HAGGAI 1:1-2:23
REVELATION 11:1-19
PSALM 139:1-24
PROVERBS 30:15-16
HAGGAI 1:1-2:23
On August 29 of the second year of King Darius's reign, the LORD gave a message through the prophet Haggai to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Jeshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest. 2 " This is what the LORD Almighty says: The people are saying, ` The time has not yet come to rebuild the LORD's house--the Temple.' " 3 So the LORD sent this message through the prophet Haggai: 4 " Why are you living in luxurious houses while my house lies in ruins? 5 This is what the LORD Almighty says: Consider how things are going for you! 6 You have planted much but harvested little. You have food to eat, but not enough to fill you up. You have wine to drink, but not enough to satisfy your thirst. You have clothing to wear, but not enough to keep you warm. Your wages disappear as though you were putting them in pockets filled with holes! 7 " This is what the LORD Almighty says: Consider how things are going for you! 8 Now go up into the hills, bring down timber, and rebuild my house. Then I will take pleasure in it and be honored, says the LORD. 9 You hoped for rich harvests, but they were poor. And when you brought your harvest home, I blew it away. Why? Because my house lies in ruins, says the LORD Almighty, while you are all busy building your own fine houses. 10 That is why the heavens have withheld the dew and the earth has withheld its crops. 11 I have called for a drought on your fields and hills--a drought to wither the grain and grapes and olives and all your other crops, a drought to starve both you and your cattle and to ruin everything you have worked so hard to get." 12 Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Jeshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the whole remnant of God's people obeyed the message from the LORD their God. It had been delivered by the prophet Haggai, whom the LORD their God had sent, and the people worshiped the LORD in earnest. 13 Then Haggai, the LORD's messenger, gave the people this message from the LORD: " I am with you, says the LORD!" 14 So the LORD sparked the enthusiasm of Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, Jeshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the whole remnant of God's people. They came and began their work on the house of the LORD Almighty, their God. 15 This was on September 21 of the second year of King Darius's reign.2:1 THEN on October 17 of that same year, the LORD sent another message through the prophet Haggai. 2 " Say this to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Jeshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to the remnant of God's people there in the land: 3 Is there anyone who can remember this house--the Temple--as it was before? In comparison, how does it look to you now? It must seem like nothing at all! 4 But now take courage, Zerubbabel, says the LORD. Take courage, Jeshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest. Take courage, all you people still left in the land, says the LORD. Take courage and work, for I am with you, says the LORD Almighty. 5 My Spirit remains among you, just as I promised when you came out of Egypt. So do not be afraid. 6 " For this is what the LORD Almighty says: In just a little while I will again shake the heavens and the earth. I will shake the oceans and the dry land, too. 7 I will shake all the nations, and the treasures of all the nations will come to this Temple. I will fill this place with glory, says the LORD Almighty. 8 The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, says the LORD Almighty. 9 The future glory of this Temple will be greater than its past glory, says the LORD Almighty. And in this place I will bring peace. I, the LORD Almighty, have spoken!" 10 On December 18 of the second year of King Darius's reign, the LORD sent this message to the prophet Haggai: 11 " This is what the LORD Almighty says! Ask the priests this question about the law: 12 If one of you is carrying a holy sacrifice in his robes and happens to brush against some bread or stew, wine or oil, or any other kind of food, will it also become holy?" The priests replied, " No." 13 Then Haggai asked, " But if someone becomes ceremonially unclean by touching a dead person and then brushes against any of the things mentioned, will it be defiled?" And the priests answered, " Yes." 14 Then Haggai said, " That is how it is with this people and this nation, says the LORD. Everything they do and everything they offer is defiled. 15 So think about this from now on--consider how things were going for you before you began to lay the foundation of the LORD's Temple. 16 When you hoped for a twenty-bushel crop, you harvested only ten. When you expected to draw fifty gallons from the winepress, you found only twenty. 17 I sent blight and mildew and hail to destroy all the produce of your labor. Yet, even so, you refused to return to me, says the LORD.18 " On this eighteenth day of December--the day when the foundation of the LORD's Temple was laid--carefully consider this: 19 I am giving you a promise now while the seed is still in the barn, before you have harvested your grain and before the grapevine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive tree have produced their crops. From this day onward I will bless you." 20 The LORD sent this second message to Haggai on December 18: 21 " Tell Zerubbabel, the governor of Judah, that I am about to shake the heavens and the earth. 22 I will overthrow royal thrones, destroying the power of foreign kingdoms. I will overturn their chariots and charioteers. The horses will fall, and their riders will kill each other. 23 But when this happens, says the LORD Almighty, I will honor you, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, my servant. I will treat you like a signet ring on my finger, says the LORD, for I have specially chosen you. I, the LORD Almighty, have spoken!"
REVELATION 11:1-19
Then I [John] was given a measuring stick, and I was told, " Go and measure the Temple of God and the altar, and count the number of worshipers. 2 But do not measure the outer courtyard, for it has been turned over to the nations. They will trample the holy city for 42 months. 3 And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will be clothed in sackcloth and will prophesy during those 1,260 days." 4 These two prophets are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of all the earth. 5 If anyone tries to harm them, fire flashes from the mouths of the prophets and consumes their enemies. This is how anyone who tries to harm them must die. 6 They have power to shut the skies so that no rain will fall for as long as they prophesy. And they have the power to turn the rivers and oceans into blood, and to send every kind of plague upon the earth as often as they wish.7 When they complete their testimony, the beast that comes up out of the bottomless pit will declare war against them. He will conquer them and kill them. 8 And their bodies will lie in the main street of Jerusalem, the city which is called " Sodom" and " Egypt," the city where their Lord was crucified. 9 And for three and a half days, all peoples, tribes, languages, and nations will come to stare at their bodies. No one will be allowed to bury them. 10 All the people who belong to this world will give presents to each other to celebrate the death of the two prophets who had tormented them. 11 But after three and a half days, the spirit of life from God entered them, and they stood up! And terror struck all who were staring at them. 12 Then a loud voice shouted from heaven, " Come up here!" And they rose to heaven in a cloud as their enemies watched. 13 And in the same hour there was a terrible earthquake that destroyed a tenth of the city. Seven thousand people died in that earthquake. And everyone who did not die was terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven. 14 The second terror is past, but look, now the third terror is coming quickly. 15 Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices shouting in heaven: " The whole world has now become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign forever and ever." 16 And the twenty-four elders sitting on their thrones before God fell on their faces and worshiped him. 17 And they said, " We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty,
the one who is and who always was,
for now you have assumed your great power
and have begun to reign.
18 The nations were angry with you,
but now the time of your wrath has come.
It is time to judge the dead and reward your servants.
You will reward your prophets and your holy people,
all who fear your name, from the least to the greatest.
And you will destroy all who have caused destruction on the earth."
19 Then, in heaven, the Temple of God was opened and the Ark of his covenant could be seen inside the Temple. Lightning flashed, thunder crashed and roared; there was a great hailstorm, and the world was shaken by a mighty earthquake.
PSALM 139:1-24
For the choir director: A psalm of David.
1 O LORD, you have examined my heart
and know everything about me.
2 You know when I sit down or stand up.
You know my every thought when far away.
3 You chart the path ahead of me
and tell me where to stop and rest.
Every moment you know where I am.
4 You know what I am going to say
even before I say it, LORD.
5 You both precede and follow me.
You place your hand of blessing on my head.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too great for me to know!
7 I can never escape from your spirit!
I can never get away from your presence!
8 If I go up to heaven, you are there;
if I go down to the place of the dead, you are there.
9 If I ride the wings of the morning,
if I dwell by the farthest oceans,
10 even there your hand will guide me,
and your strength will support me.
11 I could ask the darkness to hide me
and the light around me to become night--
12 but even in darkness I cannot hide from you.
To you the night shines as bright as day.
Darkness and light are both alike to you.
13 You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body
and knit me together in my mother's womb.
14 Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!
Your workmanship is marvelous--and how well I know it.
15 You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion,
as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.
16 You saw me before I was born.
Every day of my life was recorded in your book.
Every moment was laid out
before a single day had passed.
17 How precious are your thoughts about me, O God!
They are innumerable!
18 I can't even count them;
they outnumber the grains of sand!
And when I wake up in the morning,
you are still with me!
19 O God, if only you would destroy the wicked!
Get out of my life, you murderers!
20 They blaspheme you;
your enemies take your name in vain.
21 O LORD, shouldn't I hate those who hate you?
Shouldn't I despise those who resist you?
22 Yes, I hate them with complete hatred,
for your enemies are my enemies.
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my thoughts.
24 Point out anything in me that offends you,
and lead me along the path of everlasting life.
PROVERBS 30:15-16
The leech has two suckers that cry out, " More, more!" There are three other things--no, four!--that are never satisfied: the grave, the barren womb, the thirsty desert, the blazing fire.
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