Day 257 reading

Wisdom·Psalm 144

¹Blessed be the LORD, my Rock, who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle. ²He is my steadfast love and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer. He is my shield, in whom I take refuge, who subdues peoples under me. ³O LORD, what is man, that You regard him, the son of man that You think of him? ⁴Man is like a breath; his days are like a passing shadow. ⁵Part Your heavens, O LORD, and come down; touch the mountains, that they may smoke. ⁶Flash forth Your lightning and scatter them; shoot Your arrows and rout them. ⁷Reach down from on high; set me free and rescue me from the deep waters, from the grasp of foreigners, ⁸whose mouths speak falsehood, whose right hands are deceitful. ⁹I will sing to You a new song, O God; on a harp of ten strings I will make music to You— ¹⁰to Him who gives victory to kings, who frees His servant David from the deadly sword. ¹¹Set me free and rescue me from the grasp of foreigners, whose mouths speak falsehood, whose right hands are deceitful. ¹²Then our sons will be like plants nurtured in their youth, our daughters like corner pillars carved to adorn a palace. ¹³Our storehouses will be full, supplying all manner of produce; our flocks will bring forth thousands, tens of thousands in our fields. ¹⁴Our oxen will bear great loads. There will be no breach in the walls, no going into captivity, and no cry of lament in our streets. ¹⁵Blessed are the people of whom this is so; blessed are the people whose God is the LORD.

New Testament·1 Corinthians 15:13–33

¹³If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. ¹⁴And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is worthless, and so is your faith. ¹⁵In that case, we are also exposed as false witnesses about God. For we have testified about God that He raised Christ from the dead, but He did not raise Him if in fact the dead are not raised. ¹⁶For if the dead are not raised, then not even Christ has been raised. ¹⁷And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. ¹⁸Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. ¹⁹If our hope in Christ is for this life alone, we are to be pitied more than all men. ²⁰But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. ²¹For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. ²²For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. ²³But each in his own turn: Christ the firstfruits; then at His coming, those who belong to Him. ²⁴Then the end will come, when He hands over the kingdom to God the Father after He has destroyed all dominion, authority, and power. ²⁵For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. ²⁶The last enemy to be destroyed is death. ²⁷For “God has put everything under His feet.” Now when it says that everything has been put under Him, this clearly does not include the One who put everything under Him. ²⁸And when all things have been subjected to Him, then the Son Himself will be made subject to Him who put all things under Him, so that God may be all in all. ²⁹If these things are not so, what will those do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized for them? ³⁰And why do we endanger ourselves every hour? ³¹I face death every day, brothers, as surely as I boast about you in Christ Jesus our Lord. ³²If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus for human motives, what did I gain? If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” ³³Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good character.”

Old Testament·Job 40–41

¹And the LORD said to Job: ²“Will the faultfinder contend with the Almighty? Let him who argues with God give an answer.” ³Then Job answered the LORD: ⁴“Behold, I am insignificant. How can I reply to You? I place my hand over my mouth. ⁵I have spoken once, but I have no answer— twice, but I have nothing to add.” ⁶Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind and said: ⁷“Now brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall inform Me. ⁸Would you really annul My justice? Would you condemn Me to justify yourself? ⁹Do you have an arm like God’s? Can you thunder with a voice like His? ¹⁰Then adorn yourself with majesty and splendor, and clothe yourself with honor and glory. ¹¹Unleash the fury of your wrath; look on every proud man and bring him low. ¹²Look on every proud man and humble him; trample the wicked where they stand. ¹³Bury them together in the dust; imprison them in the grave. ¹⁴Then I will confess to you that your own right hand can save you. ¹⁵Look at Behemoth, which I made along with you. He feeds on grass like an ox. ¹⁶See the strength of his loins and the power in the muscles of his belly. ¹⁷His tail sways like a cedar; the sinews of his thighs are tightly knit. ¹⁸His bones are tubes of bronze; his limbs are rods of iron. ¹⁹He is the foremost of God’s works; only his Maker can draw the sword against him. ²⁰The hills yield him their produce, while all the beasts of the field play nearby. ²¹He lies under the lotus plants, hidden among the reeds of the marsh. ²²The lotus plants conceal him in their shade; the willows of the brook surround him. ²³Though the river rages, Behemoth is unafraid; he remains secure, though the Jordan surges to his mouth. ²⁴Can anyone capture him as he looks on, or pierce his nose with a snare?

41“Can you pull in Leviathan with a hook or tie down his tongue with a rope? ²Can you put a cord through his nose or pierce his jaw with a hook? ³Will he beg you for mercy or speak to you softly? ⁴Will he make a covenant with you to take him as a slave for life? ⁵Can you pet him like a bird or put him on a leash for your maidens? ⁶Will traders barter for him or divide him among the merchants? ⁷Can you fill his hide with harpoons or his head with fishing spears? ⁸If you lay a hand on him, you will remember the battle and never repeat it! ⁹Surely hope of overcoming him is false. Is not the sight of him overwhelming? ¹⁰No one is so fierce as to rouse Leviathan. Then who is able to stand against Me? ¹¹Who has given to Me that I should repay him? Everything under heaven is Mine. ¹²I cannot keep silent about his limbs, his power and graceful form. ¹³Who can strip off his outer coat? Who can approach him with a bridle? ¹⁴Who can open his jaws, ringed by his fearsome teeth? ¹⁵His rows of scales are his pride, tightly sealed together. ¹⁶One scale is so near to another that no air can pass between them. ¹⁷They are joined to one another; they clasp and cannot be separated. ¹⁸His snorting flashes with light, and his eyes are like the rays of dawn. ¹⁹Firebrands stream from his mouth; fiery sparks shoot forth! ²⁰Smoke billows from his nostrils as from a boiling pot over burning reeds. ²¹His breath sets coals ablaze, and flames pour from his mouth. ²²Strength resides in his neck, and dismay leaps before him. ²³The folds of his flesh are tightly joined; they are firm and immovable. ²⁴His chest is as hard as a rock, as hard as a lower millstone! ²⁵When Leviathan rises up, the mighty are terrified; they withdraw before his thrashing. ²⁶The sword that reaches him has no effect, nor does the spear or dart or arrow. ²⁷He regards iron as straw and bronze as rotten wood. ²⁸No arrow can make him flee; slingstones become like chaff to him. ²⁹A club is regarded as straw, and he laughs at the sound of the lance. ³⁰His undersides are jagged potsherds, spreading out the mud like a threshing sledge. ³¹He makes the depths seethe like a cauldron; he makes the sea like a jar of ointment. ³²He leaves a glistening wake behind him; one would think the deep had white hair! ³³Nothing on earth is his equal— a creature devoid of fear! ³⁴He looks down on all the haughty; he is king over all the proud.”