Today's Reading

¹Bel bows down, Nebo stoops; their idols are on the animals, and on the livestock: the things that you carried about are made a load, a burden to the weary.

²They stoop, they bow down together; they could not deliver the burden, but they have gone into captivity.

³"Listen to me, house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel, that have been borne from their birth, that have been carried from the womb;

⁴and even to old age I am he, and even to gray hairs will I carry you. I have made, and I will bear; yes, I will carry, and will deliver.

⁵"To whom will you liken me, and make me equal, and compare me, that we may be like?

⁶Some pour out gold from the bag, and weigh silver in the balance. They hire a goldsmith, and he makes it a god. They fall down-yes, they worship.

⁷They bear it on the shoulder, they carry it, and set it in its place, and it stands, from its place it shall not move: yes, one may cry to it, yet it can not answer, nor save him out of his trouble.

⁸"Remember this, and show yourselves men; bring it again to mind, you transgressors.

⁹Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me;

¹⁰declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done; saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure;

¹¹calling a ravenous bird from the east, the man of my counsel from a far country; yes, I have spoken, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed, I will also do it.

¹²Listen to me, you stout-hearted, who are far from righteousness:

¹³I bring near my righteousness, it shall not be far off, and my salvation shall not wait; and I will place salvation in Zion for Israel my glory.

¹"Come down, and sit in the dust, virgin daughter of Babylon; sit on the ground without a throne, daughter of the Chaldeans: for you shall no more be called tender and delicate.

²Take the millstones, and grind meal; remove your veil, strip off the train, uncover the leg, pass through the rivers.

³Your nakedness shall be uncovered, yes, your shame shall be seen: I will take vengeance, and will spare no man."

⁴Our Redeemer, the Lord of hosts is his name, the Holy One of Israel.

⁵"Sit in silence, and go into darkness, daughter of the Chaldeans; for you shall no more be called the mistress of kingdoms.

⁶I was angry with my people, I profaned my inheritance, and gave them into your hand: you showed them no mercy; on the aged you have very heavily laid your yoke.

⁷You said, 'I shall be a mistress forever;' so that you did not lay these things to your heart, nor did you remember the latter end of it.

⁸"Now therefore hear this, you who are given to pleasures, who sit securely, who say in your heart, 'I am, and there is none else besides me; I shall not sit as a widow, neither shall I know the loss of children:'

⁹but these two things shall come to you in a moment in one day, the loss of children, and widowhood; in their full measure shall they come on you, in the multitude of your sorceries, and the great abundance of your enchantments.

¹⁰For you have trusted in your wickedness; you have said, No one sees me; your wisdom and your knowledge, it has perverted you, and you have said in your heart, 'I am, and there is none else besides me.'

¹¹Therefore disaster will come on you; you won't know when it dawns: and calamity will fall on you; you will not be able to put it away: and desolation shall come on you suddenly and unexpectedly.

¹²"Stand now with your enchantments, and with the multitude of your sorceries, in which you have labored from your youth; if so be you shall be able to profit, if so be you may prevail.

¹³You are wearied in the multitude of your counsels: let now the astrologers, the stargazers, the monthly prognosticators, stand up, and save you from the things that shall come on you.

¹⁴Behold, they shall be as stubble; the fire shall burn them; they shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame: it shall not be a coal to warm at, nor a fire to sit before.

¹⁵Thus shall the things be to you in which you have labored: those who have trafficked with you from your youth shall wander everyone to his quarter; there shall be none to save you.

¹"Hear this, house of Jacob, you who are called by the name of Israel, and have come forth out of the waters of Judah; who swear by the name of the Lord, and make mention of the God of Israel, but not in truth, nor in righteousness

²(for they call themselves of the holy city, and stay themselves on the God of Israel; the Lord of hosts is his name):

³I have declared the former things from of old; yes, they went forth out of my mouth, and I showed them: suddenly I did them, and they happened.

⁴Because I knew that you are obstinate, and your neck is an iron sinew, and your brow brass;

⁵therefore I have declared it to you from of old; before it came to pass I showed it to you; lest you should say, 'My idol has done them, and my engraved image, and my molten image, has commanded them.'

⁶You have heard it; see all this; and you, will you not declare it? "I have shown you new things from this time, even hidden things, which you have not known.

⁷They are created now, and not from of old; and before this day you did not hear them; lest you should say, 'Behold, I knew them.'

⁸Yes, you did not hear; yes, you did not know; yes, from of old your ear was not opened: for I knew that you dealt very treacherously, and was called a transgressor from the womb.

⁹For my name's sake will I defer my anger, and for my praise will I refrain for you, that I not cut you off.

¹⁰Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have chosen you in the furnace of affliction.

¹¹For my own sake, for my own sake, will I do it; for how should my name be profaned? I will not give my glory to another.

¹²"Listen to me, O Jacob, and Israel my called: I am he; I am the first, I also am the last.

¹³Yes, my hand has laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand has spread out the heavens: when I call to them, they stand up together.

¹⁴"Assemble yourselves, all you, and hear; who among them has declared these things? He whom the Lord loves shall perform his pleasure on Babylon, and his arm shall be on the Chaldeans.

¹⁵I, even I, have spoken; yes, I have called him; I have brought him, and he shall make his way prosperous.

¹⁶"Come near to me and hear this: "From the beginning I have not spoken in secret; from the time that it was, there am I." Now the Lord God has sent me, with his Spirit.

¹⁷Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: I am the Lord your God, who teaches you to profit, who leads you by the way that you should go.

¹⁸Oh that you had listened to my commandments! Then your peace would have been like a river, and your righteousness like the waves of the sea:

¹⁹your seed also had been as the sand, and the offspring of your body like its grains: his name would not be cut off nor destroyed from before me.

²⁰Go forth from Babylon, flee from the Chaldeans; with a voice of singing declare, tell this, utter it even to the end of the earth: say, the Lord has redeemed his servant Jacob.

²¹They did not thirst when he led them through the deserts; he caused the waters to flow out of the rock for them; he split the rock also, and the waters gushed out.

²²"There is no peace," says the Lord, "for the wicked."

¹Masters, give to your servants that which is just and equal, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven.

²Continue steadfastly in prayer, watching therein with thanksgiving;

³praying together for us also, that God may open to us a door for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds;

⁴that I may reveal it as I ought to speak.

⁵Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time.

⁶Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.

⁷All my affairs will be made known to you by Tychicus, the beloved brother, faithful servant, and fellow bondservant in the Lord.

⁸I am sending him to you for this very purpose, that you may know our circumstances and that he may encourage your hearts,

⁹together with Onesimus, the faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you. They will make known to you everything that is going on here.

¹⁰Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner greets you, and Mark, the cousin of Barnabas (concerning whom you received commandments, "if he comes to you, receive him"),

¹¹and Jesus who is called Justus, who are of the circumcision. These are my only fellow workers for the Kingdom of God, men who have been a comfort to me.

¹²Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, salutes you, always striving for you in his prayers, that you may stand perfect and fully assured in all the will of God.

¹³For I testify about him, that he has worked hard for you, and for those in Laodicea, and for those in Hierapolis.

¹⁴Luke, the beloved physician, and Demas greet you.

¹⁵Greet the brothers who are in Laodicea, and to Nympha and the church that is in her house.

¹⁶When this letter has been read among you, cause it to be read also in the church of the Laodiceans; and that you also read the letter from Laodicea.

¹⁷Tell Archippus, "Take heed to the ministry which you have received in the Lord, that you fulfill it."

¹⁸The salutation of me, Paul, with my own hand: remember my bonds. Grace be with you.

¹Do not boast about tomorrow; for you do not know what a day may bring forth.

²Let another man praise you, and not your own mouth; a stranger, and not your own lips.

³A stone is heavy, and sand is a burden; but a fool's provocation is heavier than both.

⁴Wrath is cruel, and anger is overwhelming; but who is able to stand before jealousy?

⁵Better is open rebuke than hidden love.

⁶Faithful are the wounds of a friend; although the kisses of an enemy are profuse.

⁷A full soul loathes a honeycomb; but to a hungry soul, every bitter thing is sweet.

⁸As a bird that wanders from her nest, so is a man who wanders from his home.

⁹Perfume and incense bring joy to the heart; so does earnest counsel from a man's friend.

¹⁰Do not forsake your friend and your father's friend. Do not go to your brother's house in the day of your disaster: better is a neighbor who is near than a distant brother.

¹¹Be wise, my son, and bring joy to my heart, then I can answer my tormentor.

¹²A prudent man sees danger and takes refuge; but the simple pass on, and suffer for it.

¹³Take his garment when he puts up collateral for a stranger. Hold it for a wayward woman!

¹⁴He who blesses his neighbor with a loud voice early in the morning, it will be taken as a curse by him.

¹⁵A continual dropping on a rainy day and a contentious wife are alike:

¹⁶restraining her is like restraining the wind, or like grasping oil in his right hand.

¹⁷Iron sharpens iron; so a man sharpens his friend's countenance.

¹⁸Whoever tends the fig tree shall eat its fruit. He who looks after his master shall be honored.

¹⁹As water reflects a face, so a man's heart reflects the man.

²⁰Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied; and a man's eyes are never satisfied.

²¹The crucible is for silver, and the furnace for gold; but man is refined by his praise.

²²Though you grind a fool in a mortar with a pestle along with grain, yet his foolishness will not be removed from him.

²³Know well the state of your flocks, and pay attention to your herds:

²⁴for riches are not forever, nor does even the crown endure to all generations.

²⁵The hay is removed, and the new growth appears, the grasses of the hills are gathered in.

²⁶The lambs are for your clothing, and the goats are the price of a field.

²⁷There will be plenty of goats' milk for your food, for your family's food, and for the nourishment of your servant girls.