Day 348 reading

Wisdom·Proverbs 26:9–17

⁹Like a thorn that falls into the hand of a drunkard is a proverb in the mouth of a fool. ¹⁰Like an archer who wounds at random is he who hires a fool or passerby. ¹¹As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his folly. ¹²Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him. ¹³The slacker says, “A lion is in the road! A fierce lion roams the public square!” ¹⁴As a door turns on its hinges, so the slacker turns on his bed. ¹⁵The slacker buries his hand in the dish; it wearies him to bring it back to his mouth. ¹⁶The slacker is wiser in his own eyes than seven men who answer discreetly. ¹⁷Like one who grabs a dog by the ears is a passerby who meddles in a quarrel not his own.

New Testament·Revelation 2:1–14

¹“To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: These are the words of Him who holds the seven stars in His right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands. ²I know your deeds, your labor, and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate those who are evil, and you have tested and exposed as liars those who falsely claim to be apostles. ³Without growing weary, you have persevered and endured many things for the sake of My name. ⁴But I have this against you: You have abandoned your first love. ⁵Therefore, keep in mind how far you have fallen. Repent and perform the deeds you did at first. But if you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. ⁶But you have this to your credit: You hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. ⁷He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who overcomes, I will grant the right to eat from the tree of life in the Paradise of God. ⁸To the angel of the church in Smyrna write: These are the words of the First and the Last, who died and returned to life. ⁹I know your affliction and your poverty—though you are rich! And I am aware of the slander of those who falsely claim to be Jews, but are in fact a synagogue of Satan. ¹⁰Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Look, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison to test you, and you will suffer tribulation for ten days. Be faithful even unto death, and I will give you the crown of life. ¹¹He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who overcomes will not be harmed by the second death. ¹²To the angel of the church in Pergamum write: These are the words of the One who holds the sharp, double-edged sword. ¹³I know where you live, where the throne of Satan sits. Yet you have held fast to My name and have not denied your faith in Me, even in the day when My faithful witness Antipas was killed among you, where Satan dwells. ¹⁴But I have a few things against you, because some of you hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to place a stumbling block before the Israelites so they would eat food sacrificed to idols and commit sexual immorality.

Old Testament·Hosea 6–9

¹Come, let us return to the LORD. For He has torn us to pieces, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bind up our wounds. ²After two days He will revive us; on the third day He will raise us up, that we may live in His presence. ³So let us know— let us press on to know the LORD. As surely as the sun rises, He will appear; He will come to us like the rain, like the spring showers that water the earth. ⁴What shall I do with you, O Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah? For your loyalty is like a morning mist, like the early dew that vanishes. ⁵Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of My mouth, and My judgments go forth like lightning. ⁶For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings. ⁷But they, like Adam, have transgressed the covenant; there they were unfaithful to Me. ⁸Gilead is a city of evildoers, tracked with footprints of blood. ⁹Like raiders who lie in ambush, so does a band of priests; they murder on the way to Shechem; surely they have committed atrocities. ¹⁰In the house of Israel I have seen a horrible thing: Ephraim practices prostitution there, and Israel is defiled. ¹¹Also for you, O Judah, a harvest is appointed, when I restore My people from captivity.

7When I heal Israel, the iniquity of Ephraim will be exposed, as well as the crimes of Samaria. For they practice deceit and thieves break in; bandits raid in the streets. ²But they fail to consider in their hearts that I remember all their evil. Now their deeds are all around them; they are before My face. ³They delight the king with their evil, and the princes with their lies. ⁴They are all adulterers, like an oven heated by a baker who needs not stoke the fire from the kneading to the rising of the dough. ⁵The princes are inflamed with wine on the day of our king; so he joins hands with those who mock him. ⁶For they prepare their heart like an oven while they lie in wait; all night their anger smolders; in the morning it blazes like a flaming fire. ⁷All of them are hot as an oven, and they devour their rulers. All their kings fall; not one of them calls upon Me. ⁸Ephraim mixes with the nations; Ephraim is an unturned cake. ⁹Foreigners consume his strength, but he does not notice. Even his hair is streaked with gray, but he does not know. ¹⁰Israel’s arrogance testifies against them, yet they do not return to the LORD their God; despite all this, they do not seek Him. ¹¹So Ephraim has become like a silly, senseless dove— calling out to Egypt, then turning to Assyria. ¹²As they go, I will spread My net over them; I will bring them down like birds of the air. I will chastise them when I hear them flocking together. ¹³Woe to them, for they have strayed from Me! Destruction to them, for they have rebelled against Me! Though I would redeem them, they speak lies against Me. ¹⁴They do not cry out to Me from their hearts when they wail upon their beds. They slash themselves for grain and new wine, but turn away from Me. ¹⁵Although I trained and strengthened their arms, they plot evil against Me. ¹⁶They turn, but not to the Most High; they are like a faulty bow. Their leaders will fall by the sword for the cursing of their tongue; for this they will be ridiculed in the land of Egypt.

8Put the ram’s horn to your lips! An eagle looms over the house of the LORD, because the people have transgressed My covenant and rebelled against My law. ²Israel cries out to Me, “O our God, we know You!” ³But Israel has rejected good; an enemy will pursue him. ⁴They set up kings, but not by Me. They make princes, but without My approval. With their silver and gold they make themselves idols, to their own destruction. ⁵He has rejected your calf, O Samaria. My anger burns against them. How long will they be incapable of innocence? ⁶For this thing is from Israel— a craftsman made it, and it is not God. It will be broken to pieces, that calf of Samaria. ⁷For they sow the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind. There is no standing grain; what sprouts fails to yield flour. Even if it should produce, the foreigners would swallow it up. ⁸Israel is swallowed up! Now they are among the nations like a worthless vessel. ⁹For they have gone up to Assyria like a wild donkey on its own. Ephraim has hired lovers. ¹⁰Though they hire allies among the nations, I will now round them up, and they will begin to diminish under the oppression of the king of princes. ¹¹Though Ephraim multiplied the altars for sin, they became his altars for sinning. ¹²Though I wrote for them the great things of My law, they regarded them as something strange. ¹³Though they offer sacrifices as gifts to Me, and though they eat the meat, the LORD does not accept them. Now He will remember their iniquity and punish their sins: They will return to Egypt. ¹⁴Israel has forgotten his Maker and built palaces; Judah has multiplied its fortified cities. But I will send fire upon their cities, and it will consume their citadels.

9Do not rejoice, O Israel, with exultation like the nations, for you have played the harlot against your God; you have made love for hire on every threshing floor. ²The threshing floor and winepress will not feed them, and the new wine will fail them. ³They will not remain in the land of the LORD; Ephraim will return to Egypt and eat unclean food in Assyria. ⁴They will not pour out wine offerings to the LORD, and their sacrifices will not please Him, but will be to them like the bread of mourners; all who eat will be defiled. For their bread will be for themselves; it will not enter the house of the LORD. ⁵What will you do on the appointed day, on the day of the LORD’s feast? ⁶For even if they flee destruction, Egypt will gather them and Memphis will bury them. Their precious silver will be taken over by thistles, and thorns will overrun their tents. ⁷The days of punishment have come; the days of retribution have arrived— let Israel know it. The prophet is called a fool, and the inspired man insane, because of the greatness of your iniquity and hostility. ⁸The prophet is Ephraim’s watchman, along with my God, yet the snare of the fowler lies on all his paths. Hostility is in the house of his God! ⁹They have deeply corrupted themselves as in the days of Gibeah; He will remember their guilt; He will punish their sins. ¹⁰I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness. I saw your fathers as the firstfruits of the fig tree in its first season. But they went to Baal-peor, and consecrated themselves to Shame; so they became as detestable as the thing they loved. ¹¹Ephraim’s glory will fly away like a bird, with no birth, no pregnancy, and no conception. ¹²Even if they raise their children, I will bereave them of each one. Yes, woe be to them when I turn away from them! ¹³I have seen Ephraim, like Tyre, planted in a meadow. But Ephraim will bring out his children for slaughter. ¹⁴Give them, O LORD— what will You give? Give them wombs that miscarry and breasts that dry up! ¹⁵All their evil appears at Gilgal, for there I hated them. I will drive them from My house for the wickedness of their deeds. I will no longer love them; all their leaders are rebellious. ¹⁶Ephraim is struck down; their root is withered; they cannot bear fruit. Even if they bear children, I will slay the darlings of their wombs. ¹⁷My God will reject them because they have not obeyed Him; and they shall be wanderers among the nations.