Day 288 reading

Wisdom·Proverbs 7:20–27

²⁰He took with him a bag of money and will not return till the moon is full.” ²¹With her great persuasion she entices him; with her flattering lips she lures him. ²²He follows her on impulse, like an ox going to the slaughter, like a deer bounding into a trap, ²³until an arrow pierces his liver, like a bird darting into a snare— not knowing it will cost him his life. ²⁴Now, my sons, listen to me, and attend to the words of my mouth. ²⁵Do not let your heart turn aside to her ways; do not stray into her paths. ²⁶For she has brought many down to death; her slain are many in number. ²⁷Her house is the road to Sheol, descending to the chambers of death.

New Testament·Philippians 2:14–30

¹⁴Do everything without complaining or arguing, ¹⁵so that you may be blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and perverse generation, in which you shine as lights in the world ¹⁶as you hold forth the word of life, in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor in vain. ¹⁷But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you. ¹⁸So you too should be glad and rejoice with me. ¹⁹Now I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, that I also may be cheered when I learn how you are doing. ²⁰I have nobody else like him who will genuinely care for your needs. ²¹For all the others look after their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. ²²But you know Timothy’s proven worth, that as a child with his father he has served with me to advance the gospel. ²³So I hope to send him as soon as I see what happens with me. ²⁴And I trust in the Lord that I myself will come soon. ²⁵But I thought it necessary to send back to you Epaphroditus, my brother, fellow worker, and fellow soldier, who is also your messenger and minister to my needs. ²⁶For he has been longing for all of you and is distressed because you heard he was ill. ²⁷He was sick indeed, nearly unto death. But God had mercy on him, and not only on him but also on me, to spare me sorrow upon sorrow. ²⁸Therefore I am all the more eager to send him, so that when you see him again you may rejoice, and I may be less anxious. ²⁹Welcome him in the Lord with great joy, and honor men like him, ³⁰because he nearly died for the work of Christ, risking his life to make up for your deficit of service to me.

Old Testament·Isaiah 66; Jeremiah 1

¹This is what the LORD says: “Heaven is My throne, and earth is My footstool. What kind of house will you build for Me? Or where will My place of repose be? ²Has not My hand made all these things? And so they came into being,” declares the LORD. “This is the one I will esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, who trembles at My word. ³Whoever slaughters an ox is like one who slays a man; whoever sacrifices a lamb is like one who breaks a dog’s neck; whoever presents a grain offering is like one who offers pig’s blood; whoever offers frankincense is like one who blesses an idol. Indeed, they have chosen their own ways and delighted in their abominations. ⁴So I will choose their punishment and I will bring terror upon them, because I called and no one answered, I spoke and no one listened. But they did evil in My sight and chose that in which I did not delight.” ⁵You who tremble at His word, hear the word of the LORD: “Your brothers who hate you and exclude you because of My name have said, ‘Let the LORD be glorified that we may see your joy!’ But they will be put to shame.” ⁶Hear the uproar from the city; listen to the voice from the temple! It is the voice of the LORD, repaying His enemies what they deserve! ⁷“Before she was in labor, she gave birth; before she was in pain, she delivered a boy. ⁸Who has heard of such as this? Who has seen such things? Can a country be born in a day or a nation be delivered in an instant? Yet as soon as Zion was in labor, she gave birth to her children. ⁹Shall I bring a baby to the point of birth and not deliver it?” says the LORD. “Or will I who deliver close the womb?” says your God. ¹⁰Be glad for Jerusalem and rejoice over her, all who love her. Rejoice greatly with her, all who mourn over her, ¹¹so that you may nurse and be satisfied at her comforting breasts; you may drink deeply and delight yourselves in her glorious abundance. ¹²For this is what the LORD says: “I will extend peace to her like a river, and the wealth of nations like a flowing stream; you will nurse and be carried on her arm, and bounced upon her knees. ¹³As a mother comforts her son, so will I comfort you, and you will be consoled over Jerusalem.” ¹⁴When you see, you will rejoice, and you will flourish like grass; then the hand of the LORD will be revealed to His servants, but His wrath will be shown to His enemies. ¹⁵For behold, the LORD will come with fire— His chariots are like a whirlwind— to execute His anger with fury and His rebuke with flames of fire. ¹⁶For by fire and by His sword, the LORD will execute judgment on all flesh, and many will be slain by the LORD. ¹⁷“Those who consecrate and purify themselves to enter the groves—to follow one in the center of those who eat the flesh of swine and vermin and rats—will perish together,” declares the LORD. ¹⁸“And I, knowing their deeds and thoughts, am coming to gather all nations and tongues, and they will come and see My glory. ¹⁹I will establish a sign among them, and I will send survivors from among them to the nations—to Tarshish, Put, and the archers of Lud; to Tubal, Javan, and the islands far away who have not heard of My fame or seen My glory. So they will proclaim My glory among the nations. ²⁰And they will bring all your brothers from all the nations as a gift to the LORD on horses and chariots and wagons, on mules and camels, to My holy mountain Jerusalem,” says the LORD, “just as the Israelites bring an offering in a clean vessel to the house of the LORD.” ²¹“And I will select some of them as priests and Levites,” says the LORD. ²²“For just as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, will endure before Me,” declares the LORD, “so your descendants and your name will endure. ²³From one New Moon to another and from one Sabbath to another, all mankind will come to worship before Me,” says the LORD. ²⁴“As they go forth, they will see the corpses of the men who have rebelled against Me; for their worm will never die, their fire will never be quenched, and they will be a horror to all mankind.”

1These are the words of Jeremiah son of Hilkiah, one of the priests in Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin. ²The word of the LORD came to Jeremiah in the thirteenth year of the reign of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah, ³and through the days of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, until the fifth month of the eleventh year of Zedekiah son of Josiah king of Judah, when the people of Jerusalem went into exile. ⁴The word of the LORD came to me, saying: ⁵“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” ⁶“Ah, Lord GOD,” I said, “I surely do not know how to speak, for I am only a child!” ⁷But the LORD told me: “Do not say, ‘I am only a child.’ For to everyone I send you, you must go, and all that I command you, you must speak. ⁸Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you,” declares the LORD. ⁹Then the LORD reached out His hand, touched my mouth, and said to me: “Behold, I have put My words in your mouth. ¹⁰See, I have appointed you today over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and plant.” ¹¹And the word of the LORD came to me, asking, “Jeremiah, what do you see?” “I see a branch of an almond tree,” I replied. ¹²“You have observed correctly,” said the LORD, “for I am watching over My word to accomplish it.” ¹³Again the word of the LORD came to me, asking, “What do you see?” “I see a boiling pot,” I replied, “and it is tilting toward us from the north.” ¹⁴Then the LORD said to me, “Disaster from the north will be poured out on all who live in the land. ¹⁵For I am about to summon all the clans and kingdoms of the north,” declares the LORD. “Their kings will come and set up their thrones at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem. They will attack all her surrounding walls and all the other cities of Judah. ¹⁶I will pronounce My judgments against them for all their wickedness, because they have forsaken Me to burn incense to other gods and to worship the works of their own hands. ¹⁷Get yourself ready. Stand up and tell them everything that I command you. Do not be intimidated by them, or I will terrify you before them. ¹⁸Now behold, this day I have made you like a fortified city, an iron pillar, and bronze walls against the whole land—against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests, and the people of the land. ¹⁹They will fight against you but will never overcome you, since I am with you to deliver you,” declares the LORD.