Day 321 reading

Wisdom·Proverbs 18:1–7

¹He who isolates himself pursues selfish desires; he rebels against all sound judgment. ²A fool does not delight in understanding, but only in airing his opinions. ³With a wicked man comes contempt as well, and shame is accompanied by disgrace. ⁴The words of a man’s mouth are deep waters; the fountain of wisdom is a bubbling brook. ⁵Showing partiality to the wicked is not good, nor is depriving the innocent of justice. ⁶A fool’s lips bring him strife, and his mouth invites a beating. ⁷A fool’s mouth is his ruin, and his lips are a snare to his soul.

New Testament·Hebrews 9:18–10:11

¹⁸That is why even the first covenant was not put into effect without blood. ¹⁹For when Moses had proclaimed every commandment of the law to all the people, he took the blood of calves and goats, along with water, scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled the scroll and all the people, ²⁰saying, “This is the blood of the covenant, which God has commanded you to keep.” ²¹In the same way, he sprinkled with blood the tabernacle and all the vessels used in worship. ²²According to the law, in fact, nearly everything must be purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. ²³So it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. ²⁴For Christ did not enter a man-made copy of the true sanctuary, but He entered heaven itself, now to appear on our behalf in the presence of God. ²⁵Nor did He enter heaven to offer Himself again and again, as the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own. ²⁶Otherwise, Christ would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But now He has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of Himself. ²⁷Just as man is appointed to die once, and after that to face judgment, ²⁸so also Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many; and He will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who eagerly await Him.

10For the law is only a shadow of the good things to come, not the realities themselves. It can never, by the same sacrifices offered year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. ²If it could, would not the offerings have ceased? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt the guilt of their sins. ³Instead, those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins, ⁴because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. ⁵Therefore, when Christ came into the world, He said: “Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but a body You prepared for Me. ⁶In burnt offerings and sin offerings You took no delight. ⁷Then I said, ‘Here I am, it is written about Me in the scroll: I have come to do Your will, O God.’” ⁸In the passage above He says, “Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings You did not desire, nor did You delight in them” (although they are offered according to the law). ⁹Then He adds, “Here I am, I have come to do Your will.” He takes away the first to establish the second. ¹⁰And by that will, we have been sanctified through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. ¹¹Day after day every priest stands to minister and to offer again and again the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins.

Old Testament·Ezekiel 13–15

¹Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, ²“Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who are now prophesying. Tell those who prophesy out of their own imagination: Hear the word of the LORD! ³This is what the Lord GOD says: Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit, yet have seen nothing. ⁴Your prophets, O Israel, are like foxes among the ruins. ⁵You did not go up to the gaps or restore the wall around the house of Israel so that it would stand in the battle on the Day of the LORD. ⁶They see false visions and speak lying divinations. They claim, ‘Thus declares the LORD,’ when the LORD did not send them; yet they wait for the fulfillment of their message. ⁷Haven’t you seen a false vision and spoken a lying divination when you proclaim, ‘Thus declares the LORD,’ even though I have not spoken? ⁸Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: Because you have uttered vain words and seen false visions, I am against you, declares the Lord GOD. ⁹My hand will be against the prophets who see false visions and speak lying divinations. They will not belong to the council of My people or be recorded in the register of the house of Israel, nor will they enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord GOD. ¹⁰Because they have led My people astray, saying, ‘Peace,’ when there is no peace, and whitewashing any flimsy wall that is built, ¹¹tell those whitewashing the wall that it will fall. Rain will come in torrents, I will send hailstones plunging down, and a windstorm will burst forth. ¹²Surely when the wall has fallen, you will not be asked, ‘Where is the whitewash with which you covered it?’ ¹³Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: In My wrath I will release a windstorm, and in My anger torrents of rain and hail will fall with destructive fury. ¹⁴I will tear down the wall you whitewashed and level it to the ground, so that its foundation is exposed. The city will fall, and you will be destroyed within it. Then you will know that I am the LORD. ¹⁵And after I have vented My wrath against the wall and against those who whitewashed it, I will say to you: ‘The wall is gone, and so are those who whitewashed it— ¹⁶those prophets of Israel who prophesied to Jerusalem and saw a vision of peace for her when there was no peace, declares the Lord GOD.’ ¹⁷Now, O son of man, set your face against the daughters of your people who prophesy out of their own imagination. Prophesy against them ¹⁸and tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: Woe to the women who sew magic charms on their wrists and make veils for the heads of people of every height, in order to ensnare their souls. Will you ensnare the souls of My people but preserve your own? ¹⁹You have profaned Me among My people for handfuls of barley and scraps of bread. By lying to My people who would listen, you have killed those who should not have died and spared those who should not have lived. ²⁰Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: See, I am against the magic charms with which you ensnare souls like birds, and I will tear them from your arms. So I will free the souls you have ensnared like birds. ²¹I will also tear off your veils and deliver My people from your hands, so that they will no longer be prey in your hands. Then you will know that I am the LORD. ²²Because you have disheartened the righteous with your lies, even though I have caused them no grief, and because you have encouraged the wicked not to turn from their evil ways to save their lives, ²³therefore you will no longer see false visions or practice divination. I will deliver My people from your hands. Then you will know that I am the LORD.”

14Then some of the elders of Israel came and sat down before me. ²And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, ³“Son of man, these men have set up idols in their hearts and put wicked stumbling blocks before their faces. Should I consult with them in any way? ⁴Therefore speak to them and tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘When any Israelite sets up idols in his heart and puts a wicked stumbling block before his face, and then comes to the prophet, I the LORD will answer him according to his great idolatry, ⁵so that I may take hold of the hearts of the people of Israel. For because of their idols, they are all estranged from Me.’ ⁶Therefore tell the house of Israel that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Repent and turn away from your idols; turn your faces away from all your abominations. ⁷For when any Israelite or any foreigner dwelling in Israel separates himself from Me, sets up idols in his heart, and puts a wicked stumbling block before his face, and then comes to the prophet to inquire of Me, I the LORD will answer him Myself. ⁸I will set My face against that man and make him a sign and a proverb; I will cut him off from among My people. Then you will know that I am the LORD. ⁹But if the prophet is enticed to speak a message, then it was I the LORD who enticed him, and I will stretch out My hand against him and destroy him from among My people Israel. ¹⁰They will bear their punishment—the punishment of the inquirer will be the same as that of the prophet— ¹¹in order that the house of Israel may no longer stray from Me and no longer defile themselves with all their transgressions. Then they will be My people and I will be their God, declares the Lord GOD.’” ¹²And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, ¹³“Son of man, if a land sins against Me by acting unfaithfully, and I stretch out My hand against it to cut off its supply of food, to send famine upon it, and to cut off from it both man and beast, ¹⁴then even if these three men—Noah, Daniel, and Job—were in it, their righteousness could deliver only themselves, declares the Lord GOD. ¹⁵Or if I send wild beasts through the land to leave it childless and desolate, with no man passing through it for fear of the beasts, ¹⁶then as surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, even if these three men were in it, they could not deliver their own sons or daughters. They alone would be delivered, but the land would be desolate. ¹⁷Or if I bring a sword against that land and say, ‘Let a sword pass through it,’ so that I cut off from it both man and beast, ¹⁸then as surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, even if these three men were in it, they could not deliver their own sons or daughters. They alone would be delivered. ¹⁹Or if I send a plague into that land and pour out My wrath upon it through bloodshed, cutting off from it both man and beast, ²⁰then as surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, they could not deliver their own sons or daughters. Their righteousness could deliver only themselves. ²¹For this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘How much worse will it be when I send against Jerusalem My four dire judgments—sword, famine, wild beasts, and plague—in order to cut off from it both man and beast? ²²Yet, behold, some survivors will be left in it—sons and daughters who will be brought out. They will come out to you, and when you see their conduct and actions, you will be comforted regarding the disaster I have brought upon Jerusalem—all that I have brought upon it. ²³They will bring you consolation when you see their conduct and actions, and you will know that it was not without cause that I have done all these things within it,’ declares the Lord GOD.”

15Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, ²“Son of man, how does the wood of the vine surpass any other branch among the trees in the forest? ³Can wood be taken from it to make something useful? Or can one make from it a peg on which to hang utensils? ⁴No, it is cast into the fire for fuel. The fire devours both ends, and the middle is charred. Can it be useful for anything? ⁵Even when it was whole, it could not be made useful. How much less can it ever be useful when the fire has consumed it and charred it! ⁶Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Like the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so I will give up the people of Jerusalem. ⁷And I will set My face against them. Though they may have escaped the fire, yet another fire will consume them. And when I set My face against them, you will know that I am the LORD. ⁸Thus I will make the land desolate, because they have acted unfaithfully,’ declares the Lord GOD.”