The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Saturday December 9, 2017 (NIV)

⁴ What ^(F)the cutting locust left,
^(G)the swarming locust has eaten.
What the swarming locust left,
^(H)the hopping locust has eaten,
and what the hopping locust left,
^(I)the destroying locust has eaten.

⁵ Awake, you drunkards, and weep,
and ^(J)wail, all you drinkers of wine,
because of ^(K)the sweet wine,
for it is cut off from your mouth.
⁶ For ^(L)a nation has come up against my land,
^(M)powerful and beyond number;
^(N)its teeth are lions' teeth,
and it has the fangs of a lioness.
⁷ It has laid waste my vine
and splintered my ^(O)fig tree;
it has stripped off their bark and thrown it down;
their branches are made white.

⁸ Lament like a virgin^{[a] (P)}wearing sackcloth
for the bridegroom of her youth.
^9 (Q)The grain offering and the drink offering are cut off
from the house of the Lord.
^(R)The priests mourn,
^(S)the ministers of the Lord.
¹⁰ The fields are destroyed,
^(T)the ground mourns,
because ^(U)the grain is destroyed,
^(V)the wine dries up,
the oil languishes.

^11 (W)Be ashamed,^[b] O tillers of the soil;
wail, O vinedressers,
for the wheat and the barley,
^(X)because the harvest of the field has perished.
¹² The vine dries up;
^(Y)the fig tree languishes.
Pomegranate, palm, and apple,
all the trees of the field are dried up,
and ^(Z)gladness dries up
from the children of man.

^14 (AG)Consecrate a fast;
^(AH)call a solemn assembly.
Gather ^(AI)the elders
and ^(AJ)all the inhabitants of the land
to the house of the Lord your God,
and cry out to the Lord.

¹⁵ Alas for the day!
^(AK)For the day of the Lord is near,
and as destruction from the Almighty^[c] it comes.
¹⁶ Is not the food cut off
before our eyes,
^(AL)joy and gladness
from the house of our God?

^17 (AM)The seed shrivels under the clods;^[d]
the storehouses are desolate;
the granaries are torn down
because ^(AN)the grain has dried up.
¹⁸ How ^(AO)the beasts groan!
The herds of cattle are perplexed
because there is no pasture for them;
even the flocks of sheep suffer.^[e]

¹⁹ To you, ^(AP)O Lord, I call.
^(AQ)For fire has devoured
the pastures of the wilderness,
^(AR)and flame has burned
all the trees of the field.
²⁰ Even the beasts of the field ^(AS)pant for you
because the water brooks are dried up,
^(AT)and fire has devoured
the pastures of the wilderness.

^3 (BC)Fire devours before them,
and behind them a flame burns.
The land is like ^(BD)the garden of Eden before them,
but ^(BE)behind them a desolate wilderness,
and nothing escapes them.

^4 (BF)Their appearance is like the appearance of horses,
and like war horses they run.
^5 (BG)As with the rumbling of chariots,
they leap on the tops of the mountains,
like the crackling of ^(BH)a flame of fire
devouring the stubble,
^(BI)like a powerful army
drawn up for battle.

⁶ Before them peoples are in anguish;
^(BJ)all faces grow pale.
⁷ Like warriors they charge;
like soldiers they scale the wall.
They march each on his way;
they do not swerve from their paths.
⁸ They do not jostle one another;
^(BK)each marches in his path;
they burst through the weapons
and are not halted.
^9 (BL)They leap upon the city,
they run upon the walls,
^(BM)they climb up into the houses,
^(BN)they enter through the windows ^(BO)like a thief.

^10 (BP)The earth quakes before them;
the heavens tremble.
^(BQ)The sun and the moon are darkened,
and the stars withdraw their shining.
^11 (BR)The Lord utters his voice
before ^(BS)his army,
for his camp is exceedingly great;
^(BT)he who executes his word is powerful.
^(BU)For the day of the Lord is ^(BV)great and very awesome;
^(BW)who can endure it?

^15 (CG)Blow the trumpet in Zion;
^(CH)consecrate a fast;
call a solemn assembly;
¹⁶ gather the people.
^(CI)Consecrate the congregation;
assemble the elders;
^(CJ)gather the children,
even nursing infants.
^(CK)Let the bridegroom leave his room,
and the bride her chamber.

^17 (CL)Between the ^(CM)vestibule and the ^(CN)altar
^(CO)let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep
and say, “Spare your people, O Lord,
and make not your heritage a reproach,
a byword among the nations.^[f]
(CP)Why should they say among the peoples,
‘Where is their God?’”

²⁰ “I will remove the northerner far from you,
and drive him into a parched and desolate land,
his vanguard^[g] into ^(CU)the eastern sea,
and his rear guard^[h] into ^(CV)the western sea;
^(CW)the stench and foul smell of him will rise,
for he has done great things.

²¹ “Fear not, O land;
be glad and rejoice,
for ^(CX)the Lord has done great things!
²² Fear not, ^(CY)you beasts of the field,
for ^(CZ)the pastures of the wilderness are green;
^(DA)the tree bears its fruit;
the fig tree and ^(DB)vine give their full yield.

^23 (DC)“Be glad, O children of Zion,
and ^(DD)rejoice in the Lord your God,
for he has given ^(DE)the early rain for your vindication;
he has poured down for you abundant rain,
^(DF)the early and ^(DG)the latter rain, as before.

²⁴ “The threshing floors shall be full of grain;
the vats shall overflow with wine and oil.
²⁵ I will restore^[i] to you the years
that ^(DH)the swarming locust has eaten,
^(DI)the hopper, ^(DJ)the destroyer, and ^(DK)the cutter,
^(DL)my great army, which I sent among you.

^26 (DM)“You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied,
and praise the name of the Lord your God,
who has dealt wondrously with you.
And my people ^(DN)shall never again be put to shame.
^27 (DO)You shall know that I am ^(DP)in the midst of Israel,
and that ^(DQ)I am the Lord your God ^(DR)and there is none else.
And my people ^(DS)shall never again be put to shame.

⁹ Proclaim this among the nations:
^(ER)Consecrate for war;^[m]
stir up the mighty men.
Let all the men of war draw near;
let them come up.
^10 (ES)Beat your plowshares into swords,
and ^(ET)your pruning hooks into spears;
let the weak say, “I am a warrior.”

^11 (EU)Hasten and come,
all you surrounding nations,
and gather yourselves there.
^(EV)Bring down your warriors, O Lord.
¹² Let the nations stir themselves up
and come up to ^(EW)the Valley of Jehoshaphat;
^(EX)for there I will sit to judge
all the surrounding nations.

^13 (EY)Put in the sickle,
^(EZ)for the harvest is ripe.
^(FA)Go in, tread,
^(FB)for the winepress is full.
The vats overflow,
for their evil is great.

¹⁴ Multitudes, multitudes,
in the valley of decision!
For ^(FC)the day of the Lord is near
in the valley of decision.
^15 (FD)The sun and the moon are darkened,
and the stars withdraw their shining.

^16 (FE)The Lord roars from Zion,
and ^(FF)utters his voice from Jerusalem,
^(FG)and the heavens and the earth quake.
But the Lord is ^(FH)a refuge to his people,
a stronghold to the people of Israel.

¹⁸ “And in that day
^(FM)the mountains shall drip sweet wine,
and the hills shall flow with milk,
and ^(FN)all the streambeds of Judah
shall flow with water;
^(FO)and a fountain shall come forth from the house of the Lord
and water the Valley of ^(FP)Shittim.

^19 (FQ)“Egypt shall become a desolation
and ^(FR)Edom a desolate wilderness,
^(FS)for the violence done to the people of Judah,
because they have shed innocent blood in their land.
^20 (FT)But Judah shall be inhabited forever,
and Jerusalem to all generations.
^21 (FU)I will avenge their blood,
blood I have not avenged,^[n]
(FV)for the Lord dwells in Zion.”

³ Your wife will be like ^(E)a fruitful vine
within your house;
your children will be like ^(F)olive shoots
around your table.
⁴ Behold, thus shall the man be blessed
who fears the Lord.

^5 (G)The Lord bless you ^(H)from Zion!
May you see ^(I)the prosperity of Jerusalem
all the days of your life!
⁶ May you see your ^(J)children's children!
^(K)Peace be upon Israel!