The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Thursday December 22, 2022 (NIV)

Zechariah 2-3

Third night vision

[a] Then I looked up and saw a man.

In his hand was a measuring line.
I said, “Where are you going?”
He said to me,
“To measure Jerusalem to see how wide and long it will be.”
As I watched, the messenger speaking with me went ahead and another messenger came to meet him.
He said to him,
“Run! Say to this young man:
Jerusalem will be inhabited like open fields
because of the throngs of people and cattle inside it.
But I will be a wall of fire around it, says the Lord,
and I will be glorious inside it.
Look out; look out! Flee from the land of the north, says the Lord,
for I will scatter you like the four winds of heaven, says the Lord.
Look out, Zion.
Flee, you who dwell with Daughter Babylon!
The Lord of heavenly forces proclaims (after his glory sent me)[b]
concerning the nations plundering you:
Those who strike you strike the pupil of my eye.
But look, I am about to raise my hand against them;
they will become prey to their own slaves,
so you will know that the Lord of heavenly forces sent me.
10 Rejoice and be glad, Daughter Zion,
because I am about to come and dwell among you, says the Lord.
11 Many nations will be joined to the Lord on that day.
They will become my people,
and I will dwell among you
so you will know that the Lord of heavenly forces sent me to you.”
12 The Lord will possess Judah as his inheritance upon the holy land;
he will again choose Jerusalem.
13 Be silent, everyone, in the Lord’s
presence, because he has moved from his holy habitation!

Fourth night vision

Then the Lord showed me the high priest Joshua, standing before the messenger from the Lord,
and the Adversary[c] was standing by his right side to accuse him.
And the Lord said to the Adversary:
“The Lord rebukes you, Adversary.
The Lord, the one choosing Jerusalem, rebukes you.
Is this one not a log snatched from the fire?”
Joshua was wearing filthy clothes and standing before the messenger.
He responded to those standing before him,
“Take off his filthy clothes.”
And he said to Joshua,
“Look, I have removed your guilt from you.
Put on priestly robes.”
He[d] said, “Put a clean turban upon his head.”
So they put the clean turban upon his head,
and they dressed him in garments while the Lord’s messenger stood by.
Then the Lord’s messenger admonished Joshua:
“The Lord of heavenly forces proclaims:
If you will walk in my paths,
if you will keep my charge,
then you will lead my house and guard my courts,
and I will allow you to walk among those standing here.
Now listen, High Priest Joshua,
you and your companions sitting before you—
for these men are a sign—
look, I am about to bring my servant, Branch.
See this stone that I have put before Joshua.
Upon one stone, there are seven facets.
I am about to engrave an inscription on it,
says the Lord of heavenly forces.
I will remove the guilt of that land in one day.
10 On that day, says the Lord of heavenly forces,
everyone will invite their neighbors to sit beneath their vines and the fig trees.”

Footnotes:

  1. Zechariah 2:1 2:5 in Heb
  2. Zechariah 2:8 Heb uncertain
  3. Zechariah 3:1 Heb hassatan; cf Job 1:6
  4. Zechariah 3:5 Or I
Common English Bible (CEB)

Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible

Revelation 13

13 and I saw a beast coming up out of the sea. It had ten horns and seven heads. Each of its horns was decorated with a royal crown, and on its heads were blasphemous names. The beast I saw was like a leopard. Its feet were like a bear’s, and its mouth was like a lion’s mouth. The dragon gave it his power, throne, and great authority. One of its heads appeared to have been slain and killed, but its deadly wound was healed. So the whole earth was amazed and followed the beast. They worshipped the dragon because it had given the beast its authority. They worshipped the beast and said, “Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?”

The beast was given a mouth that spoke boastful and blasphemous things, and it was given authority to act for forty-two months. It opened its mouth to speak blasphemies against God. It blasphemed God’s name and his dwelling place (that is, those who dwell in heaven).

It was also allowed to make war on the saints and to gain victory over them. It was given authority over every tribe, people, language, and nation. All who live on earth worshipped it, all whose names hadn’t been written—from the time the earth was made—in the scroll of life of the Lamb who was slain. Whoever has ears must listen: 10 If any are to be taken captive, then into captivity they will go. If any are to be killed by the sword, then by the sword they will be killed. This calls for endurance and faithfulness on the part of the saints.

The beast from the land

11 Then I saw another beast coming up from the earth. It had two horns like a lamb, but it was speaking like a dragon. 12 It exercises all the authority of the first beast in its presence. It also makes the earth and those who live in it worship the first beast, whose fatal wound was healed. 13 It does great signs so that it even makes fire come down from heaven to earth in the presence of the people. 14 It deceives those who live on earth by the signs that it was allowed to do in the presence of the beast. It told those who live on earth to make an image for the beast who had been wounded by the sword and yet came to life again. 15 It was allowed to give breath to the beast’s image so that the beast’s image would even speak and cause anyone who didn’t worship the beast’s image to be put to death. 16 It forces everyone—the small and great, the rich and poor, the free and slaves—to have a mark put on their right hand or on their forehead. 17 It will not allow anyone to make a purchase or sell anything unless the person has the mark with the beast’s name or the number of its name. 18 This calls for wisdom. Let the one who understands calculate the beast’s number, for it’s a human being’s number. Its number is six hundred sixty-six.

Common English Bible (CEB)

Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible

Psalm 141

Psalm 141

A psalm of David.

141 I cry out to you, Lord: Come to me—quickly!
Listen to my voice when I cry out to you!
Let my prayer stand before you like incense;
let my uplifted hands be like the evening offering.

Set a guard over my mouth, Lord;
keep close watch over the door that is my lips.
Don’t let my heart turn aside to evil things
so that I don’t do wicked things with evildoers,
so I don’t taste their delicacies.

Instead, let the righteous discipline me;
let the faithful correct me!
Let my head never reject that kind of fine oil,
because my prayers are always against the deeds of the wicked.[a]
Their leaders will fall from jagged cliffs,
but my words will be heard because they are pleasing.[b]
Our bones[c] have been scattered at the mouth of the grave,[d]
just like when the ground is broken up and plowed.[e]

But my eyes are on you, my Lord God.
I take refuge in you; don’t let me die!
Protect me from the trap they’ve set for me;
protect me from the snares of the evildoers.
10 Let the wicked fall into their own nets—all together!—
but let me make it through safely.

Footnotes:

  1. Psalm 141:5 Heb uncertain
  2. Psalm 141:6 Heb uncertain
  3. Psalm 141:7 LXX manuscripts, Syr their bones; DSS (11QPsa) my bones
  4. Psalm 141:7 Heb Sheol
  5. Psalm 141:7 Heb uncertain
Common English Bible (CEB)

Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible

Proverbs 30:18-20

18 Three things are too wonderful for me,
four that I can’t figure out:
19 the way of an eagle in the sky,
the way of a snake on the rock,
the way of a ship out on the open sea,
and the way of a man with a young woman.

20 This is the way of an adulterous woman:
she eats and wipes her mouth,
and she says, “I’ve done nothing wrong!”

Common English Bible (CEB)

Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible