Day 287 reading

Wisdom·Proverbs 7:10–19

¹⁰Then a woman came out to meet him, with the attire of a harlot and cunning of heart. ¹¹She is loud and defiant; her feet do not remain at home. ¹²Now in the street, now in the squares, she lurks at every corner. ¹³She seizes him and kisses him; she brazenly says to him: ¹⁴“I have made my peace offerings; today I have paid my vows. ¹⁵So I came out to meet you; I sought you, and I have found you. ¹⁶I have decked my bed with coverings, with colored linen from Egypt. ¹⁷I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, with aloes, and with cinnamon. ¹⁸Come, let us take our fill of love till morning. Let us delight in loving caresses! ¹⁹For my husband is not at home; he has gone on a long journey.

New Testament·Philippians 2:1–13

¹Therefore if you have any encouragement in Christ, if any comfort from His love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, ²then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being united in spirit and purpose. ³Do nothing out of selfish ambition or empty pride, but in humility consider others more important than yourselves. ⁴Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. ⁵Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus: ⁶Who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, ⁷but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in human likeness. ⁸And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross. ⁹Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name above all names, ¹⁰that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, ¹¹and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. ¹²Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, but now even more in my absence, continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling. ¹³For it is God who works in you to will and to act on behalf of His good purpose.

Old Testament·Isaiah 63–65

¹Who is this coming from Edom, from Bozrah with crimson-stained garments? Who is this robed in splendor, marching in the greatness of His strength? “It is I, proclaiming vindication, mighty to save.” ²Why are Your clothes red, and Your garments like one who treads the winepress? ³“I have trodden the winepress alone, and no one from the nations was with Me. I trampled them in My anger and trod them down in My fury; their blood spattered My garments, and all My clothes were stained. ⁴For the day of vengeance was in My heart, and the year of My redemption had come. ⁵I looked, but there was no one to help; I was appalled that no one assisted. So My arm brought Me salvation, and My own wrath upheld Me. ⁶I trampled the nations in My anger; in My wrath I made them drunk and poured out their blood on the ground.” ⁷I will make known the LORD’s loving devotion and His praiseworthy acts, because of all that the LORD has done for us— the many good things for the house of Israel according to His great compassion and loving devotion. ⁸For He said, “They are surely My people, sons who will not be disloyal.” So He became their Savior. ⁹In all their distress, He too was afflicted, and the Angel of His Presence saved them. In His love and compassion He redeemed them; He lifted them up and carried them all the days of old. ¹⁰But they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit. So He turned and became their enemy, and He Himself fought against them. ¹¹Then His people remembered the days of old, the days of Moses. Where is He who brought them through the sea with the shepherds of His flock? Where is the One who set His Holy Spirit among them, ¹²who sent His glorious arm to lead them by the right hand of Moses, who divided the waters before them to gain for Himself everlasting renown, ¹³who led them through the depths like a horse in the wilderness, so that they did not stumble? ¹⁴Like cattle going down to the valley, the Spirit of the LORD gave them rest. You led Your people this way to make for Yourself a glorious name. ¹⁵Look down from heaven and see, from Your holy and glorious habitation. Where are Your zeal and might? Your yearning and compassion for me are restrained. ¹⁶Yet You are our Father, though Abraham does not know us and Israel does not acknowledge us. You, O LORD, are our Father; our Redeemer from Everlasting is Your name. ¹⁷Why, O LORD, do You make us stray from Your ways and harden our hearts from fearing You? Return, for the sake of Your servants, the tribes of Your heritage. ¹⁸For a short while Your people possessed Your holy place, but our enemies have trampled Your sanctuary. ¹⁹We have become like those You never ruled, like those not called by Your name.

64If only You would rend the heavens and come down, so that mountains would quake at Your presence, ²as fire kindles the brushwood and causes the water to boil, to make Your name known to Your enemies, so that the nations will tremble at Your presence! ³When You did awesome works that we did not expect, You came down, and the mountains trembled at Your presence. ⁴From ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides You, who acts on behalf of those who wait for Him. ⁵You welcome those who gladly do right, who remember Your ways. Surely You were angry, for we sinned. How can we be saved if we remain in our sins? ⁶Each of us has become like something unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all wither like a leaf, and our iniquities carry us away like the wind. ⁷No one calls on Your name or strives to take hold of You. For You have hidden Your face from us and delivered us into the hand of our iniquity. ⁸But now, O LORD, You are our Father; we are the clay, and You are the potter; we are all the work of Your hand. ⁹Do not be angry, O LORD, beyond measure; do not remember our iniquity forever. Oh, look upon us, we pray; we are all Your people! ¹⁰Your holy cities have become a wilderness. Zion has become a wasteland and Jerusalem a desolation. ¹¹Our holy and beautiful temple, where our fathers praised You, has been burned with fire, and all that was dear to us lies in ruins. ¹²After all this, O LORD, will You restrain Yourself? Will You keep silent and afflict us beyond measure?

65“I revealed Myself to those who did not ask for Me; I was found by those who did not seek Me. To a nation that did not call My name, I said, ‘Here I am! Here I am!’ ²All day long I have held out My hands to an obstinate people who walk in the wrong path, who follow their own imaginations, ³to a people who continually provoke Me to My face, sacrificing in the gardens and burning incense on altars of brick, ⁴sitting among the graves, spending nights in secret places, eating the meat of pigs and polluted broth from their bowls. ⁵They say, ‘Keep to yourself; do not come near me, for I am holier than you!’ Such people are smoke in My nostrils, a fire that burns all day long. ⁶Behold, it is written before Me: I will not keep silent, but I will repay; I will pay it back into their laps, ⁷both for your iniquities and for those of your fathers,” says the LORD. “Because they burned incense on the mountains and scorned Me on the hills, I will measure into their laps full payment for their former deeds.” ⁸This is what the LORD says: “As the new wine is found in a cluster of grapes, and men say, ‘Do not destroy it, for it contains a blessing,’ so I will act on behalf of My servants; I will not destroy them all. ⁹And I will bring forth descendants from Jacob, and heirs from Judah; My elect will possess My mountains, and My servants will dwell there. ¹⁰Sharon will become a pasture for flocks, and the Valley of Achor a resting place for herds, for My people who seek Me. ¹¹But you who forsake the LORD, who forget My holy mountain, who set a table for Fortune and fill bowls of mixed wine for Destiny, ¹²I will destine you for the sword, and you will all kneel down to be slaughtered, because I called and you did not answer, I spoke and you did not listen; you did evil in My sight and chose that in which I did not delight.” ¹³Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: “My servants will eat, but you will go hungry; My servants will drink, but you will go thirsty; My servants will rejoice, but you will be put to shame. ¹⁴My servants will shout for joy with a glad heart, but you will cry out with a heavy heart and wail with a broken spirit. ¹⁵You will leave behind your name as a curse for My chosen ones, and the Lord GOD will slay you; but to His servants He will give another name. ¹⁶Whoever invokes a blessing in the land will do so by the God of truth, and whoever takes an oath in the land will swear by the God of truth. For the former troubles will be forgotten and hidden from My sight. ¹⁷For behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind. ¹⁸But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create; for I will create Jerusalem to be a joy and its people to be a delight. ¹⁹I will rejoice in Jerusalem and take delight in My people. The sounds of weeping and crying will no longer be heard in her. ²⁰No longer will a nursing infant live but a few days, or an old man fail to live out his years. For the youth will die at a hundred years, and he who fails to reach a hundred will be considered accursed. ²¹They will build houses and dwell in them; they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit. ²²No longer will they build houses for others to inhabit, nor plant for others to eat. For as is the lifetime of a tree, so will be the days of My people, and My chosen ones will fully enjoy the work of their hands. ²³They will not labor in vain or bear children doomed to disaster; for they will be a people blessed by the LORD— they and their descendants with them. ²⁴Even before they call, I will answer, and while they are still speaking, I will hear. ²⁵The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox, but the food of the serpent will be dust. They will neither harm nor destroy on all My holy mountain,” says the LORD.