Zechariah 4-5
Fifth night vision
4 The messenger speaking with me returned and woke me like one who awakens someone who is asleep.
2 Then he said to me, “What do you see?”
I said, “I see a lampstand
made entirely of gold.
It has a bowl on top.
The bowl has seven lamps on top
and seven metal pipes for those lamps.
3 It has two olive trees beside the lampstand,
one to the right of its bowl and one to the left.”
4 I responded to the messenger speaking with me,
“What are these, sir?”
5 The messenger responded to me:
“Don’t you know what these are?”
I said, “No, sir. I don’t.”
6 He answered me:
“This is the Lord’s word to Zerubbabel:
Neither by power, nor by strength,
but by my spirit, says the Lord of heavenly forces.”
7 Who are you, great mountain?
Before Zerubbabel you will become a plain.
He will present the capstone to shouts of great gratitude.
8 The Lord’s word came to me:
9 The hands of Zerubbabel laid the foundation of this house,
and his hands will finish it
so that you will know that the Lord of heavenly forces has sent me to you.
10 Those who despise a time of little things will rejoice when they see the plumb line[a] in Zerubbabel’s hand.
These are the seven eyes of the Lord, surveying the entire earth.
11 I responded to him,
“What are these two olive trees on the right and left sides of the lampstand?”
12 Then I responded a second time,
“What are these two olive branches that empty out golden oil through the two gold pipes?”
13 He said to me, “Don’t you know what these are?”
I said, “No, sir.”
14 He said,
“These are the two anointed ones[b] standing beside the Lord of all the earth.”
Sixth night vision
5 I looked up again and saw a flying scroll.
2 And he said to me, “What do you see?”
I said, “I see a flying scroll, thirty feet long and fifteen feet wide.”
3 He said to me, “This is the curse going out across all the land.
Anyone stealing will be purged according to what’s on one side of the scroll,[c]
and anyone swearing lies[d] will be purged according to what’s on the other side.
4 I sent it out, says the Lord of heavenly forces.
It will come to the house of the thief and the one swearing lies in my name.
It will lodge in their house and destroy the wood and stones of that house.”
Seventh night vision
5 Then the messenger speaking with me came forward and said,
“Look up and see what’s approaching.”
6 I said, “What’s this?”
He said, “This is the basket[e] that is going out.
This is how it appears[f] throughout the entire land.”[g]
7 Then a lead cover was lifted,
showing a woman sitting in the middle of the basket.
8 He said, “This is wickedness.”
He shoved her back into the basket,
and he put the lead stone over its opening.
9 I looked up again and saw two women going out.
There was a wind in their wings;
their wings were like the wings of a stork.
They carried the basket between the earth and the sky.
10 I said to the messenger speaking with me,
“Where are they taking the basket?”
11 He said to me,
“To build a house for it in the land of Shinar.
It will be firmly placed there on its base.”
Footnotes:
- Zechariah 4:10 Or stone, tin
- Zechariah 4:14 Or sons of oil
- Zechariah 5:3 Heb lacks of the scroll.
- Zechariah 5:3 Heb lacks lies.
- Zechariah 5:6 Heb ephah, a basket measuring approximately twenty quarts
- Zechariah 5:6 Or their eye
- Zechariah 5:6 Heb uncertain
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible
Revelation 14
The Lamb and the one hundred forty-four thousand
14 Then I looked, and there was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion. With him were one hundred forty-four thousand who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads. 2 I heard a sound from heaven that was like the sound of rushing water and loud thunder. The sound I heard was like that of harpists playing their harps. 3 They sing a new song in front of the throne, the four living creatures, and the elders. And no one could learn the song except the one hundred forty-four thousand who had been purchased from the earth. 4 They weren’t defiled with women, for these people who follow the Lamb wherever he goes are virgins. They were purchased from among humankind as early produce for God and the Lamb. 5 No lie came from their mouths; they are blameless.
Messages of three angels
6 Then I saw another angel flying high overhead with eternal good news to proclaim to those who live on earth, and to every nation, tribe, language, and people. 7 He said in a loud voice, “Fear God and give him glory, for the hour of his judgment has come. Worship the one who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water.”
8 Another angel, a second one, followed and said, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She made all the nations drink the wine of her lustful passion.”
9 Then another angel, a third one, followed them and said in a loud voice, “If any worship the beast and its image, and receive a mark on their foreheads or their hands, 10 they themselves will also drink the wine of God’s passionate anger, poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. They will suffer the pain of fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and the Lamb. 11 The smoke of their painful suffering goes up forever and always. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and its image, and those who receive the mark of its name.”
12 This calls for the endurance of the saints, who keep God’s commandments and keep faith with Jesus.
13 And I heard a voice from heaven say, “Write this: Favored are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.”
“Yes,” says the Spirit, “so they can rest from their labors, because their deeds follow them.”
Two harvests of the earth
14 Then I looked, and there was a white cloud. On the cloud was seated someone who looked like the Human One.[a] He had a gold crown on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand. 15 Another angel came out of the temple, calling in a loud voice to the one seated on the cloud: “Use your sickle to reap the harvest, for the time to harvest has come, and the harvest of the earth is ripe.” 16 So the one seated on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the earth was harvested.
17 Then another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he also had a sharp sickle. 18 Still another angel, who has power over fire, came out from the altar. He said in a loud voice to the one who had the sharp sickle, “Use your sharp sickle to cut the clusters in the vineyard of the earth, because its grapes are ripe.” 19 So the angel swung his sickle into the earth, and cut the vineyard of the earth, and he put what he reaped into the great winepress of God’s passionate anger. 20 Then the winepress was trampled outside the city, and the blood came out of the winepress as high as the horses’ bridles for almost two hundred miles.[b]
Footnotes:
- Revelation 14:14 Or Son of Man
- Revelation 14:20 Or one thousand six hundred stades
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible
Psalm 142
Psalm 142
A maskil[a] of David, when he was in the cave. A prayer.
142 I cry out loud for help from the Lord.
I beg out loud for mercy from the Lord.
2 I pour out my concerns before God;
I announce my distress to him.
3 When my spirit is weak inside me, you still know my way.
But they’ve hidden a trap for me in the path I’m taking.
4 Look right beside me: See?
No one pays attention to me.
There’s no escape for me.
No one cares about my life.
5 I cry to you, Lord, for help.
“You are my refuge,” I say.
“You are all I have in the land of the living.”
6 Pay close attention to my shouting,
because I’ve been brought down so low!
Deliver me from my oppressors
because they’re stronger than me.
7 Get me out of this prison
so I can give thanks to your name.
Then the righteous will gather all around me
because of your good deeds to me.
Footnotes:
- Psalm 142:1 Perhaps instruction
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible
Proverbs 30:21-23
21 At three things the earth trembles,
at four it can’t bear up:
22 at a servant when he becomes king
and fools when they are full of food;
23 at a detested woman when she gets married
and a female servant when she replaces her mistress.
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible