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December 22, 2016 Use the calendar to view readings from this plan.
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Old/New Testament

Each day includes a passage from both the Old Testament and New Testament.
Duration: 365 days
New English Translation (NET)
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Nahum 1-3

Introduction

1 This is an oracle[a] about Nineveh; the book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite:[b]

God Takes Vengeance against His Enemies

2 The Lord is a zealous[c] and avenging[d] God;
the Lord is avenging and very angry.[e]
The Lord takes vengeance[f] against his foes;
he sustains his rage[g] against his enemies.
3 The Lord is slow to anger[h] but great in power;[i]
the Lord will certainly not[j] allow the wicked[k] to go unpunished.

The Divine Warrior Destroys His Enemies but Protects His People

He marches out[l] in the whirlwind and the raging storm;
dark storm clouds billow like dust under his feet.[m]
4 He shouts a battle cry[n] against the sea[o] and makes it dry up;[p]
he makes all the rivers[q] run dry.
Bashan and Carmel wither;[r]
the blossom of Lebanon withers.
5 The mountains tremble before him,[s]
the hills convulse;[t]
the earth is laid waste[u] before him,
the world and all its inhabitants[v] are laid waste.[w]
6 No one can withstand[x] his indignation![y]
No one can resist[z] his fierce anger![aa]
His wrath is poured out like volcanic fire,
boulders are broken up[ab] as he approaches.[ac]
7 The Lord is good[ad]—
indeed,[ae] he is a fortress[af] in time of distress,[ag]
and he protects[ah] those who seek refuge[ai] in him.
8 But with an overwhelming flood[aj]
he will make a complete end of Nineveh;[ak]
he will drive[al] his enemies into darkness.

Denunciation and Destruction of Nineveh

9 Whatever[am] you plot[an] against the Lord, he will completely destroy![ao]
Distress[ap] will not arise[aq] a second time.
10 Surely they will be totally consumed[ar]
like[as] entangled thorn bushes,[at]
like the drink of drunkards,[au]
like very[av] dry stubble.
11 From you, O Nineveh,[aw] one has marched forth who plots evil against the Lord,
a wicked military strategist.[ax]

Oracle of Deliverance to Judah

12 This is what the Lord says:[ay]

“Even though[az] they are powerful[ba]—
and what is more,[bb] even though their army is numerous[bc]—
nevertheless,[bd] they will be destroyed[be] and trickle away![bf]
Although I afflicted you,
I will afflict you no more.[bg]
13 And now,[bh] I will break Assyria’s[bi] yoke bar[bj] from your neck;[bk]
I will tear apart the shackles[bl] that are on you.”[bm]

Oracle of Judgment against the King of Nineveh

14 The Lord has issued a decree against you:[bn]
“Your dynasty will come to an end.[bo]
I will destroy the idols and images in the temples of your gods.
I will desecrate[bp] your grave, because you are accursed!”[bq]

Proclamation of the Deliverance of Judah

15 (2:1)[br] Look! A herald is running[bs] on the mountains!
A messenger is proclaiming deliverance:[bt]
“Celebrate your sacred festivals, O Judah!
Fulfill your sacred vows to praise God![bu]
For never again[bv] will the wicked[bw] Assyrians[bx] invade[by] you;
they[bz] have been completely destroyed.”[ca]

Proclamation of the Destruction of Nineveh

2 (2:2) An enemy who will scatter[cb] you, Nineveh,[cc] has advanced[cd] against you![ce]
Guard[cf] the rampart![cg]
Watch the road!
Prepare yourselves for battle![ch]
Muster your mighty strength![ci]
2 For the Lord is about to restore[cj] the majesty[ck] of Jacob,
as well as[cl] the majesty of Israel,
though[cm] their enemies have plundered them[cn]
and have destroyed their fields.[co]

Prophetic Vision of the Fall of Nineveh

3 The shields of his warriors are dyed red;[cp]
the mighty soldiers are dressed in scarlet garments.[cq]
The chariots[cr] are in[cs] flashing metal fittings[ct]
on the day of battle;[cu]
the soldiers brandish[cv] their spears.[cw]
4 The chariots[cx] race madly[cy] through the streets,
they rush back and forth[cz] in the broad plazas;
they look[da] like lightning bolts,[db]
they dash here and there[dc] like flashes of lightning.[dd]
5 The commander[de] orders[df] his officers;
they stumble[dg] as they advance;[dh]
they rush to the city wall,[di]
and they set up[dj] the covered siege tower.[dk]
6 The sluice gates[dl] are opened;
the royal palace is deluged[dm] and dissolves.[dn]
7 Nineveh[do] is taken into exile[dp] and is led away;[dq]
her slave girls moan[dr] like doves[ds] while they beat[dt] their breasts.[du]
8 Nineveh was[dv] like a pool[dw] of water throughout her days,[dx]
but now[dy] her people[dz] are running away;[ea]
she cries out:[eb] “Stop! Stop!”—
but no one turns back.[ec]
9 Her conquerors cry out:[ed]
“Plunder the silver! Plunder the gold!”
There is no end to the treasure;
riches of every kind of precious thing.
10 Destruction, devastation, and desolation![ee]
Hearts faint, knees tremble;
every stomach churns,[ef] all their faces have turned[eg] pale![eh]

Taunt against the Once-Mighty Lion

11 Where now is the den of the lions[ei]
and the feeding place[ej] of the young lions,
where the lion, lioness,[ek] and lion cub once prowled[el]
and no one disturbed them?[em]
12 The lion tore apart as much prey as his cubs needed
and strangled prey for his lionesses;
he filled his lairs with prey
and his dens with torn flesh.

Battle Cry of the Divine Warrior

13 “I am against you!” declares[en] the Lord of Heaven’s Armies:[eo]
“I will burn your chariots[ep] with fire;[eq]
the sword will devour your young lions.[er]
You will no longer prey upon the land;[es]
the voices of your messengers[et] will no longer be heard.”

Reason for Judgment: Sins of Nineveh

3 Woe to the city guilty of bloodshed![eu]
She is full of lies;[ev]
she is filled with plunder;[ew]
she has hoarded her spoil![ex]

Portrayal of the Destruction of Nineveh

2 The chariot drivers will crack their whips;[ey]
the chariot wheels will shake the ground.[ez]
The chariot horses[fa] will gallop;[fb]
the war chariots[fc] will bolt forward![fd]
3 The charioteers[fe] will charge ahead;[ff]
their swords[fg] will flash[fh]
and their spears[fi] will glimmer![fj]
There will be many people slain;[fk]
there will be piles of the dead
and countless casualties[fl]—
so many that people[fm] will stumble over the corpses.

Taunt against the Harlot City

4 Because[fn] you have acted like a wanton prostitute[fo]—
a seductive mistress who practices sorcery,[fp]
who[fq] enslaves[fr] nations by her harlotry,[fs]
and entices peoples by her sorcery[ft]—
5 “I am against you,” declares the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.[fu]
“I will strip off your clothes![fv]
I will show your nakedness to the nations
and your shame to the kingdoms.
6 I will pelt you with filth;[fw]
I will treat you with contempt;
I will make you a public spectacle.
7 Everyone who sees you will turn away from you in disgust;
they will say, ‘Nineveh has been devastated!
Who will lament for her?’
There will be no one to comfort you!”[fx]

Nineveh Will Suffer the Same Fate as Thebes

8 You are no more secure[fy] than Thebes[fz]—
she was located on the banks of the Nile;
the waters surrounded her—
her[ga] rampart[gb] was the sea,
the water[gc] was her wall.
9 Cush[gd] and Egypt had limitless strength;[ge]
Put and the Libyans[gf] were among[gg] her[gh] allies.[gi]
10 Yet she went into captivity as an exile;[gj]
even her infants were smashed to pieces[gk] at the head of every street.
They cast lots[gl] for her nobility;[gm]
all her dignitaries were bound with chains.
11 You too will act like drunkards;[gn]
you will go into hiding;[go]
you too will seek refuge from the enemy.

The Assyrian Defenses Will Fail

12 All your fortifications will be like fig trees[gp] with first-ripe fruit:[gq]
If they are shaken,[gr] their figs[gs] will fall[gt] into the mouth of the eater.[gu]
13 Your warriors will be like women in your midst;
the gates of your land will be wide open[gv] to your enemies;
fire will consume[gw] the bars of your gates.[gx]
14 Draw yourselves water for a siege![gy]
Strengthen your fortifications!
Trample the mud[gz] and tread the clay!
Make mud bricks to strengthen your walls![ha]
15 There the fire will consume[hb] you;
the sword will cut you down;
it will devour[hc] you like the young locust would.

The Assyrian Defenders Will Flee

Multiply yourself[hd] like the young locust;
multiply yourself like the flying locust!
16 Increase[he] your merchants more than the stars of heaven!
They are like[hf] the young locust that sheds its skin[hg] and flies away.
17 Your courtiers[hh] are like locusts,
your officials[hi] are like a swarm of locusts!
They encamp in the walls on a cold day,
yet when the sun rises, they[hj] fly away,[hk]
and no one knows where they[hl] are.[hm]

Concluding Dirge

18 Your shepherds[hn] are sleeping, O king of Assyria.
Your officers[ho] are slumbering![hp]
Your people are scattered like sheep[hq] on the mountains,
and there is no one to regather them.
19 Your destruction is like an incurable wound;[hr]
your demise is like a fatal injury.[hs]
All who hear what has happened to you[ht] will clap their hands for joy,[hu]
for no one ever escaped your endless cruelty![hv]

Revelation 14

An Interlude: The Song of the 144,000

14 Then[a] I looked, and here was[b] the Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with him were 144,000, who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads. 2 I also heard a sound[c] coming out of heaven like the sound of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder. Now[d] the sound I heard was like that made by harpists playing their harps, 3 and they were singing a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders. No[e] one was able to learn the song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth.

4 These are the ones who have not defiled themselves[f] with women, for they are virgins. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These were redeemed from humanity as firstfruits to God and to the Lamb, 5 and no lie was found on their lips;[g] they[h] are blameless.

Three Angels and Three Messages

6 Then[i] I saw another[j] angel flying directly overhead,[k] and he had[l] an eternal gospel to proclaim[m] to those who live[n] on the earth—to every nation, tribe,[o] language, and people. 7 He declared[p] in a loud voice: “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has arrived, and worship the one who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water!”

8 A[q] second[r] angel[s] followed the first,[t] declaring:[u] “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great city![v] She made all the nations[w] drink of the wine of her immoral passion.”[x]

9 A[y] third angel[z] followed the first two,[aa] declaring[ab] in a loud voice: “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and takes the mark on his forehead or his hand, 10 that person[ac] will also drink of the wine of God’s anger[ad] that has been mixed undiluted in the cup of his wrath, and he will be tortured with fire and sulfur[ae] in front of the holy angels and in front of the Lamb. 11 And the smoke from their[af] torture will go up[ag] forever and ever, and those who worship the beast and his image will have[ah] no rest day or night, along with[ai] anyone who receives the mark of his name.” 12 This requires[aj] the steadfast endurance[ak] of the saints—those who obey[al] God’s commandments and hold to[am] their faith in Jesus.[an]

13 Then[ao] I heard a voice from heaven say, “Write this:

‘Blessed are the dead,
those who die in the Lord from this moment on!’”

“Yes,” says the Spirit, “so they can rest from their hard work,[ap] because their deeds will follow them.”[aq]

14 Then[ar] I looked, and a white cloud appeared,[as] and seated on the cloud was one like a son of man![at] He had[au] a golden crown on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand. 15 Then[av] another angel came out of the temple, shouting in a loud voice to the one seated on the cloud, “Use[aw] your sickle and start to reap,[ax] because the time to reap has come, since the earth’s harvest is ripe!” 16 So[ay] the one seated on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the earth was reaped.

17 Then[az] another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle. 18 Another[ba] angel, who was in charge of[bb] the fire, came from the altar and called in a loud voice to the angel[bc] who had the sharp sickle, “Use[bd] your sharp sickle and gather[be] the clusters of grapes[bf] off the vine of the earth,[bg] because its grapes[bh] are now ripe.”[bi] 19 So[bj] the angel swung his sickle over the earth and gathered the grapes from the vineyard[bk] of the earth and tossed them into the great[bl] winepress of the wrath of God. 20 Then[bm] the winepress was stomped[bn] outside the city, and blood poured out of the winepress up to the height of horses’ bridles[bo] for a distance of almost 200 miles.[bp]

New English Translation (NET)

NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2017 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.

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