The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Friday December 29, 2017 (NIV)

Zechariah 14

The Lord Will Fight the Nations

14 A day is going to come for the Lord when the loot you have taken will be divided among you. I will gather all the nations to Jerusalem for battle. The city will be captured, the houses looted, and the women raped. Half of the people in the city will go into exile, but the rest of the people won’t be taken from the city.

Then the Lord will go out and fight against those nations as he does when he fights a battle. On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, just east of Jerusalem. The Mount of Olives will be split in two, forming a very large valley from east to west. Half of the mountain will move toward the north, and the other half will move toward the south. Then you will flee to the valley of my mountains, because this valley between the mountains will go as far as Azel.[a] You will flee as you did from the earthquake at the time of King Uzziah of Judah. The Lord my God will come, and all the holy ones will be with him.

On that day there will be neither heat nor freezing cold. [b] There will be one day—a day known to the Lord—with no difference between day and night. It will be light even in the evening.

Living Water from Jerusalem

On that day living water will flow out from Jerusalem, half of it to the Dead Sea and the other half to the Mediterranean Sea. It will continue in summer and in winter.

The Lord will be king over all the earth. On that day the Lord will be the only Lord and his name the only name.

10 The whole earth will become like the plains from Geba to Rimmon, south of Jerusalem. Jerusalem will rise and remain on its site, from Benjamin Gate to the place of First Gate, Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the king’s winepresses. 11 People will live there, and it will never be threatened with destruction. Jerusalem will live securely.

12 This will be the plague the Lord will use to strike all the people from the nations that have gone to war against Jerusalem. Their flesh will rot while they are standing on their feet. Their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongues will rot in their mouths.

13 On that day a large-scale panic from the Lord will spread among them. One person will grab the hand of another, and one will attack the other. 14 Judah will also fight in Jerusalem. The wealth of all the surrounding nations will be collected, a very large amount of gold, silver, and clothes. 15 A similar plague will also affect horses, mules, camels, donkeys, and all other animals in those camps.

16 Everyone who is left from all the nations that attacked Jerusalem will come every year to worship the king, the Lord of Armies, and to celebrate the Festival of Booths. 17 If any of the families on the earth won’t go to Jerusalem to worship the king, the Lord of Armies, then rain won’t fall on them. 18 If the people of Egypt won’t go or enter Jerusalem, then rain won’t fall on them. The plague the Lord uses to strike the nations will affect those who won’t come to celebrate the Festival of Booths. 19 This will be the punishment for Egypt’s sin and for the sin of all the nations that won’t go to celebrate the Festival of Booths.

20 On that day “Holy to the Lord” will be written on the bells of the horses. And the cooking pots in the house of the Lord will be like the bowls in front of the altar. 21 Yes, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah will be holy to the Lord of Armies. All who come to sacrifice will take some of them and cook in them. On that day there will no longer be any Canaanite[c] in the house of the Lord of Armies.

Footnotes:

  1. Zechariah 14:5 Hebrew meaning uncertain.
  2. Zechariah 14:7 Hebrew meaning uncertain.
  3. Zechariah 14:21 Or “merchant.”
GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)

Copyright © 1995 by God's Word to the Nations. Used by permission of Baker Publishing Group

Revelation 20

An Angel Overpowers the Devil

20 I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding the key to the bottomless pit and a large chain in his hand. He overpowered the serpent, that ancient snake, named Devil and Satan. The angel chained up the serpent for 1,000 years. He threw it into the bottomless pit. The angel shut and sealed the pit over the serpent to keep it from deceiving the nations anymore until the 1,000 years were over. After that it must be set free for a little while.

I saw thrones, and those who sat on them were allowed to judge. Then I saw the souls of those whose heads had been cut off because of their testimony about Jesus and because of God’s word. They had not worshiped the beast or its statue and were not branded on their foreheads or hands. They lived and ruled with Christ for 1,000 years. The rest of the dead did not live until the 1,000 years ended.

This is the first time that people come back to life. Blessed and holy are those who are included the first time that people come back to life. The second death has no power over them. They will continue to be priests of God and Christ. They will rule with him for 1,000 years.

The Final Judgment

When 1,000 years are over, Satan will be freed from his prison. He will go out to deceive Gog and Magog, the nations in the four corners of the earth, and gather them for war. They will be as numerous as the grains of sand on the seashore. I saw that they spread over the broad expanse of the earth and surrounded the camp of God’s holy people and the beloved city. Fire came from heaven and burned them up. 10 The devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the fiery lake of sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet were also thrown. They will be tortured day and night forever and ever.

11 I saw a large, white throne and the one who was sitting on it. The earth and the sky fled from his presence, but no place was found for them. 12 I saw the dead, both important and unimportant people, standing in front of the throne. Books were opened, including the Book of Life. The dead were judged on the basis of what they had done, as recorded in the books. 13 The sea gave up its dead. Death and hell gave up their dead. People were judged based on what they had done. 14 Death and hell were thrown into the fiery lake. (The fiery lake is the second death.) 15 Those whose names were not found in the Book of Life were thrown into the fiery lake.

GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)

Copyright © 1995 by God's Word to the Nations. Used by permission of Baker Publishing Group

Psalm 148

Psalm 148

Hallelujah!

Praise the Lord from the heavens.
Praise him in the heights above.
Praise him, all his angels.
Praise him, his entire heavenly army.
Praise him, sun and moon.
Praise him, all shining stars.
Praise him, you highest heaven
and the water above the sky.
Let them praise the name of the Lord
because they were created by his command.
He set them in their places forever and ever.
He made it a law that no one can break.

Praise the Lord from the earth.
Praise him, large sea creatures and all the ocean depths,
lightning and hail,
snow and fog,
strong winds that obey his commands,
mountains and all hills,
fruit trees and all cedar trees,
10 wild animals and all domestic animals,
crawling animals and birds,
11 kings of the earth and all its people,
officials and all judges on the earth,
12 young men and women,
old and young together.
13 Let them praise the name of the Lord
because his name is high above all others.
His glory is above heaven and earth.
14 He has given his people a strong leader,[a]
someone praiseworthy for his faithful ones,
for the people of Israel, the people who are close to him.

Hallelujah!

Footnotes:

  1. Psalm 148:14 Or “given his people strength.”
GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)

Copyright © 1995 by God's Word to the Nations. Used by permission of Baker Publishing Group

Proverbs 31:8-9

“Speak out for the one who cannot speak,
for the rights of those who are doomed.
Speak out,
judge fairly,
and defend the rights of oppressed and needy people.”

GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)

Copyright © 1995 by God's Word to the Nations. Used by permission of Baker Publishing Group