Today's Readings and Stuff -- Saturday, 19 December 2020

 Running WAY behind today.  Getting to be altogether too common.  

Some things being pondered, far too early to speak of them.

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NAHUM 1

1The oracle  concerning Nineveh.  The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite.

God’s Vengeance

2The Lord is a jealous and avenging God;

the Lord takes vengeance

and is fierce in  wrath.

The Lord takes vengeance against His foes; 

He is furious with His enemies. 

3The Lord is slow to anger but great in power;

the Lord will never leave the guilty unpunished. 

His path is in the whirlwind and storm, 

and clouds are the dust beneath His feet. 

4He rebukes the sea so that it dries up,

and He makes all the rivers run dry. 

Bashan and Carmel wither; 

even the flower of Lebanon withers.

5The mountains quake before Him,

and the hills melt;

the earth trembles   at His presence —

the world and all who live in it. 

6Who can withstand His indignation?

Who can endure His burning anger? 

His wrath is poured out like fire, 

even rocks are shattered before Him.

Destruction of Nineveh

7The Lord is good,

a stronghold in a day of distress;

He cares for those who take refuge  in Him.

8But He will completely destroy Nineveh 

with an overwhelming flood, 

and He will chase His enemies into darkness.

9Whatever you  plot against the Lord,

He will bring it to complete destruction; 

oppression will not rise up a second time.

10For they will be consumed

like entangled thorns, 

like the drink of a drunkard

and like straw that is fully dry. 

11One has gone out from you, 

who plots evil against Yahweh,

and is a wicked counselor.

Promise of Judah’s Deliverance

12This is what the Lord says:

Though they are strong  and numerous,

they will still be mowed down,

and he  will pass away.

Though I have afflicted you,  

I will afflict you no longer. 

13For I will now break off his yoke from you

and tear off your shackles.

The Assyrian King’s Demise

14The Lord has issued an order concerning you:

There will be no offspring

to carry on your name.  

I will eliminate the carved idol and cast image

from the house of your gods; 

I will prepare your grave,

for you are contemptible.

15Look to the mountains —

the feet of one bringing good news 

and proclaiming peace!

Celebrate your festivals, Judah;

fulfill your vows.

For the wicked one will never again

march through you;

he will be entirely wiped out.

NAHUM 2

Attack against Nineveh

1One who scatters is coming up against you. 

Man the fortifications!

Watch the road!

Brace  yourself!

Summon all your strength! 

2For the Lord will restore the majesty of Jacob, 

yes,  the majesty of Israel,

though ravagers have ravaged them 

and ruined their vine branches. 

3The shields of his  warriors are dyed red;

the valiant men are dressed in scarlet. 

The fittings of the chariot flash like fire 

on the day of its battle preparations,

and the spears are brandished.

4The chariots dash madly through the streets;

they rush around in the plazas.

They look like torches;

they dart back and forth like lightning.

5He gives orders to his officers;

they stumble as they advance.

They race to its wall;

the protective shield is set in place.

6The river gates are opened,

and the palace erodes away. 

7Beauty  is stripped, 

she is carried away;

her ladies-in-waiting moan

like the sound of doves, 

and beat their breasts. 

8Nineveh has been like a pool of water

from her first days, 

but they are fleeing.

“Stop! Stop! ” they cry,

but no one turns back.

9“Plunder the silver! Plunder the gold! ” 

There is no end to the treasure,

an abundance of every precious thing. 

10Desolation, decimation, devastation!

Hearts melt, 

knees tremble, 

loins shake, 

every face grows pale! 

11Where is the lions’ lair, 

or the feeding ground of the young lions,

where the lion and lioness prowled,

and the lion’s cub,

with nothing to frighten them away? 

12The lion mauled whatever its cubs needed

and strangled prey for its lionesses.

It filled up its dens with the kill,

and its lairs with mauled prey. 

13Beware, I am against you. 

This is the declaration of the Lord of Hosts.

I will make your chariots go up in smoke 

and the sword will devour your young lions. 

I will cut off your prey from the earth,

and the sound of your messengers

will never be heard again. 

NAHUM 3

Nineveh’s Downfall

1Woe to the city of blood, 

totally deceitful,

full of plunder,

never without prey. 

2The crack of the whip

and rumble of the wheel,

galloping horse

and jolting chariot! 

3Charging horseman,

flashing sword,

shining spear;

heaps of slain,

mounds of corpses, 

dead bodies without end  —

they stumble over their dead.

4Because of the continual prostitution of the prostitute,

the attractive mistress of sorcery,

who betrays nations by her prostitution

and clans by her witchcraft, 

5I am against you. 

This is the declaration of the Lord of Hosts.

I will lift your skirts over your face

and display your nakedness to nations,

your shame to kingdoms. 

6I will throw filth on you

and treat you with contempt; 

I will make a spectacle of you.

7Then all who see you will recoil from you, saying, 

“Nineveh is devastated;

who will show sympathy to her? ”

Where can I find anyone to comfort you?

8Are you better than Thebes  

that sat along the Nile

with water surrounding her,

whose rampart was the sea,

the river   her wall?

9Cush and Egypt were her endless source of strength;

Put and Libya were among her  allies.

10Yet she became an exile;

she went into captivity.

Her children were also dashed to pieces 

at the head of every street.

They cast lots for her dignitaries, 

and all her nobles were bound in chains.

11You  also will become drunk;

you will hide yourself. 

You also will seek refuge from the enemy.

12All your fortresses are fig trees

with figs that ripened first;

when shaken, they fall —

right into the mouth of the eater!

13Look, your troops are like women among you;

the gates of your land

are wide open to your enemies.

Fire will devour the bars of your gates.

14Draw water for the siege;

strengthen your fortresses.

Step into the clay and tread the mortar;

take hold of the brick-mold!

15The fire will devour you there;

the sword will cut you down.

It will devour you like the young locust. 

Multiply yourselves like the young locust,

multiply like the swarming locust!

16You have made your merchants 

more numerous than the stars of the sky.

The young locust strips  the land

and flies away.

17Your court officials are like the swarming locust,

and your scribes like clouds of locusts,

which settle on the walls on a cold day;

when the sun rises, they take off,

and no one knows where they are.

18King of Assyria, your shepherds slumber; 

your officers sleep.

Your people are scattered across the mountains 

with no one to gather them together. 

19There is no remedy for your injury;

your wound is severe. 

All who hear the news about you

will clap their hands because of you, 

for who has not experienced

your constant cruelty?

Today's Readings and Stuff -- Friday, 18 December 2020

 

Quiet day.  Wife was up most of the night, miserable and unable to sleep.  Finally did, some , but was cooked out until around 10 a.m., so I wasn't going anywhere under the circumstances.  We decided to skip the food giveaway: we're still using stuff we got at one a month ago, and there are those in greater need than we.  Let them have it.

I did go Across The Line, needed Wife's prescriptions at the pharmacy there, ones that will be started in the morning.  Had to dig the chariot out of snowdrifts first, of course.  Didn't improve my mood.  But the mission was completed without incident.  So we're good.

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MICAH 5

From Defeated Ruler to Conquering King

1Now, daughter who is under attack,

you slash yourself in grief;

a siege is set against us!

They are striking the judge  of Israel

on the cheek with a rod.

2Bethlehem Ephrathah, 

you are small among the clans of Judah;

One will come from you 

to be ruler over Israel for Me. 

His origin  is from antiquity, 

from eternity. 

3Therefore, He will abandon them  until the time

when she who is in labor  has given birth;

then the rest of His brothers  will return

to the people of Israel. 

4He will stand and shepherd them 

in the strength of Yahweh,

in the majestic name of Yahweh His God.

They will live securely,

for then His greatness will extend

to the ends of the earth. 

5He will be their peace. 

When Assyria invades our land, 

when it marches against our fortresses,

we will raise against it seven shepherds,

even eight leaders of men.

6They will shepherd  the land of Assyria with the sword,

the land of Nimrod  with a drawn blade. 

So He will rescue us  from Assyria

when it invades our land,

when it marches against our territory.

The Glorious and Purified Remnant

7Then the remnant of Jacob 

will be among many peoples

like dew from the Lord, 

like showers on the grass, 

which do not wait for anyone

or linger for mankind.

8Then the remnant of Jacob

will be among the nations, among many peoples,

like a lion among animals of the forest, 

like a young lion among flocks of sheep,

which tramples  and tears  as it passes through,

and there is no one to rescue them. 

9Your hand will be lifted up against your adversaries, 

and all your enemies will be destroyed.

10In that day —

this is the Lord’s declaration —

I will remove your horses from you 

and wreck your chariots.

11I will remove the cities of your land 

and tear down all your fortresses. 

12I will remove sorceries from your hands, 

and you will not have any more fortune-tellers.

13I will remove your carved images 

and sacred pillars from you

so that you will not bow down again

to the work of your hands.

14I will pull up the Asherah poles  from among you 

and demolish your cities. 

15I will take vengeance in anger and wrath 

against the nations that have not obeyed Me.

MICAH 6

God’s Lawsuit against Judah

1Now listen to what the Lord is saying:

Rise, plead your case before the mountains,

and let the hills hear your voice.

2Listen to the Lord’s lawsuit, 

you mountains and enduring foundations of the earth, 

because the Lord has a case against His people, 

and He will argue it against Israel.

3My people,  what have I done to you, 

or how have I wearied you? 

Testify against Me!

4Indeed, I brought you up  from the land of Egypt

and redeemed you  from that place of slavery. 

I sent Moses,  Aaron, and Miriam  ahead of you.

5My people,

remember what Balak king of Moab  proposed,

what Balaam son of Beor answered him, 

and what happened from the Acacia Grove   to Gilgal 

so that you may acknowledge

the Lord’s righteous acts. 

6What should I bring before the Lord 

when I come to bow before God on high?

Should I come before Him with burnt offerings, 

with year-old calves?

7Would the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams 

or with ten thousand streams of oil?

Should I give my firstborn for my transgression, 

the child of my body for my own sin?

8Mankind, He has told you what is good 

and what it is the Lord requires of you: 

to act justly, 

to love faithfulness, 

and to walk humbly with your God. 

Verdict of Judgment

9The voice of Yahweh calls out to the city 

(and it is wise to fear Your name):

“Pay attention to the rod

and the One who ordained it. 

10Are there still  the treasures of wickedness 

and the accursed short measure 

in the house of the wicked?

11Can I excuse wicked scales

or bags of deceptive weights? 

12For the wealthy of the city are full of violence, 

and its residents speak lies; 

the tongues in their mouths are deceitful. 

13“As a result, I have begun to strike you severely,  

bringing desolation because of your sins. 

14You will eat but not be satisfied, 

for there will be hunger within you.

What you acquire, you cannot save, 

and what you do save,

I will give to the sword. 

15You will sow but not reap; 

you will press olives

but not anoint yourself with oil;

and you will tread grapes

but not drink the wine. 

16The statutes of Omri

and all the practices of Ahab’s house

have been observed;

you have followed their policies. 

Therefore, I will make you a desolate place 

and the city’s  residents an object of contempt;  

you will bear the scorn of My people.”  

MICAH 7

Israel’s Moral Decline

1How sad for me!

For I am like one who —

when the summer fruit has been gathered

after the gleaning of the grape harvest  —

finds no grape cluster to eat,

no early fig, which I crave. 

2Godly people have vanished from the land; 

there is no one upright among the people. 

All of them wait in ambush to shed blood; 

they hunt each other with a net. 

3Both hands are good  at accomplishing evil:

the official and the judge demand a bribe; 

when the powerful man communicates his evil desire,

they plot it together.

4The best of them is like a brier; 

the most upright is worse than a hedge of thorns. 

The day of your watchmen,

the day of your punishment, is coming; 

at this time their panic is here. 

5Do not rely on a friend; 

don’t trust in a close companion.

Seal your mouth

from the woman who lies in your arms.

6Surely a son considers his father a fool, 

a daughter opposes her mother,

and a daughter-in-law is against her mother-in-law;

a man’s enemies are the men of his own household.

7But I will look to the Lord; 

I will wait for the God of my salvation. 

My God will hear me. 

Zion’s Vindication

8Do not rejoice over me,  my enemy!

Though I have fallen, I will stand up; 

though I sit in darkness,

the Lord will be my light. 

9Because I have sinned against Him,

I must endure the Lord’s rage

until He argues my case 

and establishes justice for me. 

He will bring me into the light; 

I will see His salvation.  

10Then my enemy will see,

and she will be covered with shame,

the one who said to me,

“Where is the Lord your God? ” 

My eyes will look at her in triumph;

at that time she will be trampled

like mud in the streets. 

11A day will come for rebuilding your walls; 

on that day your boundary will be extended. 

12On that day people will come to you 

from Assyria and the cities of Egypt,

even from Egypt to the Euphrates River

and from sea to sea

and mountain to mountain.

13Then the earth will become a wasteland 

because of its inhabitants

and as a result of their actions. 

Micah’s Prayer Answered

14Shepherd Your people  with Your staff, 

the flock that is Your possession.

They live alone  in a woodland

surrounded by pastures.

Let them graze in Bashan and Gilead 

as in ancient times. 

15I will perform miracles for them 

as in the days of your exodus

from the land of Egypt. 

16Nations will see and be ashamed

of  all their power.

They will put their hands over their mouths, 

and their ears will become deaf.

17They will lick the dust like a snake; 

they will come trembling out of their hiding places 

like reptiles slithering on the ground. 

They will tremble in the presence of Yahweh our God; 

they will stand in awe of You.

18Who is a God like You, 

removing iniquity and passing over rebellion 

for the remnant of His inheritance? 

He does not hold on to His anger forever, 

because He delights in faithful love. 

19He will again have compassion on us;

He will vanquish our iniquities. 

You will cast all our  sins

into the depths of the sea. 

20You will show loyalty to Jacob 

and faithful love to Abraham,

as You swore to our fathers 

from days long ago.

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REVELATION 15

Preparation for the Bowl Judgments

1Then I saw another great and awe-inspiring sign  in heaven:  seven angels with the seven last plagues, for with them, God’s wrath will be completed.  2I also saw something like a sea of glass  mixed with fire, and those who had won the victory over the beast, his image,  and the number of his name, were standing on the sea of glass with harps from God.   3They sang the song of God’s servant Moses  and the song of the Lamb:

Great and awe-inspiring are Your works,

Lord God, the Almighty;

righteous and true  are Your ways,

King of the Nations.  

4Lord, who will not fear

and glorify Your name?

Because You alone are holy, 

for all the nations will come

and worship before You 

because Your righteous acts

have been revealed.

5After this I looked, and the heavenly sanctuary — the tabernacle of testimony  — was opened.  6Out of the sanctuary came the seven angels with the seven plagues, dressed in clean, bright linen, with gold sashes wrapped around their chests. 7One of the four living creatures gave the seven angels seven gold bowls filled with the wrath of God who lives forever and ever.  8Then the sanctuary was filled with smoke from God’s glory and from His power,  and no one could enter the sanctuary until the seven plagues of the seven angels were completed.