The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Monday December 23, 2024 (NIV)

The Fifth Vision: A Lampstand and Two Olive Trees

4 Then the angel who was speaking with me returned and woke me up in the same way that a man is awakened from sleep. ² He said to me, “What do you see?”

I said, “Look! Right there, I see a lampstand, made entirely of gold, with a basin on top of it, with seven lamps on it, and there are seven channels leading to the lamps that are on top of it.^{[a] 3} There are two olive trees beside it, one to the right of the bowl, and one to its left.”

⁴ I asked the angel who was speaking with me, “What are these, my lord?”

⁵ The angel who was speaking with me answered me, “Don’t you know what these are?”

I answered, “No, my lord.”

⁶ So he said to me:

⁸ Then the word of the Lord came to me:

¹¹ Then I asked him, “What are these two olive trees to the right and left of the lampstand?” ¹² I asked him a second time, “What are the two olive branches that are beside the two gold conduits that pour out the golden oil?”

¹³ He said to me, “Don’t you know what these are?”

I said, “No, my lord.”

¹⁴ Then he said, “These are the two anointed ones^[c] who stand by the Lord of all the earth.”

The Sixth Vision: A Flying Scroll

5 Again I lifted up my eyes and looked. I saw a flying scroll!

² He asked me, “What do you see?”

I said, “I see a flying scroll! It is thirty feet long and fifteen feet wide.”^[d]

³ Then he said to me, “This is the curse that is going out over the face of the whole earth: On the basis of the curse, everyone who steals will be expelled in one direction, and everyone who swears falsely will be expelled in the other direction.^{[e] 4} I will send it out, declares the Lord of Armies, and it will go to the house of the thief and to the house of the one who swears falsely by my name. It will remain in his house and consume it, both wood and stone.”

The Seventh Vision: A Woman in a Basket

⁵ Then the angel who was speaking with me came forward and said to me, “Lift up your eyes, now, and see what is going out.”

⁶ So I asked, “What is it?”

He replied, “This is the basket^[f] that is going out.”

He also said, “This is their guilt^[g] in all the earth.”

⁷ As I watched, the lead cover was lifted, and I saw that there was a woman sitting inside the basket.

⁸ He said, “This is Wickedness.” Then he pushed her down inside the basket, and he pushed the lead weight onto its opening.

⁹ Then I lifted up my eyes and looked again. There were two women coming toward me! The wind was in their wings. They had wings like the wings of a stork. They lifted up the basket between the earth and the heavens.

¹⁰ So I said to the angel who was speaking with me, “Where are they taking the basket?”

¹¹ He told me, “To build a house for it in the land of Shinar.^[h] When it is ready, it will be set there on its foundation.”

The Lamb and the 144,000

14 Then I looked, and there was the Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 who had his name and the name of his Father written on their foreheads. ² And I heard a sound from heaven like the roar of many waters and like the sound of a loud thunderclap. The sound that I heard was also like the sound of harpists playing their harps. ³ They were singing^[a] a new song in front of the throne and the four living creatures and the elders. No one was able to learn that song except the 144,000, who had been purchased from the earth. ⁴ These are the ones who were not defiled with women, because they are virgins. They continually follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They were purchased from among mankind as firstfruits for God and the Lamb. ⁵ And no lie was found in their mouths. They are blameless.^[b]

The Three Angels

⁶ Then I saw another angel flying in the middle of the sky. He had the everlasting gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth, to every nation, tribe, language, and people. ⁷ He said with a loud voice:

⁸ Another angel, a second,^[c] followed. He said, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the Great,^[d] who made every nation drink from the wine of her adulterous desire.”

⁹ Another angel, a third one, followed them. He said with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and his image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, ¹⁰ he will also drink from the wine of God’s wrath, which has been poured undiluted^[e] into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and the Lamb. ¹¹ And the smoke of their torment is going to rise forever and ever. Those who worship the beast and his image, and anyone who receives the mark of his name, are going to have no rest day and night.”

¹² Here patient endurance is needed by the saints, who hold on to the commands of God and their faith in Jesus. ¹³ And I heard a voice from heaven say,^[f] “Write: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.”

“Yes,” says the Spirit, “because they will rest from their labors, for their works follow them.”

The Harvest

¹⁴ Then I looked, and there was a white cloud, and seated on the cloud was one like a son of man. He had a gold crown on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand. ¹⁵ Another angel came out of the temple and cried with a loud voice to the one sitting on the cloud, “Swing your sickle and begin reaping, for the time to reap has come, because the harvest of the earth is very ripe.” ¹⁶ And the one sitting on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the earth was harvested.

¹⁷ Another angel, who also had a sharp sickle, came out of the temple, which is in heaven. ¹⁸ And another angel, who was in charge of the fire, came from the altar and cried with a loud voice to the one who had the sharp sickle, “Swing your sharp sickle and harvest the grape clusters from the earth’s vine, because its grapes are ripe.” ¹⁹ Then the angel swung his sickle over the earth, and he harvested the earth’s vine and threw it into the great winepress of God’s wrath. ²⁰ The winepress was trampled outside the city, and blood flowed from the winepress, as high as the horses’ bridles for a distance of 1,600 stadia.^[g]

Psalm 142

When My Spirit Grows Faint

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A maskil^[a] by David. When he was in the cave.^[b] A prayer.

A Prayer for the Weary