Monday, February 29, 2016

Revelation 13





Revelation 13 (New International Version, ©2010)

Revelation 13

The Beast out of the Sea

1 The dragon[a] stood on the shore of the sea. And I saw a beast coming out of the sea. It had ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on its horns, and on each head a blasphemous name. 2 The beast I saw resembled a leopard, but had feet like those of a bear and a mouth like that of a lion. The dragon gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority. 3 One of the heads of the beast seemed to have had a fatal wound, but the fatal wound had been healed. The whole world was filled with wonder and followed the beast. 4 People worshiped the dragon because he had given authority to the beast, and they also worshiped the beast and asked, "Who is like the beast? Who can wage war against it?"
5 The beast was given a mouth to utter proud words and blasphemies and to exercise its authority for forty-two months. 6 It opened its mouth to blaspheme God, and to slander his name and his dwelling place and those who live in heaven. 7 It was given power to wage war against God's holy people and to conquer them. And it was given authority over every tribe, people, language and nation. 8 All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast—all whose names have not been written in the Lamb's book of life, the Lamb who was slain from the creation of the world.[b]

9 Whoever has ears, let them hear.

10 "If anyone is to go into captivity, into captivity they will go.
If anyone is to be killed[c] with the sword, with the sword they will be killed."[d] This calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of God's people.

The Beast out of the Earth

11 Then I saw a second beast, coming out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb, but it spoke like a dragon. 12 It exercised all the authority of the first beast on its behalf, and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose fatal wound had been healed. 13 And it performed great signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to the earth in full view of the people. 14 Because of the signs it was given power to perform on behalf of the first beast, it deceived the inhabitants of the earth. It ordered them to set up an image in honor of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived. 15 The second beast was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that the image could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed. 16 It also forced all people, great and small, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads, 17 so that they could not buy or sell unless they had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of its name.
18 This calls for wisdom. Let the person who has insight calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man.[e] That number is 666.
Posted by at No comments:

Psalm 81





Psalm 81 (New International Version)

Psalm 81

For the director of music. According to gittith. Of Asaph. [a]

1 Sing for joy to God our strength; shout aloud to the God of Jacob!
2 Begin the music, strike the tambourine, play the melodious harp and lyre.

3 Sound the ram's horn at the New Moon, and when the moon is full, on the day of our Feast;

4 this is a decree for Israel, an ordinance of the God of Jacob.

5 He established it as a statute for Joseph when he went out against Egypt, where we heard a language we did not understand. [b]

6 He says, "I removed the burden from their shoulders; their hands were set free from the basket.

7 In your distress you called and I rescued you, I answered you out of a thundercloud; I tested you at the waters of Meribah. Selah

8 "Hear, O my people, and I will warn you— if you would but listen to me, O Israel!

9 You shall have no foreign god among you; you shall not bow down to an alien god.

10 I am the LORD your God, who brought you up out of Egypt. Open wide your mouth and I will fill it.

11 "But my people would not listen to me; Israel would not submit to me.

12 So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts to follow their own devices.

13 "If my people would but listen to me, if Israel would follow my ways,

14 how quickly would I subdue their enemies and turn my hand against their foes!

15 Those who hate the LORD would cringe before him, and their punishment would last forever.

16 But you would be fed with the finest of wheat; with honey from the rock I would satisfy you."
Posted by at No comments:

John 4 ~ Jesus and the Samaritans (4:1-42) and Healing of the Official's Son (4:43-54)

John 4:
1 Jesus knew the Pharisees had heard that he was baptizing and making more disciples than John 
2 (though Jesus himself didn’t baptize them—his disciples did). 
3 So he left Judea and returned to Galilee. 
4 He had to go through Samaria on the way. 
5 Eventually he came to the Samaritan village of Sychar, near the field that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. 
6 Jacob’s well was there; and Jesus, tired from the long walk, sat wearily beside the well about noontime. 
7 Soon a Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Please give me a drink.” 
8 He was alone at the time because his disciples had gone into the village to buy some food. 
9 The woman was surprised, for Jews refuse to have anything to do with Samaritans. She said to Jesus, “You are a Jew, and I am a Samaritan woman. Why are you asking me for a drink?” 
10 Jesus replied, “If you only knew the gift God has for you and who you are speaking to, you would ask me, and I would give you living water.” 
11 “But sir, you don’t have a rope or a bucket,” she said, “and this well is very deep. Where would you get this living water? 
12 And besides, do you think you’re greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us this well? How can you offer better water than he and his sons and his animals enjoyed?” 
13Jesus replied, “Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again.
14 But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.” 
15 “Please, sir,” the woman said, “give me this water! Then I’ll never be thirsty again, and I won’t have to come here to get water.” 
16 “Go and get your husband,” Jesus told her. 
17 “I don’t have a husband,” the woman replied. Jesus said, “You’re right! You don’t have a husband— 
18 for you have had five husbands, and you aren’t even married to the man you’re living with now. You certainly spoke the truth!” 
19 “Sir,” the woman said, “you must be a prophet. 
20 So tell me, why is it that you Jews insist that Jerusalem is the only place of worship, while we Samaritans claim it is here at Mount Gerizim, where our ancestors worshiped?” 
21 Jesus replied, “Believe me, dear woman, the time is coming when it will no longer matter whether you worship the Father on this mountain or in Jerusalem. 
22 You Samaritans know very little about the one you worship, while we Jews know all about him, for salvation comes through the Jews. 
23 But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way. 
24 For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.” 
25 The woman said, “I know the Messiah is coming—the one who is called Christ. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.” 
26 Then Jesus told her, “I AM the Messiah!” 
27Just then his disciples came back. They were shocked to find him talking to a woman, but none of them had the nerve to ask, “What do you want with her?” or “Why are you talking to her?” 
28 The woman left her water jar beside the well and ran back to the village, telling everyone, 
29 “Come and see a man who told me everything I ever did! Could he possibly be the Messiah?” 
30 So the people came streaming from the village to see him. 
31 Meanwhile, the disciples were urging Jesus, “Rabbi, eat something.” 
32 But Jesus replied, “I have a kind of food you know nothing about.” 
33 “Did someone bring him food while we were gone?” the disciples asked each other. 
34 Then Jesus explained: “My nourishment comes from doing the will of God, who sent me, and from finishing his work. 
35 You know the saying, ‘Four months between planting and harvest.’ But I say, wake up and look around. The fields are already ripe for harvest. 
36 The harvesters are paid good wages, and the fruit they harvest is people brought to eternal life. What joy awaits both the planter and the harvester alike! 
37 You know the saying, ‘One plants and another harvests.’ And it’s true. 
38 I sent you to harvest where you didn’t plant; others had already done the work, and now you will get to gather the harvest.” 
39 Many Samaritans from the village believed in Jesus because the woman had said, “He told me everything I ever did!” 
40 When they came out to see him, they begged him to stay in their village. So he stayed for two days,
41 long enough for many more to hear his message and believe. 
42 Then they said to the woman, “Now we believe, not just because of what you told us, but because we have heard him ourselves. Now we know that he is indeed the Savior of the world.” 
43 At the end of the two days, Jesus went on to Galilee. 
44 He himself had said that a prophet is not honored in his own hometown. 
45 Yet the Galileans welcomed him, for they had been in Jerusalem at the Passover celebration and had seen everything he did there.
46 As he traveled through Galilee, he came to Cana, where he had turned the water into wine. There was a government official in nearby Capernaum whose son was very sick. 
47 When he heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went and begged Jesus to come to Capernaum to heal his son, who was about to die. 
48 Jesus asked, “Will you never believe in me unless you see miraculous signs and wonders?” 
49 The official pleaded, “Lord, please come now before my little boy dies.” 
50 Then Jesus told him, “Go back home. Your son will live!” And the man believed what Jesus said and started home. 
51 While the man was on his way, some of his servants met him with the news that his son was alive and well. 
52 He asked them when the boy had begun to get better, and they replied, “Yesterday afternoon at one o’clock his fever suddenly disappeared!” 
53 Then the father realized that that was the very time Jesus had told him, “Your son will live.” And he and his entire household believed in Jesus. 

54 This was the second miraculous sign Jesus did in Galilee after coming from Judea.
Posted by at No comments:
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)