December 18
Job 1 & Revelation 14
Hide/Show Verse Numbers

Job 1

Chapter 1

1:1There was a man in the country of Uz named Job. He was a man of perfect integrity, who feared God and turned away from evil. 2He had seven sons and three daughters. 3His estate included 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, 500 female donkeys, and a very large number of servants. Job was the greatest man among all the people of the east.
4His sons used to take turns having banquets at their homes. They would send an invitation to their three sisters to eat and drink with them. 5Whenever a round of banqueting was over, Job would send for his children and purify them, rising early in the morning to offer burnt offerings for all of them. For Job thought: Perhaps my children have sinned, having cursed God in their hearts. This was Job's regular practice.
6One day the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them. 7The Lord asked Satan, "Where have you come from?"
"From roaming through the earth," Satan answered Him, "and walking around on it."
8Then the Lord said to Satan, "Have you considered My servant Job? No one else on earth is like him, a man of perfect integrity, who fears God and turns away from evil."
9Satan answered the Lord, "Does Job fear God for nothing? 10Haven't You placed a hedge around him, his household, and everything he owns? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. 11But stretch out Your hand and strike everything he owns, and he will surely curse You to Your face."
12"Very well," the Lord told Satan, "everything he owns is in your power. However, you must not lay a hand on Job himself." So Satan left the Lord's presence.
13One day when Job's sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house, 14a messenger came to Job and reported: "While the oxen were plowing and the donkeys grazing nearby, 15the Sabeans swooped down and took them away. They struck down the servants with the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you!"
16He was still speaking when another messenger came and reported: "A lightning storm struck from heaven. It burned up the sheep and the servants and devoured them, and I alone have escaped to tell you!"
17That messenger was still speaking when yet another came and reported: "The Chaldeans formed three bands, made a raid on the camels, and took them away. They struck down the servants with the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you!"
18He was still speaking when another messenger came and reported: "Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house. 19Suddenly a powerful wind swept in from the desert and struck the four corners of the house. It collapsed on the young people so that they died, and I alone have escaped to tell you!"
20Then Job stood up, tore his robe, and shaved his head. He fell to the ground and worshiped, 21saying:
Naked I came from my mother's womb,
and naked I will leave this life.
The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away.
Praise the name of Yahweh.
22Throughout all this Job did not sin or blame God for anything.

Revelation 14

Chapter 14

14:1Then I looked, and there on Mount Zion stood the Lamb, and with Him were 144,000 who had His name and His Father's name written on their foreheads. 2I heard a sound from heaven like the sound of cascading waters and like the rumbling of loud thunder. The sound I heard was also like harpists playing on their harps. 3They sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders, but no one could learn the song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. 4These are the ones not defiled with women, for they have kept their virginity. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. They were redeemed from the human race as the firstfruits for God and the Lamb. 5No lie was found in their mouths; they are blameless.
6Then I saw another angel flying high overhead, having the eternal gospel to announce to the inhabitants of the earth-to every nation, tribe, language, and people. 7He spoke with a loud voice: "Fear God and give Him glory, because the hour of His judgment has come. Worship the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water."
8A second angel followed, saying: "It has fallen, Babylon the Great has fallen, who made all nations drink the wine of her sexual immorality, which brings wrath."
9And a third angel followed them and spoke with a loud voice: "If anyone worships the beast and his image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, 10he will also drink the wine of God's wrath, which is mixed full strength in the cup of His anger. He will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the sight of the holy angels and in the sight of the Lamb, 11and the smoke of their torment will go up forever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and his image, or anyone who receives the mark of his name. 12This demands the perseverance of the saints, who keep God's commands and their faith in Jesus."
13Then I heard a voice from heaven saying, "Write: The dead who die in the Lord from now on are blessed."
"Yes," says the Spirit, "let them rest from their labors, for their works follow them!"
14Then I looked, and there was a white cloud, and One like the Son of Man was seated on the cloud, with a gold crown on His head and a sharp sickle in His hand. 15Another angel came out of the sanctuary, crying out in a loud voice to the One who was seated on the cloud, "Use your sickle and reap, for the time to reap has come, since the harvest of the earth is ripe." 16So the One seated on the cloud swung His sickle over the earth, and the earth was harvested.
17Then another angel who also had a sharp sickle came out of the sanctuary in heaven. 18Yet another angel, who had authority over fire, came from the altar, and he called with a loud voice to the one who had the sharp sickle, "Use your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of grapes from earth's vineyard, because its grapes have ripened." 19So the angel swung his sickle toward earth and gathered the grapes from earth's vineyard, and he threw them into the great winepress of God's wrath. 20Then the press was trampled outside the city, and blood flowed out of the press up to the horses' bridles for about 180 miles.

Daily Comments