Day 327 of 365

¹Misery is mine! Indeed, I am like one who gathers the summer fruits, as gleanings of the vineyard: There is no cluster of grapes to eat. My soul desires to eat the early fig.

²The godly man has perished out of the earth, and there is no one upright among men. They all lie in wait for blood; every man hunts his brother with a net.

³Their hands are on that which is evil to do it diligently. The ruler and judge ask for a bribe; and the powerful man dictates the evil desire of his soul. Thus they conspire together.

⁴The best of them is like a brier. The most upright is worse than a thorn hedge. The day of your watchmen, even your visitation, has come; now is the time of their confusion.

⁵Do not trust in a neighbor. Do not put confidence in a friend. With the woman lying in your embrace, be careful of the words of your mouth!

⁶For the son dishonors the father, the daughter rises up against her mother, the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; a man's enemies are the men of his own house.

⁷But as for me, I will look to the Lord. I will wait for the God of my salvation. My God will hear me.

⁸Do not rejoice against me, my enemy. When I fall, I will arise. When I sit in darkness, the Lord will be a light to me.

⁹I will bear the indignation of the Lord, because I have sinned against him, until he pleads my case, and executes judgment for me. He will bring me forth to the light. I will see his righteousness.

¹⁰Then my enemy will see it, and shame will cover her who said to me, where is the Lord your God? Then my enemy will see me and will cover her shame. Now she will be trodden down like the mire of the streets.

¹¹A day to build your walls- In that day, he will extend your boundary.

¹²In that day they will come to you from Assyria and the cities of Egypt, and from Egypt even to the River, and from sea to sea, and mountain to mountain.

¹³Yet the land will be desolate because of those who dwell therein, for the fruit of their doings.

¹⁴Shepherd your people with your staff, the flock of your heritage, who dwell by themselves in a forest, in the midst of fertile pasture land, let them feed; in Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of old.

¹⁵"As in the days of your coming forth out of the land of Egypt, I will show them marvelous things."

¹⁶The nations will see and be ashamed of all their might. They will lay their hand on their mouth. Their ears will be deaf.

¹⁷They will lick the dust like a serpent. Like crawling things of the earth they shall come trembling out of their dens. They will come with fear to the Lord our God, and will be afraid because of you.

¹⁸Who is a God like you, who pardons iniquity, and passes over the disobedience of the remnant of his heritage? He doesn't retain his anger forever, because he delights in loving kindness.

¹⁹He will again have compassion on us. He will tread our iniquities under foot; and you will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.

²⁰You will give truth to Jacob, and mercy to Abraham, as you have sworn to our fathers from the days of old.

¹An oracle about Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite.

²The Lord is a jealous God and avenges. The Lord avenges and is full of wrath. The Lord takes vengeance on his adversaries, and he maintains wrath against his enemies.

³The Lord is slow to anger, and great in power, and will by no means leave the guilty unpunished. The Lord has his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet.

⁴He rebukes the sea, and makes it dry, and dries up all the rivers. Bashan languishes, and Carmel; and the flower of Lebanon languishes.

⁵The mountains quake before him, and the hills melt away. The earth trembles at his presence, yes, the world, and all who dwell in it.

⁶Who can stand before his indignation? Who can endure the fierceness of his anger? His wrath is poured out like fire, and the rocks are broken apart by him.

⁷The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and he knows those who take refuge in him.

⁸But with an overflowing flood, he will make a full end of her place, and will pursue his enemies into darkness.

⁹What do you plot against the Lord? He will make a full end. Affliction won't rise up the second time.

¹⁰For entangled like thorns, and drunken as with their drink, they are consumed utterly like dry stubble.

¹¹There is one gone forth out of you, who devises evil against the Lord, who counsels wickedness.

¹²Thus says the Lord: "Though they be in full strength, and likewise many, even so they will be cut down, and he shall pass away. Though I have afflicted you, I will afflict you no more.

¹³Now will I break his yoke from off you, and will burst your bonds apart."

¹⁴The Lord has commanded concerning you: "No more descendants will bear your name. Out of the house of your gods, will I cut off the engraved image and the molten image. I will make your grave, for you are vile."

¹⁵Behold, on the mountains the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace! Keep your feasts, Judah! Perform your vows, for the wicked one will no more pass through you. He is utterly cut off.

¹He who dashes in pieces has come up against you. Keep the fortress! Watch the way! Strengthen your waist! Fortify your power mightily!

²For the Lord restores the excellency of Jacob, as the excellency of Israel; for the destroyers have destroyed them, and ruined their vine branches.

³The shield of his mighty men is made red. The valiant men are in scarlet. The chariots flash with steel in the day of his preparation, and the pine spears are brandished.

⁴The chariots rage in the streets. They rush back and forth in the broad ways. Their appearance is like torches. They run like the lightnings.

⁵He summons his picked troops. They stumble on their way. They dash to its wall, and the protective shield is put in place.

⁶The gates of the rivers are opened, and the palace is dissolved.

⁷It is decreed: she is uncovered, she is carried away; and her handmaids moan as with the voice of doves, beating on their breasts.

⁸But Nineveh has been from of old like a pool of water, yet they flee away. "Stop! Stop!" they cry, but no one looks back.

⁹Take the spoil of silver. Take the spoil of gold, for there is no end of the store, the glory of all goodly furniture.

¹⁰She is empty, void, and waste. The heart melts, the knees knock together, their bodies and faces have grown pale.

¹¹Where is the den of the lions, and the feeding place of the young lions, where the lion and the lioness walked, the lion's cubs, and no one made them afraid?

¹²The lion tore in pieces enough for his cubs, and strangled for his lionesses, and filled his caves with the kill, and his dens with prey.

¹³"Behold, I am against you," says the Lord of hosts, "and I will burn her chariots in the smoke, and the sword will devour your young lions; and I will cut off your prey from the earth, and the voice of your messengers will no longer be heard."

¹The Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid?

²When evildoers came at me to eat up my flesh, even my adversaries and my foes, they stumbled and fell.

³Though an army should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear. Though war should rise against me, even then I will be confident.

⁴One thing I have asked of the Lord, that I will seek after, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to see the Lord's beauty, and to inquire in his temple.

⁵For in the day of trouble he will keep me secretly in his pavilion. In the covert of his tabernacle he will hide me. He will lift me up on a rock.

⁶Now my head will be lifted up above my enemies around me. I will offer sacrifices of joy in his tent. I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the Lord.

⁷Hear, Lord, when I cry with my voice. Have mercy also on me, and answer me.

⁸When you said, "Seek my face," my heart said to you, "I will seek your face, Lord."

⁹Do not hide your face from me. Do not put your servant away in anger. You have been my help. Do not abandon me, neither forsake me, God of my salvation.

¹⁰When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up.

¹¹Teach me your way, Lord. Lead me in a straight path, because of my enemies.

¹²Do not deliver me over to the desire of my adversaries, for false witnesses have risen up against me, such as breathe out cruelty.

¹³I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.

¹⁴Wait for the Lord. Be strong, and let your heart take courage. Yes, wait for the Lord.

¹Better is a dry morsel with quietness, than a house full of feasting with strife.

²A servant who deals wisely will rule over a son who causes shame, and shall have a part in the inheritance among the brothers.

³The refining pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold, but the Lord tests the hearts.

⁴An evildoer heeds wicked lips. A liar gives ear to a mischievous tongue.

⁵Whoever mocks the poor reproaches his Maker. He who is glad at calamity shall not be unpunished.

⁶Children's children are the crown of old men; the glory of children are their parents.

⁷Arrogant speech isn't fitting for a fool, much less do lying lips fit a prince.

⁸A bribe is a precious stone in the eyes of him who gives it; wherever he turns, he prospers.

⁹He who covers an offense promotes love; but he who repeats a matter separates best friends.

¹⁰A rebuke enters deeper into one who has understanding than a hundred lashes into a fool.

¹¹An evil man seeks only rebellion; therefore a cruel messenger shall be sent against him.

¹²Let a bear robbed of her cubs meet a man, rather than a fool in his folly.

¹³Whoever rewards evil for good, evil shall not depart from his house.

¹⁴The beginning of strife is like breaching a dam, therefore stop contention before quarreling breaks out.

¹⁵He who justifies the wicked, and he who condemns the righteous, both of them alike are an abomination to the Lord.

¹⁶Why is there money in the hand of a fool to buy wisdom, seeing he has no understanding?

¹⁷A friend loves at all times; and a brother is born for adversity.

¹⁸A man void of understanding strikes hands, and becomes collateral in the presence of his neighbor.

¹⁹He who loves disobedience loves strife. One who builds a high gate seeks destruction.

²⁰One who has a perverse heart doesn't find prosperity, and one who has a deceitful tongue falls into trouble.

²¹He who becomes the father of a fool grieves. The father of a fool has no joy.

²²A cheerful heart makes good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.

²³A wicked man receives a bribe in secret, to pervert the ways of justice.

²⁴Wisdom is before the face of one who has understanding, but the eyes of a fool wander to the ends of the earth.

²⁵A foolish son brings grief to his father, and bitterness to her who bore him.

²⁶Also to punish the righteous is not good, nor to flog officials for their integrity.

²⁷He who spares his words has knowledge. He who is even tempered is a man of understanding.

²⁸Even a fool, when he keeps silent, is counted wise. When he shuts his lips, he is thought to be discerning.