Bible Readings for December 13, 2023

Let's read the Bible together in the next year. Today our passages are Obadiah 1-21; Revelation 4:1-11; Psalm 132:1-18; and Proverbs 29:24-25. The readings are the Contemporary English Version.

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Obadiah 1-21 (Contemporary English Version)

Obadiah 1

Edom's Pride and Punishment

 ¹The LORD God gave Obadiah   a message ^a] about Edom, and this is what we heard:
   "I, the LORD, have sent
   a messenger
   with orders for the nations
   to attack Edom."
    ²The LORD said to Edom:
   I will make you the weakest
   and most despised nation.
    ³You live in a mountain fortress, ^b] because your pride
   makes you feel safe from attack,
   but you are mistaken.
    ⁴I will still bring you down,
   even if you fly higher
   than an eagle
   or nest among the stars.
   I, the LORD, have spoken!
    ⁵If thieves break in at night,
   they steal
   only what they want.
   And people who harvest grapes
   always leave some unpicked.
   But, Edom, you are doomed!
    ⁶Everything you treasure most
   will be taken from you.
    ⁷Your allies can't be trusted.
   They will force you out
   of your own country.
   Your best friends
   will trick and trap you,
   even before you know it.
    ⁸Edom, when this happens,
   I, the LORD,
   will destroy
   all your marvelous wisdom.
    ⁹Warriors from the city of Teman ^c] will be terrified,
   and you descendants of Esau ^d] will be wiped out.   

The LORD Condemns Edom's Cruelty

 ¹⁰You were cruel to your relatives,   the descendants of Jacob. ^e] Now you will be destroyed,
   disgraced forever.
    ¹¹You stood there and watched
   as foreigners entered Jerusalem
   and took what they wanted.
   In fact, you were no better
   than those foreigners.
    ¹²Why did you celebrate
   when such a dreadful disaster
   struck your relatives?
   Why were you so pleased
   when everyone in Judah
   was suffering?
    ¹³They are my people,
   and you were cruel to them.
   You went through their towns,
   sneering
   and stealing
   whatever was left.
    ¹⁴In their time of torment,
   you ambushed refugees
   and handed them over
   to their attackers.   

The LORD Will Judge the Nations

 ¹⁵The day is coming   when I, the LORD,
   will judge the nations.
   And, Edom, you will pay in full
   for what you have done.
    ¹⁶I forced the people of Judah ^f] to drink the wine of my anger
   on my sacred mountain.
   Soon the neighboring nations
   must drink their fill--
   then vanish without a trace.   

Victory for Israel

 ¹⁷The LORD's people who escape   will go to Mount Zion,
   and it will be holy.
   Then Jacob's descendants
   will capture the land of those
   who took their land.
    ¹⁸Israel ^g] will be a fire, and Edom will be straw
   going up in flames.
   The LORD has spoken!
    ¹⁹The people of Israel
   who live in the Southern Desert
   will take the land of Edom.
   Those who live in the hills
   will capture Philistia,
   Ephraim, and Samaria.
   And the tribe of Benjamin
   will conquer Gilead.
    ²⁰Those who return from captivity
   will control Phoenicia
   as far as Zarephath. ^h] Captives from Jerusalem
   who were taken to Sepharad ^i] will capture the towns
   of the Southern Desert.
    ²¹Those the LORD has saved
   will live on Mount Zion
   and rule over Edom. ^j] Then the kingdom will belong
   to the LORD.
  

Footnotes:

1. Obadiah 1:1 message: Or "vision."
2. Obadiah 1:3 mountain fortress: The Hebrew text has "rocky cliff," which sounds like "Sela," the capital of Edom, a fortress city built on a mountain.
3. Obadiah 1:9 Teman: A famous city in Edom.
4. Obadiah 1:9 descendants of Esau: The people of Edom were descendants of Esau, the brother of Jacob (Israel).
5. Obadiah 1:10 descendants of Jacob: Jacob and Esau were brothers (see the note on Esau at verse 9).
6. Obadiah 1:16 I forced. . . Judah: Or "I will force the people of Edom."
7. Obadiah 1:18 Israel: Hebrew "The descendants of Jacob and of Joseph."
8. Obadiah 1:20 Those who return. . . Zarephath: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
9. Obadiah 1:20 Sepharad: Possibly the city of Sardis, the capital of Lydia, a country north and west of Media. This would refer to those captives from Judah who had been taken beyond the kingdom of Babylonia.
10. Obadiah 1:21 Those the LORD. . . Edom: Or "Leaders on (from) Mount Zion will save the people and rule over Edom."

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Revelation 4:1-11 (Contemporary English Version)

Revelation 4

Worship in Heaven

 ¹After this, I looked and saw a door that opened into heaven. Then the voice that had spoken to me at first and that sounded like a trumpet said, "Come up here! I will show you what must happen next." ²Right then the Spirit took control of me, and there in heaven I saw a throne and someone sitting on it. ³The one who was sitting there sparkled like precious stones of jasper ^a] and carnelian. ^b] A rainbow that looked like an emerald ^c] surrounded the throne. ⁴Twenty-four other thrones were in a circle around that throne. And on each of these thrones there was an elder dressed in white clothes and wearing a gold crown. ⁵Flashes of lightning and roars of thunder came out from the throne in the center of the circle. Seven torches, which are the seven spirits of God, were burning in front of the throne. ⁶Also in front of the throne was something that looked like a glass sea, clear as crystal.   Around the throne in the center were four living creatures covered front and back with eyes. ⁷The first creature was like a lion, the second one was like a bull, the third one had the face of a human, and the fourth was like a flying eagle. ⁸Each of the four living creatures had six wings, and their bodies were covered with eyes. Day and night they never stopped singing,
   "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord,
   the all-powerful God,
   who was and is
   and is coming!"
    ⁹The living creatures kept praising, honoring, and thanking the one who sits on the throne and who lives forever and ever. ¹⁰At the same time the twenty-four elders knelt down before the one sitting on the throne. And as they worshiped the one who lives forever, they placed their crowns in front of the throne and said,
    ¹¹"Our Lord and God,
   you are worthy
   to receive glory,
   honor, and power.
   You created all things,
   and by your decision they are
   and were created."
  

Footnotes:

1. Revelation 4:3 jasper: Usually green or clear.
2. Revelation 4:3 carnelian: Usually deep-red or reddish-white.
3. Revelation 4:3 emerald: A precious stone, usually green.

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Psalm 132:1-18 (Contemporary English Version)

Psalm 132

(A song for worship.)

The LORD Is Always with His People

 ¹Our LORD, don't forget David   and how he suffered.
    ²Mighty God of Jacob,
   remember how he promised:
    ³"I won't go home
   or crawl into bed
    ⁴or close my eyelids,
    ⁵until I find a home for you,
   the mighty LORD God of Jacob."
    ⁶When we were in Ephrath,
   we heard
   that the sacred chest
   was somewhere near Jaar.
    ⁷Then we said, "Let's go
   to the throne of the LORD
   and worship at his feet."
    ⁸Come to your new home, LORD,
   you and the sacred chest
   with all of its power.
    ⁹Let victory be like robes
   for the priests;
   let your faithful people
   celebrate and shout.
    ¹⁰David is your chosen one,
   so don't reject him.
    ¹¹You made a solemn promise
   to David, when you said,
   "I, the LORD, promise
   that someone in your family
   will always be king.
    ¹²If they keep our agreement
   and follow my teachings,
   then someone in your family
   will rule forever."
    ¹³You have gladly chosen Zion
   as your home, our LORD.
    ¹⁴You said, "This is my home!
   I will live here forever.
    ¹⁵I will bless Zion with food,
   and even the poor will eat
   until they are full.
    ¹⁶Victory will be like robes
   for the priests,
   and its faithful people
   will celebrate and shout.
    ¹⁷I will give mighty power
   to the kingdom of David.
   Each one of my chosen kings
   will shine like a lamp
    ¹⁸and wear a sparkling crown.
   But I will disgrace
   their enemies."

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Proverbs 29:24-25 (Contemporary English Version)

²⁴If you take part in a crime
   you are your worst enemy,
   because even under oath
   you can't tell the truth.
    ²⁵Don't fall into the trap
   of being a coward--
   trust the LORD,
   and you will be safe.

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Thought for the Day

 

“Herod brought together the chief priests and the teachers of the Law of Moses and asked them, "Where will the Messiah be born?" They told him, "He will be born in Bethlehem, just as the prophet wrote, 'Bethlehem in the land of Judea, you are very important among the towns of Judea. From your town will come a leader, who will be like a shepherd for my people Israel.” (Matthew 2:4-6 - Contemporary English Version) Over two thousand years ago, humanity's shepherd was born in Bethlehem. You see, Jesus Christ protects us from those forces that threaten to destroy us and will guide us into a glorious future.

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Quote for the Day

British historian, Alan Bullock wrote, "The corruption of people is to behave in an inhuman way."

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A Joke for Today

A young woman was preparing a ham dinner. After she cut off the end of the ham, she placed it in a pan for baking.

Her friend asked her, "Why did you cut off the end of the ham?"

And she replied ,"I really don't know but my mother always did, so I thought you were supposed to."

Later when talking to her mother she asked her why she cut off the end of the ham before baking it, and her mother replied, "I really don't know, but that's the way my mom always did it."

A few weeks later while visiting her grandmother, the young woman asked, "Grandma, why is it that you cut off the end of a ham before you bake it?"

Her grandmother replied, "Well dear, otherwise it would never fit into my baking pan."

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A Prayer Request

As Christians, we can offer specific daily prayers for our community, nation and world. Below is the need that we're laying before God today.

That people reflect the love and mercy of God in their daily lives.