18th December

¹ Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said,² Can a man be profitable unto God, as he that is wise may be profitable unto himself?³ Is it any pleasure to the Almighty, that thou art righteous? or is it gain to him, that thou makest thy ways perfect?⁴ Will he reprove thee for fear of thee? will he enter with thee into judgment?⁵ Is not thy wickedness great? and thine iniquities infinite?⁶ For thou hast taken a pledge from thy brother for nought, and stripped the naked of their clothing.⁷ Thou hast not given water to the weary to drink, and thou hast withholden bread from the hungry.⁸ But as for the mighty man, he had the earth; and the honourable man dwelt in it.⁹ Thou hast sent widows away empty, and the arms of the fatherless have been broken.¹⁰ Therefore snares are round about thee, and sudden fear troubleth thee;¹¹ Or darkness, that thou canst not see; and abundance of waters cover thee.¹² Is not God in the height of heaven? and behold the height of the stars, how high they are!¹³ And thou sayest, How doth God know? can he judge through the dark cloud?¹⁴ Thick clouds are a covering to him, that he seeth not; and he walketh in the circuit of heaven.¹⁵ Hast thou marked the old way which wicked men have trodden?¹⁶ Which were cut down out of time, whose foundation was overflown with a flood:¹⁷ Which said unto God, Depart from us: and what can the Almighty do for them?¹⁸ Yet he filled their houses with good things: but the counsel of the wicked is far from me.¹⁹ The righteous see it, and are glad: and the innocent laugh them to scorn.²⁰ Whereas our substance is not cut down, but the remnant of them the fire consumeth.²¹ Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace: thereby good shall come unto thee.²² Receive, I pray thee, the law from his mouth, and lay up his words in thine heart.²³ If thou return to the Almighty, thou shalt be built up, thou shalt put away iniquity far from thy tabernacles.²⁴ Then shalt thou lay up gold as dust, and the gold of Ophir as the stones of the brooks.²⁵ Yea, the Almighty shall be thy defence, and thou shalt have plenty of silver.²⁶ For then shalt thou have thy delight in the Almighty, and shalt lift up thy face unto God.²⁷ Thou shalt make thy prayer unto him, and he shall hear thee, and thou shalt pay thy vows.²⁸ Thou shalt also decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee: and the light shall shine upon thy ways.²⁹ When men are cast down, then thou shalt say, There is lifting up; and he shall save the humble person.³⁰ He shall deliver the island of the innocent: and it is delivered by the pureness of thine hands.

¹ In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, in the first day of the month, came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet unto Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, saying,² Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, This people say, The time is not come, the time that the LORD's house should be built.³ Then came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet, saying,⁴ Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your cieled houses, and this house lie waste?⁵ Now therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways.⁶ Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes.⁷ Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways.⁸ Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house; and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith the LORD.⁹ Ye looked for much, and, lo it came to little; and when ye brought it home, I did blow upon it. Why? saith the LORD of hosts. Because of mine house that is waste, and ye run every man unto his own house.¹⁰ Therefore the heaven over you is stayed from dew, and the earth is stayed from her fruit.¹¹ And I called for a drought upon the land, and upon the mountains, and upon the corn, and upon the new wine, and upon the oil, and upon that which the ground bringeth forth, and upon men, and upon cattle, and upon all the labour of the hands.¹² Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the LORD their God, and the words of Haggai the prophet, as the LORD their God had sent him, and the people did fear before the LORD.¹³ Then spake Haggai the LORD's messenger in the LORD's message unto the people, saying, I am with you, saith the LORD.¹⁴ And the LORD stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people; and they came and did work in the house of the LORD of hosts, their God,¹⁵ In the four and twentieth day of the sixth month, in the second year of Darius the king.

¹ In the seventh month, in the one and twentieth day of the month, came the word of the LORD by the prophet Haggai, saying,² Speak now to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, and to the residue of the people, saying,³ Who is left among you that saw this house in her first glory? and how do ye see it now? is it not in your eyes in comparison of it as nothing?⁴ Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, saith the LORD; and be strong, O Joshua, son of Josedech, the high priest; and be strong, all ye people of the land, saith the LORD, and work: for I am with you, saith the LORD of hosts:⁵ According to the word that I covenanted with you when ye came out of Egypt, so my spirit remaineth among you: fear ye not.⁶ For thus saith the LORD of hosts; Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land;⁷ And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the LORD of hosts.⁸ The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the LORD of hosts.⁹ The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the LORD of hosts: and in this place will I give peace, saith the LORD of hosts.¹⁰ In the four and twentieth day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet, saying,¹¹ Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Ask now the priests concerning the law, saying,¹² If one bear holy flesh in the skirt of his garment, and with his skirt do touch bread, or pottage, or wine, or oil, or any meat, shall it be holy? And the priests answered and said, No.¹³ Then said Haggai, If one that is unclean by a dead body touch any of these, shall it be unclean? And the priests answered and said, It shall be unclean.¹⁴ Then answered Haggai, and said, So is this people, and so is this nation before me, saith the LORD; and so is every work of their hands; and that which they offer there is unclean.¹⁵ And now, I pray you, consider from this day and upward, from before a stone was laid upon a stone in the temple of the LORD:¹⁶ Since those days were, when one came to an heap of twenty measures, there were but ten: when one came to the pressfat for to draw out fifty vessels out of the press, there were but twenty.¹⁷ I smote you with blasting and with mildew and with hail in all the labours of your hands; yet ye turned not to me, saith the LORD.¹⁸ Consider now from this day and upward, from the four and twentieth day of the ninth month, even from the day that the foundation of the LORD's temple was laid, consider it.¹⁹ Is the seed yet in the barn? yea, as yet the vine, and the fig tree, and the pomegranate, and the olive tree, hath not brought forth: from this day will I bless you.²⁰ And again the word of the LORD came unto Haggai in the four and twentieth day of the month, saying,²¹ Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying, I will shake the heavens and the earth;²² And I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms, and I will destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the heathen; and I will overthrow the chariots, and those that ride in them; and the horses and their riders shall come down, every one by the sword of his brother.²³ In that day, saith the LORD of hosts, will I take thee, O Zerubbabel, my servant, the son of Shealtiel, saith the LORD, and will make thee as a signet: for I have chosen thee, saith the LORD of hosts.

¹ Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him.² By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.³ For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.⁴ For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.⁵ Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?⁶ This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth.⁷ For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.⁸ And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one.⁹ If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son.¹⁰ He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son.¹¹ And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.¹² He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.¹³ These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.¹⁴ And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:¹⁵ And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.¹⁶ If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it.¹⁷ All unrighteousness is sin: and there is a sin not unto death.¹⁸ We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not.¹⁹ And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness.²⁰ And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.²¹ Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.