December 26  

Daily Bible in a Year

Daily Old and New Testaments, Psalms, and Proverbs

  •   Zechariah 9
    Zechariah 9

    Judgment on Israel's Enemies
    9 
    The oracle of the word of the Lord is against the land of Hadrach
         and Damascus is its resting place.
     For the Lord has an eye on mankind
         and on all the tribes of Israel,[a]

    2 
    and on Hamath also, which borders on it,
         Tyre and Sidon, though they are very wise.

    3 
    Tyre has built herself a rampart
         and heaped up silver like dust,
         and fine gold like the mud of the streets.

    4 
    But behold, the Lord will strip her of her possessions
         and strike down her power on the sea,
         and she shall be devoured by fire.

    5 
    Ashkelon shall see it, and be afraid;
         Gaza too, and shall writhe in anguish;
         Ekron also, because its hopes are confounded.
     The king shall perish from Gaza;
         Ashkelon shall be uninhabited;

    6 
    a mixed people[b] shall dwell in Ashdod,
         and I will cut off the pride of Philistia.

    7 
    I will take away its blood from its mouth,
         and its abominations from between its teeth;
     it too shall be a remnant for our God;
         it shall be like a clan in Judah,
         and Ekron shall be like the Jebusites.

    8 
    Then I will encamp at my house as a guard,
         so that none shall march to and fro;
     no oppressor shall again march over them,
         for now I see with my own eyes.

    The Coming King of Zion
    9 
    Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!
         Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem!
     Behold, your king is coming to you;
         righteous and having salvation is he,
     humble and mounted on a donkey,
         on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

    10 
    I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim
         and the war horse from Jerusalem;
     and the battle bow shall be cut off,
         and he shall speak peace to the nations;
     his rule shall be from sea to sea,
         and from the River[c] to the ends of the earth.

    11 
    As for you also, because of the blood of my covenant with you,
         I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit.

    12 
    Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope;
         today I declare that I will restore to you double.

    13 
    For I have bent Judah as my bow;
         I have made Ephraim its arrow.
     I will stir up your sons, O Zion,
         against your sons, O Greece,
         and wield you like a warrior's sword.

    The Lord Will Save His People
    14 
    Then the Lord will appear over them,
         and his arrow will go forth like lightning;
     the Lord God will sound the trumpet
         and will march forth in the whirlwinds of the south.

    15 
    The Lord of hosts will protect them,
         and they shall devour, and tread down the sling stones,
     and they shall drink and roar as if drunk with wine,
         and be full like a bowl,
         drenched like the corners of the altar.

    16 
    On that day the Lord their God will save them,
         as the flock of his people;
     for like the jewels of a crown
         they shall shine on his land.

    17 
    For how great is his goodness, and how great his beauty!
         Grain shall make the young men flourish,
         and new wine the young women.

    Footnotes:
    1. Zechariah 9:1 Or For the eye of mankind, especially of all the tribes of Israel, is toward the Lord
    2. Zechariah 9:6 Or a foreign people; Hebrew a bastard
    3. Zechariah 9:10 That is, the Euphrates
  •   Revelation 17
    Revelation 17

    The Great Prostitute and the Beast
    17 Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the judgment of the great prostitute who is seated on many waters, 2 with whom the kings of the earth have committed sexual immorality, and with the wine of whose sexual immorality the dwellers on earth have become drunk.” 3 And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was full of blasphemous names, and it had seven heads and ten horns. 4 The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and jewels and pearls, holding in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her sexual immorality. 5 And on her forehead was written a name of mystery: “Babylon the great, mother of prostitutes and of earth's abominations.” 6 And I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints, the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.[a]
    When I saw her, I marveled greatly. 7 But the angel said to me, “Why do you marvel? I will tell you the mystery of the woman, and of the beast with seven heads and ten horns that carries her. 8 The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to rise from the bottomless pit[b] and go to destruction. And the dwellers on earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world will marvel to see the beast, because it was and is not and is to come. 9 This calls for a mind with wisdom: the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman is seated; 10 they are also seven kings, five of whom have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come, and when he does come he must remain only a little while. 11 As for the beast that was and is not, it is an eighth but it belongs to the seven, and it goes to destruction. 12 And the ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received royal power, but they are to receive authority as kings for one hour, together with the beast. 13 These are of one mind, and they hand over their power and authority to the beast. 14 They will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful.”
    15 And the angel[c] said to me, “The waters that you saw, where the prostitute is seated, are peoples and multitudes and nations and languages. 16 And the ten horns that you saw, they and the beast will hate the prostitute. They will make her desolate and naked, and devour her flesh and burn her up with fire, 17 for God has put it into their hearts to carry out his purpose by being of one mind and handing over their royal power to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled. 18 And the woman that you saw is the great city that has dominion over the kings of the earth.”

    Footnotes:
    1. Revelation 17:6 Greek the witnesses to Jesus
    2. Revelation 17:8 Greek the abyss
    3. Revelation 17:15 Greek he
  •   Psalm 145
    Psalm 145

    Great Is the Lord
    [a] A Song of Praise. Of David.

    145 
    I will extol you, my God and King,
         and bless your name forever and ever.

    2 
    Every day I will bless you
         and praise your name forever and ever.

    3 
    Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised,
         and his greatness is unsearchable.

    4 
    One generation shall commend your works to another,
         and shall declare your mighty acts.

    5 
    On the glorious splendor of your majesty,
         and on your wondrous works, I will meditate.

    6 
    They shall speak of the might of your awesome deeds,
         and I will declare your greatness.

    7 
    They shall pour forth the fame of your abundant goodness
         and shall sing aloud of your righteousness.

    8 
    The Lord is gracious and merciful,
         slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

    9 
    The Lord is good to all,
         and his mercy is over all that he has made.

    10 
    All your works shall give thanks to you, O Lord,
         and all your saints shall bless you!

    11 
    They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom
         and tell of your power,

    12 
    to make known to the children of man your[b] mighty deeds,
         and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.

    13 
    Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
         and your dominion endures throughout all generations.

    [The Lord is faithful in all his words
         and kind in all his works.][c]

    14 
    The Lord upholds all who are falling
         and raises up all who are bowed down.

    15 
    The eyes of all look to you,
         and you give them their food in due season.

    16 
    You open your hand;
         you satisfy the desire of every living thing.

    17 
    The Lord is righteous in all his ways
         and kind in all his works.

    18 
    The Lord is near to all who call on him,
         to all who call on him in truth.

    19 
    He fulfills the desire of those who fear him;
         he also hears their cry and saves them.

    20 
    The Lord preserves all who love him,
         but all the wicked he will destroy.

    21 
    My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord,
         and let all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever.

    Footnotes:
    1. Psalm 145:1 This psalm is an acrostic poem, each verse beginning with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet
    2. Psalm 145:12 Hebrew his; also next line
    3. Psalm 145:13 These two lines are supplied by one Hebrew manuscript, Septuagint, Syriac (compare Dead Sea Scroll)
  •   Proverbs 30:32

    Proverbs 30:32

    32 
    If you have been foolish, exalting yourself,

        or if you have been devising evil,

        put your hand on your mouth.


    English Standard Version (ESV)
    The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.