Day 363 of 730

¹A prayer of Habakkuk, the prophet, set to victorious music.

²Lord, I have heard of your fame. I stand in awe of your deeds, Lord. Renew your work in the midst of the years. In the midst of the years make it known. In wrath, you remember mercy.

³God came from Teman, the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah. His glory covered the heavens, and his praise filled the earth.

⁴His splendor is like the sunrise. Rays shine from his hand, where his power is hidden.

⁵Plague went before him, and pestilence followed his feet.

⁶He stood, and shook the earth. He looked, and made the nations tremble. The ancient mountains were crumbled. The age-old hills collapsed. His ways are eternal.

⁷I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction. The dwellings of the land of Midian trembled.

⁸Was the Lord displeased with the rivers? Was your anger against the rivers, or your wrath against the sea, that you rode on your horses, on your chariots of salvation?

⁹You uncovered your bow. You called for your sworn arrows. Selah. You split the earth with rivers.

¹⁰The mountains saw you, and were afraid. The storm of waters passed by. The deep roared and lifted up its hands on high.

¹¹The sun and moon stood still in the sky, at the light of your arrows as they went, at the shining of your glittering spear.

¹²You marched through the land in wrath. You threshed the nations in anger.

¹³You went forth for the salvation of your people, for the salvation of your anointed. You crushed the head of the land of wickedness. You stripped them head to foot. Selah.

¹⁴You pierced the heads of his warriors with their own spears. They came as a whirlwind to scatter me, gloating as if to devour the wretched in secret.

¹⁵You trampled the sea with your horses, churning mighty waters.

¹⁶I heard, and my body trembled. My lips quivered at the voice. Rottenness enters into my bones, and I tremble in my place, because I must wait quietly for the day of trouble, for the coming up of the people who invade us.

¹⁷For though the fig tree doesn't flourish, nor fruit be in the vines; the labor of the olive fails, the fields yield no food; the flocks are cut off from the fold, and there is no herd in the stalls:

¹⁸yet I will rejoice in the Lord. I will be joyful in the God of my salvation!

¹⁹The Lord, the Lord, is my strength. He makes my feet like deer's feet, and enables me to go in high places. For the music director, on my stringed instruments.

¹The word of the Lord which came to Zephaniah, the son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah, the son of Amon, king of Judah.

²I will utterly sweep away everything off of the surface of the earth, says the Lord.

³I will sweep away man and animal. I will sweep away the birds of the sky, the fish of the sea, and the heaps of rubble with the wicked. I will cut off man from the surface of the earth, says the Lord.

⁴I will stretch out my hand against Judah, and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem. I will cut off the remnant of Baal from this place: the name of the idolatrous and pagan priests,

⁵those who worship the army of the sky on the housetops, those who worship and swear by the Lord and also swear by Malcam,

⁶those who have turned back from following the Lord, and those who haven't sought the Lord nor inquired after him.

⁷Be silent at the presence of the Lord God, for the day of the Lord is at hand. For the Lord has prepared a sacrifice. He has consecrated his guests.

⁸It will happen in the day of the Lord's sacrifice, that I will punish the princes, the king's sons, and all those who are clothed with foreign clothing.

⁹In that day, I will punish all those who leap over the threshold, who fill their master's house with violence and deceit.

¹⁰In that day, says the Lord, there will be the noise of a cry from the fish gate, a wailing from the second quarter, and a great crashing from the hills.

¹¹Wail, you inhabitants of Maktesh, for all the people of Canaan are undone! All those who were loaded with silver are cut off.

¹²It will happen at that time, that I will search Jerusalem with lamps, and I will punish the men who are settled on their dregs, who say in their heart, "The Lord will not do good, neither will he do evil."

¹³Their wealth will become a spoil, and their houses a desolation. Yes, they will build houses, but won't inhabit them. They will plant vineyards, but won't drink their wine.

¹⁴The great day of the Lord is near. It is near, and hurries greatly, the voice of the day of the Lord. The mighty man cries there bitterly.

¹⁵That day is a day of wrath, a day of distress and anguish, a day of trouble and ruin, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness,

¹⁶a day of the trumpet and alarm, against the fortified cities, and against the high battlements.

¹⁷I will bring distress on men, that they will walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the Lord, and their blood will be poured out like dust, and their flesh like dung.

¹⁸Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to deliver them in the day of the Lord's wrath, but the whole land will be devoured by the fire of his jealousy; for he will make an end, yes, a terrible end, of all those who dwell in the land.

¹God, you are my God. I will earnestly seek you. My soul thirsts for you. My flesh longs for you, in a dry and weary land, where there is no water.

²So I have seen you in the sanctuary, watching your power and your glory.

³Because your loving kindness is better than life, my lips shall praise you.

⁴So I will bless you while I live. I will lift up my hands in your name.

⁵My soul shall be satisfied as with the richest food. My mouth shall praise you with joyful lips,

⁶when I remember you on my bed, and think about you in the night watches.

⁷For you have been my help. I will rejoice in the shadow of your wings.

⁸My soul stays close to you. Your right hand holds me up.

⁹But those who seek my soul, to destroy it, shall go into the lower parts of the earth.

¹⁰They shall be given over to the power of the sword. They shall be jackal food.

¹¹But the king shall rejoice in God. Everyone who swears by him will praise him, for the mouth of those who speak lies shall be silenced.

¹A good name is more desirable than great riches, and loving favor is better than silver and gold.

²The rich and the poor have this in common: The Lord is the maker of them all.

³A prudent man sees danger, and hides himself; but the simple pass on, and suffer for it.

⁴The result of humility and the fear of the Lord is wealth, honor, and life.

⁵Thorns and snares are in the path of the wicked: whoever guards his soul stays from them.

⁶Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.

⁷The rich rule over the poor. The borrower is servant to the lender.

⁸He who sows wickedness reaps trouble, and the rod of his fury will be destroyed.

⁹He who has a generous eye will be blessed; for he shares his food with the poor.

¹⁰Drive out the mocker, and strife will go out; yes, quarrels and insults will stop.

¹¹He who loves purity of heart and speaks gracefully is the king's friend.

¹²The eyes of the Lord watch over knowledge; but he frustrates the words of the unfaithful.

¹³The sluggard says, "There is a lion outside! I will be killed in the streets!"

¹⁴The mouth of an adulteress is a deep pit: he who is under the Lord's wrath will fall into it.

¹⁵Folly is bound up in the heart of a child: the rod of discipline drives it far from him.

¹⁶Whoever oppresses the poor for his own increase and whoever gives to the rich, both come to poverty.

¹⁷Turn your ear, and listen to the words of the wise. Apply your heart to my teaching.

¹⁸For it is a pleasant thing if you keep them within you, if all of them are ready on your lips.

¹⁹That your trust may be in the Lord, I teach you today, even you.

²⁰Haven't I written to you thirty excellent things of counsel and knowledge,

²¹To teach you truth, reliable words, to give sound answers to the ones who sent you?

²²Do not exploit the poor, because he is poor; and do not crush the needy in court;

²³for the Lord will plead their case, and plunder the life of those who plunder them.

²⁴Do not befriend a hot-tempered man, and do not associate with one who harbors anger:

²⁵lest you learn his ways, and ensnare your soul.

²⁶Do not be one of those who strike hands, of those who are collateral for debts.

²⁷If you do not have means to pay, why should he take away your bed from under you?

²⁸Do not move the ancient boundary stone, which your fathers have set up.

²⁹Do you see a man skilled in his work? He will serve kings. He won't serve obscure men.