December 31, 2026

Lamentations4

The Holy Stones Lie Scattered

1 How the gold has grown dim,

how the pure gold is changed!

The holy stones lie scattered

at the head of every street.

2 The precious sons of Zion,

worth their weight in fine gold,

how they are regarded as earthen pots,

the work of a potter’s hands!

3 Even jackals offer the breast;

they nurse their young;

but the daughter of my people has become cruel,

like the ostriches in the wilderness.

4 The tongue of the nursing infant sticks

to the roof of its mouth for thirst;

the children beg for food,

but no one gives to them.

5 Those who once feasted on delicacies

perish in the streets;

those who were brought up in purple

embrace ash heaps.

6 For the chastisement of the daughter of my people has been greater

than the punishment of Sodom,

which was overthrown in a moment,

and no hands were wrung for her.

7 Her princes were purer than snow,

whiter than milk;

their bodies were more ruddy than coral,

the beauty of their form was like sapphire.

8 Now their face is blacker than soot;

they are not recognized in the streets;

their skin has shriveled on their bones;

it has become as dry as wood.

9 Happier were the victims of the sword

than the victims of hunger,

who wasted away, pierced

by lack of the fruits of the field.

10 The hands of compassionate women

have boiled their own children;

they became their food

during the destruction of the daughter of my people.

11 The Lord gave full vent to his wrath;

he poured out his hot anger,

and he kindled a fire in Zion

that consumed its foundations.

12 The kings of the earth did not believe,

nor any of the inhabitants of the world,

that foe or enemy could enter

the gates of Jerusalem.

13 This was for the sins of her prophets

and the iniquities of her priests,

who shed in the midst of her

the blood of the righteous.

14 They wandered, blind, through the streets;

they were so defiled with blood

that no one was able to touch

their garments.

15 “Away! Unclean!” people cried at them.

“Away! Away! Do not touch!”

So they became fugitives and wanderers;

people said among the nations,

“They shall stay with us no longer.”

16 The Lord himself has scattered them;

he will regard them no more;

no honor was shown to the priests,

no favor to the elders.

17 Our eyes failed, ever watching

vainly for help;

in our watching we watched

for a nation which could not save.

18 They dogged our steps

so that we could not walk in our streets;

our end drew near; our days were numbered,

for our end had come.

19 Our pursuers were swifter

than the eagles in the heavens;

they chased us on the mountains;

they lay in wait for us in the wilderness.

20 The breath of our nostrils, the Lord’s anointed,

was captured in their pits,

of whom we said, “Under his shadow

we shall live among the nations.”

21 Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom,

you who dwell in the land of Uz;

but to you also the cup shall pass;

you shall become drunk and strip yourself bare.

22 The punishment of your iniquity, O daughter of Zion, is accomplished;

he will keep you in exile no longer;

but your iniquity, O daughter of Edom, he will punish;

he will uncover your sins.

Lamentations5

Restore Us to Yourself, O ndLord

1 Remember, O Lord, what has befallen us;

look, and see our disgrace!

2 Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers,

our homes to foreigners.

3 We have become orphans, fatherless;

our mothers are like widows.

4 We must pay for the water we drink;

the wood we get must be bought.

5 Our pursuers are at our necks;

we are weary; we are given no rest.

6 We have given the hand to Egypt, and to Assyria,

to get bread enough.

7 Our fathers sinned, and are no more;

and we bear their iniquities.

8 Slaves rule over us;

there is none to deliver us from their hand.

9 We get our bread at the peril of our lives,

because of the sword in the wilderness.

10 Our skin is hot as an oven

with the burning heat of famine.

11 Women are raped in Zion,

young women in the towns of Judah.

12 Princes are hung up by their hands;

no respect is shown to the elders.

13 Young men are compelled to grind at the mill,

and boys stagger under loads of wood.

14 The old men have left the city gate,

the young men their music.

15 The joy of our hearts has ceased;

our dancing has been turned to mourning.

16 The crown has fallen from our head;

woe to us, for we have sinned!

17 For this our heart has become sick,

for these things our eyes have grown dim,

18 for Mount Zion which lies desolate;

jackals prowl over it.

19 But you, O Lord, reign forever;

your throne endures to all generations.

20 Why do you forget us forever,

why do you forsake us for so many days?

21 Restore us to yourself, O Lord, that we may be restored!

Renew our days as of old—

22 unless you have utterly rejected us,

and you remain exceedingly angry with us.

Revelation22

The River of Life

1 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 3 No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. 4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5 And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.

Jesus Is Coming

6 And he said to me, “These words are trustworthy and true. And the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, has sent his angel to show his servants what must soon take place.”

7 “And behold, I am coming soon. Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.”

8 I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed them to me, 9 but he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers the prophets, and with those who keep the words of this book. Worship God.”

10 And he said to me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near. 11 Let the evildoer still do evil, and the filthy still be filthy, and the righteous still do right, and the holy still be holy.”

12 “Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”

14 Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates. 15 Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.

16 “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.”

17 The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.

18 I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, 19 and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.

20 He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!

21 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen.