Day 308 reading

Wisdom·Proverbs 14:8–16

⁸The wisdom of the prudent is to discern his way, but the folly of fools deceives them. ⁹Fools mock the making of amends, but goodwill is found among the upright. ¹⁰The heart knows its own bitterness, and no stranger shares in its joy. ¹¹The house of the wicked will be destroyed, but the tent of the upright will flourish. ¹²There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death. ¹³Even in laughter the heart may ache, and joy may end in sorrow. ¹⁴The backslider in heart receives the fill of his own ways, but a good man is rewarded for his ways. ¹⁵The simple man believes every word, but the prudent man watches his steps. ¹⁶A wise man fears and turns from evil, but a fool is careless and reckless.

New Testament·2 Timothy 2:14–26

¹⁴Remind the believers of these things, charging them before God to avoid quarreling over words, which succeeds only in leading the listeners to ruin. ¹⁵Make every effort to present yourself approved to God, an unashamed workman who accurately handles the word of truth. ¹⁶But avoid irreverent, empty chatter, which will only lead to more ungodliness, ¹⁷and the talk of such men will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, ¹⁸who have deviated from the truth. They say that the resurrection has already occurred, and they undermine the faith of some. ¹⁹Nevertheless, God’s firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: “The Lord knows those who are His,” and, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord must turn away from iniquity.” ²⁰A large house contains not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay. Some indeed are for honorable use, but others are for common use. ²¹So if anyone cleanses himself of what is unfit, he will be a vessel for honor: sanctified, useful to the Master, and prepared for every good work. ²²Flee from youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, together with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. ²³But reject foolish and ignorant speculation, for you know that it breeds quarreling. ²⁴And a servant of the Lord must not be quarrelsome, but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, and forbearing. ²⁵He must gently reprove those who oppose him, in the hope that God may grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth. ²⁶Then they will come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, who has taken them captive to his will.

Old Testament·Jeremiah 43–45

¹When Jeremiah had finished telling all the people all the words of the LORD their God—everything that the LORD had sent him to say— ²Azariah son of Hoshaiah, Johanan son of Kareah, and all the arrogant men said to Jeremiah, “You are lying! The LORD our God has not sent you to say, ‘You must not go to Egypt to reside there.’ ³Rather, Baruch son of Neriah is inciting you against us to deliver us into the hands of the Chaldeans, so that they may put us to death or exile us to Babylon!” ⁴So Johanan son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces disobeyed the command of the LORD to stay in the land of Judah. ⁵Instead, Johanan son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces took the whole remnant of Judah, those who had returned to the land of Judah from all the nations to which they had been scattered, ⁶the men, the women, the children, the king’s daughters, and everyone whom Nebuzaradan captain of the guard had allowed to remain with Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, as well as Jeremiah the prophet and Baruch son of Neriah. ⁷So they entered the land of Egypt because they did not obey the voice of the LORD, and they went as far as Tahpanhes. ⁸Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah at Tahpanhes: ⁹“In the sight of the Jews, pick up some large stones and bury them in the clay of the brick pavement at the entrance to Pharaoh’s palace at Tahpanhes. ¹⁰Then tell them that this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘I will send for My servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and I will set his throne over these stones that I have embedded, and he will spread his royal pavilion over them. ¹¹He will come and strike down the land of Egypt, bringing death to those destined for death, captivity to those destined for captivity, and the sword to those destined for the sword. ¹²I will kindle a fire in the temples of the gods of Egypt, and Nebuchadnezzar will burn those temples and take their gods as captives. So he will wrap himself with the land of Egypt as a shepherd wraps himself in his garment, and he will depart from there unscathed. ¹³He will demolish the sacred pillars of the temple of the sun in the land of Egypt, and he will burn down the temples of the gods of Egypt.’”

44This is the word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the Jews living in the land of Egypt —in Migdol, Tahpanhes, and Memphis —and in the land of Pathros: ²“This is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: You have seen all the disaster that I brought against Jerusalem and all the cities of Judah; and behold, they lie today in ruins and desolation ³because of the evil they have done. They provoked Me to anger by continuing to burn incense and to serve other gods that neither they nor you nor your fathers ever knew. ⁴Yet I sent you all My servants the prophets again and again, saying: ‘Do not do this detestable thing that I hate.’ ⁵But they did not listen or incline their ears; they did not turn from their wickedness or stop burning incense to other gods. ⁶Therefore My wrath and anger poured out and burned in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, so that they have become the desolate ruin they are today. ⁷So now, this is what the LORD God of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: Why are you doing such great harm to yourselves by cutting off from Judah man and woman, child and infant, leaving yourselves without a remnant? ⁸Why are you provoking Me to anger by the work of your hands by burning incense to other gods in the land of Egypt, where you have gone to reside? As a result, you will be cut off and will become an object of cursing and reproach among all the nations of the earth. ⁹Have you forgotten the wickedness of your fathers and of the kings of Judah and their wives, as well as the wickedness that you and your wives committed in the land of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? ¹⁰To this day they have not humbled themselves or shown reverence, nor have they followed My instruction or the statutes that I set before you and your fathers. ¹¹Therefore this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: I will set My face to bring disaster and to cut off all Judah. ¹²And I will take away the remnant of Judah who have resolved to go to the land of Egypt to reside there; they will meet their end. They will all fall by the sword or be consumed by famine. From the least to the greatest, they will die by sword or famine; and they will become an object of cursing and horror, of vilification and reproach. ¹³I will punish those who live in the land of Egypt, just as I punished Jerusalem, by sword and famine and plague, ¹⁴so that none of the remnant of Judah who have gone to reside in Egypt will escape or survive to return to the land of Judah, where they long to return and live; for none will return except a few fugitives.” ¹⁵Then all the men who knew that their wives were burning incense to other gods, and all the women standing by—a great assembly—along with all the people living in the land of Egypt and in Pathros, said to Jeremiah, ¹⁶“As for the word you have spoken to us in the name of the LORD, we will not listen to you! ¹⁷Instead, we will do everything we vowed to do: We will burn incense to the Queen of Heaven and offer drink offerings to her, just as we, our fathers, our kings, and our officials did in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. At that time we had plenty of food and good things, and we saw no disaster. ¹⁸But from the time we stopped burning incense to the Queen of Heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have lacked everything and have been perishing by sword and famine.” ¹⁹“Moreover,” said the women, “when we burned incense to the Queen of Heaven and poured out drink offerings to her, was it without our husbands’ knowledge that we made sacrificial cakes in her image and poured out drink offerings to her?” ²⁰Then Jeremiah said to all the people, both men and women, who were answering him, ²¹“As for the incense you burned in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem—you, your fathers, your kings, your officials, and the people of the land—did the LORD not remember and bring this to mind? ²²So the LORD could no longer endure the evil deeds and detestable acts you committed, and your land became a desolation, a horror, and an object of cursing, without inhabitant, as it is this day. ²³Because you burned incense and sinned against the LORD, and did not obey the voice of the LORD or walk in His instruction, His statutes, and His testimonies, this disaster has befallen you, as you see today.” ²⁴Then Jeremiah said to all the people, including all the women, “Hear the word of the LORD, all those of Judah who are in the land of Egypt. ²⁵This is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: As for you and your wives, you have spoken with your mouths and fulfilled with your hands your words: ‘We will surely perform our vows that we have made to burn incense to the Queen of Heaven and to pour out drink offerings to her.’ Go ahead, then, do what you have promised! Keep your vows! ²⁶Nevertheless, hear the word of the LORD, all you people of Judah living in Egypt: Behold, I have sworn by My great name, says the LORD, that never again will any man of Judah living in the land of Egypt invoke My name or say, ‘As surely as the Lord GOD lives.’ ²⁷I am watching over them for harm and not for good, and every man of Judah who is in the land of Egypt will meet his end by sword or famine, until they are finished off. ²⁸Those who escape the sword will return from Egypt to Judah, few in number, and the whole remnant of Judah who went to dwell in the land of Egypt will know whose word will stand, Mine or theirs! ²⁹This will be a sign to you that I will punish you in this place, declares the LORD, so that you may know that My threats of harm against you will surely stand. ³⁰This is what the LORD says: Behold, I will deliver Pharaoh Hophra king of Egypt into the hands of his enemies who seek his life, just as I delivered Zedekiah king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the enemy who was seeking his life.”

45This is the word that Jeremiah the prophet spoke to Baruch son of Neriah when he wrote these words on a scroll at the dictation of Jeremiah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah: ²“This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says to you, Baruch: ³You have said, ‘Woe is me because the LORD has added sorrow to my pain! I am worn out with groaning and have found no rest.’” ⁴Thus Jeremiah was to say to Baruch: “This is what the LORD says: Throughout the land I will demolish what I have built and uproot what I have planted. ⁵But as for you, do you seek great things for yourself? Stop seeking! For I will bring disaster on every living creature, declares the LORD, but wherever you go, I will grant your life as a spoil of war.”