The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Wednesday December 21, 2016 (NIV)

Zechariah 1

A Plea for Repentance

In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius,(A) the word of the Lord came to the prophet Zechariah(B) son of Berechiah, son of Iddo: “The Lord was extremely angry with your ancestors. So tell the people: This is what the Lord of Hosts says: Return to Me”—this is the declaration of the Lord of Hosts—“and I will return to you, says the Lord of Hosts. Do not be like your ancestors; the earlier prophets proclaimed to them: This is what the Lord of Hosts says: Turn from your evil ways and your evil deeds.(C) But they did not listen or pay attention to Me”—this is the Lord’s declaration. “Where are your ancestors now? And do the prophets live forever? But didn’t My words and My statutes that I commanded My servants the prophets overtake your ancestors? They repented and said: As the Lord of Hosts purposed to deal with us for our ways and deeds, so He has dealt with us.”(D)

The Night Visions

On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, which is the month of Shebat, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Zechariah son of Berechiah, son of Iddo:

First Vision: Horsemen

I looked out in the night and saw a man riding on a red horse. He was standing among the myrtle trees in the valley. Behind him were red, sorrel, and white horses. I asked, “What are these, my lord?”

The angel who was talking to me replied, “I will show you what they are.”

10 Then the man standing among the myrtle trees explained, “They are the ones the Lord has sent to patrol the earth.”

11 They reported to the Angel of the Lord standing among the myrtle trees, “We have patrolled the earth, and right now the whole earth is calm and quiet.”(E)

12 Then the Angel of the Lord responded, “How long, Lord of Hosts, will You withhold mercy from Jerusalem and the cities of Judah that You have been angry with these 70 years?”(F) 13 The Lord replied with kind and comforting words to the angel who was speaking with me.

14 So the angel who was speaking with me said, “Proclaim: The Lord of Hosts says: I am extremely jealous(G) for Jerusalem and Zion. 15 I am fiercely angry with the nations that are at ease, for I was a little angry, but they made it worse. 16 Therefore, this is what the Lord says: In mercy, I have returned to Jerusalem; My house will be rebuilt within it”—this is the declaration of the Lord of Hosts—“and a measuring line will be stretched out over Jerusalem.

17 “Proclaim further: This is what the Lord of Hosts says: My cities will again overflow with prosperity; the Lord will once more comfort Zion and again choose Jerusalem.”(H)

Second Vision: Four Horns and Craftsmen

18 [a]Then I looked up and saw four horns. 19 So I asked the angel who was speaking with me, “What are these?”

And he said to me, “These are the horns that scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.”

20 Then the Lord showed me four craftsmen. 21 I asked, “What are they coming to do?”

He replied, “These are the horns that scattered Judah so no one could raise his head. These craftsmen have come to terrify them, to cut off the horns of the nations that raised their horns against the land of Judah to scatter it.”

Footnotes:

  1. Zechariah 1:18 Zch 2:1 in Hb

Revelation 12:1-17

The Woman, the Child, and the Dragon

12 A great sign[a] appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of 12 stars on her head.(A) She was pregnant and cried out in labor and agony as she was about to give birth. Then another sign[b] appeared in heaven: There was a great fiery red dragon having seven heads and 10 horns,(B) and on his heads were seven diadems.[c] His tail swept away a third of the stars in heaven and hurled them to the earth.(C) And the dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she did give birth he might devour her child. But she gave birth to a Son—a male who is going to shepherd[d] all nations with an iron scepter(D)—and her child was caught up to God and to His throne. The woman fled into the wilderness, where she had a place prepared by God,(E) to be fed there[e] for 1,260 days.(F)

The Dragon Thrown Out of Heaven

Then war broke out in heaven: Michael(G) and his angels fought against the dragon. The dragon and his angels also fought, but he could not prevail, and there was no place for them in heaven any longer. So the great dragon was thrown out—the ancient serpent,(H) who is called the Devil[f] and Satan,[g](I) the one who deceives the whole world.(J) He was thrown to earth, and his angels with him.

10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:

The salvation and the power
and the kingdom of our God
and the authority of His Messiah
have now come,
because the accuser(K) of our brothers
has been thrown out:
the one who accuses them
before our God day and night.
11 They conquered him
by the blood of the Lamb
and by the word of their testimony,
for they did not love their lives
in the face of death.(L)
12 Therefore rejoice, you heavens,
and you who dwell in them!
Woe to the earth and the sea,
for the Devil has come down to you
with great fury,
because he knows he has a short time.

The Woman Persecuted

13 When the dragon saw that he had been thrown to earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male child. 14 The woman was given two wings of a great eagle, so that she could fly from the serpent’s presence to her place in the wilderness, where she was fed for a time, times, and half a time.[h](M) 15 From his mouth the serpent spewed water like a river flowing after the woman, to sweep her away in a torrent. 16 But the earth helped the woman. The earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the river that the dragon had spewed from his mouth. 17 So the dragon was furious with the woman and left to wage war(N) against the rest of her offspring[i]—those who keep God’s commands and have the testimony about Jesus.(O)

Footnotes:

  1. Revelation 12:1 Or great symbolic display; see Rv 12:3
  2. Revelation 12:3 Or another symbolic display
  3. Revelation 12:3 Or crowns
  4. Revelation 12:5 Or rule
  5. Revelation 12:6 Lit God, that they might feed her there
  6. Revelation 12:9 In Gk, diabolos means slanderer.
  7. Revelation 12:9 In Hb, Satan means adversary.
  8. Revelation 12:14 This expression, occurring in Dn 7:25; 12:7, = 3½ years or 42 months (Rv 11:2; 13:5) or 1,260 days (Rv 11:3).
  9. Revelation 12:17 Or seed

Psalm 140

Psalm 140

Prayer for Rescue

For the choir director. A Davidic psalm.

Rescue me, Lord, from evil men.
Keep me safe from violent men(A)
who plan evil in their hearts.
They stir up wars all day long.(B)
They make their tongues
as sharp as a snake’s bite;
viper’s venom is under their lips.(C)Selah

Protect me, Lord,
from the clutches of the wicked.(D)
Keep me safe from violent men
who plan to make me stumble.[a](E)
The proud hide a trap with ropes for me;
they spread a net along the path
and set snares for me.(F)Selah

I say to the Lord, “You are my God.”
Listen, Lord, to my cry for help.(G)
Lord God, my strong Savior,
You shield my head on the day of battle.(H)
Lord, do not grant the desires of the wicked;
do not let them achieve their goals.
Otherwise, they will become proud.(I)Selah

When those who surround me rise up,[b]
may the trouble their lips cause overwhelm them.(J)
10 Let hot coals fall on them.
Let them be thrown into the fire,
into the abyss, never again to rise.(K)
11 Do not let a slanderer stay in the land.
Let evil relentlessly[c] hunt down a violent man.(L)

12 I[d] know that the Lord upholds
the just cause of the poor,
justice for the needy.(M)
13 Surely the righteous will praise Your name;
the upright will live in Your presence.(N)

Footnotes:

  1. Psalm 140:4 Lit to trip up my steps
  2. Psalm 140:9 Lit Head of those who surround me
  3. Psalm 140:11 Hb obscure
  4. Psalm 140:12 Alt Hb tradition reads You

Proverbs 30:17

17 As for the eye that ridicules a father(A)
and despises obedience to a mother,
may ravens of the valley pluck it out
and young vultures eat it.(B)

Cross references:

  1. 30:17 : Gn 9:22
  2. 30:17 : Dt 28:26