Bible Reading Plan

Chapter 2

Judgments on Judah's Enemies

¹ Gather yourselves together, yes, ^(C1)join together,
You nation ^(C2)without ^(F1)shame,

² Before the decree ^(F1)takes effect—
The day passes ^(C1)like chaff—
Before the ^(C2)burning anger of the LORD comes upon you,
Before the ^(C3)day of the LORD'S anger comes upon you.

^3 (C1)Seek the LORD,
All you ^(C2)humble of the ^(F1)earth
Who have practiced His ^(F2)ordinances;
^(C3)Seek righteousness, seek humility.
Perhaps you will ^(C4)remain hidden
On the day of the LORD'S anger.

⁴ For ^(C1)Gaza will be abandoned,
And Ashkelon will become a desolation;
The inhabitants of ^(C1)Ashdod will be driven out at noon,
And ^(C1)Ekron will be uprooted.

⁵ Woe to the inhabitants of the seacoast,
The nation of the ^(F1)(C1)Cherethites!
The word of the LORD is ^(C2)against you,
^(C3)Canaan, land of the Philistines;
And I will ^(C4)eliminate you
So that there will be ^(C5)no inhabitant.

⁶ So the seacoast will become ^(C1)grazing places,
With pastures for shepherds and folds for flocks.

⁷ And the coast will be
For the ^(C1)remnant of the house of Judah,
They will ^(C2)drive sheep to pasture on it.
In the houses of Ashkelon they will lie down at evening;
For the LORD their God will ^(C3)care for them
And ^(C4)restore their fortunes.

⁸ "I have heard the ^(C1)taunting of Moab
And the ^(C2)abusive speech of the sons of Ammon,
With which they have taunted My people
And ^(C3)boasted against their territory.

⁹ "Therefore, as I live," declares the LORD of armies,
The God of Israel,
"^(C1)Moab will assuredly be like ^(C2)Sodom,
And the sons of ^(C3)Ammon like ^(C4)Gomorrah—
Ground overgrown with weeds and full of salt mines,
And a permanent desolation.
The remnant of My people will ^(C5)plunder them,
And the remainder of My nation will inherit them."

¹² "You also, ^(C1)Ethiopians, will be slain by My sword."

¹³ And He will ^(C1)stretch out His hand against the north
And eliminate ^(C2)Assyria,
And He will make ^(C3)Nineveh a desolation,
Parched like the wilderness.

¹⁴ Flocks will lie down in her midst,
^(F1)All animals that range in herds;
Both the ^(F2)(C1)pelican and the hedgehog
Will spend their nights in ^(F3)the tops of her pillars;
^(F4)Birds will sing in the window,
Devastation will be on the threshold;
For He has uncovered the cedar work.

¹⁵ This is the ^(C1)presumptuous city
That ^(C2)dwells securely,
Who says in her heart,
"^(C3)I am, and there is no one besides me."
How she has become a ^(C4)desolation,
A resting place for animals!
^(C5)Everyone who passes by her will ^(F1)hiss
And wave his hand in contempt.

Chapter 3

Woe to Jerusalem and the Nations

¹ Woe to her who is ^(C1)rebellious and ^(C2)defiled,
The ^(C3)oppressive city!

² She ^(C1)obeyed no voice,
She ^(C2)accepted no discipline.
She did not ^(C3)trust in the LORD,
She did not ^(C4)approach her God.

³ Her ^(C1)leaders within her are roaring lions,
Her judges are ^(C2)wolves at evening;
They have no bones to gnaw in the morning.

⁴ Her prophets are ^(C1)insolent, treacherous men;
Her ^(C2)priests have profaned the sanctuary.
They have done violence to the Law.

⁵ The LORD is ^(C1)righteous ^(C2)within her;
He will ^(C3)do no injustice.
^(C4)Every morning He brings His justice to light;
He ^(F1)does not fail.
But the ^(F2)criminal ^(C5)knows no shame.

⁶ "I have eliminated nations;
Their corner towers are deserted.
I have ^(C1)laid waste their streets,
With no one passing by;
Their ^(C2)cities have been laid waste,
Without a person, ^(C3)without an inhabitant.

⁷ "I said, 'You will certainly revere Me,
You will ^(C1)accept discipline.'
So her dwelling will ^(C2)not be eliminated
In accordance with everything that I have stipulated for her.
Instead, they were eager to ^(C3)corrupt all their deeds.

⁸ "Therefore ^(C1)wait for Me," declares the LORD,
"For the day when I rise up as a witness.
Indeed, My decision is to ^(C2)gather nations,
To assemble kingdoms,
To pour out on them My indignation,
All My burning anger;
For ^(C3)all the earth will be devoured
By the fire of My zeal.

⁹ "For then I will ^(F1)restore to the peoples ^(C1)pure lips,
So that all of them may ^(C2)call on the name of the LORD,
To serve Him ^(F2)shoulder to shoulder.

¹⁰ "From beyond the rivers of ^(C1)Ethiopia
My worshipers, ^(F1)My dispersed ones,
Will ^(C2)bring My offerings.

¹¹ "On that day you will ^(C1)feel no shame
Because of all your deeds
By which you have rebelled against Me;
For then I will remove from your midst
Your ^(C2)proud, arrogant ones,
And you will never again be haughty
On My ^(C3)holy mountain.

A Remnant of Israel

¹² "But I will leave among you
A ^(C1)humble and lowly people,
And they will ^(C2)take refuge in the name of the LORD.

¹³ "The ^(C1)remnant of Israel will ^(C2)do no wrong
And ^(C3)tell no lies,
Nor will a deceitful tongue
Be found in their mouths;
For they will ^(C4)feed and lie down
With no one to frighten them."

¹⁴ Shout for joy, daughter of Zion!
^(C1)Shout in triumph, Israel!
Rejoice and triumph with all your heart,
Daughter of Jerusalem!

¹⁵ The LORD has taken away ^(C1)His judgments against you,
He has cleared away your enemies.
The King of Israel, the LORD, is ^(C2)in your midst;
You will no longer ^(C3)fear disaster.

^16 (C1)On that day it will be said to Jerusalem:
"^(C2)Do not be afraid, Zion;
^(C3)Do not let your hands fall limp.

¹⁷ "The LORD your God is ^(C1)in your midst,
A ^(F1)(C2)victorious warrior.
He will ^(C3)rejoice over you with joy,
He will ^(F2)be quiet in His love,
He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy.

¹⁸ "I will gather those who are ^(C1)worried about the appointed feasts—
They ^(F1)came from you, Zion;
The disgrace of exile is a burden on ^(F2)them.

¹⁹ "Behold, I am going to deal at that time
With all your ^(C1)oppressors;
I will save ^(C2)those who limp
And gather the scattered,
And I will turn their ^(C3)shame into ^(C4)praise and fame
In all the earth.

²⁰ "At that time I will ^(C1)bring you in,
Even at the time when I gather you together;
Indeed, I will make you ^(C2)famous and praiseworthy
Among all the peoples of the earth,
When I ^(C3)restore your fortunes before your eyes,"
Says the LORD.

Chapter 2

The Builders Encouraged

¹ On the twenty-first of the seventh month, the word of the LORD came by ^(C1)Haggai the prophet, saying,² "Speak now to ^(C1)Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, ^(C1)governor of Judah, and to ^(C1)Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to the ^(C2)remnant of the people, saying,³ 'Who is ^(C1)left among you who saw this ^(F1)temple in its ^(C2)former glory? And how do you see it now? ^(F2)Does it not seem to you like nothing ^(F3)in comparison?⁴ 'But now ^(F1)(C1)take courage, Zerubbabel,' declares the LORD, 'take courage also, Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and all you people of the land take courage,' declares the LORD, 'and work; for ^(C2)I am with you,' declares the LORD of armies.⁵ 'As for the ^(F1)(C1)promise which I ^(F2)made you when you came out of Egypt, ^(F3)My ^(C2)Spirit remains in your midst; ^(C3)do not fear!'⁶ "For this is what the LORD of armies says: '^(C1)Once more ^(F1)in a ^(C2)little while, I am going to ^(C3)shake the heavens and the earth, the sea also and the dry land.⁷ 'I will shake ^(C1)all the nations; and ^(F1)they will come with the ^(C2)wealth of all nations, and I will ^(C3)fill this house with glory,' says the LORD of armies.⁸ 'The ^(C1)silver is Mine and the gold is Mine,' declares the LORD of armies.⁹ 'The latter ^(C1)glory of this house will be greater than the ^(C2)former,' says the LORD of armies, 'and in this place I will give ^(C3)peace,' declares the LORD of armies."

¹⁰ On the ^(C1)twenty-fourth of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of the LORD came to Haggai the prophet, saying,¹¹ "The LORD of armies says this: '^(C1)Now ask the priests for a ^(F1)ruling:¹² 'If someone carries ^(C1)holy meat in the ^(F1)fold of his garment, and touches bread with ^(F2)this fold, or touches cooked food, wine, oil, or any other food, will it become holy?'" And the priests answered, "No."¹³ Then Haggai said, "^(C1)If one who is unclean from a ^(F1)corpse touches any of these things, will the latter become unclean?" And the priests answered, "It will become unclean."¹⁴ Then Haggai responded and said, "'^(C1)So is this people. And so is this nation before Me,' declares the LORD, 'and so is every work of their hands; and what they offer there is unclean.¹⁵ 'But now, do ^(F1)(C1)consider from this day ^(F2)onward: before one ^(C2)stone was placed on another in the temple of the LORD,^16 (F1)from that time when one came to a grain heap of twenty measures, there would be only ten; and when one came to the wine vat to draw fifty ^(F2)measures, there would be only twenty.¹⁷ 'I struck you and every work of your hands with ^(C1)scorching wind, mildew, and hail; ^(F1)yet you did not come back to Me,' declares the LORD.¹⁸ 'Do ^(F1)(C1)consider from this day ^(F2)onward, from the ^(C2)twenty-fourth day of the ninth month; from the day when the temple of the LORD was ^(C3)founded, ^(F1)consider:¹⁹ 'Is the seed still in the barn? Even including the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive tree, it has not produced fruit. Yet from this day on I will ^(C1)bless you.'"

²⁰ Then the word of the LORD came a second time to Haggai on the ^(C1)twenty-fourth day of the month, saying,²¹ "Speak to ^(C1)Zerubbabel governor of Judah, saying, 'I am going to ^(C2)shake the heavens and the earth.²² 'And I will ^(C1)overthrow the thrones of kingdoms and destroy the ^(C2)power of the kingdoms of the ^(F1)nations; and I will ^(C3)overthrow the chariots and their riders, and the ^(C4)horses and their riders will go down, ^(C5)every one by the sword of another.'²³ 'On that day,' declares the LORD of armies, 'I will take you, Zerubbabel, son of Shealtiel, My servant,' declares the LORD, 'and I will make you like a ^(F1)(C1)signet ring, for ^(C2)I have chosen you,'" declares the LORD of armies.