Day 271 of 365

¹Who has believed our message? To whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?

²For he grew up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground. He has no form nor comeliness. When we see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.

³He was despised, and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering; as one from whom men hide their face, and we despised him and we did not value him.

⁴Surely he has borne our sufferings, and carried our sorrows; yet we considered him plagued, struck by God, and afflicted.

⁵But he was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. The punishment that brought our peace was on him; and by his wounds we are healed.

⁶All we like sheep have gone astray. Everyone has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

⁷He was oppressed, yet when he was afflicted he did not open his mouth. As a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and as a sheep that before its shearers is mute, so he did not open his mouth.

⁸He was taken away by oppression and judgment; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living and stricken for the disobedience of my people?

⁹They made his grave with the wicked, and with a rich man in his death; although he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.

¹⁰Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him. He has caused him to suffer. When you make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his offspring. He shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.

¹¹After the suffering of his soul, he will see light and be satisfied. By his knowledge shall my servant, the righteous one, make many righteous, and he will bear their iniquities.

¹²Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he poured out his soul to death, and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sins of many, and made intercession for their transgressions.

¹"Sing, barren, you who did not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, you who did not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than of her that has a husband," says the Lord.

²"Enlarge the place of your tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of your habitations; do not spare: lengthen your cords, and strengthen your stakes.

³For you shall spread out on the right hand and on the left; and your seed shall possess the nations, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited.

⁴"Do not be afraid; for you shall not be ashamed: neither be confounded; for you shall not be disappointed: for you shall forget the shame of your youth; and the reproach of your widowhood you shall remember no more.

⁵For your Maker is your husband; the Lord of hosts is his name: and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; the God of the whole earth shall he be called.

⁶For the Lord has called you as a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit, even a wife of youth, when she is cast off," says your God.

⁷"For a small moment have I forsaken you; but with great mercies will I gather you.

⁸In overflowing wrath I hid my face from you for a moment; but with everlasting loving kindness will I have mercy on you," says the Lord your Redeemer.

⁹"For this is like the waters of Noah to me; for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah shall no more go over the earth, so have I sworn that I will not be angry with you, nor rebuke you.

¹⁰For the mountains may depart, and the hills be removed; but my loving kindness shall not depart from you, neither shall my covenant of peace be removed," says the Lord who has mercy on you.

¹¹"You afflicted, tossed with storms, and not comforted, behold, I will set your stones in beautiful colors, and lay your foundations with sapphires.

¹²I will make your pinnacles of rubies, and your gates of sparkling jewels, and all your walls of precious stones.

¹³All your children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of your children.

¹⁴In righteousness you shall be established: you shall be far from oppression, for you shall not be afraid; and from terror, for it shall not come near you.

¹⁵Behold, they may gather together, but not by me: whoever shall gather together against you shall fall because of you.

¹⁶"Behold, I have created the smith who blows the fire of coals, and brings forth a weapon for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy.

¹⁷No weapon that is formed against you will prevail; and you will condemn every tongue that rises against you in judgment. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness which is of me," says the Lord.

¹"Come, everyone who thirsts, to the waters! Come, he who has no money, buy, and eat! Yes, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.

²Why do you spend money for that which is not bread? and your labor for that which doesn't satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat you that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.

³Turn your ear, and come to me; hear, and your soul shall live: and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.

⁴Behold, I have given him for a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander to the peoples.

⁵Behold, you shall call a nation that you do not know; and a nation that did not know you shall run to you, because of the Lord your God, and for the Holy One of Israel; for he has glorified you."

⁶Seek the Lord while he may be found; call you on him while he is near:

⁷let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return to the Lord, and he will have mercy on him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

⁸"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," says the Lord.

⁹"For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

¹⁰For as the rain comes down and the snow from the sky, and doesn't return there, but waters the earth, and makes it bring forth and bud, and gives seed to the sower and bread to the eater;

¹¹so shall my word be that goes forth out of my mouth: it shall not return to me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing I sent it to do.

¹²For you shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing; and all the trees of the fields shall clap their hands.

¹³Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree; and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree: and it shall be to the Lord for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off."

¹I will lift up my eyes to the hills. Where does my help come from?

²My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.

³He will not allow your foot to be moved. He who keeps you will not slumber.

⁴Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.

⁵The Lord is your keeper. The Lord is your shade on your right hand.

⁶The sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night.

⁷The Lord will keep you from all evil. He will keep your soul.

⁸The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in, from this time forth, and forevermore.

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."