The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Wednesday September 14, 2022 (NIV)

Ar^(D) in Moab is ruined,^(E)
destroyed in a night!
Kir^(F) in Moab is ruined,
destroyed in a night!
² Dibon^(G) goes up to its temple,
to its high places^(H) to weep;
Moab wails^(I) over Nebo^(J) and Medeba.
Every head is shaved^(K)
and every beard cut off.^(L)
3 In the streets they wear sackcloth;^(M)
on the roofs^(N) and in the public squares^(O)
they all wail,^(P)
prostrate with weeping.^(Q)
4 Heshbon^(R) and Elealeh^(S) cry out,
their voices are heard all the way to Jahaz.^(T)
Therefore the armed men of Moab cry out,
and their hearts are faint.

⁵ My heart cries out^(U) over Moab;^(V)
her fugitives^(W) flee as far as Zoar,^(X)
as far as Eglath Shelishiyah.
They go up the hill to Luhith,
weeping as they go;
on the road to Horonaim^(Y)
they lament their destruction.^(Z)
6 The waters of Nimrim are dried up^(AA)
and the grass is withered;^(AB)
the vegetation is gone^(AC)
and nothing green is left.^(AD)
7 So the wealth they have acquired^(AE) and stored up
they carry away over the Ravine of the Poplars.
⁸ Their outcry echoes along the border of Moab;
their wailing reaches as far as Eglaim,
their lamentation as far as Beer^(AF) Elim.
⁹ The waters of Dimon^[a] are full of blood,
but I will bring still more upon Dimon^[b]—
a lion^(AG) upon the fugitives of Moab^(AH)
and upon those who remain in the land.

16 Send lambs^(AI) as tribute^(AJ)
to the ruler of the land,
from Sela,^(AK) across the desert,
to the mount of Daughter Zion.^(AL)
2 Like fluttering birds
pushed from the nest,^(AM)
so are the women of Moab^(AN)
at the fords^(AO) of the Arnon.^(AP)

³ “Make up your mind,” Moab says.
“Render a decision.
Make your shadow like night—
at high noon.
Hide the fugitives,^(AQ)
do not betray the refugees.
⁴ Let the Moabite fugitives stay with you;
be their shelter^(AR) from the destroyer.”

The oppressor^(AS) will come to an end,
and destruction will cease;^(AT)
the aggressor will vanish from the land.
⁵ In love a throne^(AU) will be established;^(AV)
in faithfulness a man will sit on it—
one from the house^[c] of David^(AW)—
one who in judging seeks justice^(AX)
and speeds the cause of righteousness.

⁶ We have heard of Moab’s^(AY) pride^(AZ)—
how great is her arrogance!—
of her conceit, her pride and her insolence;
but her boasts are empty.
⁷ Therefore the Moabites wail,^(BA)
they wail together for Moab.
Lament and grieve
for the raisin cakes^(BB) of Kir Hareseth.^(BC)
8 The fields of Heshbon^(BD) wither,^(BE)
the vines of Sibmah^(BF) also.
The rulers of the nations
have trampled down the choicest vines,^(BG)
which once reached Jazer^(BH)
and spread toward the desert.
Their shoots spread out^(BI)
and went as far as the sea.^[d](BJ)
9 So I weep,^(BK) as Jazer weeps,
for the vines of Sibmah.
Heshbon and Elealeh,^(BL)
I drench you with tears!^(BM)
The shouts of joy^(BN) over your ripened fruit
and over your harvests^(BO) have been stilled.
¹⁰ Joy and gladness are taken away from the orchards;^(BP)
no one sings or shouts^(BQ) in the vineyards;
no one treads^(BR) out wine at the presses,^(BS)
for I have put an end to the shouting.
¹¹ My heart laments for Moab^(BT) like a harp,^(BU)
my inmost being^(BV) for Kir Hareseth.
¹² When Moab appears at her high place,^(BW)
she only wears herself out;
when she goes to her shrine^(BX) to pray,
it is to no avail.^(BY)

“See, Damascus will no longer be a city
but will become a heap of ruins.^(CG)
2 The cities of Aroer^(CH) will be deserted
and left to flocks,^(CI) which will lie down,^(CJ)
with no one to make them afraid.^(CK)
3 The fortified^(CL) city will disappear from Ephraim,
and royal power from Damascus;
the remnant of Aram will be
like the glory^(CM) of the Israelites,”^(CN)
declares the Lord Almighty.

⁴ “In that day^(CO) the glory^(CP) of Jacob will fade;
the fat of his body will waste^(CQ) away.
⁵ It will be as when reapers harvest the standing grain,
gathering^(CR) the grain in their arms—
as when someone gleans heads of grain^(CS)
in the Valley of Rephaim.^(CT)
6 Yet some gleanings will remain,^(CU)
as when an olive tree is beaten,^(CV)
leaving two or three olives on the topmost branches,
four or five on the fruitful boughs,”
declares the Lord, the God of Israel.

⁷ In that day^(CW) people will look^(CX) to their Maker^(CY)
and turn their eyes to the Holy One^(CZ) of Israel.
⁸ They will not look to the altars,^(DA)
the work of their hands,^(DB)
and they will have no regard for the Asherah poles^[e](DC)
and the incense altars their fingers^(DD) have made.

¹⁰ You have forgotten^(DF) God your Savior;^(DG)
you have not remembered the Rock,^(DH) your fortress.^(DI)
Therefore, though you set out the finest plants
and plant imported vines,^(DJ)
11 though on the day you set them out, you make them grow,
and on the morning^(DK) when you plant them, you bring them to bud,
yet the harvest^(DL) will be as nothing^(DM)
in the day of disease and incurable^(DN) pain.^(DO)

¹² Woe to the many nations that rage^(DP)—
they rage like the raging sea!^(DQ)
Woe to the peoples who roar^(DR)—
they roar like the roaring of great waters!^(DS)
13 Although the peoples roar^(DT) like the roar of surging waters,
when he rebukes^(DU) them they flee^(DV) far away,
driven before the wind like chaff^(DW) on the hills,
like tumbleweed before a gale.^(DX)
14 In the evening, sudden^(DY) terror!^(DZ)
Before the morning, they are gone!^(EA)
This is the portion of those who loot us,
the lot of those who plunder us.

Go, swift messengers,
to a people tall and smooth-skinned,^(EF)
to a people feared far and wide,
an aggressive^(EG) nation of strange speech,
whose land is divided by rivers.^(EH)

³ All you people of the world,^(EI)
you who live on the earth,
when a banner^(EJ) is raised on the mountains,
you will see it,
and when a trumpet^(EK) sounds,
you will hear it.
⁴ This is what the Lord says to me:
“I will remain quiet^(EL) and will look on from my dwelling place,^(EM)
like shimmering heat in the sunshine,^(EN)
like a cloud of dew^(EO) in the heat of harvest.”
⁵ For, before the harvest, when the blossom is gone
and the flower becomes a ripening grape,
he will cut off^(EP) the shoots with pruning knives,
and cut down and take away the spreading branches.^(EQ)
6 They will all be left to the mountain birds of prey^(ER)
and to the wild animals;^(ES)
the birds will feed on them all summer,
the wild animals all winter.

from a people tall and smooth-skinned,^(EU)
from a people feared^(EV) far and wide,
an aggressive nation of strange speech,
whose land is divided by rivers^(EW)—

³ Even from birth the wicked go astray;
from the womb they are wayward, spreading lies.
⁴ Their venom is like the venom of a snake,^(D)
like that of a cobra that has stopped its ears,
⁵ that will not heed^(E) the tune of the charmer,^(F)
however skillful the enchanter may be.

⁶ Break the teeth in their mouths, O God;^(G)
Lord, tear out the fangs of those lions!^(H)
7 Let them vanish like water that flows away;^(I)
when they draw the bow, let their arrows fall short.^(J)
8 May they be like a slug that melts away as it moves along,^(K)
like a stillborn child^(L) that never sees the sun.

⁹ Before your pots can feel the heat of the thorns^(M)—
whether they be green or dry—the wicked will be swept away.^[c](N)
10 The righteous will be glad^(O) when they are avenged,^(P)
when they dip their feet in the blood of the wicked.^(Q)
11 Then people will say,
“Surely the righteous still are rewarded;^(R)
surely there is a God who judges the earth.”^(S)