Bible Readings for December 9, 2015

Today our passages are Joel 1:1–3:21; Revelation 1:1-20; Psalm 128:1-6; and Proverbs 29:18. 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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Joel 1-3:21 (Contemporary English Version)

Joel 1

 ¹I am Joel the son of Pethuel.    And this is the message
   the LORD gave to me.
   

Locusts Cover the Land

 ²Listen, you leaders    and everyone else
   in the land.
   Has anything like this
   ever happened before?
    ³Tell our children!
   Let it be told
   to our grandchildren
   and their children too.
    ⁴Swarm after swarm of locusts ^[a] has attacked our crops,
   eating everything in sight.
    ⁵Sober up, you drunkards!
   Cry long and loud;
   your wine supply is gone.
    ⁶A powerful nation ^[b] with countless troops
   has invaded our land.
   They have the teeth and jaws
   of powerful lions.
    ⁷Our grapevines and fig trees
   are stripped bare;
   only naked branches remain.
    ⁸Grieve like a young woman
   mourning for the man
   she was to marry.
    ⁹Offerings of grain and wine
   are no longer brought
   to the LORD's temple.
   His servants, the priests,
   are deep in sorrow.
    ¹⁰Barren fields mourn;
   grain, grapes, and olives
   are scorched and shriveled.
    ¹¹Mourn for our farms
   and our vineyards!
   There's no wheat or barley
   growing in our fields.
    ¹²Grapevines have dried up
   and so has every tree--
   figs and pomegranates, ^[c] date palms and apples.
   All happiness has faded away.
   

Return to God

 ¹³Mourn, you priests who serve    at the altar of my God.
   Spend your days and nights
   wearing sackcloth. ^[d] Offerings of grain and wine
   are no longer brought
   to the LORD's temple.
    ¹⁴Tell the leaders and people
   to come together
   at the temple.
   Order them to go without eating ^[e] and to pray sincerely.
    ¹⁵We are in for trouble!
   Soon the LORD All-Powerful
   will bring disaster.
    ¹⁶Our food is already gone;
   there's no more celebrating
   at the temple of our God.
    ¹⁷Seeds dry up in the ground; ^[f] no harvest is possible.
   Our barns are in bad shape,
   with no grain
   to store in them.
    ¹⁸Our cattle wander aimlessly,
   moaning for lack of pasture,
   and sheep are suffering. ^{[g] 19}I cry out to you, LORD.
   Grasslands and forests are eaten
   by the scorching heat.
    ²⁰Wild animals have no water
   because of you;
   rivers and streams are dry,
   and pastures are parched.
   

Joel 2

Locusts and an Enemy Army

 ¹Sound the trumpet on Zion,    the LORD's sacred hill.
   Warn everyone to tremble!
   The judgment day of the LORD
   is coming soon.
    ²It will be dark and gloomy
   with storm clouds overhead.
   Troops will cover the mountains
   like thunderclouds.
   No army this powerful
   has ever been gathered before
   or will ever be again.
    ³Fiery flames surround them;
   no one escapes.
   Before they invaded,
   the land was like Eden;
   now only a desert remains.
    ⁴They look like horses
   and charge like cavalry.
    ⁵They roar over mountains
   like noisy chariots,
   or a mighty army
   ready for battle.
   They are a forest fire
   that feasts on straw.
    ⁶The very sight of them
   is frightening. ^{[h] 7}They climb over walls
   like warriors;
   they march in columns
   and never turn aside.
    ⁸They charge straight ahead,
   without pushing each other;
   even arrows and spears
   cannot make them retreat.
    ⁹They swarm over city walls
   and enter our homes;
   they crawl in through windows,
   just like thieves.
    ¹⁰They make the earth tremble
   and the heavens shake;
   the sun and moon turn dark,
   and stars stop shining.
    ¹¹The LORD God leads this army
   of countless troops,
   and they obey his commands.
   The day of his judgment
   is so terrible
   that no one can stand it.
   

The LORD's Invitation

 ¹²The LORD said:    It isn't too late.
   You can still return to me
   with all your heart.
   Start crying and mourning!
   Go without eating.
    ¹³Don't rip your clothes
   to show your sorrow.
   Instead, turn back to me
   with broken hearts.
   I am merciful, kind, and caring.
   I don't easily lose my temper,
   and I don't like to punish.
    ¹⁴I am the LORD your God.
   Perhaps I will change my mind
   and treat you with mercy.
   Then you will be blessed
   with enough grain and wine
   for offering sacrifices to me.
    ¹⁵Sound the trumpet on Zion!
   Call the people together.
   Show your sorrow
   by going without food.
    ¹⁶Make sure that everyone
   is fit to worship me. ^[i] Bring adults, children, babies,
   and even bring newlyweds
   from their festivities.
    ¹⁷Tell my servants, the priests,
   to cry inside the temple
   and to offer this prayer
   near the altar: ^[j] "Save your people, LORD God!
   Don't let foreign nations
   make jokes about us.
   Don't let them laugh and ask,
   `Where is your God?' "
   

The LORD Will Bless the Land

 ¹⁸The LORD was deeply concerned    about his land
   and had pity on his people.
    ¹⁹In answer to their prayers
   he said,
   "I will give you enough grain,
   wine, and olive oil
   to satisfy your needs.
   No longer will I let you
   be insulted by the nations.
    ²⁰An army attacked from the north,
   but I will chase it
   into a scorching desert.
   There it will rot and stink
   from the Dead Sea
   to the Mediterranean."
   The LORD works wonders
    ²¹and does great things.
   So tell the soil to celebrate
    ²²and wild animals
   to stop being afraid.
   Grasslands are green again;
   fruit trees and fig trees
   are loaded with fruit.
   Grapevines are covered
   with grapes.
    ²³People of Zion, ^[k] celebrate in honor
   of the LORD your God!
   He is generous and has sent
   the autumn and spring rains
   in the proper seasons. ^{[l] 24}Grain will cover
   your threshing places;
   jars will overflow
   with wine and olive oil.
   

The LORD Will Rescue His People

 ²⁵I, the LORD your God,    will make up for the losses
   caused by those swarms
   and swarms of locusts ^[m] I sent to attack you.
    ²⁶My people, you will eat
   until you are satisfied.
   Then you will praise me
   for the wonderful things
   I have done.
   Never again will you
   be put to shame.
    ²⁷Israel, you will know
   that I stand at your side.
   I am the LORD your God--
   there are no other gods.
   Never again will you
   be put to shame.
   
   

The LORD Will Work Wonders

The LORD said:

 ²⁸Later, I will give my Spirit    to everyone.
   Your sons and daughters
   will prophesy.
   Your old men
   will have dreams,
   and your young men
   will see visions.
    ²⁹In those days I will even give
   my Spirit to my servants,
   both men and women.
    ³⁰I will work wonders
   in the sky above
   and on the earth below.
   There will be blood and fire
   and clouds of smoke.
    ³¹The sun will turn dark,
   and the moon
   will be as red as blood
   before that great
   and terrible day
   when I appear.
    ³²Then the LORD will save everyone who faithfully worships him. He has promised there will be survivors on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and among them will be his chosen ones.
   

Joel 3

The LORD Will Judge the Nations

 ¹At that time I, the LORD, will make Judah and Jerusalem prosperous again. ²Then in Judgment Valley ^[n] I will bring together the nations that scattered my people Israel everywhere in the world, and I will bring charges against those nations. They divided up my land ³and gambled to see who would get my people; they sold boys and girls to pay for prostitutes and wine. ⁴You people of Tyre and Sidon ^[o] and you Philistines, why are you doing this? Are you trying to get even with me? I'll strike back before you know what's happened. ⁵You've taken my prized possessions, including my silver and gold, and carried them off to your temples. ^{[p] 6}You have dragged the people of Judah and Jerusalem from their land and sold them to the Greeks. ⁷But I'll make the people of Judah determined to come home, and what happened to them will happen to you. ⁸I'll hand over your sons and daughters to the people of Judah, and they will sell them to the Sabeans, ^[q] who live far away. I, the LORD, have spoken!

Judgment in Judgment Valley

 ⁹Say to the nations:    "Get ready for war!
   Be eager to fight.
   Line up for battle
   and prepare to attack.
    ¹⁰Make swords out of plows
   and spears out of garden tools.
   Strengthen every weakling."
    ¹¹Hurry, all you nations!
   Come quickly.
   Ask the LORD to bring
   his warriors along. ^{[r] 12}You must come now
   to Judgment Valley, ^[s] where the LORD will judge
   the surrounding nations.
    ¹³They are a field of ripe crops.
   Bring in the harvest!
   They are grapes piled high.
   Start trampling them now! ^[t] If our enemy's sins were wine,
   every jar would overflow.
    ¹⁴Crowds fill Decision Valley.
   The judgment day of the LORD
   will soon be here--
    ¹⁵no light from the sun or moon,
   and stars no longer shine.
    ¹⁶From the heart of Jerusalem
   the LORD roars like a lion,
   shaking the earth and sky.
   But the LORD is a fortress,
   a place of safety
   for his people Israel.
   

God Will Bless His People

 ¹⁷I am the LORD your God.    And you will know I live on Zion,
   my sacred hill,
   because Jerusalem will be sacred,
   untouched by foreign troops.
    ¹⁸On that day, fruitful vineyards
   will cover the mountains.
   And your cattle and goats
   that graze on the hills
   will produce a lot of milk.
   Streams in Judah
   will never run dry;
   a stream from my house
   will flow in Acacia Valley. ^{[u] 19}Egypt and Edom were cruel
   and brutal to Judah,
   without a reason.
   Now their countries will become
   a barren desert,
    ²⁰but Judah and Jerusalem
   will always have people.
    ²¹I, the LORD, live on Mount Zion.
   I will punish the guilty
   and defend the innocent. ^[v]

Footnotes:

1. Joel 1:4 Swarm. . . locusts: The Hebrew text lists either four kinds of locusts or locusts in four stages of their development. Locusts are a type of grasshopper that comes in swarms and causes great damage to plant life.
2. Joel 1:6 A powerful nation: The swarms of locusts.
3. Joel 1:12 pomegranates: A bright red fruit that looks like an apple.
4. Joel 1:13 sackcloth: A rough, dark-colored cloth made from goat or camel hair and used to make grain sacks. It was worn in times of trouble or sorrow.
5. Joel 1:14 go without eating: As a way of showing sorrow for their sins.
6. Joel 1:17 Seeds. . . ground: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
7. Joel 1:18 sheep are suffering: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
8. Joel 2:6 The very. . . frightening: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
9. Joel 2:16 fit to worship me: This required going through certain kinds of ceremonies.
10. Joel 2:17 inside. . . altar: The Hebrew text has "between the porch and the altar," which is the place where the priests usually prayed for the people.
11. Joel 2:23 Zion: Jerusalem.
12. Joel 2:23 in. . . seasons: Or "as he used to do."
13. Joel 2:25 swarms. . . locusts: See the note at 1.4.
14. Joel 3:2 Judgment Valley: The Hebrew text has "Jehoshaphat Valley," which means "Valley of the LORD's Judgment." This valley is mentioned here and in verse 12, but nowhere else in the Bible.
15. Joel 3:4 Tyre and Sidon: Two Phoenician coastal cities.
16. Joel 3:5 temples: Or "palaces."
17. Joel 3:8 Sabeans: The people of Seba, a region in southwest Arabia.
18. Joel 3:11 Ask. . . along: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
19. Joel 3:12 Judgment Valley: See the note at 3.2.
20. Joel 3:13 grapes. . . now: People trampled grapes with their bare feet to squeeze out the juice.
21. Joel 3:18 Acacia Valley: In the plains of Moab, northeast of the Dead Sea.
22. Joel 3:21 I will. . . innocent: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.

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Revelation 1:1-20 (Contemporary English Version)

Revelation 1

 ¹This is what God showed to Jesus Christ, so that he could tell his servants what must happen soon. Christ then sent his angel with the message to his servant John. ²And John told everything that he had seen about God's message and about what Jesus Christ had said and done.     ³God will bless everyone who reads this prophecy to others, ^[a] and he will bless everyone who hears and obeys it. The time is almost here. ⁴From John to the seven churches in Asia. ^[b] I pray that you
   will be blessed
   with kindness and peace
   from God, who is and was
   and is coming.
   May you receive
   kindness and peace
   from the seven spirits
   before the throne of God.
    ⁵May kindness and peace
   be yours
   from Jesus Christ,
   the faithful witness.
   Jesus was the first
   to conquer death,
   and he is the ruler
   of all earthly kings.
   Christ loves us,
   and by his blood
   he set us free
   from our sins.
    ⁶He lets us rule as kings
   and serve God his Father
   as priests.
   To him be glory and power
   forever and ever! Amen.
    ⁷Look! He is coming
   with the clouds.
   Everyone will see him,
   even the ones who stuck
   a sword through him.
   All people on earth
   will weep because of him.
   Yes, it will happen! Amen.
    ⁸The Lord God says, "I am Alpha and Omega, ^[c] the one who is and was and is coming. I am God All-Powerful!"

A Vision of the Risen Lord

 ⁹I am John, a follower together with all of you. We suffer because Jesus is our king, but he gives us the strength to endure. I was sent to Patmos Island, ^[d] because I had preached God's message and had told about Jesus. ¹⁰On the Lord's day the Spirit took control of me, and behind me I heard a loud voice that sounded like a trumpet. ¹¹The voice said, "Write in a book what you see. Then send it to the seven churches in Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea." ^{[e] 12}When I turned to see who was speaking to me, I saw seven gold lampstands. ¹³There with the lampstands was someone who seemed to be the Son of Man. ^[f] He was wearing a robe that reached down to his feet, and a gold cloth was wrapped around his chest. ¹⁴His head and his hair were white as wool or snow, and his eyes looked like flames of fire. ¹⁵His feet were glowing like bronze being heated in a furnace, and his voice sounded like the roar of a waterfall. ¹⁶He held seven stars in his right hand, and a sharp double-edged sword was coming from his mouth. His face was shining as bright as the sun at noon. ¹⁷When I saw him, I fell at his feet like a dead person. But he put his right hand on me and said:    Don't be afraid! I am the first, the last, ¹⁸and the living one. I died, but now I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys to death and the world of the dead. ^{[g] 19}Write what you have seen and what is and what will happen after these things. ²⁰I will explain the mystery of the seven stars that you saw at my right side and the seven gold lampstands. The seven stars are the angels ^[h] of the seven churches, and the lampstands are the seven churches.

Footnotes:

1. Revelation 1:3 who reads this prophecy to others: A public reading, in a worship service.
2. Revelation 1:4 Asia: The section 1.4--3.22 is in the form of a letter. Asia was in the eastern part of the Roman Empire and is present day Turkey.
3. Revelation 1:8 Alpha and Omega: The first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, which sometimes mean "first" and "last."
4. Revelation 1:9 Patmos Island: A small island where prisoners were sometimes kept by the Romans.
5. Revelation 1:11 Ephesus. . . Laodicea: Ephesus was in the center with the six other cities forming a half-circle around it.
6. Revelation 1:13 Son of Man: That is, Jesus.
7. Revelation 1:18 keys to death and the world of the dead: That is, power over death and the world of the dead.
8. Revelation 1:20 angels: Perhaps guardian angels that represent the churches, or they may be church leaders or messengers sent to the churches.

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Psalm 128:1-6 (Contemporary English Version)

Psalm 128

(A song for worship.)

The LORD Rewards His Faithful People

 ¹The LORD will bless you    if you respect him
   and obey his laws.
    ²Your fields will produce,
   and you will be happy
   and all will go well.
    ³Your wife will be as fruitful
   as a grapevine,
   and just as an olive tree
   is rich with olives,
   your home will be rich
   with healthy children.
    ⁴That is how the LORD will bless
   everyone who respects him.
    ⁵I pray that the LORD
   will bless you from Zion
   and let Jerusalem prosper
   as long as you live.
    ⁶May you live long enough
   to see your grandchildren.
   Let's pray for peace in Israel!

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Proverbs 29:18 (Contemporary English Version)

¹⁸Without guidance from God
   law and order disappear,
   but God blesses everyone
   who obeys his Law.

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Verse of the Day

“I am the vine, and you are the branches. If you stay joined to me, and I stay joined to you, then you will produce lots of fruit. But you cannot do anything without me. When you become fruitful disciples of mine, my Father will be honored.” - John 15:5,8

Today's passage is from the Contemporary English Version.

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Thought for the Day

American playwright, raconteur, and entrepreneur, Wilson Mizner wrote, “If you count all your assets you always show a profit.”