Day 705 of 730

¹Give thanks to the Lord! Call on his name! Make his doings known among the peoples.

²Sing to him, sing praises to him! Tell of all his marvelous works.

³Glory in his holy name. Let the heart of those who seek the Lord rejoice.

⁴Seek the Lord and his strength. Seek his face forever more.

⁵Remember his marvelous works that he has done; his wonders, and the judgments of his mouth,

⁶you seed of Abraham, his servant, you children of Jacob, his chosen ones.

⁷He is the Lord, our God. His judgments are in all the earth.

⁸He has remembered his covenant forever, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations,

⁹the covenant which he made with Abraham, his oath to Isaac,

¹⁰and confirmed the same to Jacob for a statute; to Israel for an everlasting covenant,

¹¹saying, "To you I will give the land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance;"

¹²when they were but a few men in number, yes, very few, and foreigners in it.

¹³They went about from nation to nation, from one kingdom to another people.

¹⁴He allowed no one to do them wrong. Yes, he reproved kings for their sakes,

¹⁵"Do not touch my anointed ones! Do my prophets no harm!"

¹⁶He called for a famine on the land. He destroyed the food supplies.

¹⁷He sent a man before them. Joseph was sold for a slave.

¹⁸They bruised his feet with shackles. His neck was locked in irons,

¹⁹until the time that his word happened, and the Lord's word proved him true.

²⁰The king sent and freed him; even the ruler of peoples, and let him go free.

²¹He made him lord of his house, and ruler of all of his possessions;

²²to discipline his princes at his pleasure, and to teach his elders wisdom.

²³Israel also came into Egypt. Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham.

²⁴He increased his people greatly, and made them stronger than their adversaries.

²⁵He turned their heart to hate his people, to conspire against his servants.

²⁶He sent Moses, his servant, and Aaron, whom he had chosen.

²⁷They performed miracles among them, and wonders in the land of Ham.

²⁸He sent darkness, and made it dark. They did not rebel against his words.

²⁹He turned their waters into blood, and killed their fish.

³⁰Their land swarmed with frogs, even in the chambers of their kings.

³¹He spoke, and swarms of flies came, and lice in all their borders.

³²He gave them hail for rain, with lightning in their land.

³³He struck their vines and also their fig trees, and shattered the trees of their country.

³⁴He spoke, and the locusts came, and the grasshoppers, without number,

³⁵ate up every plant in their land; and ate up the fruit of their ground.

³⁶He struck also all the firstborn in their land, the first fruits of all their manhood.

³⁷He brought them forth with silver and gold. There was not one feeble person among his tribes.

³⁸Egypt was glad when they departed, for the fear of them had fallen on them.

³⁹He spread a cloud for a covering, fire to give light in the night.

⁴⁰They asked, and he brought quails, and satisfied them with the bread of the sky.

⁴¹He opened the rock, and waters gushed out. They ran as a river in the dry places.

⁴²For he remembered his holy word, and Abraham, his servant.

⁴³He brought forth his people with joy, his chosen with singing.

⁴⁴He gave them the lands of the nations. They took the labor of the peoples in possession,

⁴⁵that they might keep his statutes, and observe his laws. Praise the Lord!

¹When you sit to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what is before you;

²put a knife to your throat, if you are a man given to appetite.

³Do not be desirous of his dainties, seeing they are deceitful food.

⁴Do not weary yourself to be rich. In your wisdom, show restraint.

⁵Why do you set your eyes on that which is not? For it certainly sprouts wings like an eagle and flies in the sky.

⁶Do not eat the food of him who has a stingy eye, and do not crave his delicacies:

⁷for as he thinks about the cost, so he is. "Eat and drink!" he says to you, but his heart is not with you.

⁸The morsel which you have eaten you shall vomit up, and lose your good words.

⁹Do not speak in the ears of a fool, for he will despise the wisdom of your words.

¹⁰Do not move the ancient boundary stone. Do not encroach on the fields of the fatherless:

¹¹for their Defender is strong. He will plead their case against you.

¹²Apply your heart to instruction, and your ears to the words of knowledge.

¹³Do not withhold correction from a child. If you punish him with the rod, he will not die.

¹⁴Punish him with the rod, and save his soul from Sheol.

¹⁵My son, if your heart is wise, then my heart will be glad, even mine:

¹⁶yes, my heart will rejoice, when your lips speak what is right.

¹⁷Do not let your heart envy sinners; but rather fear the Lord all the day long.

¹⁸Indeed surely there is a future hope, and your hope will not be cut off.

¹⁹Listen, my son, and be wise, and keep your heart on the right path!

²⁰Do not be among ones drinking too much wine, or those who gorge themselves on meat:

²¹for the drunkard and the glutton shall become poor; and drowsiness clothes them in rags.

²²Listen to your father who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old.

²³Buy the truth, and do not sell it. Get wisdom, discipline, and understanding.

²⁴The father of the righteous has great joy. Whoever fathers a wise child delights in him.

²⁵Let your father and your mother be glad! Let her who bore you rejoice!

²⁶My son, give me your heart; and let your eyes keep in my ways.

²⁷For a prostitute is a deep pit; and a wayward wife is a narrow well.

²⁸Yes, she lies in wait like a robber, and increases the unfaithful among men.

²⁹Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaints? Who has needless bruises? Who has bloodshot eyes?

³⁰Those who stay long at the wine; those who go to seek out mixed wine.

³¹Do not look at the wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it goes down smoothly.

³²In the end, it bites like a snake, and poisons like a viper.

³³Your eyes will see strange things, and your mind will imagine confusing things.

³⁴Yes, you will be as he who lies down in the midst of the sea, or as he who lies on top of the rigging:

³⁵"They hit me, and I was not hurt! They beat me, and I do not feel it! When will I wake up? I can do it again. I can find another."