Daily Bible CEV October 07 Scroll

The 144,000 Are Marked for God

Revelation 7 ^1-2After this I saw four angels. Each one was standing on one of the earth's four corners. The angels held back the four winds, so that no wind would blow on the earth or on the sea or on any tree. These angels had also been given the power to harm the earth and the sea. Then I saw another angel come up from where the sun rises in the east, and he was ready to put the mark of the living God on people. He shouted to the four angels, ³"Don't harm the earth or the sea or any tree! Wait until I have marked the foreheads of the servants of our God."

⁴Then I heard how many people had been marked on the forehead. There were one hundred forty-four thousand, and they came from every tribe of Israel:

⁵12,000 from Judah,

12,000 from Reuben,

12,000 from Gad,

⁶12,000 from Asher,

12,000 from Naphtali,

12,000 from Manasseh,

⁷12,000 from Simeon,

12,000 from Levi,

12,000 from Issachar,

⁸12,000 from Zebulun,

12,000 from Joseph, and

12,000 from Benjamin.

People from Every Nation

⁹After this, I saw a large crowd with more people than could be counted. They were from every race, tribe, nation, and language, and they stood before the throne and before the Lamb. They wore white robes and held palm branches in their hands, ¹⁰as they shouted,

"Our God, who sits upon the throne,

has the power to save his people,

and so does the Lamb."

¹¹The angels who stood around the throne knelt in front of it with their faces to the ground. The elders and the four living creatures knelt there with them. Then they all worshiped God ¹²and said,

"Amen! Praise, glory, wisdom, thanks, honor, power,

and strength belong to our God forever and ever! Amen!"

¹³One of the elders asked me, "Do you know who these people are that are dressed in white robes? Do you know where they come from?"

¹⁴"Sir," I answered, "you must know."

Then he told me:

"These are the ones

who have gone through the great suffering.

They have washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb

and have made them white.

¹⁵And so they stand before the throne of God

and worship him in his temple day and night.

The one who sits on the throne

will spread his tent over them.

¹⁶They will never hunger or thirst again,

and they won't be troubled

by the sun or any scorching heat.

¹⁷The Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd.

He will lead them to streams of life-giving water,

and God will wipe all tears from their eyes."

Nehemiah 9

The People Make an Agreement

³⁸And so, a firm agreement was made that had the official approval of
Nehemiah 10 the leaders, the Levites, and priests. ¹As governor, I signed the agreement together with Zedekiah and the following priests: ^2-8Seraiah, Azariah, Jeremiah, Pashhur, Amariah, Malchijah, Hattush, Shebaniah, Malluch, Harim, Meremoth, Obadiah, Daniel, Ginnethon, Baruch, Meshullam, Abijah, Mijamin, Maaziah, Bilgai, and Shemaiah.

⁹The Levites who signed were: Jeshua son of Azaniah, Binnui from the clan of Henadad, Kadmiel, ¹⁰Shebaniah, Hodiah, Kelita, Pelaiah, Hanan, ¹¹Mica, Rehob, Hashabiah, ¹²Zaccur, Sherebiah, Shebaniah, ¹³Hodiah, Bani, and Beninu.

¹⁴The leaders who signed were: Parosh, Pahath Moab, Elam, Zattu, Bani, ¹⁵Bunni, Azgad, Bebai, ¹⁶Adonijah, Bigvai, Adin, ¹⁷Ater, Hezekiah, Azzur, ¹⁸Hodiah, Hashum, Bezai, ¹⁹Hariph, Anathoth, Nebai, ²⁰Magpiash, Meshullam, Hezir, ²¹Meshezabel, Zadok, Jaddua, ²²Pelatiah, Hanan, Anaiah, ²³Hoshea, Hananiah, Hasshub, ²⁴Hallohesh, Pilha, Shobek, ²⁵Rehum, Hashabnah, Maaseiah, ²⁶Ahiah, Hanan, Anan, ²⁷Malluch, Harim, and Baanah.

The Agreement

^28-29All of us, including priests, Levites, temple guards, singers, temple workers and leaders, together with our wives and children, have separated ourselves from the foreigners in this land and now enter into an agreement with a complete understanding of what we are doing. And so, we now place ourselves under the curse of the LORD our God, if we fail to obey his laws and teachings that were given to us by his servant Moses.

³⁰We won't let our sons and daughters marry foreigners.

³¹We won't buy goods or grain on the Sabbath or on any other sacred day, not even from foreigners.

Every seven years we will let our fields rest, and we will cancel all debts.

³²Once a year we will each donate a small amount of silver to the temple of our God. ³³This is to pay for the sacred bread, as well as for the daily sacrifices and special sacrifices such as those offered on the Sabbath and during the New Moon Festival and the other festivals. It will also pay for the sacrifices to forgive our sins and for all expenses connected with the worship of God in the temple.

³⁴We have decided that the families of priests, Levites, and ordinary people will supply firewood for the temple each year, so that sacrifices can be offered on the altar, just as the LORD our God has commanded.

³⁵Each year we will bring to the temple the first part of our harvest of grain and fruit.

³⁶We will bring our first-born sons and the first-born males of our herds and flocks and offer them to the priests who serve in the temple, because this is what is written in God's Law.

³⁷To the priests in the temple of our God, we will bring the bread dough from the first harvest, together with our best fruit, and an offering of new wine and olive oil.

We will bring ten percent of our grain harvest to those Levites who are responsible for collecting it in our towns. ³⁸A priest from the family of Aaron must be there when we give this to the Levites. Then the Levites will put one tenth of this part in the temple storeroom, ³⁹which is also the place for the sacred objects used by the priests, the temple guards, and the singers.

Levites and everyone else must bring their gifts of grain, wine, and olive oil to this room.

We will not neglect the temple of our God.

Psalm 102
[A prayer for someone who hurts and needs to ask the LORD for help.]
A Prayer in Time of Trouble

¹I pray to you, LORD! Please listen.

Don't hide from me in my time of trouble.

Pay attention to my prayer and quickly give an answer.

³My days disappear like smoke,

and my bones are burning as though in a furnace.

⁴I am wasting away like grass, and my appetite is gone.

⁵My groaning never stops,

and my bones can be seen through my skin.

⁶I am like a lonely owl in the desert

⁷

or a restless sparrow alone on a roof.

⁸My enemies insult me all day,

and they use my name for a curse word.

⁹Instead of food, I have ashes to eat and tears to drink,

¹⁰

because you are furious and have thrown me aside.

¹¹My life fades like a shadow at the end of day

and withers like grass.

¹²Our LORD, you are King forever

and will always be famous.

¹³You will show pity to Zion because the time has come.

¹⁴We, your servants, love each stone in the city,

and we are sad to see them lying in the dirt.

¹⁵Our LORD, the nations will honor you,

and all kings on earth will praise your glory.

¹⁶You will rebuild the city of Zion.

Your glory will be seen,

¹⁷

and the prayers of the homeless will be answered.

¹⁸Future generations must also praise the LORD,

so write this for them:

¹⁹"From his holy temple,

the LORD looked down at the earth.

²⁰He listened to the groans of prisoners,

and he rescued everyone who was doomed to die."

²¹All Jerusalem should praise you, our LORD,

²²

when people from every nation meet to worship you.

²³I should still be strong,

but you, LORD, have made an old person of me.

²⁴You will live forever! Years mean nothing to you.

Don't cut my life in half!

²⁵In the beginning, LORD, you laid the earth's foundation

and created the heavens.

²⁶They will all disappear and wear out like clothes.

You change them, as you would a coat,

but you last forever.

²⁷You are always the same. Years cannot change you.

²⁸Every generation of those who serve you

will live in your presence.

These daily Bible readings from the Contemporary English Version (CEV) are published by BibleNetUSA. The web site and BibleCard® designs are by iCreative. BibleCard® images copyright iCreative. All rights reserved.