Day 361 reading

Wisdom·Proverbs 30:18–28

¹⁸There are three things too wonderful for me, four that I cannot understand: ¹⁹the way of an eagle in the sky, the way of a snake on a rock, the way of a ship at sea, and the way of a man with a maiden. ²⁰This is the way of an adulteress: She eats and wipes her mouth and says, ‘I have done nothing wrong.’ ²¹Under three things the earth trembles, under four it cannot bear up: ²²a servant who becomes king, a fool who is filled with food, ²³an unloved woman who marries, and a maidservant who supplants her mistress. ²⁴Four things on earth are small, yet they are exceedingly wise: ²⁵The ants are creatures of little strength, yet they store up their food in the summer; ²⁶the rock badgers are creatures of little power, yet they make their homes in the rocks; ²⁷the locusts have no king, yet they all advance in formation; ²⁸and the lizard can be caught in one’s hands, yet it is found in the palaces of kings.

New Testament·Revelation 18

¹After this I saw another angel descending from heaven with great authority, and the earth was illuminated by his glory. ²And he cried out in a mighty voice: “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a lair for demons and a haunt for every unclean spirit, every unclean bird, and every detestable beast. ³All the nations have drunk the wine of the passion of her immorality. The kings of the earth were immoral with her, and the merchants of the earth have grown wealthy from the extravagance of her luxury.” ⁴Then I heard another voice from heaven say: “Come out of her, My people, so that you will not share in her sins or contract any of her plagues. ⁵For her sins are piled up to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities. ⁶Give back to her as she has done to others; pay her back double for what she has done; mix her a double portion in her own cup. ⁷As much as she has glorified herself and lived in luxury, give her the same measure of torment and grief. In her heart she says, ‘I sit as queen; I am not a widow and will never see grief.’ ⁸Therefore her plagues will come in one day— death and grief and famine— and she will be consumed by fire, for mighty is the Lord God who judges her.” ⁹Then the kings of the earth who committed sexual immorality and lived in luxury with her will weep and wail at the sight of the smoke rising from the fire that consumes her. ¹⁰In fear of her torment, they will stand at a distance and cry out: “Woe, woe to the great city, the mighty city of Babylon! For in a single hour your judgment has come.” ¹¹And the merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her, because there is no one left to buy their cargo— ¹²cargo of gold, silver, precious stones, and pearls; of fine linen, purple, silk, and scarlet; of all kinds of citron wood and every article of ivory, precious wood, bronze, iron, and marble; ¹³of cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh, and frankincense; of wine, olive oil, fine flour, and wheat; of cattle, sheep, horses, and chariots; of slaves and souls of men. ¹⁴And they will say: “The fruit of your soul’s desire has departed from you; all your luxury and splendor have vanished, never to be seen again.” ¹⁵The merchants who sold these things and grew their wealth from her will stand at a distance, in fear of her torment. They will weep and mourn, ¹⁶saying: “Woe, woe to the great city, clothed in fine linen and purple and scarlet, adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls! ¹⁷For in a single hour such fabulous wealth has been destroyed!” Every shipmaster, passenger, and sailor, and all who make their living from the sea, will stand at a distance ¹⁸and cry out at the sight of the smoke rising from the fire that consumes her. “What city was ever like this great city?” they will exclaim. ¹⁹Then they will throw dust on their heads as they weep and mourn and cry out: “Woe, woe to the great city, where all who had ships on the sea were enriched by her wealth! For in a single hour she has been destroyed.” ²⁰Rejoice over her, O heaven, O saints and apostles and prophets, because God has pronounced for you His judgment against her. ²¹Then a mighty angel picked up a stone the size of a great millstone and cast it into the sea, saying: “With such violence the great city of Babylon will be cast down, never to be seen again. ²²And the sound of harpists and musicians, of flute players and trumpeters, will never ring out in you again. Nor will any craftsmen of any trade be found in you again, nor the sound of a millstone be heard in you again. ²³The light of a lamp will never shine in you again, and the voices of a bride and bridegroom will never call out in you again. For your merchants were the great ones of the earth, because all the nations were deceived by your sorcery.” ²⁴And there was found in her the blood of prophets and saints, and of all who had been slain on the earth.

Old Testament·Zechariah 1–3

¹In the eighth month of the second year of Darius, the word of the LORD came to the prophet Zechariah son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo, saying: ²“The LORD was very angry with your fathers. ³So tell the people that this is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘Return to Me, declares the LORD of Hosts, and I will return to you, says the LORD of Hosts.’ ⁴Do not be like your fathers, to whom the former prophets proclaimed that this is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘Turn now from your evil ways and deeds.’ But they did not listen or pay attention to Me, declares the LORD. ⁵Where are your fathers now? And the prophets, do they live forever? ⁶But did not My words and My statutes, which I commanded My servants the prophets, overtake your fathers? They repented and said, ‘Just as the LORD of Hosts purposed to do to us according to our ways and deeds, so He has done to us.’” ⁷On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, the month of Shebat, in the second year of Darius, the word of the LORD came to the prophet Zechariah son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo. ⁸I looked out into the night and saw a man riding on a red horse. He was standing among the myrtle trees in the hollow, and behind him were red, sorrel, and white horses. ⁹“What are these, my lord?” I asked. And the angel who was speaking with me replied, “I will show you what they are.” ¹⁰Then the man standing among the myrtle trees explained, “They are the ones the LORD has sent to patrol the earth.” ¹¹And the riders answered the angel of the LORD who was standing among the myrtle trees, “We have patrolled the earth, and behold, all the earth is at rest and tranquil.” ¹²Then the angel of the LORD said, “How long, O LORD of Hosts, will You withhold mercy from Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, with which You have been angry these seventy years?” ¹³So the LORD spoke kind and comforting words to the angel who was speaking with me. ¹⁴Then the angel who was speaking with me said, “Proclaim this word: This is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘I am very jealous for Jerusalem and Zion, ¹⁵but I am fiercely angry with the nations that are at ease. For I was a little angry, but they have added to the calamity.’ ¹⁶Therefore this is what the LORD says: ‘I will return to Jerusalem with mercy, and there My house will be rebuilt, declares the LORD of Hosts, and a measuring line will be stretched out over Jerusalem.’ ¹⁷Proclaim further that this is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘My cities will again overflow with prosperity; the LORD will again comfort Zion and choose Jerusalem.’” ¹⁸Then I looked up and saw four horns. ¹⁹So I asked the angel who was speaking with me, “What are these?” And he told me, “These are the horns that have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.” ²⁰Then the LORD showed me four craftsmen. ²¹“What are these coming to do?” I asked. And He replied, “These are the horns that scattered Judah so that no one could raise his head; but the craftsmen have come to terrify them and throw down these horns of the nations that have lifted up their horns against the land of Judah to scatter it.”

2Then I lifted up my eyes and saw a man with a measuring line in his hand. ²“Where are you going?” I asked. “To measure Jerusalem,” he replied, “and to determine its width and length.” ³Then the angel who was speaking with me went out, and another angel came out to meet him ⁴and said to him, “Run and tell that young man: ‘Jerusalem will be a city without walls because of the multitude of men and livestock within it. ⁵For I will be a wall of fire around it, declares the LORD, and I will be the glory within it.’” ⁶“Get up! Get up! Flee from the land of the north,” declares the LORD, “for I have scattered you like the four winds of heaven,” declares the LORD. ⁷“Get up, O Zion! Escape, you who dwell with the Daughter of Babylon!” ⁸For this is what the LORD of Hosts says: “After His Glory has sent Me against the nations that have plundered you—for whoever touches you touches the apple of His eye— ⁹I will surely wave My hand over them, so that they will become plunder for their own servants. Then you will know that the LORD of Hosts has sent Me.” ¹⁰“Shout for joy and be glad, O Daughter of Zion, for I am coming to dwell among you,” declares the LORD. ¹¹“On that day many nations will join themselves to the LORD, and they will become My people. I will dwell among you, and you will know that the LORD of Hosts has sent Me to you. ¹²And the LORD will take possession of Judah as His portion in the Holy Land, and He will once again choose Jerusalem. ¹³Be silent before the LORD, all people, for He has roused Himself from His holy dwelling.”

3Then the angel showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, with Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him. ²And the LORD said to Satan: “The LORD rebukes you, Satan! Indeed, the LORD, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebukes you! Is not this man a firebrand snatched from the fire?” ³Now Joshua was dressed in filthy garments as he stood before the angel. ⁴So the angel said to those standing before him, “Take off his filthy clothes!” Then he said to Joshua, “See, I have removed your iniquity, and I will clothe you with splendid robes.” ⁵Then I said, “Let them put a clean turban on his head.” So a clean turban was placed on his head, and they clothed him, as the angel of the LORD stood by. ⁶Then the angel of the LORD gave this charge to Joshua: ⁷“This is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘If you walk in My ways and keep My instructions, then you will govern My house and will also have charge of My courts; and I will give you a place among these who are standing here. ⁸Hear now, O high priest Joshua, you and your companions seated before you, who are indeed a sign. For behold, I am going to bring My servant, the Branch. ⁹See the stone I have set before Joshua; on that one stone are seven eyes. Behold, I will engrave on it an inscription, declares the LORD of Hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of this land in a single day. ¹⁰On that day, declares the LORD of Hosts, you will each invite your neighbor to sit under your own vine and fig tree.’”