Day 273 reading

Wisdom·Proverbs 3:1–10

¹My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments; ²for they will add length to your days, years and peace to your life. ³Never let loving devotion or faithfulness leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. ⁴Then you will find favor and high regard in the sight of God and man. ⁵Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; ⁶in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight. ⁷Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and turn away from evil. ⁸This will bring healing to your body and refreshment to your bones. ⁹Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your harvest; ¹⁰then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will overflow with new wine.

New Testament·Galatians 2

¹Fourteen years later I went up again to Jerusalem, accompanied by Barnabas. I took Titus along also. ²I went in response to a revelation and set before them the gospel that I preach among the Gentiles. But I spoke privately to those recognized as leaders, for fear that I was running or had already run in vain. ³Yet not even Titus, who was with me, was compelled to be circumcised, even though he was a Greek. ⁴This issue arose because some false brothers had come in under false pretenses to spy on our freedom in Christ Jesus, in order to enslave us. ⁵We did not give in to them for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel would remain with you. ⁶But as for the highly esteemed—whatever they were makes no difference to me; God does not show favoritism —those leaders added nothing to me. ⁷On the contrary, they saw that I had been entrusted to preach the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been to the circumcised. ⁸For the One who was at work in Peter’s apostleship to the circumcised was also at work in my apostleship to the Gentiles. ⁹And recognizing the grace that I had been given, James, Cephas, and John—those reputed to be pillars—gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, so that we should go to the Gentiles, and they to the circumcised. ¹⁰They only asked us to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do. ¹¹When Cephas came to Antioch, however, I opposed him to his face, because he stood to be condemned. ¹²For before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself, for fear of those in the circumcision group. ¹³The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray. ¹⁴When I saw that they were not walking in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in front of them all, “If you, who are a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews?” ¹⁵We who are Jews by birth and not Gentile “sinners” ¹⁶know that a man is not justified by works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have believed in Christ Jesus, that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified. ¹⁷But if, while we seek to be justified in Christ, we ourselves are found to be sinners, does that make Christ a minister of sin? Certainly not! ¹⁸If I rebuild what I have already torn down, I prove myself to be a lawbreaker. ¹⁹For through the law I died to the law so that I might live to God. ²⁰I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. ²¹I do not set aside the grace of God. For if righteousness comes through the law, Christ died for nothing.

Old Testament·Isaiah 25–27

¹O LORD, You are my God! I will exalt You; I will praise Your name. For You have worked wonders— plans formed long ago— in perfect faithfulness. ²Indeed, You have made the city a heap of rubble, the fortified town a ruin. The fortress of strangers is a city no more; it will never be rebuilt. ³Therefore, a strong people will honor You. The cities of ruthless nations will revere You. ⁴For You have been a refuge for the poor, a stronghold for the needy in distress, a refuge from the storm, a shade from the heat. For the breath of the ruthless is like rain against a wall, ⁵like heat in a dry land. You subdue the uproar of foreigners. As the shade of a cloud cools the heat, so the song of the ruthless is silenced. ⁶On this mountain the LORD of Hosts will prepare a banquet for all the peoples, a feast of aged wine, of choice meat, of finely aged wine. ⁷On this mountain He will swallow up the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations; ⁸He will swallow up death forever. The Lord GOD will wipe away the tears from every face and remove the disgrace of His people from the whole earth. For the LORD has spoken. ⁹And in that day it will be said, “Surely this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He has saved us. This is the LORD for whom we have waited. Let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation.” ¹⁰For the hand of the LORD will rest on this mountain. But Moab will be trampled in his place as straw is trodden into the dung pile. ¹¹He will spread out his hands within it, as a swimmer spreads his arms to swim. His pride will be brought low, despite the skill of his hands. ¹²The high-walled fortress will be brought down, cast to the ground, into the dust.

26In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah: We have a strong city; salvation is established as its walls and ramparts. ²Open the gates so a righteous nation may enter— one that remains faithful. ³You will keep in perfect peace the steadfast of mind, because he trusts in You. ⁴Trust in the LORD forever, because GOD the LORD is the Rock eternal. ⁵For He has humbled those who dwell on high; He lays the lofty city low. He brings it down to the ground; He casts it into the dust. ⁶Feet trample it down— the feet of the oppressed, the steps of the poor. ⁷The path of the righteous is level; You clear a straight path for the upright. ⁸Yes, we wait for You, O LORD; we walk in the path of Your judgments. Your name and renown are the desire of our souls. ⁹My soul longs for You in the night; indeed, my spirit seeks You at dawn. For when Your judgments come upon the earth, the people of the world learn righteousness. ¹⁰Though grace is shown to the wicked man, he does not learn righteousness. In the land of righteousness he acts unjustly and fails to see the majesty of the LORD. ¹¹O LORD, Your hand is upraised, but they do not see it. They will see Your zeal for Your people and be put to shame. The fire set for Your enemies will consume them! ¹²O LORD, You will establish peace for us. For all that we have accomplished, You have done for us. ¹³O LORD our God, other lords besides You have had dominion, but Your name alone do we confess. ¹⁴The dead will not live; the departed spirits will not rise. Therefore You have punished and destroyed them; You have wiped out all memory of them. ¹⁵You have enlarged the nation, O LORD; You have enlarged the nation. You have gained glory for Yourself; You have extended all the borders of the land. ¹⁶O LORD, they sought You in their distress; when You disciplined them, they poured out a quiet prayer. ¹⁷As a woman with child about to give birth writhes and cries out in pain, so were we in Your presence, O LORD. ¹⁸We were with child; we writhed in pain; but we gave birth to wind. We have given no salvation to the earth, nor brought any life into the world. ¹⁹Your dead will live; their bodies will rise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in the dust! For your dew is like the dew of the morning, and the earth will bring forth her dead. ²⁰Go, my people, enter your rooms and shut your doors behind you. Hide yourselves a little while until the wrath has passed. ²¹For behold, the LORD is coming out of His dwelling to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity. The earth will reveal her bloodshed and will no longer conceal her slain.

27In that day the LORD will take His sharp, great, and mighty sword, and bring judgment on Leviathan the fleeing serpent —Leviathan the coiling serpent—and He will slay the dragon of the sea. ²In that day: “Sing about a fruitful vineyard. ³I, the LORD, am its keeper; I water it continually. I guard it night and day so no one can disturb it; ⁴I am not angry. If only thorns and briers confronted Me, I would march and trample them, I would burn them to the ground. ⁵Or let them lay claim to My protection; let them make peace with Me— yes, let them make peace with Me.” ⁶In the days to come, Jacob will take root. Israel will bud and blossom and fill the whole world with fruit. ⁷Has the LORD struck Israel as He struck her oppressors? Was she killed like those who slayed her? ⁸By warfare and exile You contended with her and removed her with a fierce wind, as on the day the east wind blows. ⁹Therefore Jacob’s guilt will be atoned for, and the full fruit of the removal of his sin will be this: When he makes all the altar stones like crushed bits of chalk, no Asherah poles or incense altars will remain standing. ¹⁰For the fortified city lies deserted— a homestead abandoned, a wilderness forsaken. There the calves graze, and there they lie down; they strip its branches bare. ¹¹When its limbs are dry, they are broken off. Women come and use them for kindling; for this is a people without understanding. Therefore their Maker has no compassion on them, and their Creator shows them no favor. ¹²In that day the LORD will thresh from the flowing Euphrates to the Wadi of Egypt, and you, O Israelites, will be gathered one by one. ¹³And in that day a great ram’s horn will sound, and those who were perishing in Assyria will come forth with those who were exiles in Egypt. And they will worship the LORD on the holy mountain in Jerusalem.