The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Friday December 31, 2021 (NIV)

3 ^(A)“Behold, I send ^(B)my messenger, and ^(C)he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord ^(D)whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and ^(E)the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. ² But ^(F)who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For ^(G)he is like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap. ³ He will sit ^(H)as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring ^(I)offerings in righteousness to the Lord.^{[a] 4 (J)}Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years.

⁵ “Then I will draw near to you for judgment. I will be ^(K)a swift witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those ^(L)who oppress the hired worker in his wages, ^(M)the widow and the fatherless, against those who thrust aside the sojourner, and do not fear me, says the Lord of hosts.

Robbing God

⁶ “For ^(N)I the Lord do not change; ^(O)therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed. ^7 (P)From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. ^(Q)Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. ^(R)But you say, ‘How shall we return?’ ⁸ Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. ^(S)But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ ^(T)In your tithes and contributions. ^9 (U)You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you. ^10 (V)Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby ^(W)put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open ^(X)the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need. ¹¹ I will rebuke ^(Y)the devourer^[b] for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of your soil, and your vine in the field shall not fail to bear, says the Lord of hosts. ¹² Then ^(Z)all nations will call you blessed, for you will be ^(AA)a land of delight, says the Lord of hosts.

^13 (AB)“Your words have been hard against me, says the Lord. ^(AC)But you say, ‘How have we spoken against you?’ ¹⁴ You have said, ^(AD)‘It is vain to serve God. ^(AE)What is the profit of our keeping his charge or of walking as in mourning before the Lord of hosts? ¹⁵ And now we call ^(AF)the arrogant blessed. ^(AG)Evildoers not only prosper but ^(AH)they put God to the test and they escape.’”

The Book of Remembrance

¹⁶ Then those who feared the Lord ^(AI)spoke with one another. The Lord paid attention and heard them, and ^(AJ)a book of remembrance was written before him of those who feared the Lord and esteemed his name. ¹⁷ “They shall be mine, says the Lord of hosts, ^(AK)in the day when I make up ^(AL)my treasured possession, and I will spare them as a man spares his son who serves him. ¹⁸ Then once more you shall ^(AM)see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve him.

The Great Day of the Lord

4 ^[c] “For behold, ^(AN)the day is coming, ^(AO)burning like an oven, when ^(AP)all the arrogant and ^(AQ)all evildoers ^(AR)will be stubble. The day that is coming ^(AS)shall set them ablaze, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. ² But for you ^(AT)who fear my name, ^(AU)the sun ^(AV)of righteousness shall rise ^(AW)with healing in its wings. You shall go out ^(AX)leaping like calves from the stall. ³ And you shall tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet, ^(AY)on the day when I act, says the Lord of hosts.

^4 (AZ)“Remember ^(BA)the law of my servant Moses, the statutes and rules^[d] that I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel.

^5 (BB)“Behold, I will send you ^(BC)Elijah the prophet ^(BD)before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. ⁶ And he will ^(BE)turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and ^(BF)strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.”^[e]

The River of Life

22 Then the angel^[a] showed me ^(A)the river of ^(B)the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb ² through the middle of ^(C)the street of the city; ^(D)also, on either side of the river, ^(E)the tree of life^[b] with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were ^(F)for the healing of the nations. ^3 (G)No longer will there be anything accursed, but ^(H)the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and ^(I)his servants will worship him. ^4 (J)They will see his face, and ^(K)his name will be on their foreheads. ⁵ And ^(L)night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp ^(M)or sun, for ^(N)the Lord God will be their light, and ^(O)they will reign forever and ever.

Jesus Is Coming

⁶ And he said to me, ^(P)“These words are trustworthy and true. And the Lord, the God of ^(Q)the spirits of the prophets, ^(R)has sent his angel to show his servants what must soon take place.”

⁷ “And behold, ^(S)I am coming soon. ^(T)Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.”

⁸ I, ^(U)John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw them, ^(V)I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed them to me, ^9 (W)but he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers the prophets, and with those ^(X)who keep the words of this book. Worship God.”

¹⁰ And he said to me, ^(Y)“Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near. ^11 (Z)Let the evildoer still do evil, and the filthy still be filthy, and the righteous still do right, and the holy still be holy.”

¹² “Behold, ^(AA)I am coming soon, ^(AB)bringing my recompense with me, ^(AC)to repay each one for what he has done. ^13 (AD)I am the Alpha and the Omega, ^(AE)the first and the last, ^(AF)the beginning and the end.”

¹⁴ Blessed are those who ^(AG)wash their robes,^[c] so that they may have the right to ^(AH)the tree of life and that ^(AI)they may enter the city by the gates. ^15 (AJ)Outside are ^(AK)the dogs ^(AL)and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.

^16 (AM)“I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things ^(AN)for the churches. I am ^(AO)the root and ^(AP)the descendant of David, ^(AQ)the bright morning star.”

¹⁷ The Spirit and ^(AR)the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And ^(AS)let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the ^(AT)water of life without price.

¹⁸ I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: ^(AU)if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, ¹⁹ and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in ^(AV)the tree of life and in ^(AW)the holy city, which are described in this book.

²⁰ He who testifies to these things says, “Surely ^(AX)I am coming soon.” Amen. ^(AY)Come, Lord Jesus!

²¹ The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all.^[d] Amen.

Let Everything Praise the Lord