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Bible Reading Plan
Daily Bible Reading
November 8 - Old & New Testament
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Lamentations 1,2
The Sorrows of Zion
1 How (C1)lonely sits the city
That once had (C2)many people!
She has become like a (C3)widow
Who was once (C4)great among the nations!
She who was a princess among the (F1)provinces
Has become a (C5)forced laborer!
2 She (C1)weeps bitterly in the night,
And her tears are on her cheeks;
She has no one to comfort her
Among all her (C2)lovers.
All her friends have (C3)dealt treacherously with her;
They have become her enemies.
3 (C1)Judah has gone into exile out of affliction
And (F1)harsh servitude;
She lives (C2)among the nations,
But she has not found a resting place;
All those who (C3)pursued her have overtaken her
In the midst of (F2)distress.
4 The roads (F1)of Zion are in mourning
Because (C1)no one comes to an appointed feast.
All her gates are (C2)deserted;
Her priests groan,
Her (C3)virgins are worried,
And as for Zion herself, it is (C4)bitter for her.
5 Her adversaries have become (F1)her masters,
Her enemies are (F2)secure;
For the LORD has (F3)(C1)caused her grief
Because of the multitude of her wrongdoings;
Her little ones have gone away
As captives (F4)led by the enemy.
6 All of her (C1)splendor
Is gone from the daughter of Zion;
Her leaders have become like deer
That have found no pasture,
And they have (F1)(C2)fled without strength
(F2)From the pursuer.
7 In the days of her affliction and homelessness
(C1)Jerusalem remembers all her treasures
That were hers since the days of old,
When her people fell into the hand of the adversary
And (C2)no one helped her.
The adversaries saw her,
They (C3)laughed at her (F1)ruin.
8 Jerusalem sinned (C1)greatly,
Therefore (C2)she has become an (F1)object of ridicule.
All who honored her despise her
Because they have seen her nakedness;
Even (C3)she herself groans and turns away.
9 Her (C1)uncleanness was in her garment's seams;
She (F1)did not think of her (C2)future.
So she has (F2)(C3)fallen in an astonishing way;
(C4)She has no comforter.
"(C5)See, LORD, my affliction,
For the enemy has (F3)(C6)honored himself!"
10 The adversary has stretched out his hand
Over all her precious things,
For she has seen the (C1)nations enter her sanctuary,
The ones whom You commanded
That they were (C2)not to enter Your congregation.
11 All her people groan, (C1)seeking bread;
They have given their treasures for food
To (C2)restore their (F1)lives.
"See, LORD, and look,
For I am (C3)despised."
12 "Is it (C1)nothing to all you who pass this way?
Look and see if there is any pain like my pain
Which was inflicted on me,
With which the (C2)LORD tormented me on the day of His (C3)fierce anger.
13 "From (F1)the height He sent fire into my (C1)bones,
And it dominated them.
He has spread a (C2)net for my feet;
He has turned me back;
He has made me (C3)desolate,
(F2)Faint all day long.
14 "The (C1)yoke of my wrongdoings is bound;
By His hand they are woven together.
They have (C2)come upon my neck;
He has made my strength (F1)fail.
The Lord (C3)has handed me over
To those against whom I am not able to stand.
15 "The (C1)Lord has thrown away all my strong men
In my midst;
He has called an appointed (F1)time against me
To crush my (C2)young men;
The Lord has (C3)trodden as in a wine press
The virgin daughter of Judah.
16 "For these things I (C1)weep;
(F1)My eyes run down with water;
Because far from me is a (C2)comforter,
One to restore my soul.
My children are desolate
Because the enemy has prevailed."
17 Zion (C1)stretches out with her hands;
There is no one to comfort her;
The LORD has (C2)commanded regarding Jacob
That those around him become his adversaries;
(C3)Jerusalem has become a filthy thing among them.
18 "The LORD is (C1)righteous,
For I have (C2)rebelled against His (F1)command;
Hear now, all peoples,
And (C3)see my pain;
(C4)My virgins and my young men
Have gone into captivity.
19 "I (C1)called to my lovers, but they deserted me;
My (C2)priests and my elders perished in the city
While they sought food to (C3)restore their (F1)strength themselves.
20 "See, LORD, for I am in distress;
My (F1)(C1)spirit is greatly troubled;
My heart is overturned within me,
For I have been very (C2)rebellious.
In the street the sword has made women childless;
In the house it is like death.
21 "They have heard that I (C1)groan;
There is no one to comfort me,
All my enemies have heard of my disaster;
They are (C2)joyful that You have done it.
Oh, that You would bring the day which You have proclaimed,
So that they will become (C3)like me.
22 "May all their wickedness come before You;
And (C1)deal with them just as You have dealt with me
For all my wrongdoings.
For my groans are many and my heart is faint."
God's Anger over Israel
1 How the Lord has (F1)(C1)covered the daughter of Zion
With a cloud in His anger!
He has (C2)hurled
The (C3)glory of Israel from heaven to earth,
And has not remembered His (C4)footstool
In the day of His anger.
2 The Lord has (F1)(C1)destroyed; He has not spared
All the settlements of Jacob.
In His wrath He has (C2)overthrown
The strongholds of the daughter of Judah,
He has (C3)hurled them down to the ground;
He has (C4)profaned the kingdom and its leaders.
3 In fierce anger He has cut off
(F1)All the (C1)strength of Israel;
He has (C2)pulled back His right hand
From the enemy.
And He has (C3)burned in Jacob like a flaming fire
Consuming on all sides.
4 He has bent His (C1)bow like an enemy;
His right hand is positioned like an adversary,
And He has killed everything that was (C2)pleasant to the eye.
In the tent of the daughter of Zion
He has (C3)poured out His wrath like fire.
5 The Lord has become like an (C1)enemy.
He has (C2)engulfed Israel;
He has engulfed all its (C3)palaces,
He has destroyed its strongholds
And (C4)caused great mourning and grieving in the daughter of Judah.
6 And He has treated His (F1)tabernacle violently, like a despised garden;
He has (C1)destroyed His appointed (F2)meeting place.
The LORD has (C2)caused
The appointed feast and Sabbath in Zion to be forgotten,
And He has (C3)despised king and priest
In the indignation of His anger.
7 The Lord has (C1)rejected His altar,
He has (F1)repudiated His sanctuary;
He (C2)has handed over
The walls of her palaces to the enemy.
They have made a (C3)noise in the house of the LORD
As on the day of an appointed feast.
8 The LORD determined to destroy
The wall of the daughter of Zion.
He has (C1)stretched out a line,
He has not restrained His hand from (F1)destroying,
And He has (C2)caused rampart and wall to mourn;
They have languished together.
9 Her (C1)gates have sunk into the ground,
He has destroyed and broken her bars.
Her king and her leaders are among the nations;
The (C2)Law is gone.
Her prophets, too, find
(C3)No vision from the LORD.
10 The elders of the daughter of Zion
(C1)Sit on the ground and (F1)(C2)are silent.
They have thrown (C3)dust on their heads;
They have put on (C4)sackcloth.
The (C5)virgins of Jerusalem
Have bowed their heads to the ground.
11 My (C1)eyes fail because of tears,
My (F1)(C2)spirit is greatly troubled;
My (F2)(C3)heart is poured out on the earth
(C4)Because of the (F3)destruction of the daughter of my people,
When (C5)little ones and infants languish
In the streets of the city.
12 They say to their mothers,
"(C1)Where is grain and wine?"
As they faint like a wounded person
In the streets of the city,
As their (C2)lives are poured out
(F1)In their mothers' arms.
13 How shall I admonish you?
What (C1)shall I compare to you,
Daughter of Jerusalem?
What shall I liken to you as I comfort you,
(C2)Virgin daughter of Zion?
For your collapse is as vast as the sea;
Who can (C3)heal you?
14 Your (C1)prophets have seen for you
Worthless and deceptive visions;
And they have not (C2)exposed your wrongdoing
So as to restore you from captivity,
But they have (C3)seen for you worthless and misleading pronouncements.
15 All who pass along the way
(C1)Clap their hands in ridicule at you;
They (C2)(F1)hiss and shake their heads
At the daughter of Jerusalem:
"Is this the city of which they said,
'(C3)Perfect in beauty,
(C4)A joy to all the earth'?"
16 All (C1)your enemies
Have opened their mouths wide against you;
They (F1)hiss and (C2)gnash their teeth.
They say, "We have (C3)engulfed her!
This certainly is the (C4)day which we awaited;
We have reached it, we have seen it!"
17 The LORD has (C1)done what He determined;
He has accomplished His word
Which He commanded from days of old.
He has torn down (C2)without sparing,
And He has helped the enemy to (C3)rejoice over you;
He has (C4)exalted the (F1)might of your adversaries.
18 Their (C1)heart cried out to the Lord:
"You (C2)wall of the daughter of Zion,
Let your (C3)tears stream down like a river day and night;
Give yourself no relief,
Let (F1)your eyes have no rest.
19 "Arise, whimper in the (C1)night
At the beginning of the night watches;
(C2)Pour out your heart like water
Before the presence of the Lord;
Raise your hands to Him
For the (C3)life of your little ones
Who (C4)languish because of hunger
At the head of every street.
20 "See, LORD, and look!
With (C1)whom have You dealt this way?
Should women really (C2)eat their (F1)children,
The little ones who were (F2)born healthy?
Should (C3)priest and prophet really be killed
In the sanctuary of the Lord?
21 "On the ground in the streets
Lie (C1)young and old;
My (C2)virgins and my young men
Have fallen by the sword.
You have put them to death on the day of Your anger,
You have slaughtered, (C3)without sparing.
22 "You called as on the day of an appointed feast
My (C1)terrors on every side;
And there was (C2)no one who survived or escaped
On the day of the LORD'S anger.
As for those (C3)whom I brought forth healthy and whom I raised,
My enemy annihilated them."
Hebrews 12
Chapter 12
Jesus, the Example
1 Therefore, since we also have such a great cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let's (C1)rid ourselves of every obstacle and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let's (C2)run with (C3)endurance the race that is set before us,2 looking only at Jesus, the (F1)(C1)originator and perfecter of the faith, who for the joy set before Him (C2)endured the cross, (C3)despising the shame, and has (C4)sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
3 For (C1)consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary (F1)(C2)and lose heart.
A Father's Discipline
4 (C1)You have not yet resisted (F1)(C2)to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin;5 and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons,"(C1)MY SON, DO NOT REGARD LIGHTLY THE DISCIPLINE OF THE LORD,
NOR (C2)FAINT WHEN YOU ARE PUNISHED BY HIM;
6 (C1)FOR (C2)WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE DISCIPLINES,
AND HE PUNISHES EVERY SON WHOM HE ACCEPTS."
12 Therefore, (F1)(C1)strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble,13 and (C1)make straight paths for your feet, so that the limb which is impaired may not be dislocated, but rather (C2)be healed.
14 (C1)Pursue peace with all people, and the (C2)holiness without which no one will (C3)see the Lord.15 See to it that no one (C1)comes short of the grace of God; that no (C2)root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many become (C3)defiled;16 that there be no (C1)sexually immoral or (C2)godless person like Esau, (C3)who sold his own birthright for a single meal.17 For you know that even afterward, (C1)when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought for it with tears.
Contrast of Sinai and Zion
18 (C1)For you have not come to (C2)a mountain that can be touched and to a blazing fire, and to darkness and gloom and whirlwind,19 and to the (C1)blast of a trumpet and the (C2)sound of words, which sound was such that those who heard (C3)begged that no further word be spoken to them.20 For they could not (F1)cope with the command, "(C1)If even an animal touches the mountain, it shall be stoned."21 And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, "(C1)I am terrified and trembling."22 But (C1)you have come to Mount Zion and to (C2)the city of (C3)the living God, (C4)the heavenly Jerusalem, and to (C5)myriads of (F1)angels,23 to the general assembly and (C1)church of the firstborn who (C2)are enrolled in heaven, and to God, (C3)the Judge of all, and to the (C4)spirits of the righteous made perfect,24 and to Jesus, the (C1)mediator of a new covenant, and to the (C2)sprinkled blood, which speaks better than (C3)the blood of Abel.
The Unshaken Kingdom
25 (C1)See to it that you do not refuse Him who is (C2)speaking. For (C3)if those did not escape when they (C4)refused him who (C5)warned them on earth, (F1)much less will we escape who turn away from Him who (C5)warns us from heaven.26 And (C1)His voice shook the earth then, but now He has promised, saying, "(C2)YET ONCE MORE I WILL SHAKE NOT ONLY THE EARTH, BUT ALSO THE HEAVEN."27 This expression, "Yet once more," denotes (C1)the removing of those things which can be shaken, as of created things, so that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.28 Therefore, since we receive a (C1)kingdom which cannot be shaken, let's (F1)show gratitude, by which we may (C2)offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe;29 for (C1)our God is a consuming fire.
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