Week 52, Day 4 in the LEB

Dec 26, 2024

Podcast: Play in new window (Duration: 15:35 — 5.43MB)
The reading for today is Job 37-39; Psalm 103; Revelation 21.

Scripture quotations are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.

Job 37

"About this also my heart trembles,
and it leaps from its place.
Listen carefully to his voice’s thunder
and the rumbling that goes out from his mouth.
He lets it loose under all the heavens,
and his lightning to the earth’s corners.
After it, his voice roars;
it thunders with his majestic voice,
and he does not restrain it when his voice is heard.
"God thunders with his voice in marvelous ways;
he does great things, and we cannot comprehend.
For to the snow he says, ‘Fall on the earth’;
and the shower of rain, his heavy shower of rain
he stops all human beings from working
so that everyone whom he has made may know it.
Then the animal goes into its den,
and it remains in its den.
"The storm wind comes from its chamber
and cold from the north wind.
By God’s breath, ice is given,
and the broad waters are frozen.
Also, he loads down thick clouds with moisture;
his lightning scatters the clouds.
And they turn around by his guidance
to accomplish all that he has commanded them
on the face of the habitable world.
Whether as correction or for his land,
or as loyal love, he lets it happen.
"Hear this, Job;
stand still and consider carefully God’s wondrous works.
Do you know how God commands them
and how he causes his cloud’s lightning to shine?
Do you know about the hovering of the clouds,
the marvelous works of the one with perfect knowledge?
You whose garments are hot,
when the earth is being still because of the south wind,
with him can you spread out the skies,
hard as a molten mirror?
"Teach us what we should say to him;
we cannot draw up our case because of the presence of darkness.
Should he be told that I want to speak?
Or did a man say that he would be communicated with?
So then, they do not look at the light when it is bright in the skies,
when the wind has passed and has cleansed them.
From the north comes gold—
awesome majesty is around God.
As for Shaddai, we cannot attain him;
he is exalted in power,
and he does not oppress justice and abundant righteousness.
Therefore people revered him;
he does not regard any who think that they are wise."

Job 38

Then Yahweh answered Job from the storm, and he said,

"Who is this darkening counsel
by words without knowledge?
Prepare yourself for a difficult task like a man,
and I will question you, and you shall declare to me.

"Where were you at my laying the foundation of the earth?
Tell me, if you possess understanding.
Who determined its measurement? Yes, you do know.
Or who stretched the measuring line upon it?
On what were its bases sunk?
Or who laid its cornerstone,
when the morning stars were singing together
and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
"Or who shut the sea in with doors
at its bursting, when it went out of the womb,
at my making the clouds its garment
and thick darkness its swaddling band,
and I prescribed my rule for it,
and I set bars and doors,
and I said, ‘You shall come up to here, but you shall not go further,
and here it will set a boundary for your proud surging waves’?
"Have you ever in your life commanded the morning?
Have you made the dawn know its place,
to take hold of the earth’s skirts
so that the wicked might be shaken off from it?
It is changed like clay under a seal,
and they appear like a garment.
And their light is withheld from the wicked,
and their uplifted arm is broken.
"Have you entered into the sea’s sources?
Or have you walked around in the recesses of the deep?
Have the gates of death been revealed to you?
Or have you seen the gates of deep shadow?
Have you considered closely the earth’s vast expanse?
Declare it, if you know all of it.
"Where then is the way where the light dwells?
And where then is its place,
that you may take it to its territory,
and that you might discern the paths to its home?
You know, for you were born then,
and the number of your days is great.
Have you entered into the storehouses of the snow,
or have you seen the storehouses of the hail,
which I have reserved for the time of trouble,
for the day of battle and war?
Where then is the way where the light is distributed,
where he scatters the east wind upon the earth?
"Who has cut open a channel for the torrents
and a way for the thunder bolts,
to bring rain on a land where no one lives,
a desert where no humans live,
to satisfy desert and wasteland,
and to cause the ground to put forth the rising of grass?
Is there a father for the rain,
or who fathered the drops of dew?
From whose womb did the ice come forth,
and who fathered the frost of heaven?
Like stone the waters become hard,
and the faces of the deep freeze.
"Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades,
or can you loosen the cords of Orion?
Can you lead forth the southern constellations at their appointed time,
or can you lead the Bear with its children?
Do you know heaven’s statutes,
or can you establish their rule on the earth?
Can you lift up your voice to the clouds
so that a flood of water may cover you?
Can you send forth lightnings, that they may go?
And will they say to you, ‘Here we are’?
Who has put wisdom in the ibis,
or who has given understanding to the rooster?
Who can number the clouds with wisdom?
Or who can tilt heaven’s jars,
at the flowing of the dust into a cast
and the clods cling together?
"Can you hunt prey for the lion?
And can you satisfy the hunger of strong lions
when they are crouched in the dens,
when they lie in the thicket in an ambush?
Who prepares for the crow its prey,
when its young ones cry to God for help,
and they wander around for lack of food?

Job 39

"Do you know the time when the goats of the rocks give birth?
Do you observe the doe deer’s giving birth?
Can you number the months they fulfill,
and do you know the time of its giving birth?
When they crouch, they bring forth their young ones;
they get rid of their labor pains.
Their young ones grow strong; they grow up in the open;
they go forth and do not return to them.
"Who has sent forth the wild ass free?
And who has released the wild donkey’s bonds,
to which I have given the wilderness as its house
and the salt flat as its dwelling place?
It scorns the city’s turmoil;
it does not hear the driver’s shouts.
It explores the mountains as its pasture
and searches after every kind of green plant.
"Is the wild ox willing to serve you,
or will he spend the night at your feeding trough?
Can you tie the wild ox with its rope to a furrow,
or will it harrow the valleys after you?
Can you trust it because its strength is great,
or will you hand your labor over to it?
Can you rely on it that it will return your grain
and that it will gather it to your threshing floor?
"The wings of the female ostrich flap—
are they the pinions of the stork or the falcon?
Indeed, it leaves its eggs to the earth,
and it lets them be warmed on the ground,
and it forgets that a foot might crush an egg,
and a wild animal might trample it.
It deals cruelly with its young ones, as if they were not its own,
as if without fear that its labor were in vain,
because God made it forget wisdom,
and he did not give it a share in understanding.
When it spreads its wings aloft,
it laughs at the horse and its rider.
"Do you give power to the horse?
Do you clothe its neck with a mane?
Do you make it leap like the locust?
The majesty of its snorting is terrifying.
They paw in the valley, and it exults with strength;
it goes out to meet the battle.
It laughs at danger and is not dismayed,
and it does not turn back from before the sword.
Upon it the quiver rattles
along with the flash of the spear and the short sword.
With roar and rage it races over the ground,
and it cannot stand still at the sound of the horn.
Whenever a horn sounds, it says, ‘Aha!’
And it smells the battle from a distance—
the thunder of the commanders and the war cry.
"Does the hawk soar by your wisdom?
Does it spread its wings to the south?
Or does the eagle fly high at your command
and construct its nest high?
It lives on the rock and spends the night
on the rock point and the mountain stronghold.
From there it spies out the prey;
its eyes look from far away.
And its young ones lick blood greedily,
and where the dead carcasses are, there they are."

Psalm 103

Of David.

Bless Yahweh, O my soul,
and all within me, bless his holy name.
Bless Yahweh, O my soul,
and do not forget all his benefits:
who forgives all your iniquity,
who heals all your diseases,
who redeems your life from the pit,
who crowns you with loyal love and mercies,
who satisfies your life with good
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
Yahweh does deeds of justice
and judgments for all who are oppressed,
who made known his ways to Moses,
his deeds to the people of Israel.
Yahweh is compassionate and gracious,
slow to anger and abundant in loyal love.
He does not dispute continually,
nor keep his anger forever.
He has not dealt with us according to our sins,
nor repaid us according to our iniquities.
For as the heavens are high above the earth,
so his loyal love prevails over those who fear him.
As far as east is from west,
so he has removed far from us the guilt of our transgressions.
As a father pities his children,
so Yahweh pities those who fear him.
For he knows our frame.
He remembers that we are dust.
As for man, his days are like the grass.
As the flower of the field, so he blossoms.
When the wind passes over it, it is no more,
and its place knows it no longer.
But the loyal love of Yahweh
is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him,
and his righteousness to their children’s children,
to those who keep his covenant
and remember to do his precepts.
Yahweh has established his throne in the heavens,
and his kingdom rules over all.
Bless Yahweh, you his angels,
you mighty heroes who do his word
by obeying the sound of his word.
Bless Yahweh, all you his hosts,
you his attendants who do his will.
Bless Yahweh, all his works,
in all the places of his dominion.
Bless Yahweh, O my soul.

Revelation 21

And I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea did not exist any longer. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared like a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,

"Behold, the dwelling of God is with humanity,
and he will take up residence with them,
and they will be his people
and God himself will be with them.
And he will wipe away every tear from their eyes,
and death will not exist any longer,
and mourning or wailing or pain will not exist any longer.
The former things have passed away."

And the one seated on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new!" And he said, "Write, because these words are faithful and true." And he said to me, "It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the one who is thirsty I will give water from the spring of the water of life freely. The one who conquers will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be my son. But as for the cowards and unbelievers and detestable persons and murderers and sexually immoral people and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their share is in the lake that burns with fire and sulphur, which is the second death.

And one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and spoke with me, saying, "Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb." And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and lofty mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, that has the glory of God. Its radiance is like a precious stone, something like a jasper stone, shining like crystal. It has a great and high wall that has twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written on the gates which are of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel— on the east, three gates, and on the north, three gates, and on the south, three gates, and on the west, three gates. And the wall of the city has twelve foundations, and on them are twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

And the one who spoke with me was holding a golden measuring rod in order that he could measure the city and its gates and its wall. And the city is laid out as a square, and its length is the same as its width. And he measured the city with the measuring rod at twelve thousand stadia; the length and the width and the height of it are equal. And he measured its wall, one hundred forty-four cubits according to human measure, which is the angel’s. And the material of its wall is jasper, and the city is pure gold, similar in appearance to pure glass. The foundations of the wall of the city are adorned with every kind of precious stone: the first foundation jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, the fifth sardonyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst. And the twelve gates are twelve pearls, each one of the gates was from a single pearl. And the street of the city is pure gold, like transparent glass.

And I did not see a temple in it, for the Lord God All-Powerful is its temple, and the Lamb. And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon, that they shine on it, for the glory of God illuminates it, and its lamp is the Lamb. And the nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. And its gates will never be shut by day (for there will be no night there), and they will bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it. And every unclean thing and one who practices detestable things and falsehood will never enter into it, except those who are written in the book of life of the Lamb.