Day 74 of 365

¹Let not many of you be teachers, my brothers, knowing that we will receive heavier judgment.

²For in many things we all stumble. If anyone does not stumble in word, the same is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body also.

³Now if we put bits into the horses' mouths so that they may obey us, we guide their whole body.

⁴Behold, the ships also, though they are so big and are driven by fierce winds, are yet guided by a very small rudder, wherever the pilot desires.

⁵So the tongue is also a little member, and boasts great things. See how a small fire can spread to a large forest!

⁶And the tongue is a fire. The world of iniquity among our members is the tongue, which defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature, and is set on fire by hell.

⁷For every kind of animal, bird, creeping thing, and thing in the sea, is tamed, and has been tamed by mankind.

⁸But nobody can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

⁹With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who are made in the image of God.

¹⁰Out of the same mouth comes forth blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.

¹¹Does a spring send out from the same opening fresh and bitter water?

¹²Can a fig tree, my brothers, yield olives, or a vine figs? Nor is salt water able to produce sweet.

¹³Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by his good conduct that his deeds are done in gentleness of wisdom.

¹⁴But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not boast and do not lie against the truth.

¹⁵This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, sensual, and demonic.

¹⁶For where jealousy and selfish ambition are, there is confusion and every evil deed.

¹⁷But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceful, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, without hypocrisy.

¹⁸Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

¹Where do wars and fightings among you come from? Do not they come from your pleasures that war in your members?

²You lust, and do not have. You kill, covet, and cannot obtain. You fight and make war. You do not have, because you do not ask.

³You ask, and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it for your pleasures.

⁴You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

⁵Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, "The Spirit which He made to dwell in us yearns jealously"?

⁶But He gives more grace. Therefore it says, "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble."

⁷Be subject therefore to God. But resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

⁸Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

⁹Lament, mourn, and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to gloom.

¹⁰Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he will exalt you.

¹¹Do not speak against one another, brothers. He who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law, but a judge.

¹²Only one is the lawgiver and judge, who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?

¹³Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow let us go into this city, and spend a year there, trade, and make a profit."

¹⁴Whereas you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. For what is your life? For you are a vapor, that appears for a little time, and then vanishes away .

¹⁵For you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will both live, and do this or that."

¹⁶But now you glory in your boasting. All such boasting is evil.

¹⁷To him therefore who knows to do good, and does not do it, to him it is sin.

¹Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming on you.

²Your riches are corrupted and your garments are moth-eaten.

³Your gold and your silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be for a testimony against you, and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up your treasure in the last days.

⁴Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you have kept back by fraud, cry out, and the cries of those who reaped have entered into the ears of the Lord of hosts.

⁵You have lived delicately on the earth, and taken your pleasure. You have nourished your hearts in a day of slaughter.

⁶You have condemned, you have murdered the righteous one. He does not resist you.

⁷Be patient therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. Behold, the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient over it, until it receives the early and late rain.

⁸You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near.

⁹Do not grumble, brothers, against one another, so that you won't be judged. Behold, the judge stands at the door.

¹⁰Take, brothers, for an example of suffering and of patience, the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.

¹¹Behold, we call them blessed who endured. You have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the Lord in the outcome, and how the Lord is full of compassion and mercy.

¹²But above all things, my brothers, do not swear, neither by heaven, nor by the earth, nor by any other oath; but let your "yes" be "yes," and your "no," "no;" so that you do not fall under judgment.

¹³Is any among you suffering? Let him pray. Is any cheerful? Let him sing praises.

¹⁴Is any among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord,

¹⁵and the prayer of faith will heal him who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. If he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.

¹⁶Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The insistent prayer of a righteous person is powerfully effective.

¹⁷Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain, and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months.

¹⁸He prayed again, and the sky gave rain, and the earth brought forth its fruit.

¹⁹My brothers, if any among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back,

²⁰let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death, and will cover a multitude of sins.

¹God, why have you rejected us forever? Why does your anger smolder against the sheep of your pasture?

²Remember your congregation, which you purchased of old, which you have redeemed to be the tribe of your inheritance; Mount Zion, in which you have lived.

³Lift up your feet to the perpetual ruins, all the evil that the enemy has done in the sanctuary.

⁴Your adversaries have roared in the midst of your assembly. They have set up their standards as signs.

⁵They behaved like men wielding axes, cutting through a thicket of trees.

⁶Now they break all its carved work down with hatchet and hammers.

⁷They have burned your sanctuary to the ground. They have profaned the dwelling place of your Name.

⁸They said in their heart, "We will crush them completely." They have burned up all the places in the land where God was worshiped.

⁹We see no miraculous signs. There is no longer any prophet, neither is there among us anyone who knows how long.

¹⁰How long, God, shall the adversary reproach? Shall the enemy blaspheme your name forever?

¹¹Why do you draw back your hand, even your right hand? Take it out of your pocket and consume them!

¹²Yet God is my King of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth.

¹³You divided the sea by your strength. You broke the heads of the sea monsters in the waters.

¹⁴You broke the heads of Leviathan in pieces. You gave him as food to people and desert creatures.

¹⁵You opened up spring and stream. You dried up mighty rivers.

¹⁶The day is yours, the night is also yours. You have prepared the light and the sun.

¹⁷You have set all the boundaries of the earth. You have made summer and winter.

¹⁸Remember this, that the enemy has mocked you, Lord. Foolish people have blasphemed your name.

¹⁹Do not deliver the soul of your dove to wild beasts. Do not forget the life of your poor forever.

²⁰Honor your covenant, for haunts of violence fill the dark places of the earth.

²¹Do not let the oppressed return ashamed. Let the poor and needy praise your name.

²²Arise, God! Plead your own cause. Remember how the foolish man mocks you all day.

²³Do not forget the voice of your adversaries. The tumult of those who rise up against you ascends continually.

¹Whoever loves correction loves knowledge, but he who hates reproof is stupid.

²A good man shall obtain favor from the Lord, but he will condemn a man of wicked devices.

³A man shall not be established by wickedness, but the root of the righteous shall not be moved.

⁴A worthy woman is the crown of her husband, but a disgraceful wife is as rottenness in his bones.

⁵The thoughts of the righteous are just, but the advice of the wicked is deceitful.

⁶The words of the wicked are about lying in wait for blood, but the speech of the upright rescues them.

⁷The wicked are overthrown, and are no more, but the house of the righteous shall stand.

⁸A man shall be commended according to his wisdom, but he who has a warped mind shall be despised.

⁹Better is he who is lightly esteemed, and has a servant, than he who honors himself, and lacks bread.

¹⁰A righteous man regards the life of his animal, but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel.

¹¹He who tills his land shall have plenty of bread, but he who chases fantasies is void of understanding.

¹²The wicked desires the plunder of evil men, but the root of the righteous flourishes.

¹³An evil man is trapped by sinfulness of lips, but the righteous shall come out of trouble.

¹⁴A man shall be satisfied with good by the fruit of his mouth. The work of a man's hands shall be rewarded to him.

¹⁵The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but he who is wise listens to counsel.

¹⁶A fool shows his annoyance the same day, but one who overlooks an insult is prudent.

¹⁷He who is truthful testifies honestly, but a false witness lies.

¹⁸There is one who speaks rashly like the piercing of a sword, but the tongue of the wise heals.

¹⁹Truth's lips will be established forever, but a lying tongue is only momentary.

²⁰Deceit is in the heart of those who plot evil, but joy comes to the promoters of peace.

²¹No mischief shall happen to the righteous, but the wicked shall be filled with evil.

²²Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, but those who do the truth are his delight.

²³A prudent man keeps his knowledge, but the hearts of fools proclaim foolishness.

²⁴The hands of the diligent ones shall rule, but laziness ends in slave labor.

²⁵Anxiety in a man's heart weighs it down, but a kind word makes it glad.

²⁶A righteous person is cautious in friendship, but the way of the wicked leads them astray.

²⁷The slothful man doesn't roast his game, but the possessions of diligent men are prized.

²⁸In the way of righteousness is life; in its path there is no death.