Day 272 of 730

¹Thus says the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have held, to subdue nations before him, and strip kings of their armor; to open the doors before him, and the gates shall not be shut:

²"I will go before you, and make the rough places smooth. I will break the doors of brass in pieces, and cut apart the bars of iron.

³I will give you the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that you may know that it is I, the Lord, who call you by your name, even the God of Israel.

⁴For Jacob my servant's sake, and Israel my chosen, I have called you by your name. I have surnamed you, though you have not known me.

⁵I am the Lord, and there is none else. Besides me, there is no God. I will strengthen you, though you have not known me;

⁶that they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none besides me. I am the Lord, and there is no one else.

⁷I form the light, and create darkness. I make peace, and create calamity. I am the Lord, who does all these things.

⁸Distil, you heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness. Let the earth open, that it may bring forth salvation, and let it cause righteousness to spring up with it. I, the Lord, have created it.

⁹Woe to him who strives with his Maker- a clay pot among the clay pots of the earth! Shall the clay ask him who fashions it, 'What are you making?' or your work, 'He has no hands?'

¹⁰Woe to him who says to a father, 'What have you become the father of?' or to a mother, 'To what have you given birth?'"

¹¹Thus says the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker: "You ask me about the things that are to come, concerning my sons, and you command me concerning the work of my hands!

¹²I have made the earth, and created man on it. I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens; and I have commanded all their army.

¹³I have raised him up in righteousness, and I will make straight all his ways. He shall build my city, and he shall let my exiles go free, not for price nor reward," says the Lord of hosts.

¹⁴Thus says the Lord: "The labor of Egypt, and the merchandise of Ethiopia, and the Sabeans, men of stature, shall come over to you, and they shall be yours. They will go after you. They shall come over in chains; and they will bow down to you. They will make supplication to you: 'Surely God is in you; and there is none else. There is no other god.

¹⁵Most certainly you are a God who hid yourself, God of Israel, the Savior.'"

¹⁶They will be disappointed, yes, confounded, all of them. Those who are makers of idols will go into confusion together.

¹⁷Israel will be saved by the Lord with an everlasting salvation. You will not be disappointed nor confounded to ages everlasting.

¹⁸For thus says the Lord who created the heavens, the God who formed the earth and made it, who established it and did not create it a waste, who formed it to be inhabited: "I am the Lord; and there is no other.

¹⁹I have not spoken in secret, in a place of the land of darkness. I did not say to the seed of Jacob, 'Seek me in vain.' I, the Lord, speak righteousness. I declare things that are right.

²⁰Assemble yourselves and come. Draw near together, you who have escaped from the nations. Those have no knowledge who carry the wood of their engraved image, and pray to a god that can't save.

²¹Declare and bring it forth. Yes, let them take counsel together: who has shown this from ancient time? Who has declared it of old? Haven't I, the Lord? and there is no God else besides me, a just God and a Savior; there is no one besides me.

²²Look to me, and be you saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is none else.

²³By myself have I sworn, the word is gone forth from my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, that to me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear.

²⁴Only in the Lord, it is said of me, is righteousness and strength; even to him shall men come; and all those who were incensed against him shall be disappointed.

²⁵In the Lord shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory.

¹Bel bows down, Nebo stoops; their idols are on the animals, and on the livestock: the things that you carried about are made a load, a burden to the weary.

²They stoop, they bow down together; they could not deliver the burden, but they have gone into captivity.

³"Listen to me, house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel, that have been borne from their birth, that have been carried from the womb;

⁴and even to old age I am he, and even to gray hairs will I carry you. I have made, and I will bear; yes, I will carry, and will deliver.

⁵"To whom will you liken me, and make me equal, and compare me, that we may be like?

⁶Some pour out gold from the bag, and weigh silver in the balance. They hire a goldsmith, and he makes it a god. They fall down-yes, they worship.

⁷They bear it on the shoulder, they carry it, and set it in its place, and it stands, from its place it shall not move: yes, one may cry to it, yet it can not answer, nor save him out of his trouble.

⁸"Remember this, and show yourselves men; bring it again to mind, you transgressors.

⁹Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me;

¹⁰declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done; saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure;

¹¹calling a ravenous bird from the east, the man of my counsel from a far country; yes, I have spoken, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed, I will also do it.

¹²Listen to me, you stout-hearted, who are far from righteousness:

¹³I bring near my righteousness, it shall not be far off, and my salvation shall not wait; and I will place salvation in Zion for Israel my glory.

¹I was glad when they said to me, "Let's go to the Lord's house!"

²Our feet are standing within your gates, Jerusalem;

³Jerusalem, that is built as a city that is compact together;

⁴where the tribes go up, even the tribes of Yah, according to an ordinance for Israel, to give thanks to the name of the Lord.

⁵For there are set thrones for judgment, the thrones of David's house.

⁶Pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Those who love you will prosper.

⁷Peace be within your walls, and prosperity within your palaces.

⁸For my brothers' and companions' sakes, I will now say, "Peace be within you."

⁹For the sake of the house of the Lord our God, I will seek your good.

¹Do not be envious of evil men; neither desire to be with them:

²for their hearts plot violence, and their lips talk about mischief.

³Through wisdom a house is built; by understanding it is established;

⁴by knowledge the rooms are filled with all rare and beautiful treasure.

⁵A wise man has great power; and a knowledgeable man increases strength;

⁶for by wise guidance you wage your war; and victory is in many advisors.

⁷Wisdom is too high for a fool: he doesn't open his mouth in the gate.

⁸One who plots to do evil will be called a schemer.

⁹The schemes of folly are sin. The mocker is detested by men.

¹⁰If you falter in the time of trouble, your strength is small.

¹¹Rescue those who are being led away to death! Indeed, hold back those who are staggering to the slaughter!

¹²If you say, "Behold, we did not know this;" doesn't he who weighs the hearts consider it? He who keeps your soul, doesn't he know it? Shall he not render to every man according to his work?

¹³My son, eat honey, for it is good; the droppings of the honeycomb, which are sweet to your taste:

¹⁴so you shall know wisdom to be to your soul; if you have found it, then there will be a reward, your hope will not be cut off.

¹⁵Do not lie in wait, wicked man, against the habitation of the righteous. Do not destroy his resting place:

¹⁶for a righteous man falls seven times, and rises up again; but the wicked are overthrown by calamity.

¹⁷Do not rejoice when your enemy falls. Do not let your heart be glad when he is overthrown;

¹⁸lest the Lord see it, and it displease him, and he turn away his wrath from him.

¹⁹Do not fret yourself because of evildoers; neither be envious of the wicked:

²⁰for there will be no reward to the evil man; and the lamp of the wicked shall be snuffed out.

²¹My son, fear the Lord and the king. Do not join those who are rebellious:

²²for their calamity will rise suddenly; the destruction from them both-who knows?

²³These also are sayings of the wise. To show partiality in judgment is not good.

²⁴He who says to the wicked, "You are righteous;" peoples shall curse him, and nations shall abhor him-

²⁵but it will go well with those who convict the guilty, and a rich blessing will come on them.

²⁶An honest answer is like a kiss on the lips.

²⁷Prepare your work outside, and get your fields ready. Afterwards, build your house.

²⁸Do not be a witness against your neighbor without cause. Do not deceive with your lips.

²⁹Do not say, "I will do to him as he has done to me; I will render to the man according to his work."

³⁰I went by the field of the sluggard, by the vineyard of the man void of understanding;

³¹Behold, it was all grown over with thorns. Its surface was covered with nettles, and its stone wall was broken down.

³²Then I saw, and considered well. I saw, and received instruction:

³³a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep;

³⁴so your poverty will come as a robber, and your want as an armed man.