Day 324 reading

Wisdom·Proverbs 19:1–11

¹Better a poor man who walks with integrity than a fool whose lips are perverse. ²Even zeal is no good without knowledge, and he who hurries his footsteps misses the mark. ³A man’s own folly subverts his way, yet his heart rages against the LORD. ⁴Wealth attracts many friends, but a poor man is deserted by his friend. ⁵A false witness will not go unpunished, and one who utters lies will not escape. ⁶Many seek the favor of the prince, and everyone is a friend of the gift giver. ⁷All the brothers of a poor man hate him— how much more do his friends avoid him! He may pursue them with pleading, but they are nowhere to be found. ⁸He who acquires wisdom loves himself; one who safeguards understanding will find success. ⁹A false witness will not go unpunished, and one who pours out lies will perish. ¹⁰Luxury is unseemly for a fool— how much worse for a slave to rule over princes! ¹¹A man’s insight gives him patience, and his virtue is to overlook an offense.

New Testament·Hebrews 11:16–40

¹⁶Instead, they were longing for a better country, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them. ¹⁷By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac on the altar. He who had received the promises was ready to offer his one and only son, ¹⁸even though God had said to him, “Through Isaac your offspring will be reckoned.” ¹⁹Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and in a sense, he did receive Isaac back from death. ²⁰By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning the future. ²¹By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff. ²²By faith Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites and gave instructions about his bones. ²³By faith Moses’ parents hid him for three months after his birth, because they saw that he was a beautiful child, and they were unafraid of the king’s edict. ²⁴By faith Moses, when he was grown, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. ²⁵He chose to suffer oppression with God’s people rather than to experience the fleeting enjoyment of sin. ²⁶He valued disgrace for Christ above the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking ahead to his reward. ²⁷By faith Moses left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw Him who is invisible. ²⁸By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch Israel’s own firstborn. ²⁹By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to follow, they were drowned. ³⁰By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the people had marched around them for seven days. ³¹By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies in peace, did not perish with those who were disobedient. ³²And what more shall I say? Time will not allow me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets, ³³who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, ³⁴quenched the raging fire, and escaped the edge of the sword; who gained strength from weakness, became mighty in battle, and put foreign armies to flight. ³⁵Women received back their dead, raised to life again. Others were tortured and refused their release, so that they might gain a better resurrection. ³⁶Still others endured mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. ³⁷They were stoned, they were sawed in two, they were put to death by the sword. They went around in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, oppressed, and mistreated. ³⁸The world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and hid in caves and holes in the ground. ³⁹These were all commended for their faith, yet they did not receive what was promised. ⁴⁰God had planned something better for us, so that together with us they would be made perfect.

Old Testament·Ezekiel 19–20

¹“As for you, take up a lament for the princes of Israel ²and say: ‘What was your mother? A lioness among the lions! She lay down among the young lions; she reared her cubs. ³She brought up one of her cubs, and he became a young lion. After learning to tear his prey, he devoured men. ⁴When the nations heard of him, he was trapped in their pit. With hooks they led him away to the land of Egypt. ⁵When she saw that she had waited in vain, that her hope was lost, she took another of her cubs and made him a young lion. ⁶He prowled among the lions, and became a young lion. After learning to tear his prey, he devoured men. ⁷He broke down their strongholds and devastated their cities. The land and everything in it shuddered at the sound of his roaring. ⁸Then the nations set out against him from the provinces on every side. They spread their net over him; he was trapped in their pit. ⁹With hooks they caged him and brought him to the king of Babylon. They brought him into captivity so that his roar was heard no longer on the mountains of Israel. ¹⁰Your mother was like a vine in your vineyard, planted by the water; it was fruitful and full of branches because of the abundant waters. ¹¹It had strong branches, fit for a ruler’s scepter. It towered high above the thick branches, conspicuous for its height and for its dense foliage. ¹²But it was uprooted in fury, cast down to the ground, and the east wind dried up its fruit. Its strong branches were stripped off and they withered; the fire consumed them. ¹³Now it is planted in the wilderness, in a dry and thirsty land. ¹⁴Fire has gone out from its main branch and devoured its fruit; on it no strong branch remains fit for a ruler’s scepter.’ This is a lament and shall be used as a lament.”

20In the seventh year, on the tenth day of the fifth month, some of the elders of Israel came to inquire of the LORD, and they sat down before me. ²Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, ³“Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel and tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: Have you come to inquire of Me? As surely as I live, I will not be consulted by you, declares the Lord GOD. ⁴Will you judge them, will you judge them, son of man? Confront them with the abominations of their fathers ⁵and tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: On the day I chose Israel, I swore an oath to the descendants of the house of Jacob and made Myself known to them in the land of Egypt. With an uplifted hand I said to them, ‘I am the LORD your God.’ ⁶On that day I swore to bring them out of the land of Egypt into a land that I had searched out for them, a land flowing with milk and honey, the glory of all lands. ⁷And I said to them: ‘Each of you must throw away the abominations before his eyes, and you must not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.’ ⁸But they rebelled against Me and refused to listen. None of them cast away the abominations before their eyes, and they did not forsake the idols of Egypt. So I resolved to pour out My wrath upon them and vent My anger against them in the land of Egypt. ⁹But I acted for the sake of My name, that it should not be profaned in the eyes of the nations among whom they were living, in whose sight I had revealed Myself to Israel by bringing them out of the land of Egypt. ¹⁰So I brought them out of the land of Egypt and led them into the wilderness. ¹¹And I gave them My statutes and made known to them My ordinances—for the man who does these things will live by them. ¹²I also gave them My Sabbaths as a sign between us, so that they would know that I am the LORD who sanctifies them. ¹³Yet the house of Israel rebelled against Me in the wilderness. They did not follow My statutes and they rejected My ordinances—though the man who does these things will live by them—and they utterly profaned My Sabbaths. Then I resolved to pour out My wrath upon them and put an end to them in the wilderness. ¹⁴But I acted for the sake of My name, so that it would not be profaned in the eyes of the nations in whose sight I had brought them out. ¹⁵Moreover, with an uplifted hand I swore to them in the wilderness that I would not bring them into the land that I had given them—a land flowing with milk and honey, the glory of all lands— ¹⁶because they kept rejecting My ordinances, refusing to walk in My statutes, and profaning My Sabbaths; for their hearts continually went after their idols. ¹⁷Yet I looked on them with pity and did not destroy them or bring them to an end in the wilderness. ¹⁸In the wilderness I said to their children: ‘Do not walk in the statutes of your fathers or keep their ordinances or defile yourselves with their idols. ¹⁹I am the LORD your God; walk in My statutes, keep My ordinances, and practice them. ²⁰Keep My Sabbaths holy, that they may be a sign between us, so that you may know that I am the LORD your God.’ ²¹But the children rebelled against Me. They did not walk in My statutes or carefully observe My ordinances—though the man who does these things will live by them—and they profaned My Sabbaths. So I resolved to pour out My wrath upon them and vent My anger against them in the wilderness. ²²But I withheld My hand and acted for the sake of My name, so that it would not be profaned in the eyes of the nations in whose sight I had brought them out. ²³However, with an uplifted hand I swore to them in the wilderness that I would scatter them among the nations and disperse them throughout the lands. ²⁴For they did not practice My ordinances, but they rejected My statutes and profaned My Sabbaths, fixing their eyes on the idols of their fathers. ²⁵I also gave them over to statutes that were not good and ordinances by which they could not live. ²⁶And I pronounced them unclean through their gifts—the sacrifice of every firstborn in the fire—so that I might devastate them, in order that they would know that I am the LORD. ²⁷Therefore, son of man, speak to the house of Israel, and tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: In this way also your fathers blasphemed Me by their unfaithfulness against Me. ²⁸When I brought them into the land that I swore to give them and they saw any high hill or leafy tree, there they offered their sacrifices, presented offerings that provoked Me, sent up their fragrant incense, and poured out their drink offerings. ²⁹So I asked them: ‘What is this high place to which you go?’ (And to this day it is called Bamah.) ³⁰Therefore tell the house of Israel that this is what the Lord GOD says: Will you defile yourselves the way your fathers did, prostituting yourselves with their abominations? ³¹When you offer your gifts, sacrificing your sons in the fire, you continue to defile yourselves with all your idols to this day. So should I be consulted by you, O house of Israel? As surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, I will not be consulted by you! ³²When you say, ‘Let us be like the nations, like the peoples of the lands, serving wood and stone,’ what you have in mind will never come to pass. ³³As surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, with a strong hand, an outstretched arm, and outpoured wrath I will rule over you. ³⁴With a strong hand, an outstretched arm, and outpoured wrath I will bring you out from the peoples and gather you from the lands to which you have been scattered. ³⁵And I will bring you into the wilderness of the nations, where I will enter into judgment with you face to face. ³⁶Just as I entered into judgment with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so I will enter into judgment with you, declares the Lord GOD. ³⁷I will make you pass under the rod and will bring you into the bond of the covenant. ³⁸And I will purge you of those who rebel and transgress against Me. I will bring them out of the land in which they dwell, but they will not enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the LORD. ³⁹And as for you, O house of Israel, this is what the Lord GOD says: Go and serve your idols, every one of you. But afterward, you will surely listen to Me, and you will no longer defile My holy name with your gifts and idols. ⁴⁰For on My holy mountain, the high mountain of Israel, declares the Lord GOD, there the whole house of Israel, all of them, will serve Me in the land. There I will accept them and will require your offerings and choice gifts, along with all your holy sacrifices. ⁴¹When I bring you from the peoples and gather you from the lands to which you have been scattered, I will accept you as a pleasing aroma. And I will show My holiness through you in the sight of the nations. ⁴²Then you will know that I am the LORD, when I bring you into the land of Israel, the land that I swore to give your fathers. ⁴³There you will remember your ways and all the deeds with which you have defiled yourselves, and you will loathe yourselves for all the evils you have done. ⁴⁴Then you will know, O house of Israel, that I am the LORD, when I have dealt with you for the sake of My name and not according to your wicked ways and corrupt acts, declares the Lord GOD.” ⁴⁵Now the word of the LORD came to me, saying, ⁴⁶“Son of man, set your face toward the south, preach against it, and prophesy against the forest of the Negev. ⁴⁷Say to the forest of the Negev: Hear the word of the LORD! This is what the Lord GOD says: I am about to ignite in you a fire, and it will devour all your trees, both green and dry. The blazing flame will not be quenched, and by it every face from south to north will be scorched. ⁴⁸Then all people will see that I, the LORD, have kindled it; it will not be quenched.” ⁴⁹Then I said, “Ah, Lord GOD, they are saying of me, ‘Is he not just telling parables?’”