Day 563 of 730

¹For I desire to have you know how greatly I struggle for you, and for those at Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh;

²that their hearts may be comforted, they being knit together in love, and gaining all riches of the full assurance of understanding, that they may know the mystery of God, which is Christ,

³in whom are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge hidden.

⁴Now this I say that no one may delude you with persuasiveness of speech.

⁵For though I am absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit, rejoicing and seeing your order, and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ.

⁶As therefore you received Christ Jesus, the Lord, walk in him,

⁷rooted and built up in him, and established in the faith, even as you were taught, abounding in it in thanksgiving.

⁸Be careful that you do not let anyone rob you through his philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the elements of the world, and not after Christ.

⁹For in him all the fullness of God's nature dwells bodily,

¹⁰and in him you are made full, who is the head of all principality and power;

¹¹in whom you were also circumcised with a circumcision not made with hands, in the putting off of the body of the flesh, in the circumcision of Christ;

¹²having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.

¹³You were dead through your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh. He made you alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses,

¹⁴wiping out the handwriting in ordinances which was against us; and he has taken it out of the way, nailing it to the cross;

¹⁵having stripped the principalities and the powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it.

¹⁶Let no man therefore judge you in eating, or in drinking, or with respect to a feast day or a new moon or a Sabbath day,

¹⁷which are a shadow of the things to come; but the body is Christ's.

¹⁸Let no one rob you of your prize by a voluntary humility and worshipping of the angels, dwelling in the things which he has seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind,

¹⁹and not holding firmly to the Head, from whom all the body, being supplied and knit together through the joints and ligaments, grows with God's growth.

²⁰If you died with Christ from the elements of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to ordinances,

²¹"Do not handle, nor taste, nor touch"

²²(all of which perish with use), according to the precepts and doctrines of men?

²³Which things indeed appear like wisdom in self-imposed worship, and humility, and severity to the body; but are not of any value against the indulgence of the flesh.

¹Praise Yah! Praise, you servants of the Lord, praise the name of the Lord.

²Blessed be the name of the Lord, from this time forth and forevermore.

³From the rising of the sun to the going down of the same, The Lord's name is to be praised.

⁴The Lord is high above all nations, his glory above the heavens.

⁵Who is like the Lord, our God, who has his seat on high,

⁶Who stoops down to see in heaven and in the earth?

⁷He raises up the poor out of the dust. Lifts up the needy from the ash heap;

⁸that he may set him with princes, even with the princes of his people.

⁹He settles the barren woman in her home, as a joyful mother of children. Praise Yah!

¹My son, pay attention to my wisdom. Turn your ear to my understanding:

²that you may maintain discretion, that your lips may preserve knowledge.

³For the lips of an adulteress drip honey. Her mouth is smoother than oil,

⁴But in the end she is as bitter as wormwood, and as sharp as a two-edged sword.

⁵Her feet go down to death. Her steps lead straight to Sheol.

⁶She gives no thought to the way of life. Her ways are crooked, and she doesn't know it.

⁷Now therefore, my sons, listen to me. Do not depart from the words of my mouth.

⁸Remove your way far from her. Do not come near the door of her house,

⁹lest you give your honor to others, and your years to the cruel one;

¹⁰lest strangers feast on your wealth, and your labors enrich another man's house.

¹¹You will groan at your latter end, when your flesh and your body are consumed,

¹²and say, "How I have hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof;

¹³neither have I obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor turned my ear to those who instructed me!

¹⁴I have come to the brink of utter ruin, in the midst of the gathered assembly."

¹⁵Drink water out of your own cistern, running water out of your own well.

¹⁶Should your springs overflow in the streets, streams of water in the public squares?

¹⁷Let them be for yourself alone, not for strangers with you.

¹⁸Let your spring be blessed. Rejoice in the wife of your youth.

¹⁹A loving doe and a graceful deer- let her breasts satisfy you at all times. Be captivated always with her love.

²⁰For why should you, my son, be captivated with an adulteress? Why embrace the bosom of another?

²¹For the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord. He examines all his paths.

²²The evil deeds of the wicked ensnare him. The cords of his sin hold him firmly.

²³He will die for lack of instruction. In the greatness of his folly, he will go astray.