ZECHARIAH 4:1-5:11
REVELATION 14:1-20
PSALM 142:1-7
PROVERBS 30:21-23
ZECHARIAH 4:1-5:11
Then the angel who had been talking with me [Zechariah] returned and woke me, as though I had been asleep. 2 " What do you see now?" he asked. I answered, " I see a solid gold lampstand with a bowl of oil on top of it. Around the bowl are seven lamps, each one having seven spouts with wicks. 3 And I see two olive trees, one on each side of the bowl." 4 Then I asked the angel, " What are these, my lord? What do they mean?" 5 " Don't you know?" the angel asked. " No, my lord," I replied. 6 Then he said to me, " This is what the LORD says to Zerubbabel: It is not by force nor by strength, but by my Spirit, says the LORD Almighty. 7 Nothing, not even a mighty mountain, will stand in Zerubbabel's way; it will flatten out before him! Then Zerubbabel will set the final stone of the Temple in place, and the people will shout: ` May God bless it! May God bless it!' "8 Then another message came to me from the LORD: 9 " Zerubbabel is the one who laid the foundation of this Temple, and he will complete it. Then you will know that the LORD Almighty has sent me. 10 Do not despise these small beginnings, for the LORD rejoices to see the work begin, to see the plumb line in Zerubbabel's hand. For these seven lamps represent the eyes of the LORD that search all around the world." 11 Then I asked the angel, " What are these two olive trees on each side of the lampstand, 12 and what are the two olive branches that pour out golden oil through two gold tubes?" 13 " Don't you know?" he asked. " No, my lord," I replied. 14 Then he said to me, " They represent the two anointed ones who assist the Lord of all the earth."5:1 I LOOKED up again and saw a scroll flying through the air. 2 " What do you see?" the angel asked. " I see a flying scroll," I replied. " It appears to be about thirty feet long and fifteen feet wide."3 Then he said to me, " This scroll contains the curse that is going out over the entire land. One side says that those who steal will be banished from the land; the other side says that those who swear falsely will be banished from the land. 4 And this is what the LORD Almighty says: I am sending this curse into the house of every thief and into the house of everyone who swears falsely by my name. And my curse will remain in that house until it is completely destroyed--even its timbers and stones." 5 Then the angel who was talking with me came forward and said, " Look up! Something is appearing in the sky." 6 " What is it?" I asked.He replied, " It is a basket for measuring grain, and it is filled with the sins of everyone throughout the land." 7 When the heavy lead cover was lifted off the basket, there was a woman sitting inside it. 8 The angel said, " The woman's name is Wickedness," and he pushed her back into the basket and closed the heavy lid again.9 Then I looked up and saw two women flying toward us, with wings gliding on the wind. Their wings were like those of a stork, and they picked up the basket and flew with it into the sky. 10 " Where are they taking the basket?" I asked the angel. 11 He replied, " To the land of Babylonia, where they will build a temple for the basket. And when the temple is ready, they will set the basket there on its pedestal."
REVELATION 14:1-20
Then I [John] saw the Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with him were 144,000 who had his name and his Father's name written on their foreheads. 2 And I heard a sound from heaven like the roaring of a great waterfall or the rolling of mighty thunder. It was like the sound of many harpists playing together. 3 This great choir sang a wonderful new song in front of the throne of God and before the four living beings and the twenty-four elders. And no one could learn this song except those 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. 4 For they are spiritually undefiled, pure as virgins, following the Lamb wherever he goes. They have been purchased from among the people on the earth as a special offering to God and to the Lamb. 5 No falsehood can be charged against them; they are blameless. 6 And I saw another angel flying through the heavens, carrying the everlasting Good News to preach to the people who belong to this world--to every nation, tribe, language, and people. 7 " Fear God," he shouted. " Give glory to him. For the time has come when he will sit as judge. Worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all the springs of water." 8 Then another angel followed him through the skies, shouting, " Babylon is fallen--that great city is fallen--because she seduced the nations of the world and made them drink the wine of her passionate immorality."9 Then a third angel followed them, shouting, " Anyone who worships the beast and his statue or who accepts his mark on the forehead or the hand 10 must drink the wine of God's wrath. It is poured out undiluted into God's cup of wrath. And they will be tormented with fire and burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and the Lamb. 11 The smoke of their torment rises forever and ever, and they will have no relief day or night, for they have worshiped the beast and his statue and have accepted the mark of his name. 12 Let this encourage God's holy people to endure persecution patiently and remain firm to the end, obeying his commands and trusting in Jesus." 13 And I heard a voice from heaven saying, " Write this down: Blessed are those who die in the Lord from now on. Yes, says the Spirit, they are blessed indeed, for they will rest from all their toils and trials; for their good deeds follow them!" 14 Then I saw the Son of Man sitting on a white cloud. He had a gold crown on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand. 15 Then an angel came from the Temple and called out in a loud voice to the one sitting on the cloud, " Use the sickle, for the time has come for you to harvest; the crop is ripe on the earth." 16 So the one sitting on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the whole earth was harvested.17 After that, another angel came from the Temple in heaven, and he also had a sharp sickle. 18 Then another angel, who has power to destroy the world with fire, shouted to the angel with the sickle, " Use your sickle now to gather the clusters of grapes from the vines of the earth, for they are fully ripe for judgment." 19 So the angel swung his sickle on the earth and loaded the grapes into the great winepress of God's wrath. 20 And the grapes were trodden in the winepress outside the city, and blood flowed from the winepress in a stream about 180 miles long and as high as a horse's bridle.
PSALM 142:1-7
A psalm of David, regarding his experience in the cave. A prayer.
1 I cry out to the LORD;
I plead for the LORD's mercy.
2 I pour out my complaints before him
and tell him all my troubles.
3 For I am overwhelmed,
and you alone know the way I should turn.
Wherever I go,
my enemies have set traps for me.
4 I look for someone to come and help me,
but no one gives me a passing thought!
No one will help me;
no one cares a bit what happens to me.
5 Then I pray to you, O LORD.
I say, " You are my place of refuge.
You are all I really want in life.
6 Hear my cry,
for I am very low.
Rescue me from my persecutors,
for they are too strong for me.
7 Bring me out of prison
so I can thank you.
The godly will crowd around me,
for you treat me kindly."
PROVERBS 30:21-23
There are three things that make the earth tremble--no, four it cannot endure: a slave who becomes a king, an overbearing fool who prospers, a bitter woman who finally gets a husband, a servant girl who supplants her mistress.
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