Day 300 of 365

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

²"Son of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable to the house of Israel;

³and say, 'Thus says the Lord God: "A great eagle with great wings and long feathers, full of feathers, which had various colors, came to Lebanon, and took the top of the cedar:

⁴he cropped off the topmost of the young twigs of it, and carried it to a land of traffic; he set it in a city of merchants.

⁵He took also of the seed of the land, and planted it in a fruitful soil; he placed it beside many waters; he set it as a willow tree.

⁶It grew, and became a spreading vine of low stature, whose branches turned toward him, and its roots were under him: so it became a vine, and brought forth branches, and shot forth sprigs.

⁷'"There was also another great eagle with great wings and many feathers: and behold, this vine bent its roots toward him, and shot forth its branches toward him, from the beds of its plantation, that he might water it.

⁸It was planted in a good soil by many waters, that it might bring forth branches, and that it might bear fruit, that it might be a goodly vine."'

⁹"Say, 'Thus says the Lord God: "Shall it prosper? Shall he not pull up its roots, and cut off its fruit, that it may wither; that all its fresh springing leaves may wither? And not by a strong arm or many people can it be raised from its roots.

¹⁰Yes, behold, being planted, shall it prosper? Shall it not utterly wither, when the east wind touches it? It shall wither in the beds where it grew."'"

¹¹Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

¹²"Say now to the rebellious house, 'Do you not know what these things mean?' Tell them, 'Behold, the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem, and took its king, and its princes, and brought them to him to Babylon:

¹³and he took of the royal family, and made a covenant with him; he also brought him under an oath, and took away the mighty of the land;

¹⁴that the kingdom might be base, that it might not lift itself up, but that by keeping his covenant it might stand.

¹⁵But he rebelled against him in sending his ambassadors into Egypt, that they might give him horses and many people. Shall he prosper? Shall he escape who does such things? Shall he break the covenant, and yet escape?

¹⁶"'As I live,' says the Lord God, 'surely in the place where the king dwells who made him king, whose oath he despised, and whose covenant he broke, even with him in the midst of Babylon he shall die.

¹⁷Neither shall Pharaoh with his mighty army and great company help him in the war, when they cast up mounds and build forts, to cut off many persons.

¹⁸For he has despised the oath by breaking the covenant; and behold, he had given his hand, and yet has done all these things; he shall not escape.'

¹⁹"Therefore thus says the Lord God: 'As I live, surely my oath that he has despised, and my covenant that he has broken, I will even bring it on his own head.

²⁰I will spread my net on him, and he shall be taken in my snare, and I will bring him to Babylon, and will enter into judgment with him there for his trespass that he has trespassed against me.

²¹All his fugitives in all his bands shall fall by the sword, and those who remain shall be scattered toward every wind: and you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken it.'

²²"Thus says the Lord God: 'I will also take of the lofty top of the cedar, and will set it; I will crop off from the topmost of its young twigs a tender one, and I will plant it on a high and lofty mountain:

²³in the mountain of the height of Israel will I plant it; and it shall bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a goodly cedar: and under it shall dwell all birds of every wing; in the shade of its branches shall they dwell.

²⁴All the trees of the field shall know that I, the Lord, have brought down the high tree, have exalted the low tree, have dried up the green tree, and have made the dry tree to flourish; I, the Lord, have spoken and have done it.'"

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

²"What do you mean, that you use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying, 'The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge?'

³As I live, says the Lord God, you shall not have occasion any more to use this proverb in Israel.

⁴Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul who sins, he shall die.

⁵"But if a man is just, and does that which is lawful and right,

⁶and has not eaten on the mountains, neither has lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, neither has defiled his neighbor's wife, neither has come near to a woman in her impurity,

⁷and has not wronged any, but has restored to the debtor his pledge, has taken nothing by robbery, has given his bread to the hungry, and has covered the naked with a garment;

⁸he who has not given forth on interest, neither has taken any increase, who has withdrawn his hand from iniquity, has executed true justice between man and man,

⁹has walked in my statutes, and has kept my ordinances, to deal truly; he is just, he shall surely live," says the Lord God.

¹⁰"If he fathers a son who is a robber, a shedder of blood, and who does any one of these things,

¹¹and who does not any of those duties, but even has eaten on the mountains, and defiled his neighbor's wife,

¹²has wronged the poor and needy, has taken by robbery, has not restored the pledge, and has lifted up his eyes to the idols, has committed abomination,

¹³has given forth on interest, and has taken increase; shall he then live? He shall not live: he has done all these abominations; he shall surely die; his blood shall be on him.

¹⁴"Now, behold, if he fathers a son, who sees all his father's sins, which he has done, and fears, and does not such like;

¹⁵who has not eaten on the mountains, neither has lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, has not defiled his neighbor's wife,

¹⁶neither has wronged any, has not taken anything to pledge, neither has taken by robbery, but has given his bread to the hungry, and has covered the naked with a garment;

¹⁷who has withdrawn his hand from the poor, who has not received interest nor increase, has executed my ordinances, has walked in my statutes; he shall not die for the iniquity of his father, he shall surely live.

¹⁸As for his father, because he cruelly oppressed, robbed his brother, and did that which is not good among his people, behold, he shall die in his iniquity.

¹⁹"Yet you say, 'Why doesn't the son bear the iniquity of the father?' When the son has done that which is lawful and right, and has kept all my statutes, and has done them, he shall surely live.

²⁰The soul who sins, he shall die: the son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son; the righteousness of the righteous shall be on him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be on him.

²¹"But if the wicked turn from all his sins that he has committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die.

²²None of his transgressions that he has committed shall be remembered against him: in his righteousness that he has done he shall live.

²³Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked?" says the Lord God; "and not rather that he should return from his way, and live?

²⁴But when the righteous turns away from his righteousness, and commits iniquity, and does according to all the abominations that the wicked man does, shall he live? None of his righteous deeds that he has done shall be remembered: in his trespass that he has trespassed, and in his sin that he has sinned, in them shall he die.

²⁵"'Yet you say, "The way of the Lord is not equal." Hear now, house of Israel: "Is my way not equal? Aren't your ways unequal?"

²⁶When the righteous man turns away from his righteousness, and commits iniquity, and dies therein; in his iniquity that he has done shall he die.

²⁷Again, when the wicked man turns away from his wickedness that he has committed, and does that which is lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive.

²⁸Because he considers, and turns away from all his transgressions that he has committed, he shall surely live, he shall not die.

²⁹Yet the house of Israel says, "The way of the Lord is not fair." "House of Israel, aren't my ways fair? Aren't your ways unfair?"

³⁰"'Therefore I will judge you, house of Israel, everyone according to his ways,' says the Lord God. 'Return, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin.

³¹Cast away from you all your transgressions, in which you have transgressed; and make yourself a new heart and a new spirit: for why will you die, house of Israel?

³²For I have no pleasure in the death of him who dies,' says the Lord God: 'therefore turn yourselves, and live.'"

¹"Moreover, take up a lamentation for the princes of Israel,

²and say, 'What was your mother? A lioness: she couched among lions, in the midst of the young lions she nourished her cubs.

³She brought up one of her cubs: he became a young lion, and he learned to catch the prey; he devoured men.

⁴The nations also heard of him; he was taken in their pit; and they brought him with hooks to the land of Egypt.

⁵"'Now when she saw that she had waited, and her hope was lost, then she took another of her cubs, and made him a young lion.

⁶He went up and down among the lions; he became a young lion, and he learned to catch the prey; he devoured men.

⁷He knew their palaces, and laid waste their cities; and the land was desolate, and its fullness, because of the noise of his roaring.

⁸Then the nations set against him on every side from the provinces; and they spread their net over him; he was taken in their pit.

⁹They put him in a cage with hooks, and brought him to the king of Babylon; they brought him into strongholds, that his voice should no more be heard on the mountains of Israel.

¹⁰"'Your mother was like a vine, in your blood, planted by the waters: it was fruitful and full of branches by reason of many waters.

¹¹It had strong rods for the scepters of those who bore rule, and their stature was exalted among the thick boughs, and they were seen in their height with the multitude of their branches.

¹²But it was plucked up in fury, it was cast down to the ground, and the east wind dried up its fruit: its strong rods were broken off and withered; the fire consumed them.

¹³Now it is planted in the wilderness, in a dry and thirsty land.

¹⁴Fire is gone out of the rods of its branches, it has devoured its fruit, so that there is in it no strong rod to be a scepter to rule.' This is a lamentation, and shall be for a lamentation."

¹Praise Yah! Praise God in his sanctuary! Praise him in his heavens for his acts of power!

²Praise him for his mighty acts! Praise him according to his excellent greatness!

³Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet! Praise him with harp and lyre!

⁴Praise him with tambourine and dancing! Praise him with stringed instruments and flute!

⁵Praise him with loud cymbals! Praise him with resounding cymbals!

⁶Let everything that has breath praise Yah! Praise Yah!

¹The king's heart is in the Lord's hand like the watercourses. He turns it wherever he desires.

²Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the hearts.

³To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.

⁴A high look, and a proud heart, the lamp of the wicked, is sin.

⁵The plans of the diligent surely lead to profit; and everyone who is hasty surely rushes to poverty.

⁶Getting treasures by a lying tongue is a fleeting vapor for those who seek death.

⁷The violence of the wicked will drive them away, because they refuse to do what is right.

⁸The way of the guilty is devious, but the conduct of the innocent is upright.

⁹It is better to dwell in the corner of the housetop, than to share a house with a contentious woman.

¹⁰The soul of the wicked desires evil; his neighbor finds no mercy in his eyes.

¹¹When the mocker is punished, the simple gains wisdom. When the wise is instructed, he receives knowledge.

¹²The Righteous One considers the house of the wicked, and brings the wicked to ruin.

¹³Whoever stops his ears at the cry of the poor, he will also cry out, but shall not be heard.

¹⁴A gift in secret pacifies anger; and a bribe in the cloak, strong wrath.

¹⁵It is joy to the righteous to do justice; but it is a destruction to the workers of iniquity.

¹⁶The man who wanders out of the way of understanding shall rest in the assembly of the dead.

¹⁷He who loves pleasure shall be a poor man. He who loves wine and oil shall not be rich.

¹⁸The wicked is a ransom for the righteous; the treacherous for the upright.

¹⁹It is better to dwell in a desert land, than with a contentious and fretful woman.

²⁰There is precious treasure and oil in the dwelling of the wise; but a foolish man swallows it up.

²¹He who follows after righteousness and kindness finds life, righteousness, and honor.

²²A wise man scales the city of the mighty, and brings down the strength of its confidence.

²³Whoever guards his mouth and his tongue keeps his soul from troubles.

²⁴The proud and haughty man, "scoffer" is his name; he works in the arrogance of pride.

²⁵The desire of the sluggard kills him, for his hands refuse to labor.

²⁶There are those who covet greedily all day long; but the righteous give and do not withhold.

²⁷The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination: how much more, when he brings it with a wicked mind!

²⁸A false witness will perish, and a man who listens speaks to eternity.

²⁹A wicked man hardens his face; but as for the upright, he establishes his ways.

³⁰There is no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against the Lord.

³¹The horse is prepared for the day of battle; but victory is with the Lord.