Read The One Year Bible TLB Online
Authors: Tyndale
The One Year Bible TLB (266 page)
December 20Subject: a message from the Lord.
To:
Haggai the prophet, who delivered it to Zerubbabel (son of Shealtiel), governor of Judah; and to Joshua (son of Josedech), the High Priest—for it was addressed to them.
*
When:
In late August of the second year of the reign of King Darius I.
2
“Why is everyone saying it is not the right time for rebuilding my Temple?” asks the Lord.
3-4
His reply to them is this: “Is it then the right time for you to live in luxurious homes, when the Temple lies in ruins?
5
Look at the result:
6
You plant much but harvest little. You have scarcely enough to eat or drink and not enough clothes to keep you warm. Your income disappears, as though you were putting it into pockets filled with holes!
7
“Think it over,” says the Lord Almighty. “Consider how you have acted and what has happened as a result!
8
Then go up into the mountains, bring down timber, and rebuild my Temple, and I will be pleased with it and appear there in my glory,” says the Lord.
9
“You hope for much but get so little. And when you bring it home, I blow it away—it doesn’t last at all. Why? Because my Temple lies in ruins, and you don’t care. Your only concern is your own fine homes.
10
That is why I am holding back the rains from heaven and giving you such scant crops.
11
In fact, I have called for a drought upon the land, yes, and in the highlands too—a drought to wither the grain and grapes and olives and all your other crops, a drought to starve both you and all your cattle and ruin everything you have worked so hard to get.”
12
Then Zerubbabel (son of Shealtiel), the governor of Judah, and Joshua (son of Josedech), the High Priest, and the few people remaining in the land obeyed Haggai’s message from the Lord their God; they began to worship him in earnest.
13
Then the Lord told them (again sending the message through Haggai, his messenger), “I am with you; I will bless you.”
14-15
And the Lord gave them a desire to rebuild his Temple; so they all gathered in early September of the second year of King Darius’s reign and volunteered their help.
2:
1
In early October of the same year, the Lord sent them this message through Haggai:
2
“Ask this question of the governor and High Priest and everyone left in the land:
3
“‘Who among you can remember the Temple as it was before? How glorious it was! In comparison, it is nothing now, is it?
4
But take courage, O Zerubbabel and Joshua and all the people; take courage and work, for I am with you, says the Lord Almighty.
5
For I promised when you left Egypt that my Spirit would remain among you; so don’t be afraid.’
6
“For the Lord Almighty says, ‘In just a little while I will begin to shake the heavens and earth—and the oceans, too, and the dry land.
7
I will shake all nations, and the Desire of All Nations
*
shall come to this Temple, and I will fill this place with my glory,’ says the Lord Almighty.
8-9
‘The future splendor of this Temple will be greater than the splendor of the first one! For I have plenty of silver and gold to do it! And here I will give peace,’
*
says the Lord.”
10
In early December, in the second year of the reign of King Darius, this message came from the Lord through Haggai the prophet:
11
“Ask the priests this question about the law:
12
‘If one of you is carrying a holy sacrifice in his robes and happens to brush against some bread or wine or meat, will it too become holy?’”
“No,” the priests replied. “Holiness does not pass to other things that way.”
13
Then Haggai asked, “But if someone touches a dead person, and so becomes ceremonially impure, and then brushes against something, does it become contaminated?”
And the priests answered, “Yes.”
14
Haggai then made his meaning clear. “You people,” he said (speaking for the Lord), “were contaminating your sacrifices by living with selfish attitudes and evil hearts—and not only your sacrifices, but everything else that you did as a ‘service’ to me.
15
And so everything you did went wrong. But all is different now because you have begun to build the Temple.
16-17
Before, when you expected a twenty-bushel crop, there were only ten. When you came to draw fifty gallons from the olive press, there were only twenty. I rewarded all your labor with rust and mildew and hail. Yet, even so, you refused to return to me, says the Lord.
18-19
“But now note this: From today, this 24th day of the month,
*
as the foundation of the Lord’s Temple is finished, and from this day onward, I will bless you. Notice, I am giving you this promise now before you have even begun to rebuild the Temple structure, and before you have harvested your grain, and before the grapes, the figs, the pomegranates, and olives have produced their next crops:
From this day I will bless you.”
20
Another message came to Haggai from the Lord that same day:
21
“Tell Zerubbabel, the governor of Judah, ‘I am about to shake the heavens and the earth,
22
to overthrow thrones, destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the nations. I will overthrow their armed might, and brothers and companions will kill each other.
23
But when that happens, I will take you, O Zerubbabel my servant, and honor you like a signet ring upon my finger; for I have specially chosen you,’ says the Lord Almighty.”
Now I was given a measuring stick and told to go and measure the temple of God, including the inner court where the altar stands, and to count the number of worshipers.
*
2
“But do not measure the outer court,” I was told, “for it has been turned over to the nations. They will trample the Holy City for forty-two months.
*
3
And I will give power to my two witnesses to prophesy 1,260 days clothed in sackcloth.”
4
These two prophets are the two olive trees,
*
and two candlesticks standing before the God of all the earth.
5
Anyone trying to harm them will be killed by bursts of fire shooting from their mouths.
6
They have power to shut the skies so that no rain will fall during the three and a half years they prophesy, and to turn rivers and oceans to blood, and to send every kind of plague upon the earth as often as they wish.
7
When they complete the three and a half years of their solemn testimony, the tyrant who comes out of the bottomless pit
*
will declare war against them and conquer and kill them;
8-9
and for three and a half days their bodies will be exposed in the streets of Jerusalem (the city fittingly described as “Sodom” or “Egypt”)—the very place where their Lord was crucified. No one will be allowed to bury them, and people from many nations will crowd around to gaze at them.
10
And there will be a worldwide holiday—people everywhere will rejoice and give presents to each other and throw parties to celebrate the death of the two prophets who had tormented them so much!
11
But after three and a half days, the spirit of life from God will enter them, and they will stand up! And great fear will fall on everyone.
12
Then a loud voice will shout from heaven, “Come up!” And they will rise to heaven in a cloud as their enemies watch.
13
The same hour there will be a terrible earthquake that levels a tenth of the city, leaving 7,000 dead. Then everyone left will, in their terror, give glory to the God of heaven.
14
The second woe is past, but the third quickly follows:
15
For just then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices shouting down from heaven, “The Kingdom of this world now belongs to our Lord, and to his Christ; and he shall reign forever and ever.”
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16
And the twenty-four Elders sitting on their thrones before God threw themselves down in worship, saying,
17
“We give thanks, Lord God Almighty, who is and was, for now you have assumed your great power and have begun to reign.
18
The nations were angry with you, but now it is your turn to be angry with them. It is time to judge the dead and reward your servants—prophets and people alike, all who fear your Name, both great and small—and to destroy those who have caused destruction upon the earth.”
19
Then, in heaven, the temple of God was opened and the ark of his covenant could be seen inside. Lightning flashed and thunder crashed and roared, and there was a great hailstorm, and the world was shaken by a mighty earthquake.
O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me.
2
You know when I sit or stand. When far away you know my every thought.
3
You chart the path ahead of me and tell me where to stop and rest. Every moment you know where I am.
4
You know what I am going to say before I even say it.
5
You both precede and follow me and place your hand of blessing on my head.
6
This is too glorious, too wonderful to believe!
7
I can
never
be lost to your Spirit! I can
never
get away from my God!
8
If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I go down to the place of the dead, you are there.
9
If I ride the morning winds to the farthest oceans,
10
even there your hand will guide me, your strength will support me.
11
If I try to hide in the darkness, the night becomes light around me.
12
For even darkness cannot hide from God; to you the night shines as bright as day. Darkness and light are both alike to you.
13
You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit them together in my mother’s womb.
14
Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! It is amazing to think about. Your workmanship is marvelous—and how well I know it.
15
You were there while I was being formed in utter seclusion!
16
You saw me before I was born and scheduled each day of my life before I began to breathe. Every day was recorded in your book!
17-18
How precious it is, Lord, to realize that you are thinking about me constantly! I can’t even count how many times a day your thoughts turn toward me.
*
And when I waken in the morning, you are still thinking of me!
19
Surely you will slay the wicked, Lord! Away, bloodthirsty men! Begone!
20
They blaspheme your name and stand in arrogance against you—how silly can they be?
21
O Lord, shouldn’t I hate those who hate you? Shouldn’t I be grieved with them?
22
Yes, I hate them, for your enemies are my enemies too.
23
Search me, O God, and know my heart; test my thoughts.
24
Point out anything you find in me that makes you sad, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.
There are two things never satisfied, like a leech forever craving more: no, three things! no, four! Hell, the barren womb, a barren desert, fire.
December 21Subject: messages from the Lord. These messages from the Lord were given to Zechariah (son of Berechiah and grandson of Iddo the prophet) in early November of the second year of the reign of King Darius.
2
The Lord Almighty was very angry with your fathers.
3
But he will turn again and favor you if only you return to him.
4
Don’t be like your fathers were! The earlier prophets pled in vain with them to turn from all their evil ways.
“Come, return to me,” the Lord God said. But no, they wouldn’t listen; they paid no attention at all.
5-6
Your fathers and their prophets are now long dead, but remember the lesson they learned, that
God’s Word endures!
It caught up with them and punished them. Then at last they repented.
“We have gotten what we deserved from God,” they said. “He has done just what he warned us he would.”
7
The following February, still in the second year of the reign of King Darius, another message from the Lord came to Zechariah (son of Berechiah and grandson of Iddo the prophet), in a vision in the night:
8
I saw a Man sitting on a red horse that was standing among the myrtle trees beside a river. Behind him were other horses, red and bay and white, each with its rider.
*
9
An angel stood beside me, and I asked him, “Sir, what are all those horses for?”
“I’ll tell you,” he replied.
10
Then the rider on the red horse—he was the Angel of the Lord—answered me, “The Lord has sent them to patrol the earth for him.”
11
Then the other riders reported to the Angel of the Lord, “We have patrolled the whole earth, and everywhere there is prosperity and peace.”
12
Upon hearing this, the Angel of the Lord prayed this prayer: “O Lord Almighty, for seventy years your anger has raged against Jerusalem and the cities of Judah. How long will it be until you again show mercy to them?”
13
And the Lord answered the angel who stood beside me, speaking words of comfort and assurance.
14
Then the angel said, “Shout out this message from the Lord Almighty: ‘Don’t you think I care about what has happened to Judah and Jerusalem? I am as jealous as a husband for his captive wife.
15
I am very angry with the heathen nations sitting around at ease, for I was only a little displeased with my people, but the nations afflicted them far beyond my intentions.’
16
Therefore the Lord declares: ‘I have returned to Jerusalem filled with mercy; my Temple will be rebuilt,’ says the Lord Almighty, ‘and so will all Jerusalem.’
17
Say it again: ‘The Lord Almighty declares that the cities of Israel will again overflow with prosperity, and the Lord will again comfort Jerusalem and bless her and live in her.’ ”
18
Then I looked and saw four animal horns!
19
“What are these?” I asked the angel.
He replied, “They represent the four world powers that have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.”
20
Then the Lord showed me four blacksmiths.
21
“What have these men come to do?” I asked.
The angel replied, “They have come to take hold of the four horns that scattered Judah so terribly, and to pound them on the anvil and throw them away.”
Then a great pageant appeared in heaven, portraying things to come. I saw a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon beneath her feet, and a crown of twelve stars on her head.
2
She was pregnant and screamed in the pain of her labor, awaiting her delivery.
3
Suddenly a red Dragon appeared, with seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns on his heads.
4
His tail drew along behind him a third of the stars, which he plunged to the earth. He stood before the woman as she was about to give birth to her child, ready to eat the baby as soon as it was born.
5
She gave birth to a boy who was to rule all nations with a heavy hand, and he was caught up to God and to his throne.
6
The woman fled into the wilderness, where God had prepared a place for her, to take care of her for 1,260 days.
7
Then there was war in heaven; Michael and the angels under his command fought the Dragon and his hosts of fallen angels.
8
And the Dragon lost the battle and was forced from heaven.
9
This great Dragon—the ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, the one deceiving the whole world—was thrown down onto the earth with all his army.
10
Then I heard a loud voice shouting across the heavens, “It has happened at last! God’s salvation and the power and the rule, and the authority of his Christ are finally here; for the Accuser of our brothers has been thrown down from heaven onto earth—he accused them day and night before our God.
11
They defeated him by the blood of the Lamb and by their testimony; for they did not love their lives but laid them down for him.
12
Rejoice, O heavens! You citizens of heaven, rejoice! Be glad! But woe to you people of the world, for the devil has come down to you in great anger, knowing that he has little time.”
13
And when the Dragon found himself cast down to earth, he persecuted the woman who had given birth to the child.
14
But she was given two wings like those of a great eagle, to fly into the wilderness to the place prepared for her, where she was cared for and protected from the Serpent, the Dragon, for three and a half years.
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15
And from the Serpent’s mouth a vast flood of water gushed out and swept toward the woman in an effort to get rid of her;
16
but the earth helped her by opening its mouth and swallowing the flood!
17
Then the furious Dragon set out to attack the rest of her children—all who were keeping God’s commandments and confessing that they belong to Jesus. He stood waiting on an ocean beach.
O Lord, deliver me from evil men. Preserve me from the violent,
2
who plot and stir up trouble all day long.
3
Their words sting like poisonous snakes.
4
Keep me out of their power. Preserve me from their violence, for they are plotting against me.
5
These proud men have set a trap to catch me, a noose to yank me up and leave me dangling in the air; they wait in ambush with a net to throw over and hold me helpless in its meshes.
6-8
O Jehovah, my Lord and Savior, my God and my shield—hear me as I pray! Don’t let these wicked men succeed; don’t let them prosper and be proud.
9
Let their plots boomerang! Let them be destroyed by the very evil they have planned for me.
10
Let burning coals fall down upon their heads, or throw them into the fire or into deep pits from which they can’t escape.
11
Don’t let liars prosper here in our land; quickly punish them.
12
But the Lord will surely help those they persecute; he will maintain the rights of the poor.
13
Surely the godly are thanking you, for they shall live in your presence.
A man who mocks his father and despises his mother shall have his eye plucked out by ravens and eaten by vultures.