Day 313 reading

Wisdom·Proverbs 15:19–27

¹⁹The way of the slacker is like a hedge of thorns, but the path of the upright is a highway. ²⁰A wise son brings joy to his father, but a foolish man despises his mother. ²¹Folly is joy to one who lacks judgment, but a man of understanding walks a straight path. ²²Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed. ²³A man takes joy in a fitting reply— and how good is a timely word! ²⁴The path of life leads upward for the wise, that he may avoid going down to Sheol. ²⁵The LORD tears down the house of the proud, but He protects the boundaries of the widow. ²⁶The LORD detests the thoughts of the wicked, but the words of the pure are pleasant to Him. ²⁷He who is greedy for unjust gain brings trouble on his household, but he who hates bribes will live.

New Testament·Philemon 1:11–25

¹¹Formerly he was useless to you, but now he has become useful both to you and to me. ¹²I am sending back to you him who is my very heart. ¹³I would have liked to keep him with me, so that on your behalf he could minister to me in my chains for the gospel. ¹⁴But I did not want to do anything without your consent, so that your goodness will not be out of compulsion, but by your own free will. ¹⁵For perhaps this is why he was separated from you for a while, so that you might have him back for good— ¹⁶no longer as a slave, but better than a slave, as a beloved brother. He is especially beloved to me, but even more so to you, both in person and in the Lord. ¹⁷So if you consider me a partner, receive him as you would receive me. ¹⁸But if he has wronged you in any way or owes you anything, charge it to my account. ¹⁹I, Paul, write this with my own hand. I will repay it—not to mention that you owe me your very self. ²⁰Yes, brother, let me have some benefit from you in the Lord. Refresh my heart in Christ. ²¹Confident of your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I ask. ²²In the meantime, prepare a guest room for me, because I hope that through your prayers I will be restored to you. ²³Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, sends you greetings, ²⁴as do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke, my fellow workers. ²⁵The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.

Old Testament·Jeremiah 52; Lamentations 1

¹Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. His mother’s name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah; she was from Libnah. ²And Zedekiah did evil in the sight of the LORD, just as Jehoiakim had done. ³For because of the anger of the LORD, all this happened in Jerusalem and Judah, until He finally banished them from His presence. And Zedekiah also rebelled against the king of Babylon. ⁴So in the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched against Jerusalem with his entire army. They encamped outside the city and built a siege wall all around it. ⁵And the city was kept under siege until King Zedekiah’s eleventh year. ⁶By the ninth day of the fourth month, the famine in the city was so severe that the people of the land had no food. ⁷Then the city was breached; and though the Chaldeans had surrounded the city, all the men of war fled the city by night by way of the gate between the two walls near the king’s garden. They headed toward the Arabah, ⁸but the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho, and all his army was separated from him. ⁹The Chaldeans seized the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath, where he pronounced judgment on Zedekiah. ¹⁰There at Riblah the king of Babylon slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and he also killed all the officials of Judah. ¹¹Then he put out Zedekiah’s eyes, bound him with bronze shackles, and took him to Babylon, where he kept him in custody until his dying day. ¹²On the tenth day of the fifth month, in the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign over Babylon, Nebuzaradan captain of the guard, a servant of the king of Babylon, entered Jerusalem. ¹³He burned down the house of the LORD, the royal palace, and all the houses of Jerusalem—every significant building. ¹⁴And the whole army of the Chaldeans under the captain of the guard broke down all the walls around Jerusalem. ¹⁵Then Nebuzaradan captain of the guard carried into exile some of the poorest people and those who remained in the city, along with the deserters who had defected to the king of Babylon and the rest of the craftsmen. ¹⁶But Nebuzaradan captain of the guard left behind some of the poorest of the land to tend the vineyards and fields. ¹⁷Moreover, the Chaldeans broke up the bronze pillars and stands and the bronze Sea in the house of the LORD, and they carried all the bronze to Babylon. ¹⁸They also took away the pots, shovels, wick trimmers, sprinkling bowls, dishes, and all the articles of bronze used in the temple service. ¹⁹The captain of the guard also took away the basins, censers, sprinkling bowls, pots, lampstands, pans, and drink offering bowls—anything made of pure gold or fine silver. ²⁰As for the two pillars, the Sea, the twelve bronze bulls under it, and the movable stands that King Solomon had made for the house of the LORD, the weight of the bronze from all these articles was beyond measure. ²¹Each pillar was eighteen cubits tall and twelve cubits in circumference; each was hollow, four fingers thick. ²²The bronze capital atop one pillar was five cubits high, with a network of bronze pomegranates all around. The second pillar, with its pomegranates, was similar. ²³Each capital had ninety-six pomegranates on the sides, and a total of a hundred pomegranates were above the surrounding network. ²⁴The captain of the guard also took away Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the priest of second rank, and the three doorkeepers. ²⁵Of those still in the city, he took a court official who had been appointed over the men of war, as well as seven trusted royal advisers. He also took the scribe of the captain of the army, who had enlisted the people of the land, and sixty men who were found in the city. ²⁶Nebuzaradan captain of the guard took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. ²⁷There at Riblah in the land of Hamath, the king of Babylon struck them down and put them to death. So Judah was taken into exile, away from its own land. ²⁸These are the people Nebuchadnezzar carried away: in the seventh year, 3,023 Jews; ²⁹in Nebuchadnezzar’s eighteenth year, 832 people from Jerusalem; ³⁰in Nebuchadnezzar’s twenty-third year, Nebuzaradan captain of the guard carried away 745 Jews. So in all, 4,600 people were taken away. ³¹On the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth month of the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the first year of the reign of Evil-merodach king of Babylon, he pardoned Jehoiachin king of Judah and released him from prison. ³²And he spoke kindly to Jehoiachin and set his throne above the thrones of the other kings who were with him in Babylon. ³³So Jehoiachin changed out of his prison clothes, and he dined regularly at the king’s table for the rest of his life. ³⁴And the king of Babylon provided Jehoiachin a daily portion for the rest of his life, until the day of his death.

1How lonely lies the city, once so full of people! She who was great among the nations has become a widow. The princess of the provinces has become a slave. ²She weeps aloud in the night, with tears upon her cheeks. Among all her lovers there is no one to comfort her. All her friends have betrayed her; they have become her enemies. ³Judah has gone into exile under affliction and harsh slavery; she dwells among the nations but finds no place to rest. All her pursuers have overtaken her in the midst of her distress. ⁴The roads to Zion mourn, because no one comes to her appointed feasts. All her gates are deserted; her priests groan, her maidens grieve, and she herself is bitter with anguish. ⁵Her foes have become her masters; her enemies are at ease. For the LORD has brought her grief because of her many transgressions. Her children have gone away as captives before the enemy. ⁶All the splendor has departed from the Daughter of Zion. Her princes are like deer that find no pasture; they lack the strength to flee in the face of the hunter. ⁷In the days of her affliction and wandering Jerusalem remembers all the treasures that were hers in days of old. When her people fell into enemy hands she received no help. Her enemies looked upon her, laughing at her downfall. ⁸Jerusalem has sinned greatly; therefore she has become an object of scorn. All who honored her now despise her, for they have seen her nakedness; she herself groans and turns away. ⁹Her uncleanness stains her skirts; she did not consider her end. Her downfall was astounding; there was no one to comfort her. Look, O LORD, on my affliction, for the enemy has triumphed! ¹⁰The adversary has seized all her treasures. For she has seen the nations enter her sanctuary— those You had forbidden to enter Your assembly. ¹¹All her people groan as they search for bread. They have traded their treasures for food to keep themselves alive. Look, O LORD, and consider, for I have become despised. ¹²Is this nothing to you, all you who pass by? Look around and see! Is there any sorrow like mine, which was inflicted on me, which the LORD made me suffer on the day of His fierce anger? ¹³He sent fire from on high, and it overpowered my bones. He spread a net for my feet and turned me back. He made me desolate, faint all the day long. ¹⁴My transgressions are bound into a yoke, knit together by His hand; they are draped over my neck, and the Lord has broken my strength. He has delivered me into the hands of those I cannot withstand. ¹⁵The Lord has rejected all the mighty men in my midst; He has summoned an army against me to crush my young warriors. Like grapes in a winepress, the Lord has trampled the Virgin Daughter of Judah. ¹⁶For these things I weep; my eyes flow with tears. For there is no one nearby to comfort me, no one to revive my soul. My children are destitute because the enemy has prevailed. ¹⁷Zion stretches out her hands, but there is no one to comfort her. The LORD has decreed against Jacob that his neighbors become his foes. Jerusalem has become an unclean thing among them. ¹⁸The LORD is righteous, for I have rebelled against His command. Listen, all you people; look upon my suffering. My young men and maidens have gone into captivity. ¹⁹I called out to my lovers, but they have betrayed me. My priests and elders perished in the city while they searched for food to keep themselves alive. ²⁰See, O LORD, how distressed I am! I am churning within; my heart is pounding within me, for I have been most rebellious. Outside, the sword bereaves; inside, there is death. ²¹People have heard my groaning, but there is no one to comfort me. All my enemies have heard of my trouble; they are glad that You have caused it. May You bring the day You have announced, so that they may become like me. ²²Let all their wickedness come before You, and deal with them as You have dealt with me because of all my transgressions. For my groans are many, and my heart is faint.