Day 281 reading

Wisdom·Proverbs 5:13–23

¹³I did not listen to the voice of my teachers or incline my ear to my mentors. ¹⁴I am on the brink of utter ruin in the midst of the whole assembly.” ¹⁵Drink water from your own cistern, and running water from your own well. ¹⁶Why should your springs flow in the streets, your streams of water in the public squares? ¹⁷Let them be yours alone, never to be shared with strangers. ¹⁸May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth: ¹⁹A loving doe, a graceful fawn— may her breasts satisfy you always; may you be captivated by her love forever. ²⁰Why be captivated, my son, by an adulteress, or embrace the bosom of a stranger? ²¹For a man’s ways are before the eyes of the LORD, and the LORD examines all his paths. ²²The iniquities of a wicked man entrap him; the cords of his sin entangle him. ²³He dies for lack of discipline, led astray by his own great folly.

New Testament·Ephesians 3

¹For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles... ²Surely you have heard about the stewardship of God’s grace that was given to me for you, ³that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly. ⁴In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, ⁵which was not made known to men in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets. ⁶This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are fellow heirs, fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus. ⁷I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace, given me through the working of His power. ⁸Though I am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, ⁹and to illuminate for everyone the stewardship of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things. ¹⁰His purpose was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, ¹¹according to the eternal purpose that He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. ¹²In Him and through faith in Him we may enter God’s presence with boldness and confidence. ¹³So I ask you not to be discouraged because of my sufferings for you, which are your glory. ¹⁴... for this reason I bow my knees before the Father, ¹⁵from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. ¹⁶I ask that out of the riches of His glory He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, ¹⁷so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. Then you, being rooted and grounded in love, ¹⁸will have power, together with all the saints, to comprehend the length and width and height and depth ¹⁹of the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. ²⁰Now to Him who is able to do so much more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, ²¹to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

Old Testament·Isaiah 44–46

¹But now listen, O Jacob My servant, Israel, whom I have chosen. ²This is the word of the LORD, your Maker, who formed you from the womb and who will help you: “Do not be afraid, O Jacob My servant, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen. ³For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and currents on the dry ground. I will pour out My Spirit on your descendants, and My blessing on your offspring. ⁴They will sprout among the grass like willows by flowing streams. ⁵One will say, ‘I belong to the LORD,’ another will call himself by the name of Jacob, and still another will write on his hand, ‘The LORD’s,’ and will take the name of Israel.” ⁶Thus says the LORD, the King and Redeemer of Israel, the LORD of Hosts: “I am the first and I am the last, and there is no God but Me. ⁷Who then is like Me? Let him say so! Let him declare his case before Me, since I established an ancient people. Let him foretell the things to come, and what is to take place. ⁸Do not tremble or fear. Have I not told you and declared it long ago? You are My witnesses! Is there any God but Me? There is no other Rock; I know not one.” ⁹All makers of idols are nothing, and the things they treasure are worthless. Their witnesses fail to see or comprehend, so they are put to shame. ¹⁰Who fashions a god or casts an idol which profits him nothing? ¹¹Behold, all his companions will be put to shame, for the craftsmen themselves are only human. Let them all assemble and take their stand; they will all be brought to terror and shame. ¹²The blacksmith takes a tool and labors over the coals; he fashions an idol with hammers and forges it with his strong arms. Yet he grows hungry and loses his strength; he fails to drink water and grows faint. ¹³The woodworker extends a measuring line; he marks it out with a stylus; he shapes it with chisels and outlines it with a compass. He fashions it in the likeness of man, like man in all his glory, that it may dwell in a shrine. ¹⁴He cuts down cedars or retrieves a cypress or oak. He lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest. He plants a laurel, and the rain makes it grow. ¹⁵It serves as fuel for man. He takes some of it to warm himself, and he kindles a fire and bakes his bread; he even fashions it into a god and worships it; he makes an idol and bows down to it. ¹⁶He burns half of it in the fire, and he roasts meat on that half. He eats the roast and is satisfied. Indeed, he warms himself and says, “Ah! I am warm; I see the fire.” ¹⁷From the rest he makes a god, his graven image. He bows down to it and worships; he prays to it and says, “Save me, for you are my god.” ¹⁸They do not comprehend or discern, for He has shut their eyes so they cannot see and closed their minds so they cannot understand. ¹⁹And no one considers in his heart, no one has the knowledge or insight to say, “I burned half of it in the fire, and I baked bread on its coals; I roasted meat and I ate. Shall I make something detestable with the rest of it? Shall I bow down to a block of wood?” ²⁰He feeds on ashes. His deluded heart has led him astray, and he cannot deliver himself or say, “Is not this thing in my right hand a lie?” ²¹Remember these things, O Jacob, for you are My servant, O Israel. I have made you, and you are My servant; O Israel, I will never forget you. ²²I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud, and your sins like a mist. Return to Me, for I have redeemed you. ²³Sing for joy, O heavens, for the LORD has done this; shout aloud, O depths of the earth. Break forth in song, O mountains, you forests and all your trees. For the LORD has redeemed Jacob, and revealed His glory in Israel. ²⁴Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer who formed you from the womb: “I am the LORD, who has made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who by Myself spread out the earth, ²⁵who foils the signs of false prophets and makes fools of diviners, who confounds the wise and turns their knowledge into nonsense, ²⁶who confirms the message of His servant and fulfills the counsel of His messengers, who says of Jerusalem, ‘She will be inhabited,’ and of the cities of Judah, ‘They will be rebuilt, and I will restore their ruins,’ ²⁷who says to the depths of the sea, ‘Be dry, and I will dry up your currents,’ ²⁸who says of Cyrus, ‘My shepherd will fulfill all that I desire,’ who says of Jerusalem, ‘She will be rebuilt,’ and of the temple, ‘Let its foundation be laid.’”

45This is what the LORD says to Cyrus His anointed, whose right hand I have grasped to subdue nations before him, to disarm kings, to open the doors before him, so that the gates will not be shut: ²“I will go before you and level the mountains; I will break down the gates of bronze and cut through the bars of iron. ³I will give you the treasures of darkness and the riches hidden in secret places, so that you may know that I am the LORD, the God of Israel, who calls you by name. ⁴For the sake of Jacob My servant and Israel My chosen one, I call you by name; I have given you a title of honor, though you have not known Me. ⁵I am the LORD, and there is no other; there is no God but Me. I will equip you for battle, though you have not known Me, ⁶so that all may know, from where the sun rises to where it sets, that there is none but Me; I am the LORD, and there is no other. ⁷I form the light and create the darkness; I bring prosperity and create calamity. I, the LORD, do all these things. ⁸Drip down, O heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness. Let the earth open up that salvation may sprout and righteousness spring up with it; I, the LORD, have created it. ⁹Woe to him who quarrels with his Maker— one clay pot among many. Does the clay ask the potter, ‘What are you making?’ Does your work say, ‘He has no hands’? ¹⁰Woe to him who says to his father, ‘What have you begotten?’ or to his mother, ‘What have you brought forth?’” ¹¹Thus says the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, and its Maker: “How dare you question Me about My sons, or instruct Me in the work of My hands? ¹²It is I who made the earth and created man upon it. It was My hands that stretched out the heavens, and I ordained all their host. ¹³I will raise up Cyrus in righteousness, and I will make all his ways straight. He will rebuild My city and set My exiles free, but not for payment or reward, says the LORD of Hosts.” ¹⁴This is what the LORD says: “The products of Egypt and the merchandise of Cush, along with the Sabeans, men of stature, will come over to you and will be yours; they will trudge behind you; they will come over in chains and bow down to you. They will confess to you: ‘God is indeed with you, and there is no other; there is no other God.’” ¹⁵Truly You are a God who hides Himself, O God of Israel, the Savior. ¹⁶They will all be put to shame and humiliated; the makers of idols will depart together in disgrace. ¹⁷But Israel will be saved by the LORD with an everlasting salvation; you will not be put to shame or humiliated, to ages everlasting. ¹⁸For thus says the LORD, who created the heavens—He is God; He formed the earth and fashioned it; He established it; He did not create it to be empty, but formed it to be inhabited: “I am the LORD, and there is no other. ¹⁹I have not spoken in secret, from a place in a land of darkness. I did not say to the descendants of Jacob, ‘Seek Me in a wasteland.’ I, the LORD, speak the truth; I say what is right. ²⁰Come, gather together, and draw near, you fugitives from the nations. Ignorant are those who carry idols of wood and pray to a god that cannot save. ²¹Speak up and present your case— yes, let them take counsel together. Who foretold this long ago? Who announced it from ancient times? Was it not I, the LORD? There is no other God but Me, a righteous God and Savior; there is none but Me. ²²Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other. ²³By Myself I have sworn; truth has gone out from My mouth, a word that will not be revoked: Every knee will bow before Me, every tongue will swear allegiance. ²⁴Surely they will say of Me, ‘In the LORD alone are righteousness and strength.’” All who rage against Him will come to Him and be put to shame. ²⁵In the LORD all descendants of Israel will be justified and will exult.

46Bel crouches; Nebo cowers. Their idols weigh down beasts and cattle. The images you carry are burdensome, a load to the weary animal. ²The gods cower; they crouch together, unable to relieve the burden; but they themselves go into captivity. ³“Listen to Me, O house of Jacob, all the remnant of the house of Israel, who have been sustained from the womb, carried along since birth. ⁴Even to your old age, I will be the same, and I will bear you up when you turn gray. I have made you, and I will carry you; I will sustain you and deliver you. ⁵To whom will you liken Me or count Me equal? To whom will you compare Me, that we should be alike? ⁶They pour out their bags of gold and weigh out silver on scales; they hire a goldsmith to fashion it into a god, so they can bow down and worship. ⁷They lift it to their shoulder and carry it along; they set it in its place, and there it stands, not budging from that spot. They cry out to it, but it does not answer; it saves no one from his troubles. ⁸Remember this and be brave; take it to heart, you transgressors! ⁹Remember what happened long ago, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me. ¹⁰I declare the end from the beginning, and ancient times from what is still to come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and all My good pleasure I will accomplish.’ ¹¹I summon a bird of prey from the east, a man for My purpose from a far-off land. Truly I have spoken, and truly I will bring it to pass. I have planned it, and I will surely do it. ¹²Listen to Me, you stubborn people, far removed from righteousness: ¹³I am bringing My righteousness near; it is not far away, and My salvation will not be delayed. I will grant salvation to Zion and adorn Israel with My splendor.