Deuteronomy 3, Psalm 85, Isaiah 31, Revelation 1

Deuteronomy 3,

1 Next we turned and went up along the road toward Bashan, and Og king of Bashan with his whole army marched out to meet us in battle at Edrei.
 
2 The LORD said to me, "Do not be afraid of him, for I have handed him over to you with his whole army and his land. Do to him what you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon."
 
3 So the LORD our God also gave into our hands Og king of Bashan and all his army. We struck them down, leaving no survivors.
 
4 At that time we took all his cities. There was not one of the sixty cities that we did not take from them-the whole region of Argob, Og's kingdom in Bashan.
 
5 All these cities were fortified with high walls and with gates and bars, and there were also a great many unwalled villages.
 
6 We completely destroyed them, as we had done with Sihon king of Heshbon, destroying every city-men, women and children.
 
7 But all the livestock and the plunder from their cities we carried off for ourselves.
 
8 So at that time we took from these two kings of the Amorites the territory east of the Jordan, from the Arnon Gorge as far as Mount Hermon.
 
9 (Hermon is called Sirion by the Sidonians; the Amorites call it Senir.)
 
10 We took all the towns on the plateau, and all Gilead, and all Bashan as far as Salecah and Edrei, towns of Og's kingdom in Bashan.
 
11 (Only Og king of Bashan was left of the remnant of the Rephaites. His bed was made of iron and was more than thirteen feet long and six feet wide. It is still in Rabbah of the Ammonites.)
 
12 Of the land that we took over at that time, I gave the Reubenites and the Gadites the territory north of Aroer by the Arnon Gorge, including half the hill country of Gilead, together with its towns.
 
13 The rest of Gilead and also all of Bashan, the kingdom of Og, I gave to the half tribe of Manasseh. (The whole region of Argob in Bashan used to be known as a land of the Rephaites.
 
14 Jair, a descendant of Manasseh, took the whole region of Argob as far as the border of the Geshurites and the Maacathites; it was named after him, so that to this day Bashan is called Havvoth Jair.)
 
15 And I gave Gilead to Makir.
 
16 But to the Reubenites and the Gadites I gave the territory extending from Gilead down to the Arnon Gorge (the middle of the gorge being the border) and out to the Jabbok River, which is the border of the Ammonites.
 
17 Its western border was the Jordan in the Arabah, from Kinnereth to the Sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea), below the slopes of Pisgah.
 
18 I commanded you at that time: "The LORD your God has given you this land to take possession of it. But all your able-bodied men, armed for battle, must cross over ahead of your brother Israelites.
 
19 However, your wives, your children and your livestock (I know you have much livestock) may stay in the towns I have given you,
 
20 until the LORD gives rest to your brothers as he has to you, and they too have taken over the land that the LORD your God is giving them, across the Jordan. After that, each of you may go back to the possession I have given you."
 
21 At that time I commanded Joshua: "You have seen with your own eyes all that the LORD your God has done to these two kings. The LORD will do the same to all the kingdoms over there where you are going.
 
22 Do not be afraid of them; the LORD your God himself will fight for you."
 
23 At that time I pleaded with the LORD :
 
24 "O Sovereign LORD, you have begun to show to your servant your greatness and your strong hand. For what god is there in heaven or on earth who can do the deeds and mighty works you do?
 
25 Let me go over and see the good land beyond the Jordan-that fine hill country and Lebanon."
 
26 But because of you the LORD was angry with me and would not listen to me. "That is enough," the LORD said. "Do not speak to me anymore about this matter.
 
27 Go up to the top of Pisgah and look west and north and south and east. Look at the land with your own eyes, since you are not going to cross this Jordan.
 
28 But commission Joshua, and encourage and strengthen him, for he will lead this people across and will cause them to inherit the land that you will see."
 
29 So we stayed in the valley near Beth Peor.

Psalm 85,

1 You showed favor to your land, O LORD; you restored the fortunes of Jacob.
 
2 You forgave the iniquity of your people and covered all their sins. Selah
 
3 You set aside all your wrath and turned from your fierce anger.
 
4 Restore us again, O God our Savior, and put away your displeasure toward us.
 
5 Will you be angry with us forever? Will you prolong your anger through all generations?
 
6 Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you?
 
7 Show us your unfailing love, O LORD, and grant us your salvation.
 
8 I will listen to what God the LORD will say; he promises peace to his people, his saints-but let them not return to folly.
 
9 Surely his salvation is near those who fear him, that his glory may dwell in our land.
 
10 Love and faithfulness meet together; righteousness and peace kiss each other.
 
11 Faithfulness springs forth from the earth, and righteousness looks down from heaven.
 
12 The LORD will indeed give what is good, and our land will yield its harvest.
 
13 Righteousness goes before him and prepares the way for his steps.

Isaiah 31,

1 Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, who rely on horses, who trust in the multitude of their chariots and in the great strength of their horsemen, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel, or seek help from the LORD.
 
2 Yet he too is wise and can bring disaster; he does not take back his words. He will rise up against the house of the wicked, against those who help evildoers.
 
3 But the Egyptians are men and not God; their horses are flesh and not spirit. When the LORD stretches out his hand, he who helps will stumble, he who is helped will fall; both will perish together.
 
4 This is what the LORD says to me: "As a lion growls, a great lion over his prey-and though a whole band of shepherds is called together against him, he is not frightened by their shouts or disturbed by their clamor-so the LORD Almighty will come down to do battle on Mount Zion and on its heights.
 
5 Like birds hovering overhead, the LORD Almighty will shield Jerusalem; he will shield it and deliver it, he will 'pass over' it and will rescue it."
 
6 Return to him you have so greatly revolted against, O Israelites.
 
7 For in that day every one of you will reject the idols of silver and gold your sinful hands have made.
 
8 "Assyria will fall by a sword that is not of man; a sword, not of mortals, will devour them. They will flee before the sword and their young men will be put to forced labor.
 
9 Their stronghold will fall because of terror; at sight of the battle standard their commanders will panic," declares the LORD, whose fire is in Zion, whose furnace is in Jerusalem.

Revelation 1

1 The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John,
 
2 who testifies to everything he saw-that is, the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ.
 
3 Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.
 
4 John, To the seven churches in the province of Asia: Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before his throne,
 
5 and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood,
 
6 and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father-to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.
 
7 Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him. So shall it be! Amen.
 
8 "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty."
 
9 I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.
 
10 On the Lord's Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet,
 
11 which said: "Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea."
 
12 I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands,
 
13 and among the lampstands was someone "like a son of man," dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest.
 
14 His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire.
 
15 His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters.
 
16 In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.
 
17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: "Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last.
 
18 I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.
 
19 "Write, therefore, what you have seen, what is now and what will take place later.
 
20 The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lampstands is this: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.