Bible Reading Plan

¹ One who scatters is coming up against you.
Man the fortifications!
Watch the road!
Brace^[a] yourself!
Summon all your strength!^(a)

² For the Lord will restore the majesty of Jacob,
yes,^[b] the majesty of Israel,
though ravagers have ravaged them
and ruined their vine branches.^(b)

³ The shields of his^[c] warriors are dyed red;
the valiant men are dressed in scarlet.^(c)
The fittings of the chariot flash like fire
on the day of its battle preparations,
and the spears are brandished.
⁴ The chariots dash madly through the streets;
they rush around in the plazas.
They look like torches;
they dart back and forth like lightning.
⁵ He gives orders to his officers;
they stumble as they advance.
They race to its wall;
the protective shield is set in place.
⁶ The river gates are opened,
and the palace erodes away.^(d)

⁷ Beauty^[d] is stripped,^[e]
she is carried away;
her ladies-in-waiting moan
like the sound of doves,^(e)
and beat their breasts.
⁸ Nineveh has been like a pool of water
from her first days,^[f]
but they are fleeing.
"Stop! Stop!" they cry,
but no one turns back.
⁹ "Plunder the silver! Plunder the gold!"
There is no end to the treasure,
an abundance of every precious thing.^(f)
10 Desolation, decimation, devastation!
Hearts melt,^(g)
knees tremble,
loins shake,
every face grows pale!^(h)

¹¹ Where is the lions' lair,⁽ⁱ⁾
or the feeding ground of the young lions,
where the lion and lioness prowled,
and the lion's cub,
with nothing to frighten them away?^(j)
12 The lion mauled whatever its cubs needed
and strangled prey for its lionesses.
It filled up its dens with the kill,
and its lairs with mauled prey.^(k)
13 Beware, I am against you.^(l)
This is the declaration of the Lord of Hosts.
I will make your chariots go up in smoke^[g]
and the sword will devour your young lions.
I will cut off your prey from the earth,
and the sound of your messengers
will never be heard again.

¹ Woe to the city of blood,^(a)
totally deceitful,
full of plunder,
never without prey.^(b)
2 The crack of the whip
and rumble of the wheel,
galloping horse
and jolting chariot!^(c)
3 Charging horseman,
flashing sword,
shining spear;
heaps of slain,
mounds of corpses,
dead bodies without end^(d)—
they stumble over their dead.
⁴ Because of the continual prostitution of the prostitute,
the attractive mistress of sorcery,
who betrays nations by her prostitution
and clans by her witchcraft,^(e)
5 I am against you.^(f)
This is the declaration of the Lord of Hosts.
I will lift your skirts over your face
and display your nakedness to nations,
your shame to kingdoms.^(g)
6 I will throw filth on you
and treat you with contempt;
I will make a spectacle of you.
⁷ Then all who see you will recoil from you, saying,
"Nineveh is devastated;
who will show sympathy to her?"
Where can I find anyone to comfort you?

⁸ Are you better than Thebes^[a](h)
that sat along the Nile
with water surrounding her,
whose rampart was the sea,
the river^[b][c] her wall?
⁹ Cush and Egypt were her endless source of strength;
Put and Libya were among her^[d] allies.
¹⁰ Yet she became an exile;
she went into captivity.
Her children were also dashed to pieces⁽ⁱ⁾
at the head of every street.
They cast lots for her dignitaries,^(j)
and all her nobles were bound in chains.
¹¹ You^[e] also will become drunk;
you will hide yourself.^[f]
You also will seek refuge from the enemy.

¹² All your fortresses are fig trees
with figs that ripened first;
when shaken, they fall—
right into the mouth of the eater!

¹³ Look, your troops are like women among you;
the gates of your land
are wide open to your enemies.
Fire will devour the bars of your gates.

¹⁴ Draw water for the siege;
strengthen your fortresses.
Step into the clay and tread the mortar;
take hold of the brick-mold!
¹⁵ The fire will devour you there;
the sword will cut you down.
It will devour you like the young locust.^(k)
Multiply yourselves like the young locust,
multiply like the swarming locust!
¹⁶ You have made your merchants^(l)
more numerous than the stars of the sky.
The young locust strips^[g] the land
and flies away.
¹⁷ Your court officials are like the swarming locust,
and your scribes like clouds of locusts,
which settle on the walls on a cold day;
when the sun rises, they take off,
and no one knows where they are.

¹⁸ King of Assyria, your shepherds slumber;
your officers sleep.
Your people are scattered across the mountains
with no one to gather them together.^(m)
19 There is no remedy for your injury;
your wound is severe.⁽ⁿ⁾
All who hear the news about you
will clap their hands because of you,
for who has not experienced
your constant cruelty?

¹ I will stand at my guard post
and station myself on the lookout tower.^(a)
I will watch to see what He will say to me^(b)
and what I should^[a] reply about my complaint.

Write down this vision;^(c)
clearly inscribe it on tablets
so one may easily read it.^[b]
3 For the vision is yet for the appointed time;
it testifies about the end and will not lie.
Though it delays, wait for it,
since it will certainly come and not be late.^(d)
4 Look, his ego is inflated;^[c]
he is without integrity.
But the righteous one will live by his faith.^[d](e)
5 Moreover, wine^[e] betrays;
an arrogant man is never at rest.^[f]
He enlarges his appetite like Sheol,
and like Death he is never satisfied.^(f)
He gathers all the nations to himself;
he collects all the peoples for himself.

⁶ Won't all of these take up a taunt against him,
with mockery and riddles about him?
They will say:

Woe to him who amasses what is not his—
how much longer?—
and loads himself with goods taken in pledge.^(g)
7 Won't your creditors suddenly arise,
and those who disturb you wake up?
Then you will become spoil for them.^(h)
8 Since you have plundered many nations,
all the peoples who remain will plunder you—
because of human bloodshed
and violence against lands, cities,
and all who live in them.⁽ⁱ⁾

⁹ Woe to him who dishonestly makes
wealth for his house^[g]
to place his nest on high,
to escape from the reach of disaster!^(j)
10 You have planned shame for your house
by wiping out many peoples
and sinning against your own self.
¹¹ For the stones will cry out^(k) from the wall,
and the rafters will answer them
from the woodwork.

¹² Woe to him who builds a city with bloodshed
and founds a town with injustice!^(l)
13 Is it not from the Lord of Hosts
that the peoples labor only to fuel the fire
and countries exhaust themselves for nothing?^(m)
14 For the earth will be filled
with the knowledge of the Lord 's glory,
as the waters cover the sea.⁽ⁿ⁾

¹⁵ Woe to him who gives his neighbors drink,
pouring out your wrath^[h]
and even making them drunk,
in order to look at their nakedness!
¹⁶ You will be filled with disgrace instead of glory.
You also—drink,
and expose your uncircumcision!^[i]
The cup in the Lord 's right hand
will come around to you,
and utter disgrace will cover your glory.^(o)
17 For your violence against Lebanon
will overwhelm you;
the destruction of animals will terrify you^[j]
because of your human bloodshed and violence
against lands, cities, and all who live in them.

¹⁸ What use is a carved idol
after its craftsman carves it?
It is only a cast image, a teacher of lies.
For the one who crafts its shape trusts in it
and makes idols that cannot speak.
¹⁹ Woe to him who says to wood: Wake up!
or to mute stone: Come alive!
Can it teach?
Look! It may be plated with gold and silver,
yet there is no breath in it at all.

²⁰ But the Lord is in His holy temple;
let everyone on earth
be silent in His presence.^(p)

²  Lord , I have heard the report about You;
Lord , I stand in awe of Your deeds.
Revive Your work in these years;
make it known in these years.
In Your wrath remember mercy!

³ God comes from Teman,
the Holy One from Mount Paran.^(b) Selah
His splendor covers the heavens,
and the earth is full of His praise.^(c)
4 His brilliance is like light;
rays are flashing from His hand.
This is where His power is hidden.
⁵ Plague goes before Him,
and pestilence follows in His steps.
⁶ He stands and shakes^[b] the earth;
He looks and startles the nations.
The age-old mountains break apart;
the ancient hills sink down.
His pathways are ancient.
⁷ I see the tents of Cushan^[c] in distress;
the tent curtains of the land of Midian tremble.
⁸ Are You angry at the rivers, Lord ?
Is Your wrath against the rivers?
Or is Your rage against the sea
when You ride on Your horses,
Your victorious chariot?
⁹ You took the sheath from Your bow;
the arrows are ready^[d] to be used with an oath.^[e](d) Selah
You split the earth with rivers.
¹⁰ The mountains see You and shudder;^(e)
a downpour of water sweeps by.
The deep roars with its voice^(f)
and lifts its waves^[f] high.
¹¹ Sun and moon stand still in their lofty residence,^(g)
at the flash of Your flying arrows,
at the brightness of Your shining spear.
¹² You march across the earth with indignation;
You trample down the nations in wrath.
¹³ You come out to save Your people,
to save Your anointed.^[g]
You crush the leader of the house of the wicked
and strip him from foot^[h] to neck. Selah
¹⁴ You pierce his head
with his own spears;
his warriors storm out to scatter us,
gloating as if ready to secretly devour the weak.
¹⁵ You tread the sea with Your horses,
stirring up the great waters.^(h)

¹⁶ I heard, and I trembled within;⁽ⁱ⁾
my lips quivered at the sound.
Rottenness entered my bones;
I trembled where I stood.
Now I must quietly wait for the day of distress
to come against the people invading us.
¹⁷ Though the fig tree does not bud
and there is no fruit on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen
and no cattle in the stalls,
¹⁸ yet I will triumph in Yahweh;
I will rejoice in the God of my salvation!^(j)
19 Yahweh my Lord is my strength;
He makes my feet like those of a deer^(k)
and enables me to walk on mountain heights!^(l)