the Fifth Week after Easter
free while helping to build churches and support pastors in Uganda.
Click here to learn more!
Bible Reading Plan
Daily Bible Reading
December 11 - Old & New Testament
nas
Zechariah 11,12
The Doomed Flock
1 Open your doors, Lebanon, So that a (C1)fire may feed on your (C2)cedars.
2 Wail, juniper, because the cedar has fallen,
For the magnificent trees have been destroyed;
Wail, oaks of Bashan,
Because the (F1)impenetrable forest has come down.
3 There is a sound of the shepherds' (C1)wail,
For their splendor is ruined;
There is a (C2)sound of the young lions' roar,
For the (F1)pride of the Jordan is ruined.
4 This is what the LORD my God says: "Pasture the flock doomed to (C1)slaughter.5 "Those who buy them slaughter them and (F1)go (C1)unpunished, and each of those who sell them says, 'Blessed be the LORD, for (C2)I have become rich!' And their (C3)own shepherds have no compassion for them.6 "For I will (C1)no longer have compassion for the inhabitants of the land," declares the LORD; "but behold, I will (C2)let the people fall, each into another's (F1)power and into the (F1)power of his king; and they will crush the land, and I will (C3)not rescue them from their (F1)power."
7 So I (C1)pastured the flock doomed to slaughter, (F1)therefore also the (C2)afflicted of the flock. And I took for myself two (C3)staffs: the one I called (F2)(C4)Favor, and the other I called (C5)Union; so I pastured the flock.8 Then I did away with the three shepherds in (C1)one month, for my soul was impatient with them, and their soul also (F1)was tired of me.9 Then I said, "I will not pasture you. What is to (C1)die, (F1)let it die, and what is to perish, (F2)let it perish; and (F3)let those who are left eat one another's flesh."10 And I took my staff (F1)(C1)Favor and cut it in pieces, to (F2)(C2)break my covenant which I had made with all the peoples.11 So it was (F1)broken on that day, and (F2)so the (C1)afflicted of the flock who were watching me realized that it was the word of the LORD.12 And I said to them, "If it is good in your sight, give me my (C1)wages; but if not, (F1)never mind!" So they weighed out (C2)thirty shekels of silver as my wages.13 Then the LORD said to me, "Throw it to the (C1)potter, that magnificent price at which I was valued by them." So I took the thirty shekels of silver and threw them to the potter in the house of the LORD.14 Then I cut in pieces my second staff (C1)Union, to (C2)break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.
15 And the LORD said to me, "Take again for yourself the equipment of a (C1)foolish shepherd.16 "For behold, I am going to raise up a shepherd in the land who will (C1)not care for the perishing, seek the scattered, heal the broken, or provide for the one who is exhausted, but will (C2)devour the flesh of the fat sheep and tear off their hoofs.
17 "(C1)Woe to the worthless shepherd
Who abandons the flock!
A (C2)sword will be on his arm
And on his right eye!
His (C3)arm will be totally withered,
And his right eye will be (F1)blind."
Jerusalem to Be Attacked
1 The pronouncement of the word of the LORD concerning Israel:
6 "On that day I will make the (F1)clans of Judah like a (C1)firepot among pieces of wood and a flaming torch among sheaves, so they will consume on the right and on the left all the surrounding peoples, while (F2)the (C2)inhabitants of Jerusalem again live on their own sites in Jerusalem.7 "The LORD also will (C1)save the tents of Judah first, so that the glory of the house of (C2)David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem will not be greater than Judah.8 "On that day the LORD will (C1)protect the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the one who (F1)(C2)is feeble among them on that day will be like David, and the house of David will be like (C3)God, like the (C4)angel of the LORD before them.9 "And on that day I will (C1)seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.
10 "And I will (C1)pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem (F1)the Spirit of grace and of pleading, so that they will look at Me whom they (C2)pierced; and they will mourn for Him, like one (C3)mourning for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn.11 "On that day the (C1)mourning in Jerusalem will be great, like the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the (F1)plain of (F2)Megiddo.12 "The land will mourn, every family by itself; the family of the house of David by itself and their wives by themselves; the family of the house of Nathan by itself and their wives by themselves;13 the family of the house of Levi by itself and their wives by themselves; the family of the Shimeites by itself and their wives by themselves;14 all the families that are left, every family by itself, and their wives by themselves.
Revelation 2
Chapter 2
Message to Ephesus
1 "To the angel of the church in (C1)Ephesus write:
2 '(C1)I know your deeds and your labor and (F1)perseverance, and that you cannot tolerate evil people, and you have (C2)put those who call themselves (C3)apostles to the test, and they are not, and you found them to be false;3 and you have (F1)perseverance and have endured (C1)on account of My name, and have not become weary.4 'But I have this against you, that you have (C1)left your first love.5 'Therefore, remember from where you have fallen, and (C1)repent, and (C2)do the (F1)deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you and I will remove your (C3)lampstand from its place—unless you repent.6 'But you have this, that you hate the deeds of the (C1)Nicolaitans, which I also hate.7 '(C1)The one who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. (C2)To the one who overcomes, I will grant to eat from (C3)the tree of life, which is in the (C4)Paradise of God.'
Message to Smyrna
8 "And to the angel of the church in (C1)Smyrna write:
9 'I know your (C1)tribulation and your (C2)poverty (but you are (C2)rich), and the (F1)slander by those who (C3)say they are Jews, and are not, but are a synagogue of (C4)Satan.10 'Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, so that you will be (C1)tested, and you will have tribulation (C2)for ten days. (F1)Be (C3)faithful until death, and I will give you (C4)the crown of life.11 '(C1)The one who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. (C2)The one who overcomes will not be hurt by the (C3)second death.'
Message to Pergamum
12 "And to the angel of the church in (C1)Pergamum write:
13 'I know where you dwell, where (C1)Satan's throne is; and you hold firmly to My name, and did not deny (C2)My faith even in the days of Antipas, My (C3)witness, My (C4)faithful one, who was killed among you, (C5)where Satan dwells.14 'But (C1)I have a few things against you, because you have some there who hold the (C2)teaching of Balaam, who kept teaching Balak to put a (F1)stumbling block before the sons of Israel, (C3)to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit sexual immorality.15 'So you too, have some who in the same way hold to the teaching of the (C1)Nicolaitans.16 'Therefore (C1)repent; or else (C2)I am coming to you quickly, and I will wage war against them with (C3)the sword of My mouth.17 '(C1)The one who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. (C1)To the one who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden (C2)manna, and I will give him a white stone, and a (C3)new name written on the stone (C4)which no one knows except the one who receives it.'
Message to Thyatira
18 "And to the angel of the church in (C1)Thyatira write:
19 '(C1)I know your deeds, and your love and faith, and service and (F1)perseverance, and that your (F2)deeds of late are greater than (F3)at first.20 'But (C1)I have this against you, that you tolerate the woman (C2)Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, and she teaches and leads My bond-servants astray so that they (C3)commit sexual immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols.21 '(C1)I gave her time to repent, and she (C2)does not want to repent of her sexual immorality.22 'Behold, I will throw her on a bed of sickness, and those who (C1)commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of (F1)her deeds.23 'And I will kill her children with (F1)plague, and all the churches will know that I am He who (C1)searches the (F2)minds and hearts; and (C2)I will give to each one of you according to your deeds.24 'But I say to you, the rest who are in (C1)Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who have not known the (C2)deep things of Satan, as they call them—I (C3)place no other burden on you.25 'Nevertheless (C1)what you have, hold firmly (C2)until I come.26 '(C1)The one who overcomes, and the one who keeps My deeds (C2)until the end, (C3)I will give him authority over the (F1)nations;27 AND HE SHALL (F1)(C1)RULE THEM WITH A ROD OF IRON, (C2)AS THE VESSELS OF THE POTTER ARE SHATTERED, as I also have received authority from My Father;28 and I will give him (C1)the morning star.29 '(C1)The one who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.'
Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995,2020 by The Lockman Foundation
