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Bible Reading Plan
Daily Bible Reading
September 28 - Straight Thru the Bible
niv
Hosea 10-14
Chapter 10
1 Israel was a spreading vine;(a)
he brought forth fruit for himself.
As his fruit increased,
he built more altars;(b)
as his land prospered,(c)
he adorned his sacred stones.(d)
2 Their heart is deceitful,(e)
and now they must bear their guilt.(f)
The
Lord
will demolish their altars(g)
and destroy their sacred stones.(h)
3 Then they will say, "We have no king
because we did not revere the
Lord
.
But even if we had a king,
what could he do for us?"
4 They make many promises,
take false oaths(i)
and make agreements;(j)
therefore lawsuits spring up
like poisonous weeds(k) in a plowed field.
5 The people who live in Samaria fear
for the calf-idol(l) of Beth Aven.[a](m)
Its people will mourn over it,
and so will its idolatrous priests,(n)
those who had rejoiced over its splendor,
because it is taken from them into exile.(o)
6 It will be carried to Assyria(p)
as tribute(q) for the great king.(r)
Ephraim will be disgraced;(s)
Israel will be ashamed(t) of its foreign alliances.
7 Samaria's king will be destroyed,(u)
swept away like a twig on the surface of the waters.
8 The high places(v) of wickedness[b](w) will be destroyed—
it is the sin of Israel.
Thorns(x) and thistles will grow up
and cover their altars.(y)
Then they will say to the mountains, "Cover us!"(z)
and to the hills, "Fall on us!"(aa)
9 "Since the days of Gibeah,(ab) you have sinned,(ac) Israel,
and there you have remained.[c]
Will not war again overtake
the evildoers in Gibeah?
10 When I please, I will punish(ad) them;
nations will be gathered against them
to put them in bonds for their double sin.
11 Ephraim is a trained heifer
that loves to thresh;
so I will put a yoke(ae)
on her fair neck.
I will drive Ephraim,
Judah must plow,
and Jacob must break up the ground.
12 Sow(af) righteousness(ag) for yourselves,
reap the fruit of unfailing love,
and break up your unplowed ground;(ah)
for it is time to seek(ai) the
Lord
,
until he comes
and showers his righteousness(aj) on you.
13 But you have planted wickedness,
you have reaped evil,(ak)
you have eaten the fruit of deception.(al)
Because you have depended on your own strength
and on your many warriors,(am)
14 the roar of battle will rise against your people,
so that all your fortresses will be devastated(an)—
as Shalman(ao) devastated Beth Arbel on the day of battle,
when mothers were dashed to the ground with their children.(ap)
15 So will it happen to you, Bethel,
because your wickedness is great.
When that day dawns,
the king of Israel will be completely destroyed.(aq)
Chapter 11
God's Love for Israel
1 "When Israel was a child,(a) I loved(b) him,
and out of Egypt I called my son.(c)
2 But the more they were called,
the more they went away from me.[a](d)
They sacrificed to the Baals(e)
and they burned incense to images.(f)
3 It was I who taught Ephraim to walk,
taking them by the arms;(g)
but they did not realize
it was I who healed(h) them.
4 I led them with cords of human kindness,
with ties of love.(i)
To them I was like one who lifts
a little child to the cheek,
and I bent down to feed(j) them.(k)
5 "Will they not return to Egypt(l)
and will not Assyria(m) rule over them
because they refuse to repent?(n)
6 A sword(o) will flash in their cities;
it will devour(p) their false prophets
and put an end to their plans.
7 My people are determined to turn(q) from me.(r)
Even though they call me God Most High,
I will by no means exalt them.
8 "How can I give you up,(s) Ephraim?(t)
How can I hand you over, Israel?
How can I treat you like Admah?
How can I make you like Zeboyim?(u)
My heart is changed within me;
all my compassion(v) is aroused.(w)
9 I will not carry out my fierce anger,(x)
nor will I devastate(y) Ephraim again.
For I am God, and not a man(z)—
the Holy One(aa) among you.
I will not come against their cities.
10 They will follow the
Lord
;
he will roar(ab) like a lion.(ac)
When he roars,
his children will come trembling(ad) from the west.(ae)
11 They will come from Egypt,
trembling like sparrows,
from Assyria,(af) fluttering like doves.(ag)
I will settle them in their homes,"(ah)
declares the
Lord
.
Israel's Sin
12 Ephraim has surrounded me with lies,(ai)
Israel with deceit.
And Judah is unruly against God,
even against the faithful(aj) Holy One.[b](ak)
Chapter 12
1 [a]1 Ephraim(a) feeds on the wind;(b)
he pursues the east wind all day
and multiplies lies and violence.(c)
He makes a treaty with Assyria(d)
and sends olive oil to Egypt.(e)
2 The
Lord
has a charge(f) to bring against Judah;(g)
he will punish(h) Jacob[b] according to his ways
and repay him according to his deeds.(i)
3 In the womb he grasped his brother's heel;(j)
as a man he struggled(k) with God.
4 He struggled with the angel and overcame him;
he wept and begged for his favor.
He found him at Bethel(l)
and talked with him there—
5 the
Lord
God Almighty,
the
Lord
is his name!(m)
6 But you must return(n) to your God;
maintain love and justice,(o)
and wait for your God always.(p)
7 The merchant uses dishonest scales(q)
and loves to defraud.
8 Ephraim boasts,(r)
"I am very rich; I have become wealthy.(s)
With all my wealth they will not find in me
any iniquity or sin."
9 "I have been the
Lord
your God
ever since you came out of Egypt;(t)
I will make you live in tents(u) again,
as in the days of your appointed festivals.
10 I spoke to the prophets,
gave them many visions
and told parables(v) through them."(w)
11 Is Gilead wicked?(x)
Its people are worthless!
Do they sacrifice bulls in Gilgal?(y)
Their altars will be like piles of stones
on a plowed field.(z)
12 Jacob fled to the country of Aram[c];(aa)
Israel served to get a wife,
and to pay for her he tended sheep.(ab)
13 The
Lord
used a prophet to bring Israel up from Egypt,(ac)
by a prophet he cared for him.(ad)
14 But Ephraim has aroused his bitter anger;
his Lord will leave on him the guilt of his bloodshed(ae)
and will repay him for his contempt.(af)
Chapter 13
The Lord's Anger Against Israel
1 When Ephraim spoke, people trembled;(a)
he was exalted(b) in Israel.
But he became guilty of Baal worship(c) and died.
2 Now they sin more and more;
they make(d) idols for themselves from their silver,(e)
cleverly fashioned images,
all of them the work of craftsmen.(f)
It is said of these people,
"They offer human sacrifices!
They kiss[a](g) calf-idols!(h)"
3 Therefore they will be like the morning mist,
like the early dew that disappears,(i)
like chaff(j) swirling from a threshing floor,(k)
like smoke(l) escaping through a window.
4 "But I have been the
Lord
your God
ever since you came out of Egypt.(m)
You shall acknowledge(n) no God but me,(o)
no Savior(p) except me.
5 I cared for you in the wilderness,(q)
in the land of burning heat.
6 When I fed them, they were satisfied;
when they were satisfied, they became proud;(r)
then they forgot(s) me.(t)
7 So I will be like a lion(u) to them,
like a leopard I will lurk by the path.
8 Like a bear robbed of her cubs,(v)
I will attack them and rip them open;
like a lion(w) I will devour them—
a wild animal will tear them apart.(x)
9 "You are destroyed, Israel,
because you are against me,(y) against your helper.(z)
10 Where is your king,(aa) that he may save you?
Where are your rulers in all your towns,
of whom you said,
‘Give me a king and princes'?(ab)
11 So in my anger I gave you a king,(ac)
and in my wrath I took him away.(ad)
12 The guilt of Ephraim is stored up,
his sins are kept on record.(ae)
13 Pains as of a woman in childbirth(af) come to him,
but he is a child without wisdom;
when the time(ag) arrives,
he doesn't have the sense to come out of the womb.(ah)
14 "I will deliver this people from the power of the grave;(ai)
I will redeem them from death.(aj)
Where, O death, are your plagues?
Where, O grave, is your destruction?(ak)
"I will have no compassion,
15
even though he thrives(al) among his brothers.
An east wind(am) from the
Lord
will come,
blowing in from the desert;
his spring will fail
and his well dry up.(an)
His storehouse will be plundered(ao)
of all its treasures.
16 The people of Samaria(ap) must bear their guilt,(aq)
because they have rebelled(ar) against their God.
They will fall by the sword;(as)
their little ones will be dashed(at) to the ground,
their pregnant women(au) ripped open."[b]
Chapter 14
Repentance to Bring Blessing
1 [a]Return,(a) Israel, to the
Lord
your God.
Your sins(b) have been your downfall!(c)
2 Take words with you
and return to the
Lord
.
Say to him:
"Forgive(d) all our sins
and receive us graciously,(e)
that we may offer the fruit of our lips.[b](f)
3 Assyria cannot save us;(g)
we will not mount warhorses.(h)
We will never again say ‘Our gods'(i)
to what our own hands have made,(j)
for in you the fatherless(k) find compassion."
4 "I will heal(l) their waywardness(m)
and love them freely,(n)
for my anger has turned away(o) from them.
5 I will be like the dew(p) to Israel;
he will blossom like a lily.(q)
Like a cedar of Lebanon(r)
he will send down his roots;(s)
6
his young shoots will grow.
His splendor will be like an olive tree,(t)
his fragrance like a cedar of Lebanon.(u)
7 People will dwell again in his shade;(v)
they will flourish like the grain,
they will blossom(w) like the vine—
Israel's fame will be like the wine(x) of Lebanon.(y)
8 Ephraim, what more have I[c] to do with idols?(z)
I will answer him and care for him.
I am like a flourishing juniper;(aa)
your fruitfulness comes from me."
9 Who is wise?(ab) Let them realize these things.
Who is discerning? Let them understand.(ac)
The ways of the
Lord
are right;(ad)
the righteous walk(ae) in them,
but the rebellious stumble in them.
Joel 1:1-2:17
Chapter 1
1 The word of the Lord that came(a) to Joel(b) son of Pethuel.
An Invasion of Locusts
2 Hear this,(c) you elders;(d)
listen, all who live in the land.(e)
Has anything like this ever happened in your days
or in the days of your ancestors?(f)
3 Tell it to your children,(g)
and let your children tell it to their children,
and their children to the next generation.(h)
4 What the locust(i) swarm has left
the great locusts have eaten;
what the great locusts have left
the young locusts have eaten;
what the young locusts have left(j)
other locusts[a] have eaten.(k)
5 Wake up, you drunkards, and weep!
Wail, all you drinkers of wine;(l)
wail because of the new wine,
for it has been snatched(m) from your lips.
6 A nation has invaded my land,
a mighty army without number;(n)
it has the teeth(o) of a lion,
the fangs of a lioness.
7 It has laid waste(p) my vines
and ruined my fig trees.(q)
It has stripped off their bark
and thrown it away,
leaving their branches white.
8 Mourn like a virgin in sackcloth(r)
grieving for the betrothed of her youth.
9 Grain offerings and drink offerings(s)
are cut off from the house of the
Lord
.
The priests are in mourning,(t)
those who minister before the
Lord
.
10 The fields are ruined,
the ground is dried up;(u)
the grain is destroyed,
the new wine(v) is dried up,
the olive oil fails.(w)
11 Despair, you farmers,(x)
wail, you vine growers;
grieve for the wheat and the barley,(y)
because the harvest of the field is destroyed.(z)
12 The vine is dried up
and the fig tree is withered;(aa)
the pomegranate,(ab) the palm and the apple[b] tree—
all the trees of the field—are dried up.(ac)
Surely the people's joy
is withered away.
A Call to Lamentation
13 Put on sackcloth,(ad) you priests, and mourn;
wail, you who minister(ae) before the altar.
Come, spend the night in sackcloth,
you who minister before my God;
for the grain offerings and drink offerings(af)
are withheld from the house of your God.
14 Declare a holy fast;(ag)
call a sacred assembly.
Summon the elders
and all who live in the land(ah)
to the house of the
Lord
your God,
and cry out(ai) to the
Lord
.(aj)
15 Alas for that(ak) day!
For the day of the
Lord
(al) is near;
it will come like destruction from the Almighty.[c](am)
16 Has not the food been cut off(an)
before our very eyes—
joy and gladness(ao)
from the house of our God?(ap)
17 The seeds are shriveled
beneath the clods.[d](aq)
The storehouses are in ruins,
the granaries have been broken down,
for the grain has dried up.
18 How the cattle moan!
The herds mill about
because they have no pasture;(ar)
even the flocks of sheep are suffering.(as)
19 To you,
Lord
, I call,(at)
for fire(au) has devoured the pastures(av) in the wilderness
and flames have burned up all the trees of the field.
20 Even the wild animals pant for you;(aw)
the streams of water have dried up(ax)
and fire has devoured the pastures(ay) in the wilderness.
Chapter 2
An Army of Locusts
1 Blow the trumpet(a) in Zion;(b)
sound the alarm on my holy hill.(c)
Let all who live in the land tremble,
for the day of the
Lord
(d) is coming.
It is close at hand(e)—
2
a day of darkness(f) and gloom,(g)
a day of clouds(h) and blackness.(i)
Like dawn spreading across the mountains
a large and mighty army(j) comes,
such as never was in ancient times(k)
nor ever will be in ages to come.
3 Before them fire(l) devours,
behind them a flame blazes.
Before them the land is like the garden of Eden,(m)
behind them, a desert waste(n)—
nothing escapes them.
4 They have the appearance of horses;(o)
they gallop along like cavalry.
5 With a noise like that of chariots(p)
they leap over the mountaintops,
like a crackling fire(q) consuming stubble,
like a mighty army drawn up for battle.
6 At the sight of them, nations are in anguish;(r)
every face turns pale.(s)
7 They charge like warriors;(t)
they scale walls like soldiers.
They all march in line,(u)
not swerving(v) from their course.
8 They do not jostle each other;
each marches straight ahead.
They plunge through defenses
without breaking ranks.
9 They rush upon the city;
they run along the wall.
They climb into the houses;(w)
like thieves they enter through the windows.(x)
10 Before them the earth shakes,(y)
the heavens tremble,(z)
the sun and moon are darkened,(aa)
and the stars no longer shine.(ab)
11 The
Lord
(ac) thunders(ad)
at the head of his army;(ae)
his forces are beyond number,
and mighty is the army that obeys his command.
The day of the
Lord
is great;(af)
it is dreadful.
Who can endure it?(ag)
Rend Your Heart
12 "Even now," declares the
Lord
,
"return(ah) to me with all your heart,(ai)
with fasting and weeping and mourning."
13 Rend your heart(aj)
and not your garments.(ak)
Return(al) to the
Lord
your God,
for he is gracious and compassionate,(am)
slow to anger and abounding in love,(an)
and he relents from sending calamity.(ao)
14 Who knows? He may turn(ap) and relent(aq)
and leave behind a blessing(ar)—
grain offerings and drink offerings(as)
for the
Lord
your God.
15 Blow the trumpet(at) in Zion,(au)
declare a holy fast,(av)
call a sacred assembly.(aw)
16 Gather the people,
consecrate(ax) the assembly;
bring together the elders,(ay)
gather the children,
those nursing at the breast.
Let the bridegroom(az) leave his room
and the bride her chamber.
17 Let the priests, who minister(ba) before the
Lord
,
weep(bb) between the portico and the altar.(bc)
Let them say, "Spare your people,
Lord
.
Do not make your inheritance an object of scorn,(bd)
a byword(be) among the nations.
Why should they say among the peoples,
‘Where is their God?(bf)'"
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
