Bible Reading Plan

Like whirlwinds^(c) sweeping through the southland,^(d)
     an invader comes from the desert,
     from a land of terror.

² A dire^(e) vision has been shown to me:
     The traitor betrays,^(f) the looter takes loot.
Elam,^(g) attack! Media,^(h) lay siege!
     I will bring to an end all the groaning she caused.

³ At this my body is racked with pain,⁽ⁱ⁾
     pangs seize me, like those of a woman in labor;^(j)
I am staggered by what I hear,
     I am bewildered^(k) by what I see.
⁴ My heart^(l) falters,
     fear makes me tremble;^(m)
the twilight I longed for
     has become a horror⁽ⁿ⁾ to me.

⁵ They set the tables,
     they spread the rugs,
     they eat, they drink!^(o)
Get up, you officers,
     oil the shields!^(p)

"Go, post a lookout^(q)
     and have him report what he sees.
⁷ When he sees chariots^(r)
     with teams of horses,
riders on donkeys
     or riders on camels,^(s)
let him be alert,
     fully alert."

"Day after day, my lord, I stand on the watchtower;
     every night I stay at my post.
⁹ Look, here comes a man in a chariot^(u)
     with a team of horses.
And he gives back the answer:
     ‘Babylon^(v) has fallen,^(w) has fallen!
All the images of its gods^(x)
     lie shattered^(y) on the ground!'"

¹⁰ My people who are crushed on the threshing floor,^(z)
     I tell you what I have heard
from the Lord Almighty,
     from the God of Israel.

Someone calls to me from Seir,^(ab)
     "Watchman, what is left of the night?
     Watchman, what is left of the night?"
¹² The watchman replies,
     "Morning is coming, but also the night.
If you would ask, then ask;
     and come back yet again."

You caravans of Dedanites,^(ae)
     who camp in the thickets of Arabia,
¹⁴       bring water for the thirsty;
you who live in Tema,^(af)
     bring food for the fugitives.
¹⁵ They flee^(ag) from the sword,^(ah)
     from the drawn sword,
from the bent bow
     and from the heat of battle.

What troubles you now,
     that you have all gone up on the roofs,^(d)
2 you town so full of commotion,
     you city of tumult^(e) and revelry?^(f)
Your slain^(g) were not killed by the sword,^(h)
     nor did they die in battle.
³ All your leaders have fled⁽ⁱ⁾ together;
     they have been captured^(j) without using the bow.
All you who were caught were taken prisoner together,
     having fled while the enemy was still far away.
⁴ Therefore I said, "Turn away from me;
     let me weep^(k) bitterly.
Do not try to console me
     over the destruction of my people."^(l)

⁵ The Lord, the Lord Almighty, has a day^(m)
     of tumult and trampling⁽ⁿ⁾ and terror^(o)
     in the Valley of Vision,^(p)
a day of battering down walls^(q)
     and of crying out to the mountains.
⁶ Elam^(r) takes up the quiver,^(s)
     with her charioteers and horses;
     Kir^(t) uncovers the shield.
⁷ Your choicest valleys^(u) are full of chariots,
     and horsemen are posted at the city gates.^(v)

⁸ The Lord stripped away the defenses of Judah,
     and you looked in that day^(w)
     to the weapons^(x) in the Palace of the Forest.^(y)
9 You saw that the walls of the City of David
     were broken through^(z) in many places;
you stored up water
     in the Lower Pool.^(aa)
10 You counted the buildings in Jerusalem
     and tore down houses^(ab) to strengthen the wall.^(ac)
11 You built a reservoir between the two walls^(ad)
     for the water of the Old Pool,^(ae)
but you did not look to the One who made it,
     or have regard^(af) for the One who planned^(ag) it long ago.

¹² The Lord, the Lord Almighty,
     called you on that day^(ah)
to weep^(ai) and to wail,
     to tear out your hair^(aj) and put on sackcloth.^(ak)
13 But see, there is joy and revelry,^(al)
     slaughtering of cattle and killing of sheep,
     eating of meat and drinking of wine!^(am)
"Let us eat and drink," you say,
     "for tomorrow we die!"^(an)

"Go, say to this steward,
     to Shebna^(aq) the palace^(ar) administrator:^(as)
16 What are you doing here and who gave you permission
     to cut out a grave^(at) for yourself^(au) here,
hewing your grave on the height
     and chiseling your resting place in the rock?

¹⁷ "Beware, the Lord is about to take firm hold of you
     and hurl^(av) you away, you mighty man.
¹⁸ He will roll you up tightly like a ball
     and throw^(aw) you into a large country.
There you will die
     and there the chariots^(ax) you were so proud of
     will become a disgrace to your master's house.
¹⁹ I will depose you from your office,
     and you will be ousted^(ay) from your position.^(az)

Wail,^(b) you ships^(c) of Tarshish!^(d)
     For Tyre is destroyed^(e)
     and left without house or harbor.
From the land of Cyprus
     word has come to them.

² Be silent,^(f) you people of the island
     and you merchants^(g) of Sidon,^(h)
     whom the seafarers have enriched.
³ On the great waters
     came the grain of the Shihor;⁽ⁱ⁾
the harvest of the Nile^[a](j) was the revenue of Tyre,^(k)
     and she became the marketplace of the nations.

⁴ Be ashamed, Sidon,^(l) and you fortress of the sea,
     for the sea has spoken:
"I have neither been in labor nor given birth;^(m)
     I have neither reared sons nor brought up daughters."
⁵ When word comes to Egypt,
     they will be in anguish⁽ⁿ⁾ at the report from Tyre.^(o)

⁶ Cross over to Tarshish;^(p)
     wail, you people of the island.
⁷ Is this your city of revelry,^(q)
     the old, old city,
whose feet have taken her
     to settle in far-off lands?
⁸ Who planned this against Tyre,
     the bestower of crowns,
whose merchants^(r) are princes,
     whose traders^(s) are renowned in the earth?
⁹ The Lord Almighty planned^(t) it,
     to bring down^(u) her pride in all her splendor
     and to humble^(v) all who are renowned^(w) on the earth.

¹⁰ Till^[b] your land as they do along the Nile,
     Daughter Tarshish,
     for you no longer have a harbor.
¹¹ The Lord has stretched out his hand^(x) over the sea
     and made its kingdoms tremble.^(y)
He has given an order concerning Phoenicia
     that her fortresses be destroyed.^(z)
12 He said, "No more of your reveling,^(aa)
     Virgin Daughter^(ab) Sidon, now crushed!

"Up, cross over to Cyprus;^(ac)
     even there you will find no rest."
¹³ Look at the land of the Babylonians,^[c](ad)
     this people that is now of no account!
The Assyrians^(ae) have made it
     a place for desert creatures;^(af)
they raised up their siege towers,^(ag)
     they stripped its fortresses bare
     and turned it into a ruin.^(ah)

¹⁴ Wail, you ships^(ai) of Tarshish;^(aj)
     your fortress is destroyed!^(ak)

¹⁶ "Take up a harp, walk through the city,
     you forgotten prostitute;^(an)
play the harp well, sing many a song,
     so that you will be remembered."

⁴ The earth dries up^(j) and withers,^(k)
     the world languishes and withers,
     the heavens^(l) languish with the earth.^(m)
5 The earth is defiled⁽ⁿ⁾ by its people;
     they have disobeyed^(o) the laws,
violated the statutes
     and broken the everlasting covenant.^(p)
6 Therefore a curse^(q) consumes the earth;
     its people must bear their guilt.
Therefore earth's inhabitants are burned up,^(r)
     and very few are left. <