Day 306 of 365

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

²"Son of man, set your face against Mount Seir, and prophesy against it,

³and tell it, 'Thus says the Lord God: "Behold, I am against you, Mount Seir, and I will stretch out my hand against you, and I will make you a desolation and an astonishment.

⁴I will lay your cities waste, and you shall be desolate; and you shall know that I am the Lord.

⁵"'"Because you have had a perpetual enmity, and have given over the children of Israel to the power of the sword in the time of their calamity, in the time of the iniquity of the end;

⁶therefore, as I live," says the Lord God, "I will prepare you for blood, and blood shall pursue you: since you have not hated blood, therefore blood shall pursue you.

⁷Thus will I make Mount Seir an astonishment and a desolation; and I will cut off from it him who passes through and him who returns.

⁸I will fill its mountains with its slain: in your hills and in your valleys and in all your watercourses shall they fall who are slain with the sword.

⁹I will make you a perpetual desolation, and your cities shall not be inhabited; and you shall know that I am the Lord.

¹⁰"'"Because you have said, 'These two nations and these two countries shall be mine, and we will possess it'; whereas the Lord was there:

¹¹therefore, as I live," says the Lord God, "I will do according to your anger, and according to your envy which you have shown out of your hatred against them; and I will make myself known among them, when I shall judge you.

¹²You shall know that I, the Lord, have heard all your insults which you have spoken against the mountains of Israel, saying, They are laid desolate, they have been given us to devour.

¹³You have magnified yourselves against me with your mouth, and have multiplied your words against me: I have heard it."

¹⁴Thus says the Lord God: "When the whole earth rejoices, I will make you desolate.

¹⁵As you rejoiced over the inheritance of the house of Israel, because it was desolate, so will I do to you: you shall be desolate, Mount Seir, and all Edom, even all of it; and they shall know that I am the Lord."'"

¹"You, son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel, and say, 'You mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord.

²Thus says the Lord God: "Because the enemy has said against you, 'Aha!' and, 'The ancient high places are ours in possession'"';

³therefore prophesy, and say, 'Thus says the Lord God: "Because, even because they have made you desolate, and swallowed you up on every side, that you might be a possession to the residue of the nations, and you are taken up in the lips of talkers, and the evil report of the people";

⁴therefore, you mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God: "Thus says the Lord God to the mountains and to the hills, to the watercourses and to the valleys, to the desolate wastes and to the cities that are forsaken, which are become a prey and derision to the residue of the nations that are all around;

⁵therefore thus says the Lord God: 'Surely in the fire of my jealousy have I spoken against the residue of the nations, and against all Edom, that have appointed my land to themselves for a possession with the joy of all their heart, with despite of soul, to cast it out for a prey.'"'

⁶"Therefore prophesy concerning the land of Israel, and tell the mountains and to the hills, to the watercourses and to the valleys, 'Thus says the Lord God: "Behold, I have spoken in my jealousy and in my wrath, because you have borne the shame of the nations:

⁷therefore thus says the Lord God: 'I have sworn, saying, "Surely the nations that are around you, they shall bear their shame."

⁸"'"'But you, mountains of Israel, you shall shoot forth your branches, and yield your fruit to my people Israel; for they are at hand to come.

⁹For, behold, I am for you, and I will turn into you, and you shall be tilled and sown;

¹⁰and I will multiply men on you, all the house of Israel, even all of it; and the cities shall be inhabited, and the waste places shall be built;

¹¹and I will multiply on you man and animal; and they shall increase and be fruitful; and I will cause you to be inhabited after your former estate, and will do better to you than at your beginnings: and you shall know that I am the Lord.

¹²Yes, I will cause men to walk on you, even my people Israel; and they shall possess you, and you shall be their inheritance, and you shall no more henceforth bereave them of children.'"

¹³"'Thus says the Lord God: "Because they say to you, 'You are a devourer of men, and have been a bereaver of your nation';

¹⁴therefore you shall devour men no more, neither bereave your nation any more," says the Lord God;

¹⁵"neither will I let you hear any more the shame of the nations, neither shall you bear the reproach of the peoples any more, neither shall you cause your nation to stumble any more," says the Lord God.'"

¹⁶Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

¹⁷"Son of man, when the house of Israel lived in their own land, they defiled it by their way and by their doings: their way before me was as the uncleanness of a woman in her impurity.

¹⁸Therefore I poured out my wrath on them for the blood which they had poured out on the land, and because they had defiled it with their idols;

¹⁹and I scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed through the countries: according to their way and according to their doings I judged them.

²⁰When they came to the nations, where they went, they profaned my holy name; in that men said of them, 'These are the people of the Lord, and are gone forth out of his land.'

²¹But I had respect for my holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations, where they went.

²²"Therefore tell the house of Israel, 'Thus says the Lord God: "I do not do this for your sake, house of Israel, but for my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations, where you went.

²³I will sanctify my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst; and the nations shall know that I am the Lord," says the Lord God, "when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes.

²⁴For I will take you from among the nations, and gather you out of all the countries, and will bring you into your own land.

²⁵I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.

²⁶I will also give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh.

²⁷I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you shall keep my ordinances, and do them.

²⁸You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and you shall be my people, and I will be your God.

²⁹I will save you from all your uncleanness: and I will call for the grain, and will multiply it, and lay no famine on you.

³⁰I will multiply the fruit of the tree, and the increase of the field, that you may receive no more the reproach of famine among the nations.

³¹Then you shall remember your evil ways, and your doings that were not good; and you shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your abominations.

³²Nor for your sake do I this," says the Lord God, "be it known to you: be ashamed and confounded for your ways, house of Israel."'

³³"Thus says the Lord God: 'In the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will cause the cities to be inhabited, and the waste places shall be built.

³⁴The land that was desolate shall be tilled, whereas it was a desolation in the sight of all who passed by.

³⁵They shall say, "This land that was desolate has become like the garden of Eden; and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are fortified and inhabited."

³⁶Then the nations that are left around you shall know that I, the Lord, have built the ruined places, and planted that which was desolate: I, the Lord, have spoken it, and I will do it.'"

³⁷"Thus says the Lord God: 'For this, moreover, will I be inquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them: I will increase them with men like a flock.

³⁸As the flock for sacrifice, as the flock of Jerusalem in her appointed feasts, so shall the waste cities be filled with flocks of men; and they shall know that I am the Lord.'"

¹The hand of the Lord was on me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones.

²He caused me to pass by them all around: and behold, there were very many in the open valley; and behold, they were very dry.

³He said to me, "Son of man, can these bones live?" I answered, "Lord God, you know."

⁴Again he said to me, "Prophesy over these bones, and tell them, 'You dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.'

⁵Thus says the Lord God to these bones: 'Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live.

⁶I will lay sinews on you, and will bring up flesh on you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am the Lord.'"

⁷So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold, an earthquake; and the bones came together, bone to its bone.

⁸I saw, and, behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh came up, and skin covered them above; but there was no breath in them.

⁹Then he said to me, "Prophesy to the wind, prophesy, son of man, and tell the wind, 'Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.'"

¹⁰So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up on their feet, an exceedingly great army.

¹¹Then he said to me, "Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, 'Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are clean cut off.'

¹²Therefore prophesy, and tell them, 'Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, my people; and I will bring you into the land of Israel.

¹³You shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, and caused you to come up out of your graves, my people.

¹⁴I will put my Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land: and you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken it and performed it,' says the Lord."

¹⁵The word of the Lord came again to me, saying,

¹⁶"You, son of man, take one stick, and write on it, 'For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions': then take another stick, and write on it, 'For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions':

¹⁷and join them for you one to another into one stick, that they may become one in your hand.

¹⁸When the children of your people shall speak to you, saying, 'Will you not show us what you mean by these?'

¹⁹tell them, 'Thus says the Lord God: "Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his companions; and I will put them with it, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in my hand."'

²⁰The sticks whereon you write shall be in your hand before their eyes.

²¹"Say to them, 'Thus says the Lord God: "Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the nations, where they are gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land:

²²and I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all; and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all;

²³neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions; but I will save them out of all their dwelling places, in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God.

²⁴"'"My servant David shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my ordinances, and observe my statutes, and do them.

²⁵They shall dwell in the land that I have given to Jacob my servant, in which your fathers lived; and they shall dwell therein, they, and their children, and their children's children, forever: and David my servant shall be their prince for ever.

²⁶Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them; and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in their midst forevermore.

²⁷My tent also shall be with them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

²⁸The nations shall know that I am the Lord who sanctifies Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in their midst forevermore."'"

¹Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger, neither discipline me in your wrath.

²Have mercy on me, Lord, for I am faint. Lord, heal me, for my bones are troubled.

³My soul is also in great anguish. But you, Lord-how long?

⁴Return, Lord. Deliver my soul, and save me for your loving kindness' sake.

⁵For in death there is no memory of you. In Sheol, who shall give you thanks?

⁶I am weary with my groaning. Every night I flood my bed. I drench my couch with my tears.

⁷My eye wastes away because of grief. It grows old because of all my adversaries.

⁸Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity, for the Lord has heard the voice of my weeping.

⁹The Lord has heard my supplication. The Lord accepts my prayer.

¹⁰May all my enemies be ashamed and dismayed. They shall turn back, they shall be disgraced suddenly.

¹Do not boast about tomorrow; for you do not know what a day may bring forth.

²Let another man praise you, and not your own mouth; a stranger, and not your own lips.

³A stone is heavy, and sand is a burden; but a fool's provocation is heavier than both.

⁴Wrath is cruel, and anger is overwhelming; but who is able to stand before jealousy?

⁵Better is open rebuke than hidden love.

⁶Faithful are the wounds of a friend; although the kisses of an enemy are profuse.

⁷A full soul loathes a honeycomb; but to a hungry soul, every bitter thing is sweet.

⁸As a bird that wanders from her nest, so is a man who wanders from his home.

⁹Perfume and incense bring joy to the heart; so does earnest counsel from a man's friend.

¹⁰Do not forsake your friend and your father's friend. Do not go to your brother's house in the day of your disaster: better is a neighbor who is near than a distant brother.

¹¹Be wise, my son, and bring joy to my heart, then I can answer my tormentor.

¹²A prudent man sees danger and takes refuge; but the simple pass on, and suffer for it.

¹³Take his garment when he puts up collateral for a stranger. Hold it for a wayward woman!

¹⁴He who blesses his neighbor with a loud voice early in the morning, it will be taken as a curse by him.

¹⁵A continual dropping on a rainy day and a contentious wife are alike:

¹⁶restraining her is like restraining the wind, or like grasping oil in his right hand.

¹⁷Iron sharpens iron; so a man sharpens his friend's countenance.

¹⁸Whoever tends the fig tree shall eat its fruit. He who looks after his master shall be honored.

¹⁹As water reflects a face, so a man's heart reflects the man.

²⁰Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied; and a man's eyes are never satisfied.

²¹The crucible is for silver, and the furnace for gold; but man is refined by his praise.

²²Though you grind a fool in a mortar with a pestle along with grain, yet his foolishness will not be removed from him.

²³Know well the state of your flocks, and pay attention to your herds:

²⁴for riches are not forever, nor does even the crown endure to all generations.

²⁵The hay is removed, and the new growth appears, the grasses of the hills are gathered in.

²⁶The lambs are for your clothing, and the goats are the price of a field.

²⁷There will be plenty of goats' milk for your food, for your family's food, and for the nourishment of your servant girls.