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Bible Reading Plan
Daily Bible Reading
September 8 - Straight Thru the Bible
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Lamentations 3:52-5:22
Chapter 3
52 My enemies (C1)without reason
Hunted me down (C2)like a bird;
53 They have silenced (F1)me (C1)in the pit
And have (F2)(C2)thrown stones on me.
54 Waters flowed (C1)over my head;
I said, "I am (F1)cut off!"
55 I (C1)called on Your name, LORD,
Out of the lowest pit.
56 You have (C1)heard my voice,
"(C2)Do not cover Your ear from my plea for relief,
From my cry for help."
57 You (C1)came near on the day I called to You;
You said, "(C2)Do not fear!"
58 Lord, You (C1)have pleaded my soul's cause;
You have (C2)redeemed my life.
59 LORD, You have (C1)seen my oppression;
(C2)Judge my case.
60 You have seen all their vengeance,
All their (C1)schemes against me.
61 You have heard their (C1)reproach, LORD,
All their schemes against me.
62 The (C1)lips of my assailants and their talk
Are against me all day long.
63 Look at their (F1)(C1)sitting and their rising;
(C2)I am their mocking song.
64 You will (C1)repay them, LORD,
In accordance with the work of their hands.
65 You will give them (F1)(C1)shamelessness of heart,
Your curse will be on them.
66 You will (C1)pursue them in anger and eliminate them
From under the (C2)heavens of the LORD!
Chapter 4
Distress of the Siege Described
1 How (C1)dark the gold has become,
How the pure gold has changed!
The sacred stones are spilled out
At the (F1)corner of every street.
2 The precious sons of Zion,
Weighed against pure gold,
How they are regarded as (C1)earthenware jars,
The work of a potter's hands!
3 Even (C1)jackals offer the breast,
They nurse their young;
But the daughter of my people has proved herself (C2)cruel,
Like (C3)ostriches in the wilderness.
4 The (C1)tongue of the infant clings
To the roof of its mouth because of (C2)thirst;
The children (C3)ask for bread,
But no one breaks it for them.
5 Those who used to eat (C1)delicacies
Are made to tremble in the streets;
Those who were raised in crimson clothing
Embrace garbage heaps.
6 For the (F1)wrongdoing of the daughter of my people
Is greater than the (F2)(C1)sin of Sodom,
Which was (C2)overthrown as in a moment,
(F3)And no hands were turned toward her.
7 Her (F1)consecrated ones were (C1)purer than snow,
They shined more than milk;
They were more ruddy in (F2)body than pearls of coral,
Their form was like (F3)(C2)lapis lazuli.
8 Their appearance is (C1)darker than soot,
They are not recognized in the streets;
Their (C2)skin is shriveled on their bones,
It is dry, it has become like wood.
9 Better off are those (C1)killed by the sword
Than those killed by hunger;
For they (F1)(C2)waste away, (F2)stricken
By the lack of the produce of the field.
10 The hands of compassionate women
(C1)Boiled their own children;
They became (C2)food for them
Due to the destruction of the daughter of my people.
11 The LORD has (C1)expended His wrath,
He has poured out His fierce anger;
And He has (C2)kindled a fire in Zion,
And it has consumed its foundations.
12 The kings of the earth did not believe,
Nor did any of (C1)the inhabitants of the world,
That the adversary and the enemy
Would (C2)enter the gates of Jerusalem.
13 Because of the sins of her (C1)prophets
And the wrongdoings of her priests,
Who have shed in her midst
The (C2)blood of the righteous,
14 They wandered, (C1)blind, in the streets;
They were defiled with (C2)blood,
Such that no one could touch their (C3)garments.
15 "Keep away! (C1)Unclean!" (F1)they cried out of themselves.
"Keep away, keep away, do not touch!"
For they (C2)distanced themselves as well as wandered;
People among the nations said,
"They shall not continue to reside with us."
16 The presence of the LORD has scattered them,
He will not continue to look at them;
They did not (F1)(C1)honor the priests,
They did not favor the elders.
17 Yet our eyes failed,
Looking for (F1)help was (C1)useless;
At our observation point we have watched
For a (C2)nation that could not save.
18 They (C1)hunted our steps
So that we could not walk in our streets;
Our (C2)end drew near,
Our days were (F1)finished
For our end had come.
19 Our pursuers were (C1)swifter
Than the eagles of the sky;
They chased us on the mountains,
They waited in ambush for us in the wilderness.
20 The (C1)breath of our nostrils, the (C2)LORD'S anointed,
Was (C3)captured in their pits,
Of whom we had said, "(F1)In his (C4)shadow
We shall live among the nations."
21 Rejoice and be joyful, daughter of (C1)Edom,
Who lives in the land of Uz;
But the (C2)cup will pass to you as well,
You will become drunk and expose yourself.
22 The punishment of your wrongdoing has been (C1)completed, daughter of Zion;
He will no longer exile you.
But He (C2)will punish your wrongdoing, daughter of Edom;
He will expose your sins!
Chapter 5
A Prayer for Mercy
1 Remember, LORD, what has come upon us;
Look, and see our (C1)disgrace!
2 Our inheritance has been turned over to (C1)strangers,
Our (C2)houses to foreigners.
3 We have become orphans, (C1)without a father;
Our mothers are like widows.
4 (F1)We have to pay for our drinking (C1)water,
Our wood comes to us at a price.
5 (F1)Our pursuers are at our necks;
We are worn out, we are given (C1)no rest.
6 We have (F1)submitted to (C1)Egypt and Assyria (F2)to get enough bread.
7 Our (C1)fathers sinned, and are gone;
It is we who have been burdened with the punishment for their wrongdoings.
8 (C1)Slaves rule over us;
There is (C2)no one to rescue us from their hand.
9 We get our bread (F1)at the (C1)risk of our lives
Because of the sword in the wilderness.
10 Our skin has become as (C1)hot as an oven,
Because of the ravages of hunger.
11 They violated the (C1)women in Zion,
The virgins in the cities of Judah.
12 Leaders were hung by their hands;
(F1)(C1)Elders were not respected.
13 Young men (F1)(C1)worked at the grinding mill,
And youths (C2)staggered under loads of wood.
14 Elders are absent from the gate,
Young men from their (C1)music.
15 The joy of our hearts has (C1)ended;
Our dancing has been turned into mourning.
16 The (C1)crown has fallen from our head;
(C2)Woe to us, for we have sinned!
17 Because of this our (C1)heart is faint,
Because of these things our (C2)eyes are dim;
18 Because of (C1)Mount Zion which lies desolate,
(C2)Jackals prowl in it.
19 (C1)You, LORD, (F1)rule forever;
Your (C2)throne is from generation to generation.
20 Why will You (C1)forget us forever?
Why do You abandon us for (F1)so long?
21 (C1)Restore us to You, LORD, so that we may be restored;
Renew (C2)our days as of old,
22 Unless (C1)You have utterly rejected us
And are exceedingly (C2)angry with us.
Ezekiel 1-2
Chapter 1
The Vision of Four Figures
1 Now it came about in the thirtieth year, on the fifth day of the fourth month, while I was by the (C1)river Chebar among the exiles, the (C2)heavens were opened and I saw (F1)(C3)visions of God.2 (On the fifth of the month (F1)in the (C1)fifth year of King Jehoiachin's exile,3 the (C1)word of the LORD came expressly to Ezekiel the priest, son of Buzi, in the (C2)land of the Chaldeans by the river Chebar; and there (C3)the hand of the LORD came upon him.)
4 As I looked, behold, a (C1)high wind was coming from the north, a great cloud with fire flashing intermittently and a bright light around it, and in its midst something like (C2)gleaming (F1)metal in the midst of the fire.5 And within it there were figures resembling (C1)four living beings. And this was their appearance: they had human (C2)form.6 Each of them had (C1)four faces and (C2)four wings.7 Their legs were straight and (F1)their feet were like a calf's (F2)hoof, and they sparkled like (C1)polished bronze.8 Under their wings on their (C1)four sides were human (C2)hands. As for the faces and wings of the four of them,9 their wings touched one another; their faces did (C1)not turn when they moved, each (C2)went straight forward.10 As for the (C1)form of their faces, each had a human (C2)face; (F1)all four had the face of a lion on the right and the face of a bull on the left, and (F1)all four had the face of an eagle.11 Such were their faces. Their wings were spread out above; each had two touching another being, and (C1)two covering their bodies.12 And (C1)each went straight forward; (C2)wherever the spirit was about to go, they would go, without turning as they went.13 (F1)In the midst of the living beings there was something that looked like burning coals of (C1)fire, (F2)like torches moving among the living beings. The fire was bright, and lightning was (F3)flashing from the fire.14 And the living beings (C1)ran back and forth like bolts of (C2)lightning.
15 Now as I looked at the living beings, behold, there was one (C1)wheel on the ground beside the living beings, for (F1)each of the four of them.16 The (C1)appearance of the wheels and their workmanship was like (F1)sparkling (C2)topaz, and all four of them had the same form, their appearance and workmanship being as if (F2)one wheel were within another.17 Whenever they (F1)moved, they (F1)moved in any of their four (F2)directions without (C1)turning as they (F1)moved.18 As for their rims, they were high and awesome, and the rims of all four of them were (F1)(C1)covered with eyes all around.19 (C1)Whenever the living beings (F1)moved, the wheels (F1)moved with them. And whenever the living beings (C2)rose from the earth, the wheels rose also.20 (C1)Wherever the spirit was about to go, they would go in that direction(F1). And the wheels rose just as they did; for the spirit of the living (F2)beings was in the wheels.21 (C1)Whenever those went, they went; and whenever those stopped, they stopped. And whenever those rose from the earth, the wheels rose just as they did; for the spirit of the living (F1)beings was in the wheels.
Vision of Divine Glory
22 Now (C1)over the heads of the living (F1)beings there was something like an expanse, like the awesome gleam of crystal, spread out over their heads.23 Under the expanse their wings were stretched out straight, one toward the other; each one also had (C1)two wings covering its body on the one side and on the other.24 And I also heard the sound of their wings, like the (C1)sound of abundant waters as they went, like the (C2)voice of (F1)the Almighty, a sound of a crowd like the (C3)sound of an army camp; whenever they stopped, they let down their wings.25 And a voice came from above the (C1)expanse that was over their heads; whenever they stood still, they let down their wings.
26 Now (C1)above the expanse that was over their heads there was something (C2)resembling a throne, like (F1)(C3)lapis lazuli in appearance; and on that which resembled a throne, high up, was a figure with the appearance of a (C4)man.27 Then I (F1)noticed from the appearance of His waist and upward something (C1)like gleaming (F2)metal that looked like fire all around within it, and from the appearance of His waist and downward I saw something like fire; and there was a radiance around Him.28 Like the appearance of the (C1)rainbow (F1)in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the surrounding radiance. Such was the appearance of the likeness of the (C2)glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I (C3)fell on my face and heard a voice speaking.
Chapter 2
The Prophet's Call
1 Then He said to me, "Son of man, (C1)stand on your feet, and I will speak with you."2 And as He spoke to me the (C1)Spirit entered me and set me on my feet; and I heard Him speaking to me.3 Then He said to me, "Son of man, I am sending you to the sons of Israel, to a rebellious people who have (C1)rebelled against Me; (C2)they and their fathers have revolted against Me to this very day.4 "So I am sending you to those who are (F1)(C1)impudent and obstinate children, and you shall say to them, 'This is what the Lord (F2)GOD says:'5 "As for them, (C1)whether they listen or (F1)not—for they are a rebellious house—they will (C2)know that a prophet has been among them.6 "And as for you, son of man, you are (C1)not to fear them nor fear their words, though (C2)thistles and thorns are with you and you sit on scorpions; you are not to fear their words nor be dismayed at their presence, since they are a rebellious house.7 "But you shall (C1)speak My words to them (C2)whether they listen or (F1)not, for they are rebellious.
8 "Now you, son of man, listen to what I am speaking to you; do not be rebellious like that rebellious house. Open your mouth wide and (C1)eat what I am giving you."9 Then I looked, and behold, a (C1)hand was extended to me; and behold, a (F1)(C2)scroll was in it.10 When He spread it out before me, it was written on the front and back, and written on it were songs of mourning, sighing, and (C1)woe.
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