The reading for December 13 is Joel 1-2 and Revelation 4.
Daily Reading for December 14
The reading for December 14 is Joel 3 and Revelation 5.
The passages below are courtesy of BibleGateway.
Joel 3
Judgment against Enemy Nations
3 [a]“At the time of those events,” says the Lord,
“when I restore the prosperity of Judah and Jerusalem,
2 I will gather the armies of the world
into the valley of Jehoshaphat.[b]
There I will judge them
for harming my people, my special possession,
for scattering my people among the nations,
and for dividing up my land.
3 They threw dice[c] to decide which of my people
would be their slaves.
They traded boys to obtain prostitutes
and sold girls for enough wine to get drunk.
4 “What do you have against me, Tyre and Sidon and you cities of Philistia? Are you trying to take revenge on me? If you are, then watch out! I will strike swiftly and pay you back for everything you have done. 5 You have taken my silver and gold and all my precious treasures, and have carried them off to your pagan temples. 6 You have sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks,[d] so they could take them far from their homeland.
7 “But I will bring them back from all the places to which you sold them, and I will pay you back for everything you have done. 8 I will sell your sons and daughters to the people of Judah, and they will sell them to the people of Arabia,[e] a nation far away. I, the Lord, have spoken!”
9 Say to the nations far and wide:
“Get ready for war!
Call out your best warriors.
Let all your fighting men advance for the attack.
10 Hammer your plowshares into swords
and your pruning hooks into spears.
Train even your weaklings to be warriors.
11 Come quickly, all you nations everywhere.
Gather together in the valley.”
And now, O Lord, call out your warriors!
12 “Let the nations be called to arms.
Let them march to the valley of Jehoshaphat.
There I, the Lord, will sit
to pronounce judgment on them all.
13 Swing the sickle,
for the harvest is ripe.[f]
Come, tread the grapes,
for the winepress is full.
The storage vats are overflowing
with the wickedness of these people.”
14 Thousands upon thousands are waiting in the valley of decision.
There the day of the Lord will soon arrive.
15 The sun and moon will grow dark,
and the stars will no longer shine.
16 The Lord’s voice will roar from Zion
and thunder from Jerusalem,
and the heavens and the earth will shake.
But the Lord will be a refuge for his people,
a strong fortress for the people of Israel.
Blessings for God’s People
17 “Then you will know that I, the Lord your God,
live in Zion, my holy mountain.
Jerusalem will be holy forever,
and foreign armies will never conquer her again.
18 In that day the mountains will drip with sweet wine,
and the hills will flow with milk.
Water will fill the streambeds of Judah,
and a fountain will burst forth from the Lord’s Temple,
watering the arid valley of acacias.[g]
19 But Egypt will become a wasteland
and Edom will become a wilderness,
because they attacked the people of Judah
and killed innocent people in their land.
20 “But Judah will be filled with people forever,
and Jerusalem will endure through all generations.
21 I will pardon my people’s crimes,
which I have not yet pardoned;
and I, the Lord, will make my home
in Jerusalem[h] with my people.”
Footnotes
- 3:1 Verses 3:1-21 are numbered 4:1-21 in Hebrew text.
- 3:2 Jehoshaphat means “the Lord judges.”
- 3:3 Hebrew They cast lots.
- 3:6 Hebrew to the peoples of Javan.
- 3:8 Hebrew to the Sabeans.
- 3:13 Greek version reads for the harvest time has come. Compare Mark 4:29.
- 3:18 Hebrew valley of Shittim.
- 3:21 Hebrew Zion.
Revelation 5
The Lamb Opens the Scroll
5 Then I saw a scroll[a] in the right hand of the one who was sitting on the throne. There was writing on the inside and the outside of the scroll, and it was sealed with seven seals. 2 And I saw a strong angel, who shouted with a loud voice: “Who is worthy to break the seals on this scroll and open it?” 3 But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll and read it.
4 Then I began to weep bitterly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll and read it. 5 But one of the twenty-four elders said to me, “Stop weeping! Look, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the heir to David’s throne,[b] has won the victory. He is worthy to open the scroll and its seven seals.”
6 Then I saw a Lamb that looked as if it had been slaughtered, but it was now standing between the throne and the four living beings and among the twenty-four elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which represent the sevenfold Spirit[c] of God that is sent out into every part of the earth. 7 He stepped forward and took the scroll from the right hand of the one sitting on the throne. 8 And when he took the scroll, the four living beings and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp, and they held gold bowls filled with incense, which are the prayers of God’s people. 9 And they sang a new song with these words:
“You are worthy to take the scroll
and break its seals and open it.
For you were slaughtered, and your blood has ransomed people for God
from every tribe and language and people and nation.
10 And you have caused them to become
a Kingdom of priests for our God.
And they will reign[d] on the earth.”
11 Then I looked again, and I heard the voices of thousands and millions of angels around the throne and of the living beings and the elders. 12 And they sang in a mighty chorus:
“Worthy is the Lamb who was slaughtered—
to receive power and riches
and wisdom and strength
and honor and glory and blessing.”
13 And then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea. They sang:
“Blessing and honor and glory and power
belong to the one sitting on the throne
and to the Lamb forever and ever.”
14 And the four living beings said, “Amen!” And the twenty-four elders fell down and worshiped the Lamb.