Welcome to Read Through the Bible in a Year, November 20th. Today's reading is 1 Timothy chapter 3, Ezekiel chapters 26 and 27, and Psalm chapter 141. So let's get started in 1 Timothy chapter 3. This is a true saying. If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work. A bishop, then, must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach, not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre, but patient, not a brawler, not covetous, one that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity. For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God? Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride, he fall into the condemnation of the devil, Moreover he must have a good report of them which are without, lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil. Likewise must the deacons be grave, not double-tongued, not given to much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre, holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience. And let these also first be proved. then let them use the office of a deacon, being found blameless. Even so must their wives be grave. not slanderers, sober, faithful in all things. Let the deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well. For they that have used the office of a deacon well, purchase to themselves a good degree, and great boldness in the faith, which is in Christ Jesus. These things write I unto thee, hoping to come unto thee shortly. But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. And without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the received up into glory. This concludes the reading of 1 Timothy chapter 3. Ezekiel chapter 26. And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the first day of the month, that the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, because that Tyrus hath said against Jerusalem, Aha, she is broken, that was the gates of the people, she is turned unto me, I shall be replenished, now she is laid waste. Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I am against thee, O Tyrus, and will cause many nations to come up against thee, as the sea causeth his waves to come up. And they shall destroy the walls of Tyrus, and break down her towers. I will also scrape her dust from her, and make her like the top of a rock. It shall be a place for the spreading of nets in the midst of the sea, for I have spoken it, saith the Lord God. And it shall become a spoil to the nations. and her daughters, which are in the field, shall be slain by the sword, and they shall know that I am the Lord. For thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I will bring upon Tyrus, nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon, a king of kings, from the north, with horses, and with chariots, and with horsemen, and companies, and much people. He shall slay with a sword thy daughters in the field, And he shall make a fort against thee, And cast a mount against thee, And lift up the buckler against thee. And he shall set engines of war against thy walls, And with his axes he shall break down thy towers. By reason of the abundance of his horses, Their dust shall cover thee, Thy wall shall shake at the noise of the horsemen, and of the wheels, and of the chariots, when he shall enter into thy gates, as men enter into a city wherein is made a breach, with the hoofs of his horses shall he tread down all thy streets. He shall slay thy people by the sword, and thy strong garrisons shall go down to the ground. And they shall make a spoil of thy riches and make a prey of thy merchandise. And they shall break down thy walls and destroy thy pleasant houses. And they shall lay thy stones and thy timber and thy dust in the midst of the water, and I will cause the noise of thy songs to cease, and the sound of thy harps shall be no more heard. And I will make thee like the top of a rock, thou shalt be a place to spread nets upon, thou shalt be built no more, for I the Lord have spoken it, saith the Lord God. Thus saith the Lord God to Tyrus, shall not the aisles shake at the sound of thy fall, when the wounded cry, when the slaughter is made in the midst of thee? Then all the princes of the sea shall come down from their thrones, and lay away their robes, and put off their broidered garments. They shall clothe themselves with trembling, they shall sit upon the ground, and shall tremble at every moment, and be astonished at thee. and they shall take up a lamentation for thee, and say to thee, How art thou destroyed that wast inhabited of seafaring men, the renowned city, which was strong in the sea, she and her inhabitants, which caused their terror to be on all that haunt it. Now shall the isles tremble in the day of thy fall, yea, the isles that are in the sea, shall be troubled at thy departure. For thus saith the Lord God, When I shall make thee a desolate city, like the cities that are not inhabited, when I shall bring up the deep upon thee, and great waters shall cover thee, when I shall bring thee down with them that descend into the pit, with the people of old time, and shall set thee in the low parts of the earth, in places desolate of old, with them that go down to the pit, that thou be not inhabited, and I shall set glory in the land of the living, I will make thee a terror, and thou shalt be no more. Though thou be sought for, yet shalt thou never be found again, saith the Lord God." This concludes the reading of Ezekiel chapter 26. Ezekiel chapter 27. The word of the Lord came again unto me, saying, Now, thou son of man, take up a lamentation for Tyrus, and say unto Tyrus, O thou that art situate at the entry of the sea, which art a merchant of the people for many isles, thus saith the Lord God, O Tyrus, thou hast said, I am of perfect beauty, Thy borders are in the midst of the seas, Thy builders have perfected thy beauty. They have made all thy ship-boards Of fir-trees, of cenar. They have taken cedars from Lebanon To make mass for thee. Of the oaks of Bashan have they made thine oars. The company of the Asherites have made thy benches Of ivory, brought out of the isles of Chittim. fine linen with broidered work, from Egypt, was that which thou spreadest forth to be thy sail, blue and purple, from the Isles of Elisha, was that which covered thee. The inhabitants of Zidan and Arvad were thy mariners. Thy wise men, O Tyrus, that were in thee, were thy pilots. The ancients of Gebel, and the wise men thereof, Were in thee thy caulkers. All the ships of the sea, With their mariners, were in thee, To occupy thy merchandise. They of Persia, and of Lud, and of Phut, Were in thine army, thy men of war. They hanged the shield and helmet in thee, They set forth thy comeliness. The men of Arvad, with thine army, Were upon thy walls round about, And the Gamadims were in thy towers. They hang'd their shields upon thy walls round about, They have made thy beauty perfect. Tarsius was thy merchant, By reason of the multitude Of all kind of riches, with silver iron, tin, and lead. They traded in thy fairs, Javan, Tubal, and Meshach. They were thy merchants. They traded the persons of men and vessels of brass in thy market. They of the house of Togarmah traded in thy fairs with horses and horsemen and mules. The men of Dedan were thy merchants. Many isles were the merchandise of thine hand. They brought thee for a present horns of ivory and ebony. Syria was thy merchant, by reason of the multitude of the wares of thy making. They occupied in thy fares with emeralds, purple, and broidered work, and fine linen, and coral, and agate. Judah in the land of Israel, they were thy merchants, They traded in thy market wheat of minneth, And paneg, and honey, and oil, and balm. Damascus was thy merchant, In the multitude of the wares of thy making, For the multitude of all riches, In the wine of helbon, and white wool. Dan also in Javan, going to and fro, Occupied in thy fares, bright iron, cassia, and calamus, were in thy market. Dedan was thy merchant in precious clothes for chariots. Arabia, and all the princes of Kedar, They occupied with thee in lambs, and rams, and goats, In these were they thy merchants. The merchants of Sheba and Rehama, They were thy merchants, they occupied in thy fairs With chief of all spices, and with all precious stones and gold. Haran, and Kani, and Eden, the merchants of Sheba, Ashur, and Kilmad, were thy merchants. These were thy merchants in all sorts of things, in blue clothes, embroidered work, and in chests of rich apparel, bound with cords, and made of cedar, among thy merchandise. The ships of Tarshish did sing of thee in thy market, and thou wast replenished and made very glorious in the midst of the seas. Thy rowers have brought thee into great waters. The east wind hath broken thee in the midst of the seas. Thy riches and thy fares, thy merchandise, thy mariners, and thy pilots, thy caulkers, and the occupiers of thy merchandise, and all thy men of war, that are in thee, and in all thy company which is in the midst of thee, shall fall into the midst of the seas in the day of thy ruin. The suburbs shall shake at the sound of the cry of thy pilots, and all that handle the oar, the mariners, and all the pilots of the sea, shall come down from their ships, they shall stand upon the land, and shall cause their voice to be heard against thee and shall cry bitterly, and shall cast up dust upon their heads, they shall wallow themselves in the ashes. And they shall make themselves utterly bald for thee, and gird them with sackcloth, and they shall weep for thee with bitterness of heart and bitter wailing. And in their wailing they shall take up a lamentation for thee, and lament over thee, saying, What city is like Tyrus, like the destroyed in the midst of the sea. When thy wares went forth out of the seas, thou filledest many people. Thou didst enrich the kings of the earth with a multitude of thy riches and of thy merchandise. In the time when thou shalt be broken by the seas, in the depths of the waters, thy merchandise and all thy company in the midst of thee shall fall." all the inhabitants of the isles shall be astonished at thee, and their kings shall be sore afraid, they shall be troubled in their countenance. The merchants among the people shall hiss at thee, thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt be any more. This concludes the reading of Ezekiel chapter 27. Psalm chapter 141. Lord, I cry unto Thee, make haste unto me, give ear unto my voice when I cry unto Thee. Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense, And the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice. Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth, keep the door of my lips. Incline not my heart to any evil thing, To practice wicked works with men that work iniquity, And let me not eat of their dainies. Let the righteous smite me, it shall be a kindness, And let him reprove me, it shall be an excellent oil, Which shall not break my head. For yet my prayer also shall be in their calamities." When their judges are overthrown in stony places, They shall hear my words, for they are sweet. Our bones are scattered at the grave's mouth, As when one cutteth and cleaveth wood upon the earth. But mine eyes are unto thee, O God the Lord, In thee is my trust. Leave not my soul destitute Keep me from the snares which they have laid for me, and the gins of the workers of iniquity. Let the wicked fall into their own nets, whilst that I whittle escape. This concludes the reading of Psalm 141, and this concludes the reading for November 20th. May the Lord richly bless you this day.