Day 382 of 730

¹"Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me; and the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, behold, he comes!" says the Lord of hosts.

²"But who can endure the day of his coming? And who will stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner's fire, and like launderer's soap;

³and he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi, and refine them as gold and silver; and they shall offer to the Lord offerings in righteousness.

⁴Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasant to the Lord, as in the days of old, and as in ancient years.

⁵I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against the perjurers, and against those who oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and who deprive the foreigner of justice, and do not fear me," says the Lord of hosts.

⁶"For I, the Lord, do not change; therefore you, sons of Jacob, are not consumed.

⁷From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my ordinances, and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you," says the Lord of hosts. "But you say, 'How shall we return?'

⁸Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me! But you say, 'How have we robbed you?' In tithes and offerings.

⁹You are cursed with the curse; for you rob me, even this whole nation.

¹⁰Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house, and test me now in this," says the Lord of hosts, "if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough for.

¹¹I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast its fruit before its time in the field," says the Lord of hosts.

¹²"All nations shall call you blessed, for you will be a delightful land," says the Lord of hosts.

¹³"Your words have been stout against me," says the Lord. "Yet you say, 'What have we spoken against you?'

¹⁴You have said, 'It is vain to serve God;' and 'What profit is it that we have followed his instructions, and that we have walked mournfully before the Lord of hosts?

¹⁵Now we call the proud happy; yes, those who work wickedness are built up; yes, they tempt God, and escape.'

¹⁶Then those who feared the Lord spoke one with another; and the Lord listened, and heard, and a book of memory was written before him, for those who feared the Lord, and who honored his name.

¹⁷They shall be mine," says the Lord of hosts, "my own possession in the day that I make, and I will spare them, as a man spares his own son who serves him.

¹⁸Then you shall return and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him who serves God and him who doesn't serve him.

¹God presides in the great assembly. He judges among the gods.

²"How long will you judge unjustly, and show partiality to the wicked?" Selah.

³"Defend the weak, the poor, and the fatherless. Maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed.

⁴Rescue the weak and needy. Deliver them out of the hand of the wicked."

⁵They do not know, neither do they understand. They walk back and forth in darkness. All the foundations of the earth are shaken.

⁶I said, "You are gods, all of you are sons of the Most High.

⁷Nevertheless you shall die like men, and fall like one of the rulers."

⁸Arise, God, judge the earth, for you inherit all of the nations.

¹The proverbs of Solomon. A wise son makes a glad father; but a foolish son brings grief to his mother.

²Treasures of wickedness profit nothing, but righteousness delivers from death.

³The Lord will not allow the soul of the righteous to go hungry, but he thrusts away the desire of the wicked.

⁴He becomes poor who works with a lazy hand, but the hand of the diligent brings wealth.

⁵He who gathers in summer is a wise son, but he who sleeps during the harvest is a son who causes shame.

⁶Blessings are on the head of the righteous, but violence covers the mouth of the wicked.

⁷The memory of the righteous is blessed, but the name of the wicked will rot.

⁸The wise in heart accept commandments, but a chattering fool will fall.

⁹He who walks blamelessly walks surely, but he who perverts his ways will be found out.

¹⁰One winking with the eye causes sorrow, but a chattering fool will fall.

¹¹The mouth of the righteous is a spring of life, but violence covers the mouth of the wicked.

¹²Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all wrongs.

¹³Wisdom is found on the lips of him who has discernment, but a rod is for the back of him who is void of understanding.

¹⁴Wise men lay up knowledge, but the mouth of the foolish is near ruin.

¹⁵The rich man's wealth is his strong city. The destruction of the poor is their poverty.

¹⁶The labor of the righteous leads to life. The increase of the wicked leads to sin.

¹⁷He is in the way of life who heeds correction, but he who forsakes reproof leads others astray.

¹⁸He who hides hatred has lying lips. He who utters a slander is a fool.

¹⁹In the multitude of words there is no lack of disobedience, but he who restrains his lips does wisely.

²⁰The tongue of the righteous is like choice silver. The heart of the wicked is of little worth.

²¹The lips of the righteous feed many, but the foolish die for lack of understanding.

²²The Lord's blessing brings wealth, and he adds no trouble to it.

²³It is a fool's pleasure to do wickedness, but wisdom is a man of understanding's pleasure.

²⁴What the wicked fear, will overtake them, but the desire of the righteous will be granted.

²⁵When the whirlwind passes, the wicked is no more; but the righteous stand firm forever.

²⁶As vinegar to the teeth, and as smoke to the eyes, so is the sluggard to those who send him.

²⁷The fear of the Lord prolongs days, but the years of the wicked shall be shortened.

²⁸The prospect of the righteous is joy, but the hope of the wicked will perish.

²⁹The way of the Lord is a stronghold to the upright, but it is a destruction to the workers of iniquity.

³⁰The righteous will never be removed, but the wicked will not dwell in the land.

³¹The mouth of the righteous brings forth wisdom, but the perverse tongue will be cut off.

³²The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable, but the mouth of the wicked is perverse.