Day 257 of 365

¹A shoot will come out of the stock of Jesse, and a branch out of his roots will bear fruit.

²The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him: the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.

³His delight will be in the fear of the Lord. He will not judge by the sight of his eyes, neither decide by the hearing of his ears;

⁴but with righteousness he will judge the poor, and decide with equity for the humble of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; and with the breath of his lips he will kill the wicked.

⁵Righteousness will be the belt of his waist, and faithfulness the belt of his waist.

⁶The wolf will live with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the young goat; The calf, the young lion, and the fattened calf together; and a little child will lead them.

⁷The cow and the bear will graze. Their young ones will lie down together. The lion will eat straw like the ox.

⁸The nursing child will play near a cobra's hole, and the weaned child will put his hand on the viper's den.

⁹They will not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.

¹⁰And it shall come to pass in that day that the root of Jesse, that stands for a banner of the peoples; to him shall the nations seek, and his resting place shall be glorious.

¹¹It will happen in that day that the Lord will set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant that is left of his people from Assyria, from Egypt, from Pathros, from Cush, from Elam, from Shinar, from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea.

¹²He will set up a banner for the nations, and will assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.

¹³The envy also of Ephraim will depart, and those who persecute Judah will be cut off. Ephraim won't envy Judah, and Judah won't persecute Ephraim.

¹⁴They will fly down on the shoulders of the Philistines on the west. Together they will plunder the children of the east. They will extend their power over Edom and Moab, and the children of Ammon will obey them.

¹⁵The Lord will utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea; and with his scorching wind he will wave his hand over the River, and will split it into seven streams, and cause men to march over in sandals.

¹⁶There will be a highway for the remnant that is left of his people from Assyria, like there was for Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt.

¹In that day you will say, "I will give thanks to you, the Lord; for though you were angry with me, your anger has turned away and you comfort me.

²Behold, God is my salvation. I will trust, and will not be afraid; for Yah, the Lord, is my strength and song; and he has become my salvation."

³Therefore with joy you will draw water out of the wells of salvation.

⁴In that day you will say, "Give thanks to the Lord! Call on his name. Declare his doings among the peoples. Proclaim that his name is exalted!

⁵Sing to the Lord, for he has done excellent things! Let this be known in all the earth!

⁶Cry aloud and shout, you inhabitant of Zion; for the Holy One of Israel is great in the midst of you!"

¹The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw:

²Set up a banner on the bare mountain! Lift up your voice to them! Wave your hand, that they may go into the gates of the nobles.

³I have commanded my consecrated ones; yes, I have called my mighty men for my anger, even my proudly exulting ones.

⁴The noise of a multitude is in the mountains, as of a great people; the noise of an uproar of the kingdoms of the nations gathered together! The Lord of hosts is mustering the army for the battle.

⁵They come from a far country, from the uttermost part of heaven, even the Lord, and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole land.

⁶Wail; for the day of the Lord is at hand! It will come as destruction from the Almighty.

⁷Therefore all hands will be feeble, and everyone's heart will melt.

⁸They will be dismayed. Pangs and sorrows will seize them. They will be in pain like a woman in labor. They will look in amazement one at another. Their faces will be faces of flame.

⁹Behold, the day of the Lord comes, cruel, with wrath and fierce anger; to make the land a desolation, and to destroy its sinners out of it.

¹⁰For the stars of the sky and its constellations will not give their light. The sun will be darkened in its going forth, and the moon will not cause its light to shine.

¹¹I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity. I will cause the arrogance of the proud to cease, and will humble the haughtiness of the terrible.

¹²I will make people more rare than fine gold, even a person than the pure gold of Ophir.

¹³Therefore I will make the heavens tremble, and the earth will be shaken out of its place in the wrath of the Lord of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger.

¹⁴It will happen that like a hunted gazelle, and like sheep that no one gathers, they will each turn to their own people, and will each flee to their own land.

¹⁵Everyone who is found will be thrust through. Everyone who is captured will fall by the sword.

¹⁶Their infants also will be dashed in pieces before their eyes. Their houses will be ransacked, and their wives raped.

¹⁷Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, who will not value silver, and as for gold, they will not delight in it.

¹⁸Their bows will dash the young men in pieces; and they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb. Their eyes will not spare children.

¹⁹Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldeans' pride, will be like when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.

²⁰It will never be inhabited, neither will it be lived in from generation to generation. The Arabian will not pitch a tent there, neither will shepherds make their flocks lie down there.

²¹But wild animals of the desert will lie there, and their houses will be full of jackals. Ostriches will dwell there, and wild goats will frolic there.

²²Wolves will cry in their castles, and jackals in the pleasant palaces. Her time is near to come, and her days will not be prolonged.

¹Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his loving kindness endures forever.

²Let the redeemed by the Lord say so, whom he has redeemed from the hand of the adversary,

³And gathered out of the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south.

⁴They wandered in the wilderness in a desert way. They found no city to live in.

⁵Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them.

⁶Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them out of their distresses,

⁷he led them also by a straight way, that they might go to a city to live in.

⁸Let them praise the Lord for his loving kindness, for his wonderful works to the children of men!

⁹For he satisfies the longing soul. He fills the hungry soul with good.

¹⁰Some sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron,

¹¹because they rebelled against the words of God, and condemned the counsel of the Most High.

¹²Therefore he brought down their heart with labor. They fell down, and there was none to help.

¹³Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he saved them out of their distresses.

¹⁴He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and broke their bonds in sunder.

¹⁵Let them praise the Lord for his loving kindness, for his wonderful works to the children of men!

¹⁶For he has broken the gates of brass, and cut through bars of iron.

¹⁷Fools are afflicted because of their disobedience, and because of their iniquities.

¹⁸Their soul abhors all kinds of food. They draw near to the gates of death.

¹⁹Then they cry to the Lord in their trouble, he saves them out of their distresses.

²⁰He sends his word, and heals them, and delivers them from their graves.

²¹Let them praise the Lord for his loving kindness, for his wonderful works to the children of men!

²²Let them offer the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his works with singing.

²³Those who go down to the sea in ships, who do business in great waters;

²⁴These see the Lord's works, and his wonders in the deep.

²⁵For he commands, and raises the stormy wind, which lifts up its waves.

²⁶They mount up to the sky; they go down again to the depths. Their soul melts away because of trouble.

²⁷They reel back and forth, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits' end.

²⁸Then they cry to the Lord in their trouble, and he brings them out of their distress.

²⁹He makes the storm a calm, so that its waves are still.

³⁰Then they are glad because it is calm, so he brings them to their desired haven.

³¹Let them praise the Lord for his loving kindness, for his wonderful works for the children of men!

³²Let them exalt him also in the assembly of the people, and praise him in the seat of the elders.

³³He turns rivers into a desert, water springs into a thirsty ground,

³⁴and a fruitful land into a salt waste, for the wickedness of those who dwell in it.

³⁵He turns a desert into a pool of water, and a dry land into water springs.

³⁶There he makes the hungry live, that they may prepare a city to live in,

³⁷sow fields, plant vineyards, and reap the fruits of increase.

³⁸He blesses them also, so that they are multiplied greatly. He doesn't allow their livestock to decrease.

³⁹Again, they are diminished and bowed down through oppression, trouble, and sorrow.

⁴⁰He pours contempt on princes, and causes them to wander in a trackless waste.

⁴¹Yet he lifts the needy out of their affliction, and increases their families like a flock.

⁴²The upright will see it, and be glad. All the wicked will shut their mouths.

⁴³Whoever is wise will pay attention to these things. They will consider the loving kindnesses of the Lord.

¹Wisdom has built her house. She has carved out her seven pillars.

²She has prepared her meat. She has mixed her wine. She has also set her table.

³She has sent out her maidens. She cries from the highest places of the city:

⁴"Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!" As for him who is void of understanding, she says to him,

⁵"Come, eat some of my bread, Drink some of the wine which I have mixed!

⁶Leave your simple ways, and live. Walk in the way of understanding."

⁷He who corrects a mocker invites insult. He who reproves a wicked man invites abuse.

⁸Do not reprove a scoffer, lest he hate you. Reprove a wise man, and he will love you.

⁹Instruct a wise man, and he will be still wiser. Teach a righteous man, and he will increase in learning.

¹⁰The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. The knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

¹¹For by me your days will be multiplied. The years of your life will be increased.

¹²If you are wise, you are wise for yourself. If you mock, you alone will bear it.

¹³The foolish woman is loud, Undisciplined, and knows nothing.

¹⁴She sits at the door of her house, on a seat in the high places of the city,

¹⁵To call to those who pass by, who go straight on their ways,

¹⁶"Whoever is simple, let him turn in here." as for him who is void of understanding, she says to him,

¹⁷"Stolen water is sweet. Food eaten in secret is pleasant."

¹⁸But he doesn't know that the dead are there, that her guests are in the depths of Sheol.