Day 299 reading

Wisdom·Proverbs 11:8–17

⁸The righteous man is delivered from trouble; in his place the wicked man goes in. ⁹With his mouth the ungodly man destroys his neighbor, but through knowledge the righteous are rescued. ¹⁰When the righteous thrive, the city rejoices, and when the wicked perish, there are shouts of joy. ¹¹By the blessing of the upright a city is built up, but by the mouth of the wicked it is torn down. ¹²Whoever shows contempt for his neighbor lacks judgment, but a man of understanding remains silent. ¹³A gossip reveals a secret, but a trustworthy person keeps a confidence. ¹⁴For lack of guidance, a nation falls, but with many counselors comes deliverance. ¹⁵He who puts up security for a stranger will surely suffer, but the one who hates indebtedness is secure. ¹⁶A gracious woman attains honor, but ruthless men gain only wealth. ¹⁷A kind man benefits himself, but a cruel man brings trouble on himself.

New Testament·2 Thessalonians 1

¹Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: ²Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. ³We are obligated to thank God for you all the time, brothers, as is fitting, because your faith is growing more and more, and your love for one another is increasing. ⁴That is why we boast among God’s churches about your perseverance and faith in the face of all the persecution and affliction you are enduring. ⁵All this is clear evidence of God’s righteous judgment. And so you will be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are suffering. ⁶After all, it is only right for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, ⁷and to grant relief to you who are oppressed and to us as well. This will take place when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels ⁸in blazing fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. ⁹They will suffer the penalty of eternal destruction, separated from the presence of the Lord and the glory of His might, ¹⁰on the day He comes to be glorified in His saints and regarded with wonder by all who have believed, including you who have believed our testimony. ¹¹To this end, we always pray for you, that our God will count you worthy of His calling, and that He will powerfully fulfill your every good desire and work of faith, ¹²so that the name of our Lord Jesus will be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Old Testament·Jeremiah 24–25

¹After Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had carried away Jeconiah son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, as well as the officials of Judah and the craftsmen and metalsmiths from Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon, the LORD showed me two baskets of figs placed in front of the temple of the LORD. ²One basket had very good figs, like those that ripen early, but the other basket contained very poor figs, so bad they could not be eaten. ³“Jeremiah,” the LORD asked, “what do you see?” “Figs!” I replied. “The good figs are very good, but the bad figs are very bad, so bad they cannot be eaten.” ⁴Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, ⁵“This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Like these good figs, so I regard as good the exiles from Judah, whom I have sent away from this place to the land of the Chaldeans. ⁶I will keep My eyes on them for good and will return them to this land. I will build them up and not tear them down; I will plant them and not uproot them. ⁷I will give them a heart to know Me, that I am the LORD. They will be My people, and I will be their God, for they will return to Me with all their heart. ⁸But like the bad figs, so bad they cannot be eaten,’ says the LORD, ‘so will I deal with Zedekiah king of Judah, his officials, and the remnant of Jerusalem—those remaining in this land and those living in the land of Egypt. ⁹I will make them a horror and an offense to all the kingdoms of the earth, a disgrace and an object of scorn, ridicule, and cursing wherever I have banished them. ¹⁰And I will send against them sword and famine and plague, until they have perished from the land that I gave to them and their fathers.’”

25This is the word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, which was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. ²So the prophet Jeremiah spoke to all the people of Judah and all the residents of Jerusalem as follows: ³“From the thirteenth year of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah until this very day—twenty-three years—the word of the LORD has come to me, and I have spoken to you again and again, but you have not listened. ⁴And the LORD has sent all His servants the prophets to you again and again, but you have not listened or inclined your ear to hear. ⁵The prophets told you, ‘Turn now, each of you, from your evil ways and deeds, and you can dwell in the land that the LORD has given to you and your fathers forever and ever. ⁶Do not follow other gods to serve and worship them, and do not provoke Me to anger with the works of your hands. Then I will do you no harm.’ ⁷‘But to your own harm, you have not listened to Me,’ declares the LORD, ‘so you have provoked Me to anger with the works of your hands.’ ⁸Therefore this is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘Because you have not obeyed My words, ⁹behold, I will summon all the families of the north, declares the LORD, and I will send for My servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, whom I will bring against this land, against its residents, and against all the surrounding nations. So I will devote them to destruction and make them an object of horror and contempt, an everlasting desolation. ¹⁰Moreover, I will banish from them the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of the bride and bridegroom, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the lamp. ¹¹And this whole land will become a desolate wasteland, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon for seventy years. ¹²But when seventy years are complete, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chaldeans, for their guilt, declares the LORD, and I will make it an everlasting desolation. ¹³I will bring upon that land all the words I have pronounced against it, all that is written in this book, which Jeremiah has prophesied against all the nations. ¹⁴For many nations and great kings will enslave them, and I will repay them according to their deeds and according to the work of their hands.’” ¹⁵This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, said to me: “Take from My hand this cup of the wine of wrath, and make all the nations to whom I send you drink from it. ¹⁶And they will drink and stagger and go out of their minds, because of the sword that I will send among them.” ¹⁷So I took the cup from the LORD’s hand and made all the nations drink from it, each one to whom the LORD had sent me, ¹⁸to make them a ruin, an object of horror and contempt and cursing, as they are to this day—Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, its kings and officials; ¹⁹Pharaoh king of Egypt, his officials, his leaders, and all his people; ²⁰all the mixed tribes; all the kings of Uz; all the kings of the Philistines: Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod; ²¹Edom, Moab, and the Ammonites; ²²all the kings of Tyre and Sidon; the kings of the coastlands across the sea; ²³Dedan, Tema, Buz, and all who cut the corners of their hair; ²⁴all the kings of Arabia, and all the kings of the mixed tribes who dwell in the desert; ²⁵all the kings of Zimri, Elam, and Media; ²⁶all the kings of the north, both near and far, one after another—all the kingdoms on the face of the earth. And after all of them, the king of Sheshach will drink it too. ²⁷“Then you are to tell them that this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘Drink, get drunk, and vomit. Fall down and never get up again, because of the sword I will send among you.’ ²⁸If they refuse to take the cup from your hand and drink it, you are to tell them that this is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘You most certainly must drink it! ²⁹For behold, I am beginning to bring disaster on the city that bears My Name, so how could you possibly go unpunished? You will not go unpunished, for I am calling down a sword upon all the inhabitants of the earth, declares the LORD of Hosts.’ ³⁰So you are to prophesy all these words against them and say to them: ‘The LORD will roar from on high; He will raise His voice from His holy habitation. He will roar loudly over His pasture; like those who tread the grapes, He will call out with a shout against all the inhabitants of the earth. ³¹The tumult will resound to the ends of the earth because the LORD brings a charge against the nations. He brings judgment on all mankind and puts the wicked to the sword,’” declares the LORD. ³²This is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Behold! Disaster is spreading from nation to nation; a mighty storm is rising from the ends of the earth.” ³³Those slain by the LORD on that day will be spread from one end of the earth to the other. They will not be mourned, gathered, or buried. They will be like dung lying on the ground. ³⁴Wail, you shepherds, and cry out; roll in the dust, you leaders of the flock. For the days of your slaughter have come; you will fall and be shattered like fine pottery. ³⁵Flight will evade the shepherds, and escape will elude the leaders of the flock. ³⁶Hear the cry of the shepherds, the wailing of the leaders of the flock, for the LORD is destroying their pasture. ³⁷The peaceful meadows have been silenced because of the LORD’s burning anger. ³⁸He has left His den like a lion, for their land has been made a desolation by the sword of the oppressor, and because of the fierce anger of the LORD.