John 20:19–23; Revelation 19; Job 40; Zechariah 1–5

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John 20:19–23

Jesus Appears to the Disciples

19 cOn the evening dof that day, the first day of the week, ethe doors being locked where the disciples were ffor fear of the Jews,1 Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, gPeace be with you. 20 When he had said this, hhe showed them his hands and his side. Then ithe disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. 21 Jesus said to them again, Peace be with you. As jthe Father has sent me, keven so I am sending you. 22 And when he had said this, he lbreathed on them and said to them, mReceive the Holy Spirit. 23 nIf you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.


Revelation 19

Rejoicing in Heaven

After this I heard nwhat seemed to be the loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, crying out,

Hallelujah!

oSalvation and glory and power belong to our God,

for phis judgments are true and just;

for he has judged qthe great prostitute

who corrupted the earth with her immorality,

and rhas avenged on her the blood of his servants.

Once more they cried out,

Hallelujah!

sThe smoke from her goes up forever and ever.

And tthe twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who was seated on the throne, saying, Amen. Hallelujah! And from the throne came a voice saying,

uPraise our God,

all you his servants,

vyou who fear him,

small and great.

The Marriage Supper of the Lamb

Then I heard what seemed to be wthe voice of a great multitude, like xthe roar of many waters and ylike the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out,

Hallelujah!

For the Lord our God

the Almighty zreigns.

Let us rejoice and exult

and give him the glory,

for athe marriage of the Lamb has come,

and bhis Bride has made herself ready;

cit was granted her to clothe herself

with fine linen, bright and pure

for the fine linen is dthe righteous deeds of the saints.

And the angel said1 to me, Write this: eBlessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he said to me, fThese are the true words of God. 10 Then gI fell down at his feet to worship him, hbut he said to me, You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers who hold to ithe testimony of Jesus. Worship God. For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

The Rider on a White Horse

11 Then I saw jheaven opened, and behold, ka white horse! The one sitting on it is called lFaithful and True, and min righteousness he judges and makes war. 12 nHis eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are omany diadems, and he has pa name written that no one knows but himself. 13 He is clothed in qa robe dipped in2 blood, and the name by which he is called is rThe Word of God. 14 And the armies of heaven, sarrayed in fine linen, white and pure, twere following him on white horses. 15 uFrom his mouth comes a sharp sword vwith which to strike down the nations, and whe will rule3 them with a rod of iron. xHe will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. 16 On his robe and on his thigh yhe has a name written, zKing of kings and Lord of lords.

17 Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and with a loud voice he called to aall the birds that fly directly overhead, bCome, gather for cthe great supper of God, 18 dto eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all men, both free and slave,4 both small and great. 19 And I saw ethe beast and the kings of the earth with their armies fgathered to make war against him who was sitting on the horse and against his army. 20 And the beast was captured, and with it gthe false prophet hwho in its presence5 had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who iworshiped its image. These two were jthrown alive into the lake of kfire that burns with sulfur. 21 And the rest were slain by the sword lthat came from the mouth of him who was sitting on the horse, and mall the birds were gorged with their flesh.


Job 40

And the Lord xsaid to Job:

Shall a faultfinder ycontend with the Almighty?

He who argues with God, let him answer it.

Job Promises Silence

Then Job answered the Lord and said:

Behold, I am zof small account; what shall I answer you?

aI lay my hand on my mouth.

I have spoken bonce, and I will not answer;

btwice, but I will proceed no further.

The Lord Challenges Job

Then the Lord canswered Job out of the whirlwind and said:

dDress for action1 like a man;

eI will question you, and you make it known to me.

Will you even put me in the wrong?

Will you condemn me that fyou may be in the right?

Have you gan arm like God,

and can you thunder with ha voice like his?

10  Adorn yourself with majesty and dignity;

iclothe yourself with glory and splendor.

11  Pour out the overflowings of your anger,

and look on everyone who is jproud and abase him.

12  Look on everyone who is proud and bring him low

and ktread down the wicked lwhere they stand.

13  mHide them all in nthe dust together;

bind their faces in the world below.2

14  Then will I also acknowledge to you

that your own oright hand can save you.

15  Behold, Behemoth,3

which I made as I made you;

he eats pgrass like an ox.

16  Behold, his strength in his loins,

and his power in the muscles of his belly.

17  He makes his tail stiff like a cedar;

the sinews of his thighs are knit together.

18  His bones are tubes of bronze,

his limbs like bars of iron.

19  He is qthe first of rthe works4 of God;

let him who made him bring near his sword!

20  For the mountains yield food for him

where all the wild beasts play.

21  Under the lotus plants he lies,

in the shelter of sthe reeds and in the marsh.

22  For his shade the lotus trees cover him;

the willows of the brook surround him.

23  Behold, if the river is turbulent he is not frightened;

he is confident though Jordan rushes against his mouth.

24  Can one take him by his eyes,5

or pierce his nose with a snare?


Zechariah 1–5

A Call to Return to the Lord

In the eighth month, ain the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to the prophet bZechariah, the son of cBerechiah, son of dIddo, saying, eThe Lord was very angry with your fathers. Therefore say to them, Thus declares the Lord of hosts: fReturn to me, says the Lord of hosts, and gI will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. hDo not be like your fathers, ito whom the former prophets cried out, Thus says the Lord of hosts, fReturn from your evil ways and from your evil deeds. But jthey did not hear or pay attention to me, declares the Lord. Your fathers, where are they? And kthe prophets, do they live forever? lBut my words and my statutes, which I commanded mmy servants the prophets, did they not novertake your fathers? So they repented and said, oAs the Lord of hosts purposed to deal with us for pour ways and pdeeds, so has he dealt with us.

A Vision of a Horseman

On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, which is the month of Shebat, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to the prophet bZechariah, the son of cBerechiah, son of dIddo, saying, I saw in the night, and behold, qa man riding on a red horse! He was standing among the myrtle trees in the glen, and behind him were rred, sorrel, and white horses. Then I said, What are these, my lord? sThe angel who talked with me said to me, I will show you what they are. 10 So qthe man who was standing among the myrtle trees answered, tThese are they whom the Lord has sent to upatrol the earth. 11 And they answered sthe angel of the Lord who was standing among the myrtle trees, and said, uWe have patrolled the earth, and behold, all the earth vremains at rest. 12 Then sthe angel of the Lord said, wO Lord of hosts, whow long will you xhave no mercy on Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, against which you have been angry these yseventy years? 13 And the Lord answered zgracious and comforting words to sthe angel who talked with me. 14 So sthe angel who talked with me said to me, Cry out, Thus says the Lord of hosts: aI am exceedingly jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion. 15 bAnd I am exceedingly angry with the nations that are cat ease; dfor while I was angry but a little, ethey furthered the disaster. 16 Therefore, thus says the Lord, fI have returned to Jerusalem with mercy; gmy house shall be built in it, declares the Lord of hosts, and hthe measuring line shall be stretched out over Jerusalem. 17 Cry out again, Thus says the Lord of hosts: iMy cities shall again overflow with prosperity, jand the Lord will again comfort Zion and again kchoose Jerusalem.

A Vision of Horns and Craftsmen

18 1 And I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, lfour horns! 19 And I said to sthe angel who talked with me, What are these? And he said to me, lThese are the horns that have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem. 20 Then the Lord showed me four craftsmen. 21 And I said, What are these coming to do? He said, lThese are the horns that scattered Judah, so that no one raised his head. And these have come mto terrify them, to cast down the horns of the nations nwho lifted up their horns against the land of Judah to scatter it.

A Vision of a Man with a Measuring Line

2 And I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, oa man with a measuring line in his hand! Then I said, Where are you going? And he said to me, pTo measure Jerusalem, to see what is its width and what is its length. And behold, qthe angel who talked with me came forward, and another angel came forward to meet him and said to him, Run, say to that young man, rJerusalem shall be inhabited sas villages without walls, because of tthe multitude of people and livestock in it. And I will be to her ua wall of fire all around, declares the Lord, and I will be the glory in her midst.

Up! Up! vFlee from the land of the north, declares the Lord. For I have wspread you abroad as the four winds of the heavens, declares the Lord. xUp! Escape to Zion, you who dwell with the daughter of Babylon. For thus said the Lord of hosts, after his glory sent me3 to the nations who plundered you, yfor he who touches you touches zthe apple of his eye: Behold, aI will shake my hand over them, band they shall become plunder for those who served them. Then cyou will know that the Lord of hosts has sent me. 10 dSing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion, for ebehold, I come fand I will dwell in your midst, declares the Lord. 11 gAnd many nations shall join themselves to the Lord in that day, and shall be my people. fAnd I will dwell in your midst, and cyou shall know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you. 12 hAnd the Lord will inherit Judah as his portion in the holy land, and will again ichoose Jerusalem.

13 Be silent, all flesh, before the Lord, for he has roused himself from his holy dwelling.

A Vision of Joshua the High Priest

Then he showed me jJoshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and kSatan4 standing at his right hand to accuse him. And the Lord said to Satan, lThe Lord rebuke you, O Satan! The Lord who has mchosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is not this na brand5 plucked from the fire? Now jJoshua was standing before the angel, oclothed with filthy garments. And the angel said to pthose who were standing before him, qRemove the filthy garments from him. And to him he said, Behold, rI have taken your iniquity away from you, and sI will clothe you with pure vestments. And I said, tLet them put a clean turban on his head. So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him with garments. And the angel of the Lord was standing by.

And the angel of the Lord solemnly assured jJoshua, Thus says the Lord of hosts: If you will walk in my ways and ukeep my charge, then you shall vrule my house and have charge of my courts, and I will give you the right of access among wthose who are standing here. Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, you and your friends who sit before you, for xthey are men who are a sign: behold, I will bring ymy servant zthe Branch. For behold, on athe stone that I have set before Joshua, on a single stone with bseven eyes,6 I will cengrave its inscription, declares the Lord of hosts, and dI will remove the iniquity of this land in a single day. 10 In that day, declares the Lord of hosts, every one of you will invite his neighbor to come eunder his vine and under his fig tree.

A Vision of a Golden Lampstand

And fthe angel who talked with me came again gand woke me, like a man who is awakened out of his sleep. And he said to me, What do you see? I said, I see, and behold, ha lampstand all of gold, with a bowl on the top of it, and iseven lamps on it, with seven lips on each of the lamps that are on the top of it. And there are jtwo olive trees by it, one on the right of the bowl and the other on its left. And I said to fthe angel who talked with me, What are these, my lord? Then the angel who talked with me answered and said to me, kDo you not know what these are? I said, No, my lord. Then he said to me, This is the word of the Lord to lZerubbabel: mNot by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts. Who are you, nO great mountain? Before lZerubbabel oyou shall become a plain. And he shall bring forward pthe top stone amid shouts of Grace, grace to it!

Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, qThe hands of lZerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also rcomplete it. sThen you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you. 10 tFor whoever has despised the day of small things shall rejoice, and shall see uthe plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel.

vThese seven vare the eyes of the Lord, wwhich range through the whole earth. 11 Then I said to him, What are these jtwo olive trees on the right and the left of the lampstand? 12 And a second time I answered and said to him, What are these jtwo branches of the olive trees, which are beside the two golden pipes from which the golden oil7 is poured out? 13 He said to me, xDo you not know what these are? I said, No, my lord. 14 Then he said, yThese are the two anointed ones8 who stand by zthe Lord of the whole earth.

A Vision of a Flying Scroll

Again I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, a flying ascroll! And he said to me, What do you see? I answered, I see a flying ascroll. Its length is twenty cubits, and its width ten cubits.9 Then he said to me, This is bthe curse that goes out over the face of the whole land. For everyone who csteals shall be cleaned out according to what is on one side, and everyone who dswears falsely10 shall be cleaned out according to what is on the other side. I will send it out, declares the Lord of hosts, and it shall enter the house of the thief, and the house of ehim who swears falsely by my name. And fit shall remain in his house and gconsume it, both timber and stones.

A Vision of a Woman in a Basket

hThen the angel who talked with me came forward and said to me, iLift your eyes and see what this is that is going out. And I said, What is it? He said, This is jthe basket11 that is going out. And he said, This is their iniquity12 in all the land. And behold, the leaden cover was lifted, and there was a woman sitting in the basket! And he said, This is Wickedness. And he thrust her back into the basket, and thrust down jthe leaden weight on its opening.

Then I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, two women coming forward! kThe wind was in their wings. They had wings like the wings of a stork, and they lifted up the basket between earth and heaven. 10 Then I said to the angel who talked with me, Where are they taking the basket? 11 He said to me, To the lland of Shinar, to build a house for it. And when this is prepared, they will set the basket down there on its base.