Day 272 of 365

¹Thus says the Lord, "Keep justice, and do righteousness; for my salvation is near to come, and my righteousness to be revealed.

²Blessed is the man who does this, and the son of man who holds it fast; who keeps the Sabbath from profaning it, and keeps his hand from doing any evil."

³Neither let the foreigner, who has joined himself to the Lord, speak, saying, "The Lord will surely separate me from his people"; neither let the eunuch say, "Behold, I am a dry tree."

⁴For thus says the Lord, "To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, and choose the things that please me, and hold fast my covenant:

⁵to them I will give in my house and within my walls a memorial and a name better than of sons and of daughters; I will give them an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off.

⁶Also the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord, to minister to him, and to love the name of the Lord, to be his servants, everyone who keeps the Sabbath from profaning it, and holds fast my covenant;

⁷even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted on my altar; for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples."

⁸The Lord God, who gathers the outcasts of Israel, says, "Yet will I gather others to him, besides his own who are gathered."

⁹All you animals of the field, come to devour, all you animals in the forest.

¹⁰His watchmen are blind, they are all without knowledge; they are all mute dogs, they can't bark; dreaming, lying down, loving to slumber.

¹¹Yes, the dogs are greedy, they can never have enough; and these are shepherds who can't understand: they have all turned to their own way, each one to his gain, from every quarter.

¹²"Come," say they, "I will get wine, and we will fill ourselves with strong drink; and tomorrow shall be as this day, great beyond measure."

¹The righteous perishes, and no man lays it to heart; and merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil.

²He enters into peace; they rest in their beds, each one who walks in his uprightness.

³"But draw near here, you sons of the sorceress, the seed of the adulterer and the prostitute.

⁴Against whom do you sport yourselves? Against whom do you make a wide mouth, and stick out your tongue? Aren't you children of disobedience, a seed of falsehood,

⁵you who inflame yourselves among the oaks, under every green tree; who kill the children in the valleys, under the clefts of the rocks?

⁶Among the smooth stones of the valley is your portion; they, they are your lot; you have even poured a drink offering to them. You have offered an offering. Shall I be appeased for these things?

⁷On a high and lofty mountain you have set your bed; there also you went up to offer sacrifice.

⁸Behind the doors and the posts you have set up your memorial: for you have uncovered to someone besides me, and have gone up; you have enlarged your bed, and made you a covenant with them: you loved their bed where you saw it.

⁹You went to the king with oil, and increased your perfumes, and sent your ambassadors far off, and debased yourself even to Sheol.

¹⁰You were wearied with the length of your way; yet you did not say, 'It is in vain.' You found a reviving of your strength; therefore you weren't faint.

¹¹"Of whom have you been afraid and in fear, that you lie, and have not remembered me, nor laid it to your heart? Haven't I held my peace even of long time, and you do not fear me?

¹²I will declare your righteousness; and as for your works, they shall not profit you.

¹³When you cry, let those who you have gathered deliver you; but the wind shall take them, a breath shall carry them all away: but he who takes refuge in me shall possess the land, and shall inherit my holy mountain."

¹⁴He will say, "Cast up, cast up, prepare the way, take up the stumbling-block out of the way of my people."

¹⁵For thus says the high and lofty One who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: "I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also who is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite.

¹⁶For I will not contend forever, neither will I be always angry; for the spirit would faint before me, and the souls who I have made.

¹⁷For the iniquity of his covetousness was I angry, and struck him; I hid myself and was angry; and he went on backsliding in the way of his heart.

¹⁸I have seen his ways, and will heal him: I will lead him also, and restore comforts to him and to his mourners.

¹⁹I create the fruit of the lips: Peace, peace, to him who is far off and to him who is near," says the Lord; "and I will heal them."

²⁰But the wicked are like the troubled sea; for it can't rest, and its waters cast up mire and dirt.

²¹"There is no peace," says my God, "for the wicked."

¹"Cry aloud, do not spare, lift up your voice like a trumpet, and declare to my people their disobedience, and to the house of Jacob their sins.

²Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways: as a nation that did righteousness, and did not forsake the ordinance of their God, they ask of me righteous judgments; they delight to draw near to God.

³'Why have we fasted,' say they, 'and you do not see? Why have we afflicted our soul, and you take no knowledge?' "Behold, in the day of your fast you find pleasure, and exact all your labors.

⁴Behold, you fast for strife and contention, and to strike with the fist of wickedness: you do not fast this day so as to make your voice to be heard on high.

⁵Is such the fast that I have chosen? the day for a man to afflict his soul? Is it to bow down his head as a rush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Will you call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the Lord?

⁶"Isn't this the fast that I have chosen: to release the bonds of wickedness, to undo the bands of the yoke, and to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every yoke?

⁷Isn't it to distribute your bread to the hungry, and that you bring the poor who are cast out to your house? When you see the naked, that you cover him; and that you not hide yourself from your own flesh?

⁸Then your light shall break forth as the morning, and your healing shall spring forth speedily; and your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.

⁹Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, 'Here I am.' "If you take away from the midst of you the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking wickedly;

¹⁰and if you draw out your soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul: then your light shall rise in darkness, and your obscurity be as the noonday;

¹¹and the Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your soul in dry places, and make strong your bones; and you shall be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.

¹²Those who shall be of you shall build the old waste places; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; and you shall be called The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in.

¹³"If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, and the holy of the Lord honorable; and shall honor it, not doing your own ways, nor finding your own pleasure, nor speaking your own words:

¹⁴then you shall delight yourself in the Lord; and I will make you to ride on the high places of the earth; and I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father:" for the mouth of the Lord has spoken it.

¹I was glad when they said to me, "Let's go to the Lord's house!"

²Our feet are standing within your gates, Jerusalem;

³Jerusalem, that is built as a city that is compact together;

⁴where the tribes go up, even the tribes of Yah, according to an ordinance for Israel, to give thanks to the name of the Lord.

⁵For there are set thrones for judgment, the thrones of David's house.

⁶Pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Those who love you will prosper.

⁷Peace be within your walls, and prosperity within your palaces.

⁸For my brothers' and companions' sakes, I will now say, "Peace be within you."

⁹For the sake of the house of the Lord our God, I will seek your good.

¹Do not be envious of evil men; neither desire to be with them:

²for their hearts plot violence, and their lips talk about mischief.

³Through wisdom a house is built; by understanding it is established;

⁴by knowledge the rooms are filled with all rare and beautiful treasure.

⁵A wise man has great power; and a knowledgeable man increases strength;

⁶for by wise guidance you wage your war; and victory is in many advisors.

⁷Wisdom is too high for a fool: he doesn't open his mouth in the gate.

⁸One who plots to do evil will be called a schemer.

⁹The schemes of folly are sin. The mocker is detested by men.

¹⁰If you falter in the time of trouble, your strength is small.

¹¹Rescue those who are being led away to death! Indeed, hold back those who are staggering to the slaughter!

¹²If you say, "Behold, we did not know this;" doesn't he who weighs the hearts consider it? He who keeps your soul, doesn't he know it? Shall he not render to every man according to his work?

¹³My son, eat honey, for it is good; the droppings of the honeycomb, which are sweet to your taste:

¹⁴so you shall know wisdom to be to your soul; if you have found it, then there will be a reward, your hope will not be cut off.

¹⁵Do not lie in wait, wicked man, against the habitation of the righteous. Do not destroy his resting place:

¹⁶for a righteous man falls seven times, and rises up again; but the wicked are overthrown by calamity.

¹⁷Do not rejoice when your enemy falls. Do not let your heart be glad when he is overthrown;

¹⁸lest the Lord see it, and it displease him, and he turn away his wrath from him.

¹⁹Do not fret yourself because of evildoers; neither be envious of the wicked:

²⁰for there will be no reward to the evil man; and the lamp of the wicked shall be snuffed out.

²¹My son, fear the Lord and the king. Do not join those who are rebellious:

²²for their calamity will rise suddenly; the destruction from them both-who knows?

²³These also are sayings of the wise. To show partiality in judgment is not good.

²⁴He who says to the wicked, "You are righteous;" peoples shall curse him, and nations shall abhor him-

²⁵but it will go well with those who convict the guilty, and a rich blessing will come on them.

²⁶An honest answer is like a kiss on the lips.

²⁷Prepare your work outside, and get your fields ready. Afterwards, build your house.

²⁸Do not be a witness against your neighbor without cause. Do not deceive with your lips.

²⁹Do not say, "I will do to him as he has done to me; I will render to the man according to his work."

³⁰I went by the field of the sluggard, by the vineyard of the man void of understanding;

³¹Behold, it was all grown over with thorns. Its surface was covered with nettles, and its stone wall was broken down.

³²Then I saw, and considered well. I saw, and received instruction:

³³a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep;

³⁴so your poverty will come as a robber, and your want as an armed man.