The Two Witnesses

Revelation 11 I was then given a stick that looked like a measuring-rod, and was told, "Go and measure the temple of God and the altar, and count those who are worshiping in the temple. ²But do not measure the outer courts, because they have been given to the heathen, who will trample on the Holy City for forty-two months. ³I will send my two witnesses dressed in sackcloth, and they will proclaim God's message during those 1, 260 days."
⁴The two witnesses are the two olive trees and the two lamps that stand before the Lord of the earth. ⁵If anyone tries to harm them, fire comes out of their mouths and destroys their enemies; and in this way whoever tries to harm them will be killed. ⁶They have authority to shut up the sky so that there will be no rain during the time they proclaim God's message. They have authority also over the springs of water, to turn them into blood; they have authority also to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they wish.
⁷When they finish proclaiming their message, the beast that comes up out of the abyss will fight against them. He will defeat them and kill them, ⁸and their bodies will lie in the street of the great city, where their Lord was crucified. The symbolic name of that city is Sodom, or Egypt. ⁹People from all nations, tribes, languages, and races will look at their bodies for three and a half days and will not allow them to be buried. ¹⁰The people of the earth will be happy because of the death of these two. They will celebrate and send presents to each other, because those two prophets brought much suffering upon the whole human race. ¹¹After three and a half days a life-giving breath came from God and entered them, and they stood up; and all who saw them were terrified. ¹²Then the two prophets heard a loud voice say to them from heaven, "Come up here!" As their enemies watched, they went up into heaven in a cloud. ¹³At that very moment there was a violent earthquake; a tenth of the city was destroyed, and seven thousand people were killed. The rest of the people were terrified and praised the greatness of the God of heaven.
¹⁴The second horror is over, but the third horror will come soon!

The Seventh Trumpet

¹⁵Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, "The power to rule over the world belongs now to our Lord and his Messiah, and he will rule forever and ever!" ¹⁶Then the twenty-four elders who sit on their thrones in front of God threw themselves face downward and worshiped God, ¹⁷saying:
"Lord God Almighty, the one who is and who was!
We thank you that you have taken your great power
and have begun to rule!
¹⁸The heathen were filled with rage,
because the time for your anger has come,
the time for the dead to be judged.
The time has come to reward your servants, the prophets,
and all your people, all who have reverence for you,
great and small alike.
The time has come to destroy those who destroy the earth!"
¹⁹God's temple in heaven was opened, and the Covenant Box was seen there. Then there were flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail.

The Book of
ESTHER

Queen Vashti Defies King Xerxes

Esther 1 ^1-2From his royal throne in Persia's capital city of Susa, King Xerxes ruled 127 provinces, all the way from India to Ethiopia.
³In the third year of his reign he gave a banquet for all his officials and administrators. The armies of Persia and Media were present, as well as the governors and noblemen of the provinces. ⁴For six whole months he made a show of the riches of the imperial court with all its splendor and majesty.
⁵After that, the king gave a banquet for all the people in the capital city of Susa, rich and poor alike. It lasted a whole week and was held in the gardens of the royal palace. ⁶The courtyard there was decorated with blue and white cotton curtains, tied by cords of fine purple linen to silver rings on marble columns. Couches made of gold and silver had been placed in the courtyard, which was paved with white marble, red feldspar, shining mother-of-pearl, and blue turquoise. ⁷Drinks were served in gold cups, no two of them alike, and the king was generous with the royal wine. ⁸There were no limits on the drinks; the king had given orders to the palace servants that everyone could have as much as they wanted.
⁹Meanwhile, inside the royal palace Queen Vashti was giving a banquet for the women.
¹⁰On the seventh day of his banquet the king was drinking and feeling happy, so he called in the seven eunuchs who were his personal servants, Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, Abagtha, Zethar, and Carkas. ¹¹He ordered them to bring in Queen Vashti, wearing her royal crown. The queen was a beautiful woman, and the king wanted to show off her beauty to the officials and all his guests. ¹²But when the servants told Queen Vashti of the king's command, she refused to come. This made the king furious.
¹³Now it was the king's custom to ask for expert opinion on questions of law and order, so he called for his advisers, who would know what should be done. ¹⁴Those he most often turned to for advice were Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, and Memucan--seven officials of Persia and Media who held the highest offices in the kingdom. ¹⁵He said to these men, "I, King Xerxes, sent my servants to Queen Vashti with a command, and she refused to obey it! What does the law say that we should do with her?"
¹⁶Then Memucan declared to the king and his officials: "Queen Vashti has insulted not only the king but also his officials--in fact, every man in the empire! ¹⁷Every woman in the empire will start looking down on her husband as soon as she hears what the queen has done. They'll say, 'King Xerxes commanded Queen Vashti to come to him, and she refused.' ¹⁸When the wives of the royal officials of Persia and Media hear about the queen's behavior, they will be telling their husbands about it before the day is out. Wives everywhere will have no respect for their husbands, and husbands will be angry with their wives. ¹⁹If it please Your Majesty, issue a royal proclamation that Vashti may never again appear before the king. Have it written into the laws of Persia and Media, so that it can never be changed. Then give her place as queen to some better woman. ²⁰When your proclamation is made known all over this huge empire, every woman will treat her husband with proper respect, whether he's rich or poor."
²¹The king and his officials liked this idea, and the king did what Memucan suggested. ²²To each of the royal provinces he sent a message in the language and the system of writing of that province, saying that every husband should be the master of his home and speak with final authority.

God and His People
(1 Chronicles 16.8 -22)

Psalm 105 Give thanks to the LORD, proclaim his greatness;
tell the nations what he has done.
²Sing praise to the LORD;
tell the wonderful things he has done.
³Be glad that we belong to him;
let all who worship him rejoice.
⁴Go to the LORD for help;
and worship him continually.
^5-6You descendants of Abraham, his servant;
you descendants of Jacob, the man he chose:
remember the miracles that God performed
and the judgments that he gave.

⁷The LORD is our God;
his commands are for all the world.
⁸He will keep his covenant forever,
his promises for a thousand generations.
⁹He will keep the agreement he made with Abraham
and his promise to Isaac.
¹⁰The LORD made a covenant with Jacob,
one that will last forever.
¹¹"I will give you the land of Canaan," he said.
"It will be your own possession."

¹²God's people were few in number,
strangers in the land of Canaan.
¹³They wandered from country to country,
from one kingdom to another.
¹⁴But God let no one oppress them;
to protect them, he warned the kings:
¹⁵"Don't harm my chosen servants;
do not touch my prophets."

¹⁶The LORD sent famine to their country
and took away all their food.
¹⁷But he sent a man ahead of them,
Joseph, who had been sold as a slave.
¹⁸His feet were kept in chains,
and an iron collar was around his neck,
¹⁹until what he had predicted came true.
The word of the LORD proved him right.
²⁰Then the king of Egypt had him released;
the ruler of nations set him free.
²¹He put him in charge of his government
and made him ruler over all the land,
²²with power over the king's officials
and authority to instruct his advisers.

²³Then Jacob went to Egypt
and settled in that country.
²⁴The LORD gave many children to his people
and made them stronger than their enemies.
²⁵He made the Egyptians hate his people
and treat his servants with deceit.