24th December

¹ Wherefore, Job, I pray thee, hear my speeches, and hearken to all my words.² Behold, now I have opened my mouth, my tongue hath spoken in my mouth.³ My words shall be of the uprightness of my heart: and my lips shall utter knowledge clearly.⁴ The spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life.⁵ If thou canst answer me, set thy words in order before me, stand up.⁶ Behold, I am according to thy wish in God's stead: I also am formed out of the clay.⁷ Behold, my terror shall not make thee afraid, neither shall my hand be heavy upon thee.⁸ Surely thou hast spoken in mine hearing, and I have heard the voice of thy words, saying,⁹ I am clean without transgression, I am innocent; neither is there iniquity in me.¹⁰ Behold, he findeth occasions against me, he counteth me for his enemy,¹¹ He putteth my feet in the stocks, he marketh all my paths.¹² Behold, in this thou art not just: I will answer thee, that God is greater than man.¹³ Why dost thou strive against him? for he giveth not account of any of his matters.¹⁴ For God speaketh once, yea twice, yet man perceiveth it not.¹⁵ In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falleth upon men, in slumberings upon the bed;¹⁶ Then he openeth the ears of men, and sealeth their instruction,¹⁷ That he may withdraw man from his purpose, and hide pride from man.¹⁸ He keepeth back his soul from the pit, and his life from perishing by the sword.¹⁹ He is chastened also with pain upon his bed, and the multitude of his bones with strong pain:²⁰ So that his life abhorreth bread, and his soul dainty meat.²¹ His flesh is consumed away, that it cannot be seen; and his bones that were not seen stick out.²² Yea, his soul draweth near unto the grave, and his life to the destroyers.²³ If there be a messenger with him, an interpreter, one among a thousand, to shew unto man his uprightness:²⁴ Then he is gracious unto him, and saith, Deliver him from going down to the pit: I have found a ransom.²⁵ His flesh shall be fresher than a child's: he shall return to the days of his youth:²⁶ He shall pray unto God, and he will be favourable unto him: and he shall see his face with joy: for he will render unto man his righteousness.²⁷ He looketh upon men, and if any say, I have sinned, and perverted that which was right, and it profited me not;²⁸ He will deliver his soul from going into the pit, and his life shall see the light.²⁹ Lo, all these things worketh God oftentimes with man,³⁰ To bring back his soul from the pit, to be enlightened with the light of the living.³¹ Mark well, O Job, hearken unto me: hold thy peace, and I will speak.³² If thou hast anything to say, answer me: speak, for I desire to justify thee.³³ If not, hearken unto me: hold thy peace, and I shall teach thee wisdom.

¹ The burden of the word of the LORD in the land of Hadrach, and Damascus shall be the rest thereof: when the eyes of man, as of all the tribes of Israel, shall be toward the LORD.² And Hamath also shall border thereby; Tyrus, and Zidon, though it be very wise.³ And Tyrus did build herself a strong hold, and heaped up silver as the dust, and fine gold as the mire of the streets.⁴ Behold, the LORD will cast her out, and he will smite her power in the sea; and she shall be devoured with fire.⁵ Ashkelon shall see it, and fear; Gaza also shall see it, and be very sorrowful, and Ekron; for her expectation shall be ashamed; and the king shall perish from Gaza, and Ashkelon shall not be inhabited.⁶ And a bastard shall dwell in Ashdod, and I will cut off the pride of the Philistines.⁷ And I will take away his blood out of his mouth, and his abominations from between his teeth: but he that remaineth, even he, shall be for our God, and he shall be as a governor in Judah, and Ekron as a Jebusite.⁸ And I will encamp about mine house because of the army, because of him that passeth by, and because of him that returneth: and no oppressor shall pass through them any more: for now have I seen with mine eyes.⁹ Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.¹⁰ And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow shall be cut off: and he shall speak peace unto the heathen: and his dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth.¹¹ As for thee also, by the blood of thy covenant I have sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water.¹² Turn you to the strong hold, ye prisoners of hope: even to day do I declare that I will render double unto thee;¹³ When I have bent Judah for me, filled the bow with Ephraim, and raised up thy sons, O Zion, against thy sons, O Greece, and made thee as the sword of a mighty man.¹⁴ And the LORD shall be seen over them, and his arrow shall go forth as the lightning: and the LORD God shall blow the trumpet, and shall go with whirlwinds of the south.¹⁵ The LORD of hosts shall defend them; and they shall devour, and subdue with sling stones; and they shall drink, and make a noise as through wine; and they shall be filled like bowls, and as the corners of the altar.¹⁶ And the LORD their God shall save them in that day as the flock of his people: for they shall be as the stones of a crown, lifted up as an ensign upon his land.¹⁷ For how great is his goodness, and how great is his beauty! corn shall make the young men cheerful, and new wine the maids.

¹ And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree.² And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea,³ Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.⁴ And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.⁵ Of the tribe of Juda were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Reuben were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Gad were sealed twelve thousand.⁶ Of the tribe of Aser were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Nephthalim were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Manasses were sealed twelve thousand.⁷ Of the tribe of Simeon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Levi were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Issachar were sealed twelve thousand.⁸ Of the tribe of Zabulon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Joseph were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Benjamin were sealed twelve thousand.⁹ After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands;¹⁰ And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.¹¹ And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God,¹² Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen.¹³ And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they?¹⁴ And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.¹⁵ Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them.¹⁶ They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat.¹⁷ For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.

¹ And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.² And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets.³ And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.⁴ And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel's hand.⁵ And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth: and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake.⁶ And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound.⁷ The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.⁸ And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood;⁹ And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed.¹⁰ And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters;¹¹ And the name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter.¹² And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise.¹³ And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound!

¹ And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit.² And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit.³ And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power.⁴ And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads.⁵ And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man.⁶ And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them.⁷ And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle; and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men.⁸ And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions.⁹ And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle.¹⁰ And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men five months.¹¹ And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon.¹² One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter.¹³ And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God,¹⁴ Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates.¹⁵ And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men.¹⁶ And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them.¹⁷ And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone.¹⁸ By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths.¹⁹ For their power is in their mouth, and in their tails: for their tails were like unto serpents, and had heads, and with them they do hurt.²⁰ And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk:²¹ Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.