Day 254 of 365

¹This is what Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.

²It shall happen in the latter days, that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be raised above the hills; and all nations shall flow to it.

³Many peoples shall go and say, "Come, let's go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths." For out of Zion the law shall go forth, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

⁴He will judge between the nations, and will decide concerning many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.

⁵House of Jacob, come, and let us walk in the light of the Lord.

⁶For you have forsaken your people, the house of Jacob, because they are filled from the east, with those who practice divination like the Philistines, and they clasp hands with the children of foreigners.

⁷Their land is full of silver and gold, neither is there any end of their treasures. Their land also is full of horses, neither is there any end of their chariots.

⁸Their land also is full of idols. They worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made.

⁹Man is brought low, and mankind is humbled; therefore do not forgive them.

¹⁰Enter into the rock, and hide in the dust, from before the terror of the Lord, and from the glory of his majesty.

¹¹The lofty looks of man will be brought low, the haughtiness of men will be bowed down, and the Lord alone will be exalted in that day.

¹²For there will be a day of the Lord of hosts for all that is proud and haughty, and for all that is lifted up; and it shall be brought low:

¹³For all the cedars of Lebanon, that are high and lifted up, for all the oaks of Bashan,

¹⁴For all the high mountains, for all the hills that are lifted up,

¹⁵For every lofty tower, for every fortified wall,

¹⁶For all the ships of Tarshish, and for all pleasant imagery.

¹⁷The loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be brought low; and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day.

¹⁸The idols shall utterly pass away.

¹⁹Men shall go into the caves of the rocks, and into the holes of the earth, from before the terror of the Lord, and from the glory of his majesty, when he arises to shake the earth mightily.

²⁰In that day, men shall cast away their idols of silver, and their idols of gold, which have been made for themselves to worship, to the moles and to the bats;

²¹To go into the caverns of the rocks, and into the clefts of the ragged rocks, from before the terror of the Lord, and from the glory of his majesty, when he arises to shake the earth mightily.

²²Stop trusting in man, whose breath is in his nostrils; for of what account is he?

¹For, behold, the Lord, the Lord of hosts, takes away from Jerusalem and from Judah supply and support, the whole supply of bread, and the whole supply of water;

²the mighty man, the man of war, the judge, the prophet, the diviner, the elder,

³the captain of fifty, the honorable man, the counselor, the skilled craftsman, and the clever enchanter.

⁴I will give boys to be their princes, and children shall rule over them.

⁵The people will be oppressed, everyone by another, and everyone by his neighbor. The child will behave himself proudly against the old man, and the base against the honorable.

⁶Indeed a man shall take hold of his brother in the house of his father, saying, "You have clothing, you be our ruler, and let this ruin be under your hand."

⁷In that day he will cry out, saying, I will not be a healer; for in my house is neither bread nor clothing. You shall not make me ruler of the people.

⁸For Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is fallen; because their tongue and their doings are against the Lord, to provoke the eyes of his glory.

⁹The look of their faces testify against them. They parade their sin like Sodom. They do not hide it. Woe to their soul! For they have brought disaster upon themselves.

¹⁰Tell the righteous "Good!" For they shall eat the fruit of their deeds.

¹¹Woe to the wicked! Disaster is upon them; for the deeds of his hands will be paid back to him.

¹²As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. My people, those who lead you cause you to err, and destroy the way of your paths.

¹³The Lord stands up to contend, and stands to judge the peoples.

¹⁴The Lord will enter into judgment with the elders of his people, and their leaders: "It is you who have eaten up the vineyard. The spoil of the poor is in your houses.

¹⁵What do you mean that you crush my people, and grind the face of the poor?" says the Lord, the Lord of hosts.

¹⁶Moreover the Lord said, "Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, and walk with outstretched necks and flirting eyes, walking to trip as they go, jingling ornaments on their feet;

¹⁷therefore the Lord brings sores on the crown of the head of the women of Zion, and the Lord will make their scalps bald."

¹⁸In that day the Lord will take away the beauty of their anklets, the headbands, the crescent necklaces,

¹⁹the earrings, the bracelets, the veils,

²⁰the headdresses, the ankle chains, the sashes, the perfume bottles, the charms,

²¹the signet rings, the nose rings,

²²the fine robes, the capes, the cloaks, the purses,

²³the hand mirrors, the fine linen garments, the tiaras, and the shawls.

²⁴It shall happen that instead of sweet spices, there shall be rottenness; instead of a belt, a rope; instead of well set hair, baldness; instead of a robe, a girding of sackcloth; and branding instead of beauty.

²⁵Your men shall fall by the sword, and your mighty in the war.

²⁶Her gates shall lament and mourn; and she shall be desolate and sit on the ground.

¹Seven women shall take hold of one man in that day, saying, "We will eat our own bread, and wear our own clothing: only let us be called by your name. Take away our reproach."

²In that day, the Lord's branch will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land will be the beauty and glory of the survivors of Israel.

³It will happen, that he who is left in Zion, and he who remains in Jerusalem, shall be called holy, even everyone who is written among the living in Jerusalem;

⁴when the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from its midst, by the spirit of justice, and by the spirit of burning.

⁵The Lord will create over the whole habitation of Mount Zion, and over her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night; for over all the glory will be a canopy.

⁶There will be a pavilion for a shade in the daytime from the heat, and for a refuge and for a shelter from storm and from rain.

¹Bless the Lord, my soul. The Lord, my God, you are very great. You are clothed with honor and majesty.

²He covers himself with light as with a garment. He stretches out the heavens like a curtain.

³He lays the beams of his chambers in the waters. He makes the clouds his chariot. He walks on the wings of the wind.

⁴He makes his angels winds; his servants flames of fire.

⁵He laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not be moved forever.

⁶You covered it with the deep as with a cloak. The waters stood above the mountains.

⁷At your rebuke they fled. At the voice of your thunder they hurried away.

⁸The mountains rose, the valleys sank down, to the place which you had assigned to them.

⁹You have set a boundary that they may not pass over; that they do not turn again to cover the earth.

¹⁰He sends forth springs into the valleys. They run among the mountains.

¹¹They give drink to every animal of the field. The wild donkeys quench their thirst.

¹²The birds of the sky nest by them. They sing among the branches.

¹³He waters the mountains from his chambers. The earth is filled with the fruit of your works.

¹⁴He causes the grass to grow for the livestock, and plants for man to cultivate, that he may bring forth food out of the earth:

¹⁵wine that makes glad the heart of man, oil to make his face to shine, and bread that strengthens man's heart.

¹⁶The Lord's trees are well watered, the cedars of Lebanon, which he has planted;

¹⁷where the birds make their nests. The stork makes its home in the fir trees.

¹⁸The high mountains are for the wild goats. The rocks are a refuge for the rock badgers.

¹⁹He appointed the moon for seasons. The sun knows when to set.

²⁰You make darkness, and it is night, in which all the animals of the forest prowl.

²¹The young lions roar after their prey, and seek their food from God.

²²The sun rises, and they steal away, and lie down in their dens.

²³Man goes forth to his work, to his labor until the evening.

²⁴The Lord, how many are your works! In wisdom have you made them all. The earth is full of your riches.

²⁵There is the sea, great and wide, in which are innumerable living things, both small and large animals.

²⁶There the ships go, and leviathan, whom you formed to play there.

²⁷These all wait for you, that you may give them their food in due season.

²⁸You give to them; they gather. You open your hand; they are satisfied with good.

²⁹You hide your face: they are troubled; you take away their breath: they die, and return to the dust.

³⁰You send forth your Spirit: they are created. You renew the face of the ground.

³¹Let the glory of the Lord endure forever. Let the Lord rejoice in his works.

³²He looks at the earth, and it trembles. He touches the mountains, and they smoke.

³³I will sing to the Lord as long as I live. I will sing praise to my God while I have any being.

³⁴Let your meditation be sweet to him. I will rejoice in the Lord.

³⁵Let sinners be consumed out of the earth. Let the wicked be no more. Bless the Lord, my soul. Praise the Lord!

¹My son, if you have become collateral for your neighbor, if you have struck your hands in pledge for a stranger;

²You are trapped by the words of your mouth. You are ensnared with the words of your mouth.

³Do this now, my son, and deliver yourself, seeing you have come into the hand of your neighbor. Go, humble yourself. Press your plea with your neighbor.

⁴Give no sleep to your eyes, nor slumber to your eyelids.

⁵Free yourself, like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, like a bird from the snare of the fowler.

⁶Go to the ant, you sluggard. Consider her ways, and be wise;

⁷which having no chief, overseer, or ruler,

⁸provides her bread in the summer, and gathers her food in the harvest.

⁹How long will you sleep, sluggard? When will you arise out of your sleep?

¹⁰A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep:

¹¹so your poverty will come as a robber, and your scarcity as an armed man.

¹²A worthless person, a man of iniquity, is he who walks with a perverse mouth;

¹³who winks with his eyes, who signals with his feet, who motions with his fingers;

¹⁴in whose heart is perverseness, who devises evil continually, who always sows discord.

¹⁵Therefore his calamity will come suddenly. He will be broken suddenly, and that without remedy.

¹⁶There are six things which the Lord hates; yes, seven which are an abomination to him:

¹⁷haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood;

¹⁸a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are swift in running to mischief,

¹⁹a false witness who utters lies, and he who sows discord among brothers.

²⁰My son, keep your father's commandment, and do not forsake your mother's teaching.

²¹Bind them continually on your heart. Tie them around your neck.

²²When you walk, it will lead you. When you sleep, it will watch over you. When you awake, it will talk with you.

²³For the commandment is a lamp, and the Law is light. Reproofs of instruction are the way of life,

²⁴to keep you from the immoral woman, from the flattery of the wayward wife's tongue.

²⁵Do not lust after her beauty in your heart, neither let her captivate you with her eyelids.

²⁶For a prostitute reduces you to a piece of bread. The adulteress hunts for your precious life.

²⁷Can a man scoop fire into his lap, and his clothes not be burned?

²⁸Or can one walk on hot coals, and his feet not be scorched?

²⁹So is he who goes in to his neighbor's wife. Whoever touches her will not be unpunished.

³⁰Men do not despise a thief, if he steals to satisfy himself when he is hungry:

³¹but if he is found, he shall restore seven times. He shall give all the wealth of his house.

³²He who commits adultery with a woman is void of understanding. He who does it destroys his own soul.

³³He will get wounds and dishonor. His reproach will not be wiped away.

³⁴For jealousy arouses the fury of the husband. He won't spare in the day of vengeance.

³⁵He won't regard any ransom, neither will he rest content, though you give many gifts.