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Reading Plan
Day 252 Day 253Day 254

Lamentations chapter 3

1
I am one who knows what it is to be punished by God.
2
He drove me deeper and deeper into darkness
3
And beat me again and again with merciless blows.
4
He has left my flesh open and raw, and has broken my bones.
5
He has shut me in a prison of misery and anguish.
6
He has forced me to live in the stagnant darkness of death.
7
He has bound me in chains; I am a prisoner with no hope of escape.
8
I cry aloud for help, but God refuses to listen;
9
I stagger as I walk; stone walls block me wherever I turn.
10
He waited for me like a bear; he pounced on me like a lion.
11
He chased me off the road, tore me to pieces, and left me.
12
He drew his bow and made me the target for his arrows.
13
He shot his arrows deep into my body.
14
People laugh at me all day long; I am a joke to them all.
15
Bitter suffering is all he has given me for food and drink.
16
He rubbed my face in the ground and broke my teeth on rocks.
17
I have forgotten what health and peace and happiness are.
18
I do not have much longer to live; my hope in the LORD is gone.
19
The thought of my pain, my homelessness, is bitter poison.
20
I think of it constantly, and my spirit is depressed.
21
Yet hope returns when I remember this one thing:
22
The LORD's unfailing love and mercy still continue,
23
Fresh as the morning, as sure as the sunrise.
24
The LORD is all I have, and so in him I put my hope.
25
The LORD is good to everyone who trusts in him,
26
So it is best for us to wait in patience---to wait for him to save us---
27
And it is best to learn this patience in our youth.
28
When we suffer, we should sit alone in silent patience;
29
We should bow in submission, for there may still be hope.
30
Though beaten and insulted, we should accept it all.
31
The Lord is merciful and will not reject us forever.
32
He may bring us sorrow, but his love for us is sure and strong.
33
He takes no pleasure in causing us grief or pain.
34
The Lord knows when our spirits are crushed in prison;
35
He knows when we are denied the rights he gave us;
36
When justice is perverted in court, he knows.
37
The will of the Lord alone is always carried out.
38
Good and evil alike take place at his command.
39
Why should we ever complain when we are punished for our sin?
40
Let us examine our ways and turn back to the LORD.
41
Let us open our hearts to God in heaven and pray,
42
"We have sinned and rebelled, and you, O LORD, have not forgiven us.
43
"You pursued us and killed us; your mercy was hidden by your anger,
44
By a cloud of fury too thick for our prayers to get through.
45
You have made us the garbage dump of the world.
46
"We are insulted and mocked by all our enemies.
47
We have been through disaster and ruin; we live in danger and fear.
48
My eyes flow with rivers of tears at the destruction of my people.
49
"My tears will pour out in a ceaseless stream
50
Until the LORD looks down from heaven and sees us.
51
My heart is grieved when I see what has happened to the women of the city.
52
"I was trapped like a bird by enemies who had no cause to hate me.
53
They threw me alive into a pit and closed the opening with a stone.
54
Water began to close over me, and I thought death was near.
55
"From the bottom of the pit, O LORD, I cried out to you,
56
And when I begged you to listen to my cry, you heard.
57
You answered me and told me not to be afraid.
58
"You came to my rescue, Lord, and saved my life.
59
Judge in my favor; you know the wrongs done against me.
60
You know how my enemies hate me and how they plot against me.
61
"You have heard them insult me, O LORD; you know all their plots.
62
All day long they talk about me and make their plans.
63
From morning till night they make fun of me.
64
"Punish them for what they have done, O LORD;
65
Curse them and fill them with despair!
66
Hunt them down and wipe them off the earth!"

Lamentations chapter 4

1
Our glittering gold has grown dull; the stones of the Temple lie scattered in the streets.
2
Zion's young people were as precious to us as gold, but now they are treated like common clay pots.
3
Even a mother wolf will nurse her cubs, but my people are like ostriches, cruel to their young.
4
They let their babies die of hunger and thirst; children are begging for food that no one will give them.
5
People who once ate the finest foods die starving in the streets; those raised in luxury are pawing through garbage for food.
6
My people have been punished even more than the inhabitants of Sodom, which met a sudden downfall at the hands of God.
7
Our princes were undefiled and pure as snow, vigorous and strong, glowing with health.
8
Now they lie unknown in the streets, their faces blackened in death; their skin, dry as wood, has shriveled on their bones.
9
Those who died in the war were better off than those who died later, who starved slowly to death, with no food to keep them alive.
10
The disaster that came to my people brought horror; loving mothers boiled their own children for food.
11
The LORD turned loose the full force of his fury; he lit a fire in Zion that burned it to the ground.
12
No one anywhere, not even rulers of foreign nations, believed that any invader could enter Jerusalem's gates.
13
But it happened, because her prophets sinned and her priests were guilty of causing the death of innocent people.
14
Her leaders wandered through the streets as though blind, so stained with blood that no one would touch them.
15
"Get away!" people shouted. "You're defiled! Don't touch me!" So they wandered from nation to nation, welcomed by no one.
16
The LORD had no more concern for them; he scattered them himself. He showed no regard for our priests and leaders.
17
For help that never came, we looked until we could look no longer. We kept waiting for help from a nation that had none to give.
18
The enemy was watching for us; we could not even walk in the streets. Our days were over; the end had come.
19
Swifter than eagles swooping from the sky, they chased us down. They tracked us down in the hills; they took us by surprise in the desert.
20
They captured the source of our life, the king the LORD had chosen, the one we had trusted to protect us from every invader.
21
Laugh on, people of Edom and Uz; be glad while you can. Your disaster is coming too; you too will stagger naked in shame.
22
Zion has paid for her sin; the LORD will not keep us in exile any longer. But Edom, the LORD will punish you; he will expose your guilty acts.

Lamentations chapter 5

1
Remember, O LORD, what has happened to us. Look at us, and see our disgrace.
2
Our property is in the hands of strangers; foreigners are living in our homes.
3
Our fathers have been killed by the enemy, and now our mothers are widows.
4
We must pay for the water we drink; we must buy the wood we need for fuel.
5
Driven hard like donkeys or camels, we are tired, but are allowed no rest.
6
To get food enough to stay alive, we went begging to Egypt and Assyria.
7
Our ancestors sinned, but now they are gone, and we are suffering for their sins.
8
Our rulers are no better than slaves, and no one can save us from their power.
9
Murderers roam through the countryside; we risk our lives when we look for food.
10
Hunger has made us burn with fever until our skin is as hot as an oven.
11
Our wives have been raped on Mount Zion itself; in every Judean village our daughters have been forced to submit.
12
Our leaders have been taken and hanged; our elders are shown no respect.
13
Our young men are forced to grind grain like slaves; boys go staggering under heavy loads of wood.
14
The old people no longer sit at the city gate, and the young people no longer make music.
15
Happiness has gone out of our lives; grief has taken the place of our dances.
16
Nothing is left of all we were proud of. We sinned, and now we are doomed.
17
We are sick at our very hearts and can hardly see through our tears,
18
because Mount Zion lies lonely and deserted, and wild jackals prowl through its ruins.
19
But you, O LORD, are king forever and will rule to the end of time.
20
Why have you abandoned us so long? Will you ever remember us again?
21
Bring us back to you, LORD! Bring us back! Restore our ancient glory.
22
Or have you rejected us forever? Is there no limit to your anger?

Revelation chapter 15

1
Then I saw in the sky another mysterious sight, great and amazing. There were seven angels with seven plagues, which are the last ones, because they are the final expression of God's anger.
2
Then I saw what looked like a sea of glass mixed with fire. I also saw those who had won the victory over the beast and its image and over the one whose name is represented by a number. They were standing by the sea of glass, holding harps that God had given them
3
and singing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb: "Lord God Almighty, how great and wonderful are your deeds! King of the nations, how right and true are your ways!
4
Who will not stand in awe of you, Lord? Who will refuse to declare your greatness? You alone are holy. All the nations will come and worship you, because your just actions are seen by all."
5
After this I saw the temple in heaven open, with the Sacred Tent in it.
6
The seven angels who had the seven plagues came out of the temple, dressed in clean shining linen and with gold bands tied around their chests.
7
Then one of the four living creatures gave the seven angels seven gold bowls full of the anger of God, who lives forever and ever.
8
The temple was filled with smoke from the glory and power of God, and no one could go into the temple until the seven plagues brought by the seven angels had come to an end.

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