The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Saturday December 17, 2016 (NIV)

⁹ Whatever you^[e] plot against the Lord,
He will bring it to complete destruction;^(J)
oppression will not rise up a second time.
¹⁰ For they will be consumed
like entangled thorns,^(K)
like the drink of a drunkard
and like straw that is fully dry.^[f]
11 One has gone out from you,^[g]
who plots evil against Yahweh,
and is a wicked counselor.

Though they are strong^[h] and numerous,
they will still be mowed down,
and he^[i] will pass away.
Though I have afflicted you,^[j](L)
I will afflict you no longer.^(M)
13 For I will now break off his yoke from you
and tear off your shackles.

There will be no offspring
to carry on your name.^[k](N)
I will eliminate the carved idol and cast image
from the house of your gods;^(O)
I will prepare your grave,
for you are contemptible.

^15 [l]Look to the mountains—
the feet of one bringing good news^(P)
and proclaiming peace!
Celebrate your festivals, Judah;
fulfill your vows.
For the wicked one will never again
march through you;
he will be entirely wiped out.

² For the Lord will restore the majesty of Jacob,
yes,^[n] the majesty of Israel,
though ravagers have ravaged them
and ruined their vine branches.^(R)

³ The shields of his^[o] warriors are dyed red;
the valiant men are dressed in scarlet.^(S)
The fittings of the chariot flash like fire
on the day of its battle preparations,
and the spears are brandished.
⁴ The chariots dash madly through the streets;
they rush around in the plazas.
They look like torches;
they dart back and forth like lightning.
⁵ He gives orders to his officers;
they stumble as they advance.
They race to its wall;
the protective shield is set in place.
⁶ The river gates are opened,
and the palace erodes away.^(T)

⁷ Beauty^[p] is stripped,^[q]
she is carried away;
her ladies-in-waiting moan
like the sound of doves,^(U)
and beat their breasts.
⁸ Nineveh has been like a pool of water
from her first days,^[r]
but they are fleeing.
“Stop! Stop!” they cry,
but no one turns back.
⁹ “Plunder the silver! Plunder the gold!”
There is no end to the treasure,
an abundance of every precious thing.^(V)
10 Desolation, decimation, devastation!
Hearts melt,^(W)
knees tremble,
loins shake,
every face grows pale!^(X)

¹¹ Where is the lions’ lair,^(Y)
or the feeding ground of the young lions,
where the lion and lioness prowled,
and the lion’s cub,
with nothing to frighten them away?^(Z)
12 The lion mauled whatever its cubs needed
and strangled prey for its lionesses.
It filled up its dens with the kill,
and its lairs with mauled prey.^(AA)
13 Beware, I am against you.^(AB)
This is the declaration of the Lord of Hosts.
I will make your chariots go up in smoke^[s]
and the sword will devour your young lions.
I will cut off your prey from the earth,
and the sound of your messengers
will never be heard again.

⁸ Are you better than Thebes^[t](AJ)
that sat along the Nile
with water surrounding her,
whose rampart was the sea,
the river^[u][v] her wall?
⁹ Cush and Egypt were her endless source of strength;
Put and Libya were among her^[w] allies.
¹⁰ Yet she became an exile;
she went into captivity.
Her children were also dashed to pieces^(AK)
at the head of every street.
They cast lots for her dignitaries,^(AL)
and all her nobles were bound in chains.
¹¹ You^[x] also will become drunk;
you will hide yourself.^[y]
You also will seek refuge from the enemy.

¹² All your fortresses are fig trees
with figs that ripened first;
when shaken, they fall—
right into the mouth of the eater!

¹³ Look, your troops are like women among you;
the gates of your land
are wide open to your enemies.
Fire will devour the bars of your gates.

¹⁴ Draw water for the siege;
strengthen your fortresses.
Step into the clay and tread the mortar;
take hold of the brick-mold!
¹⁵ The fire will devour you there;
the sword will cut you down.
It will devour you like the young locust.^(AM)
Multiply yourselves like the young locust,
multiply like the swarming locust!
¹⁶ You have made your merchants^(AN)
more numerous than the stars of the sky.
The young locust strips^[z] the land
and flies away.
¹⁷ Your court officials are like the swarming locust,
and your scribes like clouds of locusts,
which settle on the walls on a cold day;
when the sun rises, they take off,
and no one knows where they are.

¹⁸ King of Assyria, your shepherds slumber;
your officers sleep.
Your people are scattered across the mountains
with no one to gather them together.^(AO)
19 There is no remedy for your injury;
your wound is severe.^(AP)
All who hear the news about you
will clap their hands because of you,
for who has not experienced
your constant cruelty?

⁷ Two things I ask of You;
don’t deny them to me before I die:
⁸ Keep falsehood and deceitful words far from me.
Give me neither poverty nor wealth;
feed me with the food I need.^(A)
9 Otherwise, I might have too much^(B)
and deny You,^(C) saying, “Who is the Lord?”^(D)
or I might have nothing and steal,^(E)
profaning^[a] the name of my God.^(F)