Day 299 of 365

¹Then came certain of the elders of Israel to me, and sat before me.

²The word of the Lord came to me, saying,

³"Son of man, these men have taken their idols into their heart, and put the stumbling block of their iniquity before their face: should I be inquired of at all by them?

⁴Therefore speak to them, and tell them, 'Thus says the Lord God: "Every man of the house of Israel who takes his idols into his heart, and puts the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face, and comes to the prophet; I the Lord will answer him therein according to the multitude of his idols;

⁵that I may take the house of Israel in their own heart, because they are all estranged from me through their idols."'

⁶"Therefore tell the house of Israel, 'Thus says the Lord God: "Return, and turn yourselves from your idols; and turn away your faces from all your abominations.

⁷For everyone of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who live in Israel, who separates himself from me, and takes his idols into his heart, and puts the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face, and comes to the prophet to inquire for himself of me; I the Lord will answer him by myself:

⁸and I will set my face against that man, and will make him an astonishment, for a sign and a proverb, and I will cut him off from the midst of my people; and you shall know that I am the Lord.

⁹"'"If the prophet is deceived and speaks a word, I, the Lord, have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand on him, and will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel.

¹⁰They shall bear their iniquity: the iniquity of the prophet shall be even as the iniquity of him who seeks him;

¹¹that the house of Israel may go no more astray from me, neither defile themselves any more with all their transgressions; but that they may be my people, and I may be their God," says the Lord God.'"

¹²The word of the Lord came to me, saying,

¹³"Son of man, when a land sins against me by committing a trespass, and I stretch out my hand on it, and break the staff of its bread, and send famine on it, and cut off from it man and animal;

¹⁴though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they should deliver but their own souls by their righteousness, says the Lord God."

¹⁵"If I cause evil animals to pass through the land, and they ravage it, and it be made desolate, so that no man may pass through because of the animals;

¹⁶though these three men were in it, as I live," says the Lord God, "they should deliver neither sons nor daughters; they only should be delivered, but the land should be desolate.

¹⁷"Or if I bring a sword on that land, and say, 'Sword, go through the land'; so that I cut off from it man and animal;

¹⁸though these three men were in it, as I live, says the Lord God, they should deliver neither sons nor daughters, but they only should be delivered themselves.

¹⁹"Or if I send a pestilence into that land, and pour out my wrath on it in blood, to cut off from it man and animal;

²⁰though Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, as I live, says the Lord God, they should deliver neither son nor daughter; they should but deliver their own souls by their righteousness.

²¹"For thus says the Lord God: 'How much more when I send my four severe judgments on Jerusalem, the sword, and the famine, and the evil animals, and the pestilence, to cut off from it man and animal!

²²Yet, behold, therein shall be left a remnant that shall be carried forth, both sons and daughters: behold, they shall come forth to you, and you shall see their way and their doings; and you shall be comforted concerning the evil that I have brought on Jerusalem, even concerning all that I have brought on it.

²³They shall comfort you, when you see their way and their doings; and you shall know that I have not done without cause all that I have done in it,' says the Lord God."

¹The word of the Lord came to me, saying,

²"Son of man, what is the vine tree more than any tree, the vine-branch which is among the trees of the forest?

³Shall wood be taken of it to make any work? Or will men take a pin of it to hang any vessel thereon?

⁴Behold, it is cast into the fire for fuel; the fire has devoured both its ends, and its midst is burned: is it profitable for any work?

⁵Behold, when it was whole, it was meet for no work: how much less, when the fire has devoured it, and it is burned, shall it yet be meet for any work!

⁶"Therefore thus says the Lord God: 'As the vine tree among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so will I give the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

⁷I will set my face against them; they shall go forth from the fire, but the fire shall devour them; and you shall know that I am the Lord, when I set my face against them.

⁸I will make the land desolate, because they have committed a trespass,' says the Lord God."

¹Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

²"Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations;

³and say, 'Thus says the Lord God to Jerusalem: Your birth and your birth is of the land of the Canaanite; the Amorite was your father, and your mother was a Hittite.

⁴As for your birth, in the day you were born your navel was not cut, neither were you washed in water to cleanse you; you weren't salted at all, nor swaddled at all.

⁵No eye pitied you, to do any of these things to you, to have compassion on you; but you were cast out in the open field, for that your person was abhorred, in the day that you were born.

⁶"'When I passed by you, and saw you wallowing in your blood, I said to you, Though you are in your blood, live; yes, I said to you, "Though you are in your blood, live."

⁷I caused you to multiply as that which grows in the field, and you increased and grew great, and you attained to excellent ornament; your breasts were fashioned, and your hair was grown; yet you were naked and bare.

⁸"'Now when I passed by you, and looked at you, behold, your time was the time of love; and I spread my skirt over you, and covered your nakedness: yes, I swore to you, and entered into a covenant with you,' says the Lord God, 'and you became mine.

⁹"'Then washed I you with water; yes, I thoroughly washed away your blood from you, and I anointed you with oil.

¹⁰I clothed you also with embroidered work, and shod you with sealskin, and I dressed you about with fine linen, and covered you with silk.

¹¹I decked you with ornaments, and I put bracelets on your hands, and a chain on your neck.

¹²I put a ring on your nose, and earrings in your ears, and a beautiful crown on your head.

¹³Thus you were decked with gold and silver; and your clothing was of fine linen, and silk, and embroidered work; you ate fine flour, and honey, and oil; and you were exceeding beautiful, and you prospered to royal estate.

¹⁴Your renown went forth among the nations for your beauty; for it was perfect, through my majesty which I had put on you,' says the Lord God.

¹⁵"'But you trusted in your beauty, and played the prostitute because of your renown, and poured out your prostitution on everyone who passed by; his it was.

¹⁶You took of your garments, and made for yourselves high places decked with various colors, and played the prostitute on them: the like things shall not come, neither shall it be so.

¹⁷You also took your beautiful jewels of my gold and of my silver, which I had given you, and made for yourself images of men, and played the prostitute with them;

¹⁸and you took your embroidered garments, and covered them, and set my oil and my incense before them.

¹⁹My bread also which I gave you, fine flour, and oil, and honey, with which I fed you, you even set it before them for a pleasant aroma; and thus it was,' says the Lord God.

²⁰"'Moreover you have taken your sons and your daughters, whom you have borne to me, and you have sacrificed these to them to be devoured. Was your prostitution a small matter,

²¹that you have slain my children, and delivered them up, in causing them to pass through the fire to them?

²²In all your abominations and your prostitution you have not remembered the days of your youth, when you were naked and bare, and were wallowing in your blood.

²³"'It has happened after all your wickedness, ("Woe, woe to you!" says the Lord God),

²⁴that you have built for yourselves a vaulted place, and have made yourselves a lofty place in every street.

²⁵You have built your lofty place at the head of every way, and have made your beauty an abomination, and have opened your feet to everyone who passed by, and multiplied your prostitution.

²⁶You have also committed sexual immorality with the Egyptians, your neighbors, great of flesh; and have multiplied your prostitution, to provoke me to anger.

²⁷See therefore, I have stretched out my hand over you, and have diminished your ordinary food, and delivered you to the will of those who hate you, the daughters of the Philistines, who are ashamed of your lewd way.

²⁸You have played the prostitute also with the Assyrians, because you were insatiable; yes, you have played the prostitute with them, and yet you weren't satisfied.

²⁹You have moreover multiplied your prostitution to the land of merchants, to Chaldea; and yet you weren't satisfied with this.

³⁰"'How weak is your heart, says the Lord God, since you do all these things, the work of an impudent prostitute;

³¹in that you build your vaulted place at the head of every way, and make your lofty place in every street, and have not been as a prostitute, in that you scorn pay.

³²"'A wife who commits adultery! who takes strangers instead of her husband!

³³They give gifts to all prostitutes; but you give your gifts to all your lovers, and bribe them, that they may come to you on every side for your prostitution.

³⁴You are different from other women in your prostitution, in that no one follows you to play the prostitute; and whereas you give hire, and no hire is given to you, therefore you are different.'

³⁵"Therefore, prostitute, hear the word of the Lord:

³⁶Thus says the Lord God, 'Because your filthiness was poured out, and your nakedness uncovered through your prostitution with your lovers; and because of all the idols of your abominations, and for the blood of your children, that you gave to them;

³⁷therefore see, I will gather all your lovers, with whom you have taken pleasure, and all those who you have loved, with all those who you have hated; I will even gather them against you on every side, and will uncover your nakedness to them, that they may see all your nakedness.

³⁸I will judge you, as women who break wedlock and shed blood are judged; and I will bring on you the blood of wrath and jealousy.

³⁹I will also give you into their hand, and they shall throw down your vaulted place, and break down your lofty places; and they shall strip you of your clothes, and take your beautiful jewels; and they shall leave you naked and bare.

⁴⁰They shall also bring up a company against you, and they shall stone you with stones, and thrust you through with their swords.

⁴¹They shall burn your houses with fire, and execute judgments on you in the sight of many women; and I will cause you to cease from playing the prostitute, and you shall also give no hire any more.

⁴²So will I cause my wrath toward you to rest, and my jealousy shall depart from you, and I will be quiet, and will be no more angry.

⁴³"'Because you have not remembered the days of your youth, but have raged against me in all these things; therefore, behold, I also will bring your way on your head,' says the Lord God: 'and you shall not commit this lewdness with all your abominations.

⁴⁴"'Behold, everyone who uses proverbs shall use this proverb against you, saying, "As is the mother, so is her daughter."

⁴⁵You are the daughter of your mother, who loathes her husband and her children; and you are the sister of your sisters, who loathed their husbands and their children: your mother was a Hittite, and your father an Amorite.

⁴⁶Your elder sister is Samaria, who dwells at your left hand, she and her daughters; and your younger sister, who dwells at your right hand, is Sodom and her daughters.

⁴⁷Yet have you not walked in their ways, nor done after their abominations; but, as if that were a very little thing, you were more corrupt than they in all your ways.

⁴⁸As I live,' says the Lord God, 'Sodom your sister has not done, she nor her daughters, as you have done, you and your daughters.

⁴⁹"'Behold, this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: pride, fullness of bread, and prosperous ease was in her and in her daughters; neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.

⁵⁰They were haughty, and committed abomination before me: therefore I took them away as I saw good.

⁵¹Neither has Samaria committed half of your sins; but you have multiplied your abominations more than they, and have justified your sisters by all your abominations which you have done.

⁵²You also, bear you your own shame, in that you have given judgment for your sisters; through your sins that you have committed more abominable than they, they are more righteous that you: yes, be also confounded, and bear your shame, in that you have justified your sisters.

⁵³"'I will turn again their captivity, the captivity of Sodom and her daughters, and the captivity of Samaria and her daughters, and the captivity of your captives in their midst;

⁵⁴that you may bear your own shame, and may be ashamed because of all that you have done, in that you are a comfort to them.

⁵⁵Your sisters, Sodom and her daughters, shall return to their former estate; and Samaria and her daughters shall return to their former estate; and you and your daughters shall return to your former estate.

⁵⁶For your sister Sodom was not mentioned by your mouth in the day of your pride,

⁵⁷before your wickedness was uncovered, as at the time of the reproach of the daughters of Syria, and of all who are around her, the daughters of the Philistines, who do despite to you all around.

⁵⁸You have borne your lewdness and your abominations, says the Lord.'

⁵⁹"For thus says the Lord God: 'I will also deal with you as you have done, who have despised the oath in breaking the covenant.

⁶⁰Nevertheless I will remember my covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish to you an everlasting covenant.

⁶¹Then you shall remember your ways, and be ashamed, when you shall receive your sisters, your elder sisters and your younger; and I will give them to you for daughters, but not by your covenant.

⁶²I will establish my covenant with you; and you shall know that I am the Lord;

⁶³that you may remember, and be confounded, and never open your mouth any more, because of your shame, when I have forgiven you all that you have done, says the Lord God.'"

¹Praise Yah! Sing to the Lord a new song, his praise in the assembly of the holy ones.

²Let Israel rejoice in him who made them. Let the children of Zion be joyful in their King.

³Let them praise his name in the dance! Let them sing praises to him with tambourine and harp!

⁴For the Lord takes pleasure in his people. He crowns the humble with salvation.

⁵Let the holy ones rejoice in honor. Let them sing for joy on their beds.

⁶May the high praises of God be in their mouths, and a two-edged sword in their hand;

⁷To execute vengeance on the nations, and punishments on the peoples;

⁸To bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron;

⁹to execute on them the written judgment. All his holy ones have this honor. Praise Yah!

¹Wine is a mocker, and beer is a brawler. Whoever is led astray by them is not wise.

²The terror of a king is like the roaring of a lion. He who provokes him to anger forfeits his own life.

³It is an honor for a man to keep aloof from strife; but every fool will be quarreling.

⁴The sluggard will not plow by reason of the winter; therefore he shall beg in harvest, and have nothing.

⁵Counsel in the heart of man is like deep water; but a man of understanding will draw it out.

⁶Many men claim to be men of unfailing love, but who can find a faithful man?

⁷A righteous man walks in integrity. Blessed are his children after him.

⁸A king who sits on the throne of judgment scatters away all evil with his eyes.

⁹Who can say, "I have made my heart pure. I am clean and without sin?"

¹⁰Differing weights and differing measures, both of them alike are an abomination to the Lord.

¹¹Even a child makes himself known by his doings, whether his work is pure, and whether it is right.

¹²The hearing ear, and the seeing eye, The Lord has made even both of them.

¹³Do not love sleep, lest you come to poverty. Open your eyes, and you shall be satisfied with bread.

¹⁴"It's no good, it's no good," says the buyer; but when he is gone his way, then he boasts.

¹⁵There is gold and abundance of rubies; but the lips of knowledge are a rare jewel.

¹⁶Take the garment of one who puts up collateral for a stranger; and hold him in pledge for a wayward woman.

¹⁷Fraudulent food is sweet to a man, but afterwards his mouth is filled with gravel.

¹⁸Plans are established by advice; by wise guidance you wage war!

¹⁹He who goes about as a tale-bearer reveals secrets; therefore do not keep company with him who opens wide his lips.

²⁰Whoever curses his father or his mother, his lamp shall be put out in blackness of darkness.

²¹An inheritance quickly gained at the beginning, won't be blessed in the end.

²²Do not say, "I will pay back evil." Wait for the Lord, and he will save you.

²³The Lord detests differing weights, and dishonest scales are not pleasing.

²⁴A man's steps are from the Lord; how then can man understand his way?

²⁵It is a snare to a man to make a rash dedication, then later to consider his vows.

²⁶A wise king winnows out the wicked, and drives the threshing wheel over them.

²⁷The spirit of man is the Lord's lamp, searching all his innermost parts.

²⁸Love and faithfulness keep the king safe. His throne is sustained by love.

²⁹The glory of young men is their strength. The splendor of old men is their gray hair.

³⁰Wounding blows cleanse away evil, and beatings purge the innermost parts.