Bible Readings for December 27, 2015

Today our passages are Zechariah 10:1–11:17; Revelation 18:1-24; Psalm 146:1-10; and Proverbs 30:33. The readings are from the Contemporary English Version. If you find these readings helpful, please consider sending an offering directly to Cove Presbyterian Church, 3404 Main Street, Weirton, West Virginia or through PayPal. 

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Zechariah 10-11:17 (Contemporary English Version)

Zechariah 10

A Bright Future for Judah and Israel

 ¹I, the LORD, am the one    who sends storm clouds
   and showers of rain
   to make fields produce.
   So when the crops need rain,
   you should pray to me.
    ²You can't believe idols
   and fortunetellers,
   or depend on the hope
   you receive from witchcraft
   and interpreters of dreams.
   But you have tried all of these,
   and now you are like sheep
   without a shepherd.
    ³I, the LORD All-Powerful,
   am fiercely angry
   with you leaders,
   and I will punish you.
   I care for my people,
   the nation of Judah,
   and I will change
   this flock of sheep
   into charging war horses.
    ⁴From this flock will come leaders
   who will be strong
   like cornerstones and tent pegs
   and weapons of war.
    ⁵They will join in the fighting,
   and together they will trample
   their enemies like mud.
   They will fight,
   because I, the LORD,
   will be on their side.
   And they will crush
   the enemy cavalry.
    ⁶I will strengthen
   the kingdoms of Judah
   and Israel. ^[a] And I will show mercy
   because I am the LORD,
   their God.
   I will answer their prayers
   and bring them home.
   Then it will seem as though
   I had never rejected them.
    ⁷Israel ^[b] will be like a tribe of warriors
   celebrating with wine.
   When their children see this,
   they will also be happy
   because of me, the LORD.
    ⁸I will give a signal
   for them to come together
   because I have rescued them.
   And there will be as many
   as ever before.
    ⁹Although I scattered my people
   in distant countries,
   they won't forget me.
   Once their children are raised, ^[c] they will return--
    ¹⁰I will bring them home
   from Egypt and Assyria,
   then let them settle
   as far as Gilead and Lebanon,
   until the land overflows
   with them.
    ¹¹My people will go through
   an ocean of troubles,
   but I will overcome the waves
   and dry up the deepest part
   of the Nile.
   Assyria's great pride
   will be put down,
   and the power of Egypt
   will disappear.
    ¹²I'll strengthen my people
   because of who I am,
   and they will follow me.
   I, the LORD, have spoken!
   

Zechariah 11

Trouble for Israel's Enemies

 ¹Lebanon, open your gates!    Let the fire come in
   to destroy your cedar trees.
    ²Cry, you cyprus trees!
   The glorious cedars have fallen
   and are rotting.
   Cry, you oak trees of Bashan!
   The dense forest
   has been chopped down.
    ³Listen! Shepherds are crying.
   Their glorious pastures
   have been ruined.
   Listen! Lions are roaring.
   The forests of the Jordan Valley
   are no more to be found.
   

Worthless Shepherds

 ⁴The LORD my God said to me:    Tend those sheep doomed for slaughter! ⁵The people who buy and butcher them go unpunished, while everyone who sells them says, "Praise the LORD! I'm rich." Not even their shepherds have pity on them.
    ⁶Tend those sheep because I, the LORD, will no longer have pity on the people of this earth. I'll turn neighbor against neighbor and make them slaves of a king. They will bring disaster on the earth, and I'll do nothing to rescue any of them.
    ⁷So I became a shepherd of those sheep doomed to be slaughtered by the sheep dealers. ^[d] And I gave names to the two sticks I used for tending the sheep: One of them was named "Mercy" and the other "Unity." ⁸In less than a month, I became impatient with three shepherds who didn't like me, and I got rid of them. ⁹Then I said, "I refuse to be your shepherd. Let the sheep that are going to die, go on and die, and those that are going to be destroyed, go on and be destroyed. Then let the others eat one another alive." ¹⁰On that same day, I broke the stick named "Mercy" to show that the LORD had canceled his agreement with all people. ¹¹The sheep dealers who saw me knew right away that this was a message from the LORD. ^12-13I told them, "Pay me my wages, if you think you should; otherwise, forget it." So they handed me my wages, a measly thirty pieces of silver.
   Then the LORD said, "Throw the money into the treasury." ^[e] So I threw the money into the treasury at the LORD's temple. ¹⁴Then I broke the stick named "Unity" and canceled the ties between Judah and Israel. ¹⁵Next, the LORD said to me, "Act like a shepherd again--this time a worthless shepherd. ¹⁶Once more I am going to let a worthless nobody rule the land--one who won't care for the strays or search for the young or heal the sick or feed the healthy. He will just dine on the fattest sheep, leaving nothing but a few bones."
    ¹⁷You worthless shepherd,
   deserting the sheep!
   I hope a sword
   will cripple your arm
   and blind your right eye.
   

Footnotes:

1. Zechariah 10:6 Israel: The Hebrew text has "family of Joseph," the ancestor of Ephraim and Manasseh, the leading tribes of the northern kingdom (Israel).
2. Zechariah 10:7 Israel: Hebrew "Ephraim" (see the note at 9.10).
3. Zechariah 10:9 Once. . . raised: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
4. Zechariah 11:7 by the sheep dealers: One ancient translation; Hebrew "especially the weak ones."
5. Zechariah 11:12 Throw. . . treasury: Hebrew "Throw the money to the potter."

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Revelation 18:1-24 (Contemporary English Version)

Revelation 18

The Fall of Babylon

 ¹I saw another angel come from heaven. This one had great power, and the earth was bright because of his glory. ²The angel shouted,    "Fallen! Powerful Babylon
   has fallen
   and is now the home
   of demons.
   It is the den
   of every filthy spirit
   and of all unclean birds,
   and every dirty
   and hated animal.
    ³Babylon's evil and immoral wine
   has made all nations drunk.
   Every king on earth
   has slept with her,
   and every merchant on earth
   is rich
   because of
   her evil desires."
    ⁴Then I heard another voice
   from heaven shout,
   "My people, you must escape
   from Babylon.
   Don't take part in her sins
   and share her punishment.
    ⁵Her sins are piled
   as high as heaven.
   God has remembered the evil
   she has done.
    ⁶Treat her as she
   has treated others.
   Make her pay double
   for what she has done.
   Make her drink twice as much
   of what she mixed
   for others.
    ⁷That woman honored herself
   with a life of luxury.
   Reward her now
   with suffering and pain.
   "Deep in her heart
   Babylon said,
   `I am the queen!
   Never will I be a widow
   or know what it means
   to be sad.'
    ⁸And so, in a single day
   she will suffer the pain
   of sorrow, hunger, and death.
   Fire will destroy
   her dead body,
   because her judge
   is the powerful Lord God."
    ⁹Every king on earth who slept with her and shared in her luxury will mourn. They will weep, when they see the smoke from that fire. ¹⁰Her sufferings will frighten them, and they will stand at a distance and say,
   "Pity that great
   and powerful city!
   Pity Babylon!
   In a single hour
   her judgment has come."
    ¹¹Every merchant on earth will mourn, because there is no one to buy their goods. ¹²There won't be anyone to buy their gold, silver, jewels, pearls, fine linen, purple cloth, silk, scarlet cloth, sweet-smelling wood, fancy carvings of ivory and wood, as well as things made of bronze, iron, or marble. ¹³No one will buy their cinnamon, spices, incense, myrrh, frankincense, ^[a] wine, olive oil, fine flour, wheat, cattle, sheep, horses, chariots, slaves, and other humans. ¹⁴Babylon, the things
   your heart desired
   have all escaped
   from you.
   Every luxury
   and all your glory
   will be lost forever.
   You will never
   get them back.
    ¹⁵The merchants had become rich because of her. But when they saw her sufferings, they were terrified. They stood at a distance, crying and mourning. ¹⁶Then they shouted,
   "Pity the great city
   of Babylon!
   She dressed in fine linen
   and wore purple
   and scarlet cloth.
   She had jewelry
   made of gold
   and precious stones
   and pearls.
    ¹⁷Yet in a single hour
   her riches disappeared."
   Every ship captain and passenger and sailor stood at a distance, together with everyone who does business by traveling on the sea. ¹⁸When they saw the smoke from her fire, they shouted, "This was the greatest city ever!"
    ¹⁹They cried loudly, and in their sorrow they threw dust on their heads, as they said,
   "Pity the great city
   of Babylon!
   Everyone who sailed the seas
   became rich
   from her treasures.
   But in a single hour
   the city was destroyed.
    ²⁰The heavens should be happy
   with God's people
   and apostles and prophets.
   God has punished her
   for them."
    ²¹A powerful angel then picked up a huge stone and threw it into the sea. The angel said,
   "This is how the great city
   of Babylon
   will be thrown down,
   never to rise again.
    ²²The music of harps and singers
   and of flutes and trumpets
   will no longer be heard.
   No workers will ever
   set up shop in that city,
   and the sound
   of grinding grain
   will be silenced forever.
    ²³Lamps will no longer shine
   anywhere in Babylon,
   and couples will never again
   say wedding vows there.
   Her merchants ruled
   the earth,
   and by her witchcraft
   she fooled all nations.
    ²⁴On the streets of Babylon
   is found the blood
   of God's people
   and of his prophets,
   and everyone else."
   

Footnotes:

1. Revelation 18:13 myrrh, frankincense: Myrrh was a valuable sweet-smelling powder often used in perfume. Frankincense was a valuable powder that was burned to make a sweet smell.

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Psalm 146:1-10 (Contemporary English Version)

Psalm 146

Shout Praises to the LORD

 ¹Shout praises to the LORD!    With all that I am,
   I will shout his praises.
    ²I will sing
   and praise
   the LORD God
   for as long as I live.
    ³You can't depend on anyone,
   not even a great leader.
    ⁴Once they die and are buried,
   that will be the end
   of all their plans.
    ⁵The LORD God of Jacob blesses
   everyone
   who trusts him
   and depends on him.
    ⁶God made heaven and earth;
   he created the sea
   and everything else.
   God always keeps his word.
    ⁷He gives justice to the poor
   and food to the hungry.
   The LORD sets prisoners free
    ⁸and heals blind eyes.
   He gives a helping hand
   to everyone who falls.
   The LORD loves good people
    ⁹and looks after strangers.
   He defends the rights
   of orphans and widows,
   but destroys the wicked.
    ¹⁰The LORD God of Zion
   will rule forever!
   Shout praises to the LORD!

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Proverbs 30:33 (Contemporary English Version)

³³If you churn milk
   you get butter;
   if you pound on your nose,
   you get blood--
   and if you stay angry,
   you get in trouble.

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Verse of the Day
“[(By David.)][The LORD's Wonderful Love]With all my heart I praise the LORD, and with all that I am I praise his holy name! With all my heart I praise the LORD! I will never forget how kind he has been.” - Psalm 103:1-2

Today's passage is from the Contemporary English Version.

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Thought for the Day

English essayist, poet, and author and the 28th Master of Magdalene College, Cambridge, A. C. Benson wrote, “People seldom refuse help, if one offers it in the right way.”