Message Bible Daily

Sunday, December 25, 2011

Message Bible Daily Reading - Old/New Testament (MSG)

Old/New Testament Reading for Sunday December 25, 2011 (MSG)

Posted: 24 Dec 2011 09:00 PM PST

Zephaniah 1

No Longer Giving God a Thought or a Prayer

¹ God's Message to Zephaniah son of Cushi, son of Gedaliah, son of Amariah, son of Hezekiah. It came during the reign of Josiah son of Amon, who was king of Judah:

²"I'm going to make a clean sweep of the earth,
a thorough housecleaning." God's Decree.

³"Men and women and animals,
including birds and fish— Anything and everything that causes sin—will go,
but especially people.

^{4 -6}"I'll start with Judah
and everybody who lives in Jerusalem. I'll sweep the place clean of every trace
of the sex-and-religion Baal shrines and their priests. I'll get rid of the people who sneak up to their rooftops at night
to worship the star gods and goddesses; Also those who continue to worship God
but cover their bases by worshiping other king-gods as well; Not to mention those who've dumped God altogether,
no longer giving him a thought or offering a prayer.

^{7 -13}"Quiet now!
Reverent silence before me, God, the Master! Time's up. My Judgment Day is near:
The Holy Day is all set, the invited guests made holy. On the Holy Day, God's Judgment Day,
I will punish the leaders and the royal sons; I will punish those who dress up like foreign priests and priestesses,
Who introduce pagan prayers and practices; And I'll punish all who import pagan superstitions
that turn holy places into hellholes. Judgment Day!" God's Decree!
"Cries of panic from the city's Fish Gate, Cries of terror from the city's Second Quarter,
sounds of great crashing from the hills! Wail, you shopkeepers on Market Street!
Moneymaking has had its day. The god Money is dead. On Judgment Day,
I'll search through every closet and alley in Jerusalem. I'll find and punish those who are sitting it out, fat and lazy,
amusing themselves and taking it easy, Who think, 'God doesn't do anything, good or bad.
He isn't involved, so neither are we.' But just wait. They'll lose everything they have,
money and house and land. They'll build a house and never move in.
They'll plant vineyards and never taste the wine.

A Day of Darkness at Noon

^{14 -18}"The Great Judgment Day of God is almost here.
It's countdown time:...seven, six, five, four... Bitter and noisy cries on my Judgment Day,
even strong men screaming for help. Judgment Day is payday—my anger paid out:
a day of distress and anguish,
a day of catastrophic doom,
a day of darkness at noon,
a day of black storm clouds,
a day of bloodcurdling war cries,
as forts are assaulted,
as defenses are smashed. I'll make things so bad they won't know what hit them.
They'll walk around groping like the blind.
They've sinned against God! Their blood will be poured out like old dishwater,
their guts shoveled into slop buckets. Don't plan on buying your way out.
Your money is worthless for this. This is the Day of God's Judgment—my wrath!
I care about sin with fiery passion— A fire to burn up the corrupted world,
a wildfire finish to the corrupting people."

Zephaniah 2

Seek God

^{1 -2} So get yourselves together. Shape up!
You're a nation without a clue about what it wants. Do it before you're blown away
like leaves in a windstorm, Before God's Judgment-anger
sweeps down on you, Before God's Judgment Day wrath
descends with full force.

³Seek God, all you quietly disciplined people
who live by God's justice. Seek God's right ways. Seek a quiet and disciplined life.
Perhaps you'll be hidden on the Day of God's anger.

All Earth-Made Gods Will Blow Away

^{4 -5}Gaza is scheduled for demolition,
Ashdod will be cleaned out by high noon,
Ekron pulled out by the roots. Doom to the seaside people,
the seafaring people from Crete! The Word of God is bad news for you
who settled Canaan, the Philistine country: "You're slated for destruction—
no survivors!"

^{6 -7}The lands of the seafarers
will become pastureland, A country for shepherds and sheep.
What's left of the family of Judah will get it. Day after day they'll pasture by the sea,
and go home in the evening to Ashkelon to sleep. Their very own God will look out for them.
He'll make things as good as before.

^{8 -12}"I've heard the crude taunts of Moab,
the mockeries flung by Ammon, The cruel talk they've used to put down my people,
their self-important strutting along Israel's borders. Therefore, as sure as I am the living God," says God-of-the-Angel-Armies,
Israel's personal God, "Moab will become a ruin like Sodom,
Ammon a ghost town like Gomorrah, One a field of rocks, the other a sterile salt flat,
a moonscape forever. What's left of my people will finish them off,
will pick them clean and take over. This is what they get for their bloated pride,
their taunts and mockeries of the people
of God-of-the-Angel-Armies. God will be seen as truly terrible—a Holy Terror.
All earth-made gods will shrivel up and blow away; And everyone, wherever they are, far or near,
will fall to the ground and worship him. Also you Ethiopians,
you, too, will die—I'll see to it."

^{13 -15}Then God will reach into the north
and destroy Assyria. He will waste Nineveh,
leave her dry and treeless as a desert. The ghost town of a city,
the haunt of wild animals, Nineveh will be home to raccoons and coyotes—
they'll bed down in its ruins. Owls will hoot in the windows, ravens will croak in the doorways—
all that fancy woodwork now a perch for birds. Can this be the famous Fun City
that had it made, That boasted, "I'm the Number-One City!
I'm King of the Mountain!" So why is the place deserted,
a lair for wild animals? Passersby hardly give it a look;
they dismiss it with a gesture.

Zephaniah 3

Sewer City

^{1 -5} Doom to the rebellious city, the home of oppressors—Sewer City! The city that wouldn't take advice,
wouldn't accept correction, Wouldn't trust God,
wouldn't even get close to her own god! Her very own leaders
are rapacious lions, Her judges are rapacious timber wolves
out every morning prowling for a fresh kill. Her prophets are out for what they can get.
They're opportunists—you can't trust them. Her priests desecrate the Sanctuary.
They use God's law as a weapon to maim and kill souls. Yet God remains righteous in her midst,
untouched by the evil. He stays at it, day after day, meting out justice.
At evening he's still at it, strong as ever. But evil men and women, without conscience
and without shame, persist in evil.

⁶"So I cut off the godless nations.
I knocked down their defense posts, Filled her roads with rubble
so no one could get through. Her cities were bombed-out ruins,
unlivable and unlived in.

⁷"I thought, 'Surely she'll honor me now,
accept my discipline and correction, Find a way of escape from the trouble she's in,
find relief from the punishment I'm bringing.' But it didn't faze her. Bright and early
she was up at it again, doing the same old things.

⁸"Well, if that's what you want, stick around."
God's Decree. "Your day in court is coming,
but remember I'll be there to bring evidence. I'll bring all the nations to the courtroom,
round up all the kingdoms, And let them feel the brunt of my anger,
my raging wrath. My zeal is a fire
that will purge and purify the earth.

God Is in Charge at the Center

^{9 -13}"In the end I will turn things around for the people.
I'll give them a language undistorted, unpolluted, Words to address God in worship
and, united, to serve me with their shoulders to the wheel. They'll come from beyond the Ethiopian rivers,
they'll come praying— All my scattered, exiled people
will come home with offerings for worship. You'll no longer have to be ashamed
of all those acts of rebellion. I'll have gotten rid of your arrogant leaders.
No more pious strutting on my holy hill! I'll leave a core of people among you
who are poor in spirit— What's left of Israel that's really Israel.
They'll make their home in God. This core holy people
will not do wrong. They won't lie,
won't use words to flatter or seduce. Content with who they are and where they are,
unanxious, they'll live at peace."

^{14 -15}So sing, Daughter Zion!
Raise the rafters, Israel! Daughter Jerusalem,
be happy! celebrate! God has reversed his judgments against you
and sent your enemies off chasing their tails. From now on, God is Israel's king,
in charge at the center. There's nothing to fear from evil
ever again!

God Is Present Among You

^{16 -17}Jerusalem will be told:
"Don't be afraid. Dear Zion,
don't despair. Your God is present among you,
a strong Warrior there to save you. Happy to have you back, he'll calm you with his love
and delight you with his songs.

^{18 -20}"The accumulated sorrows of your exile
will dissipate. I, your God, will get rid of them for you.
You've carried those burdens long enough. At the same time, I'll get rid of all those
who've made your life miserable. I'll heal the maimed;
I'll bring home the homeless. In the very countries where they were hated
they will be venerated. On Judgment Day
I'll bring you back home—a great family gathering! You'll be famous and honored
all over the world. You'll see it with your own eyes—
all those painful partings turned into reunions!"
God's Promise.

Revelation 16

Pouring Out the Seven Disasters

¹ I heard a shout of command from the Temple to the Seven Angels: "Begin! Pour out the seven bowls of God's wrath on earth!" ²The first Angel stepped up and poured his bowl out on earth: Loathsome, stinking sores erupted on all who had taken the mark of the Beast and worshiped its image.

³The second Angel poured his bowl on the sea: The sea coagulated into blood, and everything in it died.

^{4 -7}The third Angel poured his bowl on rivers and springs: The waters turned to blood. I heard the Angel of Waters say,

Righteous you are, and your judgments are righteous,
The Is, The Was, The Holy.
They poured out the blood of saints and prophets
so you've given them blood to drink—
they've gotten what they deserve! Just then I heard the Altar chime in,

Yes, O God, the Sovereign-Strong!
Your judgments are true and just!

^{8 -9}The fourth Angel poured his bowl on the sun: Fire blazed from the sun and scorched men and women. Burned and blistered, they cursed God's Name, the God behind these disasters. They refused to repent, refused to honor God.

^{10 -11}The fifth Angel poured his bowl on the throne of the Beast: Its kingdom fell into sudden eclipse. Mad with pain, men and women bit and chewed their tongues, cursed the God-of-Heaven for their torment and sores, and refused to repent and change their ways.

^{12 -14}The sixth Angel poured his bowl on the great Euphrates River: It dried up to nothing. The dry riverbed became a fine roadbed for the kings from the East. From the mouths of the Dragon, the Beast, and the False Prophet I saw three foul demons crawl out—they looked like frogs. These are demon spirits performing signs. They're after the kings of the whole world to get them gathered for battle on the Great Day of God, the Sovereign-Strong.

¹⁵"Keep watch! I come unannounced, like a thief. You're blessed if, awake and dressed, you're ready for me. Too bad if you're found running through the streets, naked and ashamed."

¹⁶The frog-demons gathered the kings together at the place called in Hebrew Armageddon.

^{17 -21}The seventh Angel poured his bowl into the air: From the Throne in the Temple came a shout, "Done!" followed by lightning flashes and shouts, thunder crashes and a colossal earthquake—a huge and devastating earthquake, never an earthquake like it since time began. The Great City split three ways, the cities of the nations toppled to ruin. Great Babylon had to drink the wine of God's raging anger—God remembered to give her the cup! Every island fled and not a mountain was to be found. Hailstones weighing a ton plummeted, crushing and smashing men and women as they cursed God for the hail, the epic disaster of hail.

Saturday, December 24, 2011

Message Bible Daily Reading - Old/New Testament (MSG)

Old/New Testament Reading for Saturday December 24, 2011 (MSG)

Posted: 23 Dec 2011 09:00 PM PST

Habakkuk 1

Justice Is a Joke

^{1 -4} The problem as God gave Habakkuk to see it: God, how long do I have to cry out for help
before you listen? How many times do I have to yell, "Help! Murder! Police!"
before you come to the rescue? Why do you force me to look at evil,
stare trouble in the face day after day? Anarchy and violence break out,
quarrels and fights all over the place. Law and order fall to pieces.
Justice is a joke. The wicked have the righteous hamstrung
and stand justice on its head.

God Says, "Look!"

^{5 -11}"Look around at the godless nations.
Look long and hard. Brace yourself for a shock. Something's about to take place
and you're going to find it hard to believe. I'm about to raise up Babylonians to punish you,
Babylonians, fierce and ferocious— World-conquering Babylon,
grabbing up nations right and left, A dreadful and terrible people,
making up its own rules as it goes. Their horses run like the wind,
attack like bloodthirsty wolves. A stampede of galloping horses
thunders out of nowhere. They descend like vultures
circling in on carrion. They're out to kill. Death is on their minds.
They collect victims like squirrels gathering nuts. They mock kings,
poke fun at generals, Spit on forts,
and leave them in the dust. They'll all be blown away by the wind.
Brazen in sin, they call strength their god."

Why Is God Silent Now?

^{12 -13}God, you're from eternity, aren't you?
Holy God, we aren't going to die, are we? God, you chose Babylonians for your judgment work?
Rock-Solid God, you gave them the job of discipline? But you can't be serious!
You can't condone evil! So why don't you do something about this?
Why are you silent now? This outrage! Evil men swallow up the righteous
and you stand around and watch!

^{14 -16}You're treating men and women
as so many fish in the ocean, Swimming without direction,
swimming but not getting anywhere. Then this evil Babylonian arrives and goes fishing.
He pulls in a good catch. He catches his limit and fills his creel—
a good day of fishing! He's happy! He praises his rod and reel,
piles his fishing gear on an altar and worships it! It's made his day,
and he's going to eat well tonight!

¹⁷Are you going to let this go on and on?
Will you let this Babylonian fisherman Fish like a weekend angler,
killing people as if they're nothing but fish?

Habakkuk 2

¹ What's God going to say to my questions? I'm braced for the worst. I'll climb to the lookout tower and scan the horizon. I'll wait to see what God says,
how he'll answer my complaint.

Full of Self, but Soul-Empty

^{2 -3}And then God answered: "Write this.
Write what you see. Write it out in big block letters
so that it can be read on the run. This vision-message is a witness
pointing to what's coming. It aches for the coming—it can hardly wait!
And it doesn't lie. If it seems slow in coming, wait.
It's on its way. It will come right on time.

⁴"Look at that man, bloated by self-importance—
full of himself but soul-empty. But the person in right standing before God
through loyal and steady believing
is fully alive, really alive.

^{5 -6}"Note well: Money deceives.
The arrogant rich don't last. They are more hungry for wealth
than the grave is for cadavers. Like death, they always want more,
but the 'more' they get is dead bodies. They are cemeteries filled with dead nations,
graveyards filled with corpses. Don't give people like this a second thought.
Soon the whole world will be taunting them:

^{6 -8}"'Who do you think you are—
getting rich by stealing and extortion? How long do you think
you can get away with this?' Indeed, how long before your victims wake up,
stand up and make you the victim? You've plundered nation after nation.
Now you'll get a taste of your own medicine. All the survivors are out to plunder you,
a payback for all your murders and massacres.

^{9 -11}"Who do you think you are—
recklessly grabbing and looting, Living it up, acting like king of the mountain,
acting above it all, above trials and troubles? You've engineered the ruin of your own house.
In ruining others you've ruined yourself. You've undermined your foundations,
rotted out your own soul. The bricks of your house will speak up and accuse you.
The woodwork will step forward with evidence.

^{12 -14}"Who do you think you are—
building a town by murder, a city with crime? Don't you know that God-of-the-Angel-Armies
makes sure nothing comes of that but ashes, Makes sure the harder you work
at that kind of thing, the less you are? Meanwhile the earth fills up
with awareness of God's glory
as the waters cover the sea.

^{15 -17}"Who do you think you are—
inviting your neighbors to your drunken parties, Giving them too much to drink,
roping them into your sexual orgies? You thought you were having the time of your life.
Wrong! It's a time of disgrace. All the time you were drinking,
you were drinking from the cup of God's wrath. You'll wake up holding your throbbing head, hung over—
hung over from Lebanon violence, Hung over from animal massacres,
hung over from murder and mayhem, From multiple violations
of place and people.

^{18 -19}"What's the use of a carved god
so skillfully carved by its sculptor? What good is a fancy cast god
when all it tells is lies? What sense does it make to be a pious god-maker
who makes gods that can't even talk? Who do you think you are—
saying to a stick of wood, 'Wake up,' Or to a dumb stone, 'Get up'?
Can they teach you anything about anything? There's nothing to them but surface.
There's nothing on the inside.

²⁰"But oh! God is in his holy Temple!
Quiet everyone—a holy silence. Listen!"

Habakkuk 3

God Racing on the Crest of the Waves

^{1 -2} A prayer of the prophet Habakkuk, with orchestra: God, I've heard what our ancestors say about you,
and I'm stopped in my tracks, down on my knees. Do among us what you did among them.
Work among us as you worked among them. And as you bring judgment, as you surely must,
remember mercy.

^{3 -7}God's on his way again,
retracing the old salvation route, Coming up from the south through Teman,
the Holy One from Mount Paran. Skies are blazing with his splendor,
his praises sounding through the earth, His cloud-brightness like dawn, exploding, spreading,
forked-lightning shooting from his hand—
what power hidden in that fist! Plague marches before him,
pestilence at his heels! He stops. He shakes Earth.
He looks around. Nations tremble. The age-old mountains fall to pieces;
ancient hills collapse like a spent balloon. The paths God takes are older
than the oldest mountains and hills. I saw everyone worried, in a panic:
Old wilderness adversaries, Cushan and Midian, were terrified,
hoping he wouldn't notice them.

^{8 -16}God, is it River you're mad at?
Angry at old River? Were you raging at Sea when you rode
horse and chariot through to salvation? You unfurled your bow
and let loose a volley of arrows.
You split Earth with rivers. Mountains saw what was coming.
They twisted in pain. Flood Waters poured in.
Ocean roared and reared huge waves. Sun and Moon stopped in their tracks.
Your flashing arrows stopped them,
your lightning-strike spears impaled them. Angry, you stomped through Earth.
Furious, you crushed the godless nations. You were out to save your people,
to save your specially chosen people. You beat the stuffing
out of King Wicked, Stripped him naked
from head to toe, Set his severed head on his own spear
and blew away his army. Scattered they were to the four winds—
and ended up food for the sharks! You galloped through the Sea on your horses,
racing on the crest of the waves. When I heard it, my stomach did flips.
I stammered and stuttered. My bones turned to water.
I staggered and stumbled. I sit back and wait for Doomsday
to descend on our attackers.

^{17 -19}Though the cherry trees don't blossom
and the strawberries don't ripen, Though the apples are worm-eaten
and the wheat fields stunted, Though the sheep pens are sheepless
and the cattle barns empty, I'm singing joyful praise to God.
I'm turning cartwheels of joy to my Savior God. Counting on God's Rule to prevail,
I take heart and gain strength. I run like a deer.
I feel like I'm king of the mountain!

(For congregational use, with a full orchestra.)

Revelation 15

The Song of Moses, the Song of the Lamb

¹ I saw another Sign in Heaven, huge and breathtaking: seven Angels with seven disasters. These are the final disasters, the wrap-up of God's wrath. ^{2 -4}I saw something like a sea made of glass, the glass all shot through with fire. Carrying harps of God, triumphant over the Beast, its image, and the number of its name, the saved ones stood on the sea of glass. They sang the Song of Moses, servant of God; they sang the Song of the Lamb:

Mighty your acts and marvelous,
O God, the Sovereign-Strong!
Righteous your ways and true,
King of the nations!
Who can fail to fear you, God,
give glory to your Name?
Because you and you only are holy,
all nations will come and worship you,
because they see your judgments are right.

^{5 -8}Then I saw the doors of the Temple, the Tent of Witness in Heaven, open wide. The Seven Angels carrying the seven disasters came out of the Temple. They were dressed in clean, bright linen and wore gold vests. One of the Four Animals handed the Seven Angels seven gold bowls, brimming with the wrath of God, who lives forever and ever. Smoke from God's glory and power poured out of the Temple. No one was permitted to enter the Temple until the seven disasters of the Seven Angels were finished.

Friday, December 23, 2011

Message Bible Daily Reading - Old/New Testament (MSG)

Old/New Testament Reading for Friday December 23, 2011 (MSG)

Posted: 22 Dec 2011 09:00 PM PST

Nahum 1

God Is Serious Business

¹ A report on the problem of Nineveh, the way God gave Nahum of Elkosh to see it:

^{2 -6}God is serious business.
He won't be trifled with. He avenges his foes.
He stands up against his enemies, fierce and raging. But God doesn't lose his temper.
He's powerful, but it's a patient power. Still, no one gets by with anything.
Sooner or later, everyone pays. Tornadoes and hurricanes
are the wake of his passage, Storm clouds are the dust
he shakes off his feet. He yells at the sea: It dries up.
All the rivers run dry. The Bashan and Carmel mountains shrivel,
the Lebanon orchards shrivel. Mountains quake in their roots,
hills dissolve into mud flats. Earth shakes in fear of God.
The whole world's in a panic. Who can face such towering anger?
Who can stand up to this fierce rage? His anger spills out like a river of lava,
his fury shatters boulders.

^{7 -10}God is good,
a hiding place in tough times. He recognizes and welcomes
anyone looking for help, No matter how desperate the trouble.
But cozy islands of escape He wipes right off the map.
No one gets away from God. Why waste time conniving against God?
He's putting an end to all such scheming. For troublemakers, no second chances.
Like a pile of dry brush, Soaked in oil,
they'll go up in flames.

A Think Tank for Lies

¹¹Nineveh's an anthill
of evil plots against God, A think tank for lies
that seduce and betray.

^{12 -13}And God has something to say about all this:
"Even though you're on top of the world, With all the applause and all the votes,
you'll be mowed down flat.

"I've afflicted you, Judah, true,
but I won't afflict you again. From now on I'm taking the yoke from your neck
and splitting it up for kindling. I'm cutting you free
from the ropes of your bondage."

¹⁴God's orders on Nineveh:

"You're the end of the line.
It's all over with Nineveh. I'm gutting your temple.
Your gods and goddesses go in the trash. I'm digging your grave. It's an unmarked grave.
You're nothing—no, you're less than nothing!"

¹⁵Look! Striding across the mountains—
a messenger bringing the latest good news: peace! A holiday, Judah! Celebrate!
Worship and recommit to God! No more worries about this enemy.
This one is history. Close the books.

Nahum 2

Israel's Been to Hell and Back

¹ The juggernaut's coming! Post guards, lay in supplies. Get yourselves together,
get ready for the big battle.

²God has restored the Pride of Jacob,
the Pride of Israel. Israel's lived through hard times.
He's been to hell and back.

^{3 -12}Weapons flash in the sun,
the soldiers splendid in battle dress, Chariots burnished and glistening,
ready to charge, A spiked forest of brandished spears,
lethal on the horizon. The chariots pour into the streets.
They fill the public squares, Flaming like torches in the sun,
like lightning darting and flashing. The Assyrian king rallies his men,
but they stagger and stumble. They run to the ramparts
to stem the tide, but it's too late. Soldiers pour through the gates.
The palace is demolished. Soon it's all over:
Nineveh stripped, Nineveh doomed, Maids and slaves moaning like doves,
beating their breasts. Nineveh is a tub
from which they've pulled the plug. Cries go up, "Do something! Do something!"
but it's too late. Nineveh's soon empty—nothing. Other cries come: "Plunder the silver!
Plunder the gold! A bonanza of plunder!
Take everything you want!" Doom! Damnation! Desolation!
Hearts sink,
knees fold,
stomachs retch,
faces blanch. So, what happened to the famous
and fierce Assyrian lion And all those cute Assyrian cubs?
To the lion and lioness Cozy with their cubs,
fierce and fearless? To the lion who always returned from the hunt
with fresh kills for lioness and cubs, The lion lair heaped with bloody meat,
blood and bones for the royal lion feast?

¹³"Assyria, I'm your enemy,"
says God-of-the-Angel-Armies. "I'll torch your chariots. They'll go up in smoke.
'Lion Country' will be strewn with carcasses. The war business is over—you're out of work:
You'll have no more wars to report, No more victories to announce.
You're out of war work forever."

Nahum 3

Let the Nations Get Their Fill of the Ugly Truth

^{1 -4} Doom to Murder City— full of lies, bursting with loot, addicted to violence! Horns blaring, wheels clattering,
horses rearing, chariots lurching, Horsemen galloping,
brandishing swords and spears, Dead bodies rotting in the street,
corpses stacked like cordwood, Bodies in every gutter and alley,
clogging every intersection! And whores! Whores without end!
Whore City, Fatally seductive, you're the Witch of Seduction,
luring nations to their ruin with your evil spells.

^{5 -7}"I'm your enemy, Whore Nineveh—
I, God-of-the-Angel-Armies! I'll strip you of your seductive silk robes
and expose you on the world stage. I'll let the nations get their fill of the ugly truth
of who you really are and have been all along. I'll pelt you with dog dung
and place you on a pedestal: 'Slut on Exhibit.' Everyone who sees you will gag and say,
'Nineveh's a pigsty: What on earth did we ever see in her?
Who would give her a second look? Ugh!'"

Past the Point of No Return

^{8 -13}Do you think you're superior to Egyptian Thebes,
proudly invincible on the River Nile, Protected by the great River,
walled in by the River, secure? Ethiopia stood guard to the south,
Egypt to the north. Put and Libya, strong friends,
were ready to step in and help. But you know what happened to her:
The whole city was marched off to a refugee camp, Her babies smashed to death
in public view on the streets, Her prize leaders auctioned off,
her celebrities put in chain gangs. Expect the same treatment, Nineveh.
You'll soon be staggering like a bunch of drunks, Wondering what hit you,
looking for a place to sleep it off. All your forts are like peach trees,
the lush peaches ripe, ready for the picking. One shake of the tree and they fall
straight into hungry mouths. Face it: Your warriors are wimps.
You're sitting ducks. Your borders are gaping doors, inviting
your enemies in. And who's to stop them?

^{14 -15}Store up water for the siege.
Shore up your defenses. Get down to basics: Work the clay
and make bricks. Sorry. Too late.
Enemy fire will burn you up. Swords will cut you to pieces.
You'll be chewed up as if by locusts.

^{15 -17}Yes, as if by locusts—a fitting fate,
for you yourselves are a locust plague. You've multiplied shops and shopkeepers—
more buyers and sellers than stars in the sky! A plague of locusts, cleaning out the neighborhood
and then flying off. Your bureaucrats are locusts,
your brokers and bankers are locusts. Early on, they're all at your service,
full of smiles and promises, But later when you return with questions or complaints,
you'll find they've flown off and are nowhere to be found.

^{18 -19}King of Assyria! Your shepherd-leaders,
in charge of caring for your people, Are busy doing everything else but.
They're not doing their job, And your people are scattered and lost.
There's no one to look after them. You're past the point of no return.
Your wound is fatal. When the story of your fate gets out,
the whole world will applaud and cry "Encore!" Your cruel evil has seeped
into every nook and cranny of the world.
Everyone has felt it and suffered.

Revelation 14

A Perfect Offering

^{1 -2}I saw—it took my breath away!—the Lamb standing on Mount Zion, 144,000 standing there with him, his Name and the Name of his Father inscribed on their foreheads. And I heard a voice out of Heaven, the sound like a cataract, like the crash of thunder.

^{2 -5}And then I heard music, harp music and the harpists singing a new song before the Throne and the Four Animals and the Elders. Only the 144,000 could learn to sing the song. They were bought from earth, lived without compromise, virgin-fresh before God. Wherever the Lamb went, they followed. They were bought from humankind, firstfruits of the harvest for God and the Lamb. Not a false word in their mouths. A perfect offering.

Voices from Heaven

^{6 -7}I saw another Angel soaring in Middle-Heaven. He had an Eternal Message to preach to all who were still on earth, every nation and tribe, every tongue and people. He preached in a loud voice, "Fear God and give him glory! His hour of judgment has come! Worship the Maker of Heaven and earth, salt sea and fresh water!"

⁸A second Angel followed, calling out, "Ruined, ruined, Great Babylon ruined! She made all the nations drunk on the wine of her whoring!"

^{9 -11}A third Angel followed, shouting, warning, "If anyone worships the Beast and its image and takes the mark on forehead or hand, that person will drink the wine of God's wrath, prepared unmixed in his chalice of anger, and suffer torment from fire and brimstone in the presence of Holy Angels, in the presence of the Lamb. Smoke from their torment will rise age after age. No respite for those who worship the Beast and its image, who take the mark of its name."

¹²Meanwhile, the saints stand passionately patient, keeping God's commands, staying faithful to Jesus.

¹³I heard a voice out of Heaven, "Write this: Blessed are those who die in the Master from now on; how blessed to die that way!"

"Yes," says the Spirit, "and blessed rest from their hard, hard work. None of what they've done is wasted; God blesses them for it all in the end."

Harvest Time

^{14 -16}I looked up, I caught my breath!—a white cloud and one like the Son of Man sitting on it. He wore a gold crown and held a sharp sickle. Another Angel came out of the Temple, shouting to the Cloud-Enthroned, "Swing your sickle and reap. It's harvest time. Earth's harvest is ripe for reaping." The Cloud-Enthroned gave a mighty sweep of his sickle, began harvesting earth in a stroke.

^{17 -18}Then another Angel came out of the Temple in Heaven. He also had a sharp sickle. Yet another Angel, the one in charge of tending the fire, came from the Altar. He thundered to the Angel who held the sharp sickle, "Swing your sharp sickle. Harvest earth's vineyard. The grapes are bursting with ripeness."

^{19 -20}The Angel swung his sickle, harvested earth's vintage, and heaved it into the winepress, the giant winepress of God's wrath. The winepress was outside the City. As the vintage was trodden, blood poured from the winepress as high as a horse's bridle, a river of blood for two hundred miles.

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Message Bible Daily Reading - Old/New Testament (MSG)

Old/New Testament Reading for Thursday December 22, 2011 (MSG)

Posted: 21 Dec 2011 09:00 PM PST

Micah 6

What God Is Looking For

^{1 -2} Listen now, listen to God: "Take your stand in court.
If you have a complaint, tell the mountains;
make your case to the hills. And now, Mountains, hear God's case;
listen, Jury Earth— For I am bringing charges against my people.
I am building a case against Israel.

^{3 -5}"Dear people, how have I done you wrong?
Have I burdened you, worn you out? Answer! I delivered you from a bad life in Egypt;
I paid a good price to get you out of slavery. I sent Moses to lead you—
and Aaron and Miriam to boot! Remember what Balak king of Moab tried to pull,
and how Balaam son of Beor turned the tables on him. Remember all those stories about Shittim and Gilgal.
Keep all God's salvation stories fresh and present."

^{6 -7}How can I stand up before God
and show proper respect to the high God? Should I bring an armload of offerings
topped off with yearling calves? Would God be impressed with thousands of rams,
with buckets and barrels of olive oil? Would he be moved if I sacrificed my firstborn child,
my precious baby, to cancel my sin?

⁸But he's already made it plain how to live, what to do,
what God is looking for in men and women. It's quite simple: Do what is fair and just to your neighbor,
be compassionate and loyal in your love, And don't take yourself too seriously—
take God seriously.

⁹Attention! God calls out to the city!
If you know what's good for you, you'll listen. So listen, all of you!
This is serious business.

^{10 -16}"Do you expect me to overlook obscene wealth
you've piled up by cheating and fraud? Do you think I'll tolerate shady deals
and shifty scheming? I'm tired of the violent rich
bullying their way with bluffs and lies. I'm fed up. Beginning now, you're finished.
You'll pay for your sins down to your last cent. No matter how much you get, it will never be enough—
hollow stomachs, empty hearts. No matter how hard you work, you'll have nothing to show for it—
bankrupt lives, wasted souls. You'll plant grass
but never get a lawn. You'll make jelly
but never spread it on your bread. You'll press apples
but never drink the cider. You have lived by the standards of your king, Omri,
the decadent lifestyle of the family of Ahab. Because you've slavishly followed their fashions,
I'm forcing you into bankruptcy. Your way of life will be laughed at, a tasteless joke.
Your lives will be derided as futile and fake."

Micah 7

Stick Around to See What God Will Do

^{1 -6} I'm overwhelmed with sorrow! sunk in a swamp of despair! I'm like someone who goes to the garden
to pick cabbages and carrots and corn And returns empty-handed,
finds nothing for soup or sandwich or salad. There's not a decent person in sight.
Right-living humans are extinct. They're all out for one another's blood,
animals preying on each other. They've all become experts in evil.
Corrupt leaders demand bribes. The powerful rich
make sure they get what they want. The best and brightest are thistles.
The top of the line is crabgrass. But no longer: It's exam time.
Look at them slinking away in disgrace! Don't trust your neighbor,
don't confide in your friend. Watch your words,
even with your spouse. Neighborhoods and families are falling to pieces.
The closer they are—sons, daughters, in-laws— The worse they can be.
Your own family is the enemy.

⁷But me, I'm not giving up.
I'm sticking around to see what God will do. I'm waiting for God to make things right.
I'm counting on God to listen to me.

Spreading Your Wings

^{8 -10}Don't, enemy, crow over me.
I'm down, but I'm not out. I'm sitting in the dark right now,
but God is my light. I can take God's punishing rage.
I deserve it—I sinned. But it's not forever. He's on my side
and is going to get me out of this. He'll turn on the lights and show me his ways.
I'll see the whole picture and how right he is. And my enemy will see it, too,
and be discredited—yes, disgraced! This enemy who kept taunting,
"So where is this God of yours?" I'm going to see it with these, my own eyes—
my enemy disgraced, trash in the gutter.

^{11 -13}Oh, that will be a day! A day for rebuilding your city,
a day for stretching your arms, spreading your wings! All your dispersed and scattered people will come back,
old friends and family from faraway places, From Assyria in the east to Egypt in the west,
from across the seas and out of the mountains. But there'll be a reversal for everyone else—massive depopulation—
because of the way they lived, the things they did.

^{14 -17}Shepherd, O God, your people with your staff,
your dear and precious flock. Uniquely yours in a grove of trees,
centered in lotus land. Let them graze in lush Bashan
as in the old days in green Gilead. Reproduce the miracle-wonders
of our exodus from Egypt. And the godless nations: Put them in their place—
humiliated in their arrogance, speechless and clueless. Make them slink like snakes, crawl like cockroaches,
come out of their holes from under their rocks And face our God.
Fill them with holy fear and trembling.

^{18 -20}Where is the god who can compare with you—
wiping the slate clean of guilt, Turning a blind eye, a deaf ear,
to the past sins of your purged and precious people? You don't nurse your anger and don't stay angry long,
for mercy is your specialty. That's what you love most. And compassion is on its way to us.
You'll stamp out our wrongdoing. You'll sink our sins
to the bottom of the ocean. You'll stay true to your word to Father Jacob
and continue the compassion you showed Grandfather Abraham— Everything you promised our ancestors
from a long time ago.

Revelation 13

The Beast from the Sea

^{1 -2}And the Dragon stood on the shore of the sea. I saw a Beast rising from the sea. It had ten horns and seven heads—on each horn a crown, and each head inscribed with a blasphemous name. The Beast I saw looked like a leopard with bear paws and a lion's mouth. The Dragon turned over its power to it, its throne and great authority.

^{3 -4}One of the Beast's heads looked as if it had been struck a deathblow, and then healed. The whole earth was agog, gaping at the Beast. They worshiped the Dragon who gave the Beast authority, and they worshiped the Beast, exclaiming, "There's never been anything like the Beast! No one would dare go to war with the Beast!"

^{5 -8}The Beast had a loud mouth, boastful and blasphemous. It could do anything it wanted for forty-two months. It yelled blasphemies against God, blasphemed his Name, blasphemed his Church, especially those already dwelling with God in Heaven. It was permitted to make war on God's holy people and conquer them. It held absolute sway over all tribes and peoples, tongues and races. Everyone on earth whose name was not written from the world's foundation in the slaughtered Lamb's Book of Life will worship the Beast.

^{9 -10}Are you listening to this? They've made their bed; now they must lie in it. Anyone marked for prison goes straight to prison; anyone pulling a sword goes down by the sword. Meanwhile, God's holy people passionately and faithfully stand their ground.

The Beast from Under the Ground

^{11 -12}I saw another Beast rising out of the ground. It had two horns like a lamb but sounded like a dragon when it spoke. It was a puppet of the first Beast, made earth and everyone in it worship the first Beast, which had been healed of its deathblow.

^{13 -17}This second Beast worked magical signs, dazzling people by making fire come down from Heaven. It used the magic it got from the Beast to dupe earth dwellers, getting them to make an image of the Beast that received the deathblow and lived. It was able to animate the image of the Beast so that it talked, and then arrange that anyone not worshiping the Beast would be killed. It forced all people, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to have a mark on the right hand or forehead. Without the mark of the name of the Beast or the number of its name, it was impossible to buy or sell anything.

¹⁸Solve a riddle: Put your heads together and figure out the meaning of the number of the Beast. It's a human number: 666.

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Message Bible Daily Reading - Old/New Testament (MSG)

Old/New Testament Reading for Wednesday December 21, 2011 (MSG)

Posted: 20 Dec 2011 09:00 PM PST

Micah 4

The Making of God's People

^{1 -4} But when all is said and done,
God's Temple on the mountain, Firmly fixed, will dominate all mountains,
towering above surrounding hills. People will stream to it
and many nations set out for it, Saying, "Come, let's climb God's mountain.
Let's go to the Temple of Jacob's God. He will teach us how to live.
We'll know how to live God's way." True teaching will issue from Zion,
God's revelation from Jerusalem. He'll establish justice in the rabble of nations
and settle disputes in faraway places. They'll trade in their swords for shovels,
their spears for rakes and hoes. Nations will quit fighting each other,
quit learning how to kill one another. Each man will sit under his own shade tree,
each woman in safety will tend her own garden. God-of-the-Angel-Armies says so,
and he means what he says.

⁵Meanwhile, all the other people live however they wish,
picking and choosing their gods. But we live honoring God,
and we're loyal to our God forever and ever.

^{6 -7}"On that great day," God says,
"I will round up all the hurt and homeless,
everyone I have bruised or banished. I will transform the battered into a company of the elite.
I will make a strong nation out of the long lost, A showcase exhibit of God's rule in action,
as I rule from Mount Zion, from here to eternity.

⁸"And you stragglers around Jerusalem,
eking out a living in shantytowns: The glory that once was will be again.
Jerusalem's daughter will be the kingdom center."

^{9 -10}So why the doomsday hysterics?
You still have a king, don't you? But maybe he's not doing his job
and you're panicked like a woman in labor. Well, go ahead—twist and scream, Daughter Jerusalem.
You are like a woman in childbirth. You'll soon be out of the city, on your way
and camping in the open country. And then you'll arrive in Babylon.
What you lost in Jerusalem will be found in Babylon. God will give you new life again.
He'll redeem you from your enemies.

^{11 -12}But for right now, they're ganged up against you,
many godless peoples, saying, "Kick her when she's down! Violate her!
We want to see Zion grovel in the dirt." These blasphemers have no idea
what God is thinking and doing in this. They don't know that this is the making of God's people,
that they are wheat being threshed, gold being refined.

¹³On your feet, Daughter of Zion! Be threshed of chaff,
be refined of dross. I'm remaking you into a people invincible,
into God's juggernaut to crush the godless peoples. You'll bring their plunder as holy offerings to God,
their wealth to the Master of the earth.

Micah 5

The Leader Who Will Shepherd-Rule Israel

¹ But for now, prepare for the worst, victim daughter! The siege is set against us. They humiliate Israel's king,
slapping him around like a rag doll.

^{2 -4}But you, Bethlehem, David's country,
the runt of the litter— From you will come the leader
who will shepherd-rule Israel. He'll be no upstart, no pretender.
His family tree is ancient and distinguished. Meanwhile, Israel will be in foster homes
until the birth pangs are over and the child is born, And the scattered brothers come back
home to the family of Israel. He will stand tall in his shepherd-rule by God's strength,
centered in the majesty of God-Revealed. And the people will have a good and safe home,
for the whole world will hold him in respect—
Peacemaker of the world!

^{5 -6}And if some bullying Assyrian shows up,
invades and violates our land, don't worry. We'll put him in his place, send him packing,
and watch his every move. Shepherd-rule will extend as far as needed,
to Assyria and all other Nimrod-bullies. Our shepherd-ruler will save us from old or new enemies,
from anyone who invades or violates our land.

⁷The purged and select company of Jacob will be
like an island in the sea of peoples. They'll be like dew from God,
like summer showers Not mentioned in the weather forecast,
not subject to calculation or control.

^{8 -9}Yes, the purged and select company of Jacob will be
like an island in the sea of peoples, Like the king of beasts among wild beasts,
like a young lion loose in a flock of sheep, Killing and devouring the lambs
and no one able to stop him. With your arms raised in triumph over your foes,
your enemies will be no more!

^{10 -15}"The day is coming"
—God's Decree— "When there will be no more war. None.
I'll slaughter your war horses and demolish your chariots. I'll dismantle military posts
and level your fortifications. I'll abolish your religious black markets,
your underworld traffic in black magic. I will smash your carved and cast gods
and chop down your phallic posts. No more taking control of the world,
worshiping what you do or make. I'll root out your sacred sex-and-power centers
and destroy the God-defiant. In raging anger, I'll make a clean sweep
of godless nations who haven't listened."

Revelation 12

The Woman, Her Son, and the Dragon

^{1 -2}A great Sign appeared in Heaven: a Woman dressed all in sunlight, standing on the moon, and crowned with Twelve Stars. She was giving birth to a Child and cried out in the pain of childbirth.

^{3 -4}And then another Sign alongside the first: a huge and fiery Dragon! It had seven heads and ten horns, a crown on each of the seven heads. With one flick of its tail it knocked a third of the Stars from the sky and dumped them on earth. The Dragon crouched before the Woman in childbirth, poised to eat up the Child when it came.

^{5 -6}The Woman gave birth to a Son who will shepherd all nations with an iron rod. Her Son was seized and placed safely before God on his Throne. The Woman herself escaped to the desert to a place of safety prepared by God, all comforts provided her for 1,260 days.

^{7 -12}War broke out in Heaven. Michael and his Angels fought the Dragon. The Dragon and his Angels fought back, but were no match for Michael. They were cleared out of Heaven, not a sign of them left. The great Dragon—ancient Serpent, the one called Devil and Satan, the one who led the whole earth astray—thrown out, and all his Angels thrown out with him, thrown down to earth. Then I heard a strong voice out of Heaven saying,

Salvation and power are established!
Kingdom of our God, authority of his Messiah!
The Accuser of our brothers and sisters thrown out,
who accused them day and night before God.
They defeated him through the blood of the Lamb
and the bold word of their witness.
They weren't in love with themselves;
they were willing to die for Christ.
So rejoice, O Heavens, and all who live there,
but doom to earth and sea,
For the Devil's come down on you with both feet;
he's had a great fall;
He's wild and raging with anger;
he hasn't much time and he knows it.

^{13 -17}When the Dragon saw he'd been thrown to earth, he went after the Woman who had given birth to the Man-Child. The Woman was given wings of a great eagle to fly to a place in the desert to be kept in safety and comfort for a time and times and half a time, safe and sound from the Serpent. The Serpent vomited a river of water to swamp and drown her, but earth came to her help, swallowing the water the Dragon spewed from its mouth. Helpless with rage, the Dragon raged at the Woman, then went off to make war with the rest of her children, the children who keep God's commands and hold firm to the witness of Jesus.