Today's Reading

¹An oracle. The word of the Lord concerning Israel. The Lord, who stretches out the heavens, and lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him says:

²"Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of reeling to all the surrounding peoples, and on Judah also will it be in the siege against Jerusalem.

³It will happen in that day, that I will make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all the peoples. All who burden themselves with it will be severely wounded, and all the nations of the earth will be gathered together against it.

⁴In that day," says the Lord, "I will strike every horse with terror, and his rider with madness; and I will open my eyes on the house of Judah, and will strike every horse of the peoples with blindness.

⁵The chieftains of Judah will say in their heart, 'The inhabitants of Jerusalem are my strength in the Lord of hosts their God.'

⁶In that day I will make the chieftains of Judah like a pan of fire among wood, and like a flaming torch among sheaves; and they will devour all the surrounding peoples, on the right hand and on the left; and Jerusalem will yet again dwell in their own place, even in Jerusalem.

⁷The Lord also will save the tents of Judah first, that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem not be magnified above Judah.

⁸In that day the Lord will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem. He who is feeble among them at that day will be like David, and the house of David will be like God, like the angel of the Lord before them.

⁹It will happen in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.

¹⁰I will pour on the house of David, and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplication; and they will look to me whom they have pierced; and they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for his only son, and will grieve bitterly for him, as one grieves for his firstborn.

¹¹In that day there will be a great mourning in Jerusalem, like the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon.

¹²The land will mourn, every family apart; the family of the house of David apart, and their wives apart; the family of the house of Nathan apart, and their wives apart;

¹³the family of the house of Levi apart, and their wives apart; the family of the Shimeites apart, and their wives apart;

¹⁴all the families who remain, every family apart, and their wives apart.

¹"In that day there will be a spring opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness.

²It will come to pass in that day, says the Lord of hosts, that I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, and they will be remembered no more. I will also cause the prophets and the spirit of impurity to pass out of the land.

³It will happen that, when anyone still prophesies, then his father and his mother who bore him will tell him, 'You must die, because you speak lies in the name of the Lord;' and his father and his mother who bore him will stab him when he prophesies.

⁴It will happen in that day, that the prophets will each be ashamed of his vision, when he prophesies; neither will they wear a hairy mantle to deceive:

⁵but he will say, 'I am no prophet, I am a tiller of the ground; for I have been made a bondservant from my youth.'

⁶One will say to him, 'What are these wounds between your hands?' Then he will answer, 'Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.'

⁷"Awake, sword, against my shepherd, and against the man who is close to me," says the Lord of hosts. "Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered; and I will turn my hand against the little ones.

⁸It shall happen that in all the land," says the Lord, "two parts in it will be cut off and die; but the third will be left in it.

⁹I will bring the third part into the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will test them like gold is tested. They will call on my name, and I will hear them. I will say, 'It is my people;' and they will say, 'The Lord is my God.'"

¹Behold, a day of the Lord comes, when your spoil will be divided in your midst.

²For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city will be taken, the houses rifled, and the women ravished. Half of the city will go out into captivity, and the rest of the people will not be cut off from the city.

³Then the Lord will go out and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle.

⁴His feet will stand in that day on the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives will be split in two, from east to west, making a very great valley. Half of the mountain will move toward the north, and half of it toward the south.

⁵You shall flee by the valley of my mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach to Azel; yes, you shall flee, just like you fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. The Lord my God will come, and all the holy ones with you.

⁶It will happen in that day, that there will not be light, cold, or frost.

⁷It will be a unique day which is known to the Lord; not day, and not night; but it will come to pass, that at evening time there will be light.

⁸It will happen in that day, that living waters will go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the eastern sea, and half of them toward the western sea; in summer and in winter will it be.

⁹The Lord will be King over all the earth. In that day the Lord will be one, and his name one.

¹⁰All the land will be made like the Arabah, from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem; and she will be lifted up, and will dwell in her place, from Benjamin's gate to the place of the first gate, to the corner gate, and from the tower of Hananel to the king's winepresses.

¹¹Men will dwell therein, and there will be no more curse; but Jerusalem will dwell safely.

¹²This will be the plague with which the Lord will strike all the peoples who have warred against Jerusalem: their flesh will consume away while they stand on their feet, and their eyes will consume away in their sockets, and their tongue will consume away in their mouth.

¹³It will happen in that day, that a great panic from the Lord will be among them; and they will lay hold everyone on the hand of his neighbor, and his hand will rise up against the hand of his neighbor.

¹⁴Judah also will fight at Jerusalem; and the wealth of all the surrounding nations will be gathered together: gold, and silver, and clothing, in great abundance.

¹⁵So will be the plague of the horse, of the mule, of the camel, and of the donkey, and of all the animals that will be in those camps, as that plague.

¹⁶It will happen that everyone who is left of all the nations that came against Jerusalem will go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the feast of booths.

¹⁷It will be, that whoever of all the families of the earth doesn't go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, on them there will be no rain.

¹⁸If the family of Egypt doesn't go up, and doesn't come, neither will it rain on them. This will be the plague with which the Lord will strike the nations that do not go up to keep the feast of booths.

¹⁹This will be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all the nations that do not go up to keep the feast of booths.

²⁰In that day there will be on the bells of the horses, "HOLY TO THE Lord;" and the pots in the Lord's house will be like the bowls before the altar.

²¹Yes, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah will be holy to the Lord of hosts; and all those who sacrifice will come and take of them, and cook in them. In that day there will no longer be a Canaanite in the house of the Lord of hosts.

¹I saw another mighty angel coming down out of the sky, clothed with a cloud. A rainbow was on his head. His face was like the sun, and his feet like pillars of fire.

²He had in his hand a little open scroll. He set his right foot on the sea, and his left on the land.

³He shouted with a loud voice, as a lion roars. When he shouted, the seven thunders uttered their voices.

⁴When the seven thunders sounded, I was about to write; but I heard a voice from the sky saying, "Seal up the things which the seven thunders said, and do not write them."

⁵The angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land lifted up his right hand to the sky,

⁶and swore by him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and the things that are in it, the earth and the things that are in it, and the sea and the things that are in it, that there will no longer be delay,

⁷but in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, then the mystery of God is finished, as he declared to his servants, the prophets.

⁸The voice which I heard from heaven, again speaking with me, said, "Go, take the scroll which is open in the hand of the angel who stands on the sea and on the land."

⁹I went to the angel, telling him to give me the little scroll. He said to me, "Take it, and eat it up. It will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be as sweet as honey."

¹⁰I took the little scroll out of the angel's hand, and ate it up. It was as sweet as honey in my mouth. When I had eaten it, my stomach was made bitter.

¹¹They told me, "You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, languages, and kings."

¹The words of king Lemuel; the oracle which his mother taught him.

²"Oh, my son! Oh, son of my womb! Oh, son of my vows!

³Do not give your strength to women, nor your ways to that which destroys kings.

⁴It is not for kings, Lemuel; it is not for kings to drink wine; nor for princes to say, 'Where is strong drink?'

⁵lest they drink, and forget the decree, and pervert the justice due to anyone who is afflicted.

⁶Give strong drink to him who is ready to perish; and wine to the bitter in soul:

⁷Let him drink, and forget his poverty, and remember his misery no more.

⁸Open your mouth for the mute, in the cause of all who are left desolate.

⁹Open your mouth, judge righteously, and serve justice to the poor and needy."

¹⁰Who can find a worthy woman? For her price is far above rubies.

¹¹The heart of her husband trusts in her. He shall have no lack of gain.

¹²She does him good, and not harm, all the days of her life.

¹³She seeks wool and flax, and works eagerly with her hands.

¹⁴She is like the merchant ships. She brings her bread from afar.

¹⁵She rises also while it is yet night, gives food to her household, and portions for her servant girls.

¹⁶She considers a field, and buys it. With the fruit of her hands, she plants a vineyard.

¹⁷She girds her waist with strength, and makes her arms strong.

¹⁸She perceives that her merchandise is profitable. Her lamp doesn't go out by night.

¹⁹She lays her hands to the distaff, and her hands hold the spindle.

²⁰She opens her arms to the poor; yes, she extends her hands to the needy.

²¹She is not afraid of the snow for her household; for all her household are clothed with scarlet.

²²She makes for herself carpets of tapestry. Her clothing is fine linen and purple.

²³Her husband is respected in the gates, when he sits among the elders of the land.

²⁴She makes linen garments and sells them, and delivers sashes to the merchant.

²⁵Strength and dignity are her clothing. She laughs at the time to come.

²⁶She opens her mouth with wisdom. Faithful instruction is on her tongue.

²⁷She looks well to the ways of her household, and doesn't eat the bread of idleness.

²⁸Her children rise up and call her blessed. Her husband also praises her:

²⁹"Many women do noble things, but you excel them all."

³⁰Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain; but a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised.

³¹Give her of the fruit of her hands! Let her works praise her in the gates!