John 19:28–37; Revelation 15; Job 37; Habakkuk 1–3

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John 19:28–37

The Death of Jesus

28 After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now bfinished, said (vto fulfill the Scripture), cI thirst. 29 A jar full of sour wine stood there, dso they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. 30 When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, eIt is finished, and he bowed his head and fgave up his spirit.

Jesus’ Side Is Pierced

31 Since it was gthe day of Preparation, and hso that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was ia high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away. 32 So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first, and of the other jwho had been crucified with him. 33 But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. 34 But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out kblood and water. 35 lHe who saw it has borne witnessmhis testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truthnthat you also may believe. 36 oFor these things took place that the Scripture might be fulfilled: pNot one of his bones qwill be broken. 37 And again another Scripture says, rThey will look on him whom they have pierced.


Revelation 15

The Seven Angels with Seven Plagues

Then rI saw another sign in heaven, great and amazing, sseven angels with seven plagues, which are the last, for with them the wrath of God is finished.

And I saw twhat appeared to be a sea of glass mingled with fireand also those uwho had conquered the beast and its image and vthe number of its name, standing beside the sea of glass wwith harps of God in their hands. And they sing xthe song of Moses, ythe servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying,

zGreat and amazing are your deeds,

O Lord God the Almighty!

aJust and true are your ways,

O King of the nations!1

bWho will not fear, O Lord,

and glorify your name?

For you alone are choly.

dAll nations will come

and worship you,

for your righteous acts have been revealed.

After this I looked, and ethe sanctuary of fthe tent2 of witness in heaven was opened, and out of the sanctuary came gthe seven angels with the seven plagues, clothed in pure, bright ilinen, jwith golden sashes around their chests. And one of kthe four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven lgolden bowls full of the wrath of God mwho lives forever and ever, and nthe sanctuary was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power, and ono one could enter the sanctuary until the seven plagues of the seven angels were finished.


Job 37

Elihu Proclaims God’s Majesty

At this also my heart trembles

and leaps out of its place.

Keep listening to the thunder of his voice

and the rumbling that comes from his mouth.

Under the whole heaven he lets it go,

and his ilightning to the jcorners of the earth.

After it khis voice roars;

lhe thunders with his majestic voice,

and he does not restrain the lightnings1 when his voice is heard.

God thunders wondrously with his voice;

he does mgreat things that we cannot ncomprehend.

For to othe snow he says, Fall on the earth,

likewise to the downpour, his mighty downpour.

He pseals up the hand of every man,

that all men whom he made may qknow it.

Then the beasts go into their rlairs,

and remain in their sdens.

From tits chamber ucomes the whirlwind,

and vcold from the scattering winds.

10  By the breath of God wice is given,

and xthe broad waters are frozen fast.

11  He loads the thick cloud with moisture;

the clouds scatter his lightning.

12  They yturn around and around by his zguidance,

zto accomplish all that he commands them

on the face of athe habitable world.

13  Whether for bcorrection or for his cland

or for dlove, he causes it to happen.

14  Hear this, O Job;

stop and econsider the wondrous works of God.

15  Do you know how God lays his command upon them

and causes the lightning of his cloud to shine?

16  Do you know the balancings2 of the clouds,

the wondrous works of him who is fperfect in knowledge,

17  you whose garments are hot

when the earth is still because of the south wind?

18  Can you, like him, gspread out the skies,

hard as a cast metal hmirror?

19  Teach us what we shall say to him;

we cannot draw up our case because of idarkness.

20  Shall it be told him that I would speak?

Did a man ever wish that he would be swallowed up?

21  And now no one looks on the light

when it is bright in the skies,

when the wind has passed and cleared them.

22  Out of the north comes golden splendor;

God is clothed with jawesome majesty.

23  The Almightywe kcannot find him;

he is lgreat in power;

mjustice and abundant righteousness he will not nviolate.

24  Therefore men ofear him;

he does not regard any who are pwise in their own conceit.3


Habakkuk 1–3

aThe oracle that Habakkuk the prophet saw.

Habakkuk’s Complaint

O Lord, bhow long shall I cry for help,

and you will not hear?

Or cry to you cViolence!

and you will not save?

dWhy do you make me see iniquity,

and why do you idly look at wrong?

Destruction cand violence are before me;

strife and contention arise.

eSo the law is paralyzed,

and justice never goes forth.

fFor the wicked surround the righteous;

so justice goes forth perverted.

The Lord’s Answer

gLook among the nations, and see;

wonder and be astounded.

hFor I am doing a work in your days

that you would not believe if told.

For behold, iI am raising up the Chaldeans,

that bitter and hasty nation,

jwho march through the breadth of the earth,

kto seize dwellings not their own.

They are dreaded and fearsome;

ltheir justice and dignity go forth from themselves.

mTheir horses are swifter than leopards,

more fierce than nthe evening wolves;

their horsemen press proudly on.

Their horsemen come from afar;

othey fly like an eagle swift to devour.

They all come pfor violence,

all their faces forward.

They gather captives rlike sand.

10  At kings they scoff,

and at rulers they laugh.

sThey laugh at every fortress,

for tthey pile up earth and take it.

11  Then they sweep by like the wind and go on,

uguilty men, vwhose own might is their god!

Habakkuk’s Second Complaint

12  Are you not wfrom everlasting,

O Lord my God, my Holy One?

xWe shall not die.

O Lord, yyou have ordained them as a judgment,

and you, O zRock, have established them for reproof.

13  You who are aof purer eyes than to see evil

and cannot look at wrong,

bwhy do you idly look at traitors

and cremain silent when the wicked swallows up

the man more righteous than he?

14  You make mankind like the fish of the sea,

like crawling things that have no ruler.

15  dHe1 brings all of them up ewith a hook;

he drags them out with his net;

he gathers them in his dragnet;

so he rejoices and is glad.

16  fTherefore he sacrifices to his net

and makes offerings to his dragnet;

for by them he lives in luxury,2

and his food is rich.

17  Is he then to keep on emptying his net

gand mercilessly killing nations forever?

I will htake my stand at my watchpost

and station myself on the tower,

and ilook out to see jwhat he will say to me,

and what I will answer concerning my complaint.

The Righteous Shall Live by His Faith

And the Lord answered me:

kWrite the vision;

make it plain on tablets,

so he may run who reads it.

For still lthe vision awaits its appointed time;

it hastens to the endit will not lie.

If it seems slow, mwait for it;

nit will surely come; it will not delay.

Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him,

but othe righteous shall live by his faith.3

Moreover, wine4 is pa traitor,

an arrogant man who is never at rest.5

His greed is as wide as Sheol;

like death qhe has never enough.

rHe gathers for himself all nations

and collects as his own all peoples.

Woe to the Chaldeans

Shall not all these stake up their taunt against him, with scoffing and riddles for him, and say,

tWoe to him uwho heaps up what is not his own

for vhow long?

and wloads himself with pledges!

xWill not your debtors suddenly arise,

and those awake who will make you tremble?

Then you will be spoil for them.

yBecause you have plundered many nations,

all the remnant of the peoples shall plunder you,

zfor the blood of man and yviolence to the earth,

to cities and all who dwell in them.

tWoe to him who gets evil gain for his house,

ato bset his nest on high,

to be safe from the reach of harm!

10  You have devised shame for your house

cby cutting off many peoples;

you have forfeited your life.

11  For dthe stone will cry out from the wall,

and the beam from the woodwork respond.

12  tWoe to him ewho builds a town with blood

and founds a city on iniquity!

13  Behold, is it not from the Lord of hosts

that fpeoples labor merely for fire,

and nations weary themselves for nothing?

14  gFor the earth will be filled

with the knowledge of hthe glory of the Lord

as the waters cover the sea.

15  tWoe to him iwho makes his neighbors drink

you pour out your wrath and make them drunk,

in order to gaze jat their nakedness!

16  You will have your fill kof shame instead of glory.

lDrink, yourself, and show your uncircumcision!

lThe cup in the Lord’s right hand

will come around to you,

and mutter shame will come upon your glory!

17  nThe violence odone to Lebanon will overwhelm you,

as will the destruction of the beasts that terrified them,

nfor the blood of man and violence to the earth,

to cities and all who dwell in them.

18  pWhat profit is an idol

when its maker has shaped it,

a metal image, qa teacher of lies?

For its maker trusts in his own creation

when he makes rspeechless idols!

19  sWoe to him twho says to a wooden thing, Awake;

to a silent stone, Arise!

Can this teach?

Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver,

and uthere is no breath at all in it.

20  But vthe Lord is in his holy temple;

wlet all the earth keep silence before him.

Habakkuk’s Prayer

A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet, according to Shigionoth.

O Lord, xI have heard the report of you,

and yyour work, O Lord, do I fear.

In the midst of the years zrevive it;

in the midst of the years make it known;

ain wrath remember mercy.

God came from bTeman,

cand the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah

His splendor covered the heavens,

and the earth was full of his praise.

dHis brightness was like the light;

rays flashed from his hand;

and there he veiled his power.

eBefore him went pestilence,

and plague followed fat his heels.6

He stood gand measured the earth;

he looked and shook the nations;

then the heternal mountains iwere scattered;

the everlasting hills sank low.

His were jthe everlasting ways.

I saw the tents of kCushan in affliction;

lthe curtains of the land of Midian did tremble.

mWas your wrath against the rivers, O Lord?

Was your anger against the rivers,

mor your indignation against the sea,

nwhen you rode on your horses,

non your chariot of salvation?

You stripped the sheath from your bow,

calling for many arrows.7 Selah

pYou split the earth with rivers.

10  qThe mountains saw you and writhed;

the raging waters swept on;

rthe deep gave forth its voice;

sit lifted its hands on high.

11  tThe sun and moon stood still in their place

uat the light of your arrows as they sped,

at the flash of your glittering spear.

12  vYou marched through the earth in fury;

wyou threshed the nations in anger.

13  vYou went out for the salvation of your people,

for the salvation of xyour anointed.

yYou crushed the head of the house of the wicked,

laying him bare from thigh to neck.8 Selah

14  You pierced with his own arrows the heads of his warriors,

who came like a whirlwind to scatter me,

rejoicing as if to devour the poor in secret.

15  zYou trampled the sea with your horses,

the surging of mighty waters.

16  aI hear, and bmy body trembles;

my lips quiver at the sound;

crottenness enters into my bones;

my legs tremble beneath me.

Yet dI will quietly wait for the day of trouble

to come upon people who invade us.

Habakkuk Rejoices in the Lord

17  Though the fig tree should not blossom,

nor fruit be on the vines,

the produce of the olive fail

and the fields yield no food,

the flock be cut off from the fold

and there be no herd in the stalls,

18  eyet I will rejoice in the Lord;

fI will take joy in the God of my salvation.

19  God, the Lord, is my strength;

ghe makes my feet like the deer’s;

he makes me htread on my ihigh places.

jTo the choirmaster: with kstringed9 instruments.