts to carry out His purpose by uniting to give their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled. ¹⁸And the woman you saw is the great city that rules over the kings of the earth.”

Old Testament·Zephaniah 3; Haggai 1–2

¹Woe to the city of oppressors, rebellious and defiled! ²She heeded no voice; she accepted no correction. She does not trust in the LORD; she has not drawn near to her God. ³Her princes are roaring lions; her judges are evening wolves, leaving nothing for the morning. ⁴Her prophets are reckless, faithless men. Her priests profane the sanctuary; they do violence to the law. ⁵The LORD within her is righteous; He does no wrong. He applies His justice morning by morning; He does not fail at dawn, yet the unjust know no shame. ⁶“I have cut off the nations; their corner towers are destroyed. I have made their streets deserted with no one to pass through. Their cities are laid waste, with no man, no inhabitant. ⁷I said, ‘Surely you will fear Me and accept correction.’ Then her dwelling place would not be cut off despite all for which I punished her. But they rose early to corrupt all their deeds. ⁸Therefore wait for Me,” declares the LORD, “until the day I rise to testify. For My decision is to gather nations, to assemble kingdoms, to pour out upon them My indignation— all My burning anger. For all the earth will be consumed by the fire of My jealousy. ⁹For then I will restore pure lips to the peoples, that all may call upon the name of the LORD and serve Him shoulder to shoulder. ¹⁰From beyond the rivers of Cush My worshipers, My scattered people, will bring Me an offering. ¹¹On that day you will not be put to shame for any of the deeds by which you have transgressed against Me. For then I will remove from among you those who rejoice in their pride, and you will never again be haughty on My holy mountain. ¹²But I will leave within you a meek and humble people, and they will trust in the name of the LORD. ¹³The remnant of Israel will no longer do wrong or speak lies, nor will a deceitful tongue be found in their mouths. But they will feed and lie down, with no one to make them tremble.” ¹⁴Sing for joy, O Daughter of Zion; shout aloud, O Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, O Daughter of Jerusalem! ¹⁵The LORD has taken away your punishment; He has turned back your enemy. Israel’s King, the LORD, is among you; no longer will you fear any harm. ¹⁶On that day they will say to Jerusalem: “Do not fear, O Zion; do not let your hands fall limp. ¹⁷The LORD your God is among you; He is mighty to save. He will rejoice over you with gladness; He will quiet you with His love; He will rejoice over you with singing.” ¹⁸“I will gather those among you who grieve over the appointed feasts, so that you will no longer suffer reproach. ¹⁹Behold, at that time, I will deal with all who afflict you. I will save the lame and gather the scattered; and I will appoint praise and fame for the disgraced throughout the earth. ²⁰At that time I will bring you in; yes, at that time I will gather you. For I will give you fame and praise among all the peoples of the earth when I restore your captives before your very eyes,” says the LORD.

1In the second year of the reign of Darius, on the first day of the sixth month, the word of the LORD came through Haggai the prophet to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, stating ²that this is what the LORD of Hosts says: “These people say, ‘The time has not yet come to rebuild the house of the LORD.’” ³Then the word of the LORD came through Haggai the prophet, saying: ⁴“Is it a time for you yourselves to live in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins?” ⁵Now this is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Consider carefully your ways. ⁶You have planted much but harvested little. You eat but never have enough. You drink but never have your fill. You put on clothes but never get warm. You earn wages to put into a bag pierced through.” ⁷This is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Consider carefully your ways. ⁸Go up into the hills, bring down lumber, and build the house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be glorified, says the LORD. ⁹You expected much, but behold, it amounted to little. And what you brought home, I blew away. Why? declares the LORD of Hosts. Because My house still lies in ruins, while each of you is busy with his own house. ¹⁰Therefore, on account of you the heavens have withheld their dew and the earth has withheld its crops. ¹¹I have summoned a drought on the fields and on the mountains, on the grain, new wine, and oil, and on whatever the ground yields, on man and beast, and on all the labor of your hands.” ¹²Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, as well as all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the LORD their God and the words of the prophet Haggai, because the LORD their God had sent him. So the people feared the LORD. ¹³Haggai, the messenger of the LORD, delivered the message of the LORD to the people: “I am with you,” declares the LORD. ¹⁴So the LORD stirred the spirit of Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, as well as the spirit of all the remnant of the people. And they came and began the work on the house of the LORD of Hosts, their God, ¹⁵on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month, in the second year of King Darius.

2On the twenty-first day of the seventh month, the word of the LORD came through Haggai the prophet, saying: ²“Speak to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and also to the remnant of the people. Ask them, ³‘Who is left among you who saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you now? Does it not appear to you like nothing in comparison?’ ⁴But now be strong, O Zerubbabel, declares the LORD. Be strong, O Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest. And be strong, all you people of the land, declares the LORD. Work! For I am with you, declares the LORD of Hosts. ⁵This is the promise I made to you when you came out of Egypt. And My Spirit remains among you; do not be afraid.” ⁶For this is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Once more, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. ⁷I will shake all the nations, and they will come with all their treasures, and I will fill this house with glory, says the LORD of Hosts. ⁸The silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine, declares the LORD of Hosts. ⁹The latter glory of this house will be greater than the former, says the LORD of Hosts. And in this place I will provide peace, declares the LORD of Hosts.” ¹⁰On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of the LORD came to Haggai the prophet, saying, ¹¹“This is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘Ask the priests for a ruling. ¹²If a man carries consecrated meat in the fold of his garment, and it touches bread, stew, wine, oil, or any other food, does that item become holy?’” “No,” replied the priests. ¹³So Haggai asked, “If one who is defiled by contact with a corpse touches any of these, does it become defiled?” “Yes, it becomes defiled,” the priests answered. ¹⁴Then Haggai replied, “So it is with this people and this nation before Me, declares the LORD, and so it is with every work of their hands; whatever they offer there is defiled. ¹⁵Now consider carefully from this day forward: Before one stone was placed on another in the temple of the LORD, ¹⁶from that time, when one came expecting a heap of twenty ephahs of grain, there were but ten. When one came to the winepress to draw out fifty baths, there were but twenty. ¹⁷I struck you—all the work of your hands—with blight, mildew, and hail, but you did not turn to Me, declares the LORD. ¹⁸Consider carefully from this day forward—from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, the day the foundation of the LORD’s temple was laid—consider carefully: ¹⁹Is there still seed in the barn? The vine, the fig, the pomegranate, and the olive tree have not yet yielded fruit. But from this day on, I will bless you.” ²⁰For the second time that day, the twenty-fourth day of the month, the word of the LORD came to Haggai, saying, ²¹“Tell Zerubbabel governor of Judah that I am about to shake the heavens and the earth: ²²I will overturn royal thrones and destroy the power of the kingdoms of the nations. I will overturn chariots and their riders; horses and their riders will fall, each by the sword of his brother. ²³On that day, declares the LORD of Hosts, I will take you, My servant, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, declares the LORD, and I will make you like My signet ring, for I have chosen you, declares the LORD of Hosts.”