Today's Reading

¹It happened in the eleventh year, in the third month, in the first day of the month, that the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

²"Son of man, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt, and to his multitude: 'Whom are you like in your greatness?

³Behold, the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon with beautiful branches, and with a forest-like shade, and of high stature; and its top was among the thick boughs.

⁴The waters nourished it, the deep made it to grow: its rivers ran all around its plantation; and it sent out its channels to all the trees of the field.

⁵Therefore its stature was exalted above all the trees of the field; and its boughs were multiplied, and its branches became long by reason of many waters, when it shot them forth.

⁶All the birds of the sky made their nests in its boughs; and under its branches all the animals of the field brought forth their young; and all great nations lived under its shadow.

⁷Thus was it beautiful in its greatness, in the length of its branches; for its root was by many waters.

⁸The cedars in the garden of God could not hide it; the fir trees were not like its boughs, and the plane trees were not as its branches; nor was any tree in the garden of God like it in its beauty.

⁹I made it beautiful by the multitude of its branches, so that all the trees of Eden, that were in the garden of God, envied it.'

¹⁰"Therefore thus said the Lord God: 'Because you are exalted in stature, and he has set his top among the thick boughs, and his heart is lifted up in his height;

¹¹I will even deliver him into the hand of the mighty one of the nations; he shall surely deal with him; I have driven him out for his wickedness.

¹²Strangers, the terrible of the nations, have cut him off, and have left him: on the mountains and in all the valleys his branches are fallen, and his boughs are broken by all the watercourses of the land; and all the peoples of the earth are gone down from his shadow, and have left him.

¹³On his ruin all the birds of the sky shall dwell, and all the animals of the field shall be on his branches;

¹⁴to the end that none of all the trees by the waters exalt themselves in their stature, neither set their top among the thick boughs, nor that their mighty ones stand up on their height, even all who drink water: for they are all delivered to death, to the lower parts of the earth, in the midst of the children of men, with those who go down to the pit.'

¹⁵"Thus says the Lord God: 'In the day when he went down to Sheol I caused a mourning: I covered the deep for him, and I restrained its rivers; and the great waters were stayed; and I caused Lebanon to mourn for him, and all the trees of the field fainted for him.

¹⁶I made the nations to shake at the sound of his fall, when I cast him down to Sheol with those who descend into the pit; and all the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that drink water, were comforted in the lower parts of the earth.

¹⁷They also went down into Sheol with him to those who are slain by the sword; yes, those who were his arm, that lived under his shadow in the midst of the nations.

¹⁸To whom are you thus like in glory and in greatness among the trees of Eden? Yet you will be brought down with the trees of Eden to the lower parts of the earth: you shall lie in the midst of the uncircumcised, with those who are slain by the sword. This is Pharaoh and all his multitude,' says the Lord God."

¹It happened in the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, in the first day of the month, that the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

²"Son of man, take up a lamentation over Pharaoh king of Egypt, and tell him, 'You were likened to a young lion of the nations: yet you are as a monster in the seas; and you broke out with your rivers, and troubled the waters with your feet, and fouled their rivers.'

³"Thus says the Lord God: 'I will spread out my net on you with a company of many peoples; and they shall bring you up in my net.

⁴I will leave you on the land, I will cast you forth on the open field, and will cause all the birds of the sky to settle on you, and I will satisfy the animals of the whole earth with you.

⁵I will lay your flesh on the mountains, and fill the valleys with your height.

⁶I will also water with your blood the land in which you swim, even to the mountains; and the watercourses shall be full of you.

⁷When I shall extinguish you, I will cover the heavens, and make its stars dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give its light.

⁸All the bright lights of the sky will I make dark over you, and set darkness on your land, says the Lord God.

⁹I will also trouble the hearts of many peoples, when I shall bring your destruction among the nations, into the countries which you have not known.

¹⁰Yes, I will make many peoples amazed at you, and their kings shall be horribly afraid for you, when I shall brandish my sword before them; and they shall tremble at every moment, every man for his own life, in the day of your fall.'

¹¹"For thus says the Lord God: 'The sword of the king of Babylon shall come on you.

¹²By the swords of the mighty will I cause your multitude to fall; the terrible of the nations are they all: and they shall bring to nothing the pride of Egypt, and all its multitude shall be destroyed.

¹³I will destroy also all its animals from beside many waters; neither shall the foot of man trouble them any more, nor the hoofs of animals trouble them.

¹⁴Then will I make their waters clear, and cause their rivers to run like oil,' says the Lord God.

¹⁵'When I shall make the land of Egypt desolate and waste, a land destitute of that of which it was full, when I shall strike all those who dwell therein, then shall they know that I am the Lord.

¹⁶This is the lamentation with which they shall lament; the daughters of the nations shall lament therewith; over Egypt, and over all her multitude, shall they lament therewith,' says the Lord God."

¹⁷It happened also in the twelfth year, in the fifteenth day of the month, that the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

¹⁸"Son of man, wail for the multitude of Egypt, and cast them down, even her, and the daughters of the famous nations, to the lower parts of the earth, with those who go down into the pit.

¹⁹'Whom do you pass in beauty? Go down, and be laid with the uncircumcised.'

²⁰They shall fall in the midst of those who are slain by the sword: she is delivered to the sword; draw her away and all her multitudes.

²¹The strong among the mighty shall speak to him out of the midst of Sheol with those who help him: 'They are gone down, they lie still, even the uncircumcised, slain by the sword.'

²²"Asshur is there and all her company; her graves are all around her; all of them slain, fallen by the sword;

²³whose graves are set in the uttermost parts of the pit, and her company is around her grave; all of them slain, fallen by the sword, who caused terror in the land of the living.

²⁴"There is Elam and all her multitude around her grave; all of them slain, fallen by the sword, who are gone down uncircumcised into the lower parts of the earth, who caused their terror in the land of the living, and have borne their shame with those who go down to the pit.

²⁵They have set her a bed in the midst of the slain with all her multitude; her graves are around her; all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword; for their terror was caused in the land of the living, and they have borne their shame with those who go down to the pit: he is put in the midst of those who are slain.

²⁶"There is Meshech, Tubal, and all their multitude; their graves are around them; all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword; for they caused their terror in the land of the living.

²⁷They shall not lie with the mighty who are fallen of the uncircumcised, who are gone down to Sheol with their weapons of war, and have laid their swords under their heads, and their iniquities are on their bones; for they were the terror of the mighty in the land of the living.

²⁸"But you shall be broken in the midst of the uncircumcised, and shall lie with those who are slain by the sword.

²⁹"There is Edom, her kings and all her princes, who in their might are laid with those who are slain by the sword: they shall lie with the uncircumcised, and with those who go down to the pit.

³⁰"There are the princes of the north, all of them, and all the Sidonians, who are gone down with the slain; in the terror which they caused by their might they are put to shame; and they lie uncircumcised with those who are slain by the sword, and bear their shame with those who go down to the pit.

³¹"Pharaoh shall see them, and shall be comforted over all his multitude, even Pharaoh and all his army, slain by the sword," says the Lord God.

³²"For I have put his terror in the land of the living; and he shall be laid in the midst of the uncircumcised, with those who are slain by the sword, even Pharaoh and all his multitude," says the Lord God.

¹The word of the Lord came to me, saying,

²"Son of man, speak to the children of your people, and tell them, 'When I bring the sword on a land, and the people of the land take a man from among them, and set him for their watchman;

³if, when he sees the sword come on the land, he blow the trumpet, and warn the people;

⁴then whoever hears the sound of the trumpet, and doesn't take warning, if the sword come, and take him away, his blood shall be on his own head.

⁵He heard the sound of the trumpet, and didn't take warning; his blood shall be on him; whereas if he had taken warning, he would have delivered his soul.

⁶But if the watchman sees the sword come, and doesn't blow the trumpet, and the people aren't warned, and the sword comes, and take any person from among them; he is taken away in his iniquity, but his blood will I require at the watchman's hand.'

⁷"So you, son of man, I have set you a watchman to the house of Israel; therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me.

⁸When I tell the wicked, 'O wicked man, you shall surely die,' and you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way; that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood will I require at your hand.

⁹Nevertheless, if you warn the wicked of his way to turn from it, and he doesn't turn from his way; he shall die in his iniquity, but you have delivered your soul.

¹⁰"You, son of man, tell the house of Israel: 'Thus you speak, saying, "Our transgressions and our sins are on us, and we pine away in them; how then can we live?"'

¹¹Tell them, 'As I live,' says the Lord God, 'I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn, turn from your evil ways; for why will you die, house of Israel?'

¹²"You, son of man, tell the children of your people, 'The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him in the day of his disobedience; and as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall thereby in the day that he turns from his wickedness; neither shall he who is righteous be able to live thereby in the day that he sins.'

¹³When I tell the righteous, that he shall surely live; if he trust to his righteousness, and commit iniquity, none of his righteous deeds shall be remembered; but in his iniquity that he has committed, therein shall he die.

¹⁴Again, when I say to the wicked, 'You shall surely die'; if he turn from his sin, and do that which is lawful and right;

¹⁵if the wicked restore the pledge, give again that which he had taken by robbery, walk in the statutes of life, committing no iniquity; he shall surely live, he shall not die.

¹⁶None of his sins that he has committed shall be remembered against him: he has done that which is lawful and right; he shall surely live.

¹⁷"Yet the children of your people say, 'The way of the Lord is not equal': but as for them, their way is not equal.

¹⁸When the righteous turns from his righteousness, and commits iniquity, he shall even die therein.

¹⁹When the wicked turns from his wickedness, and does that which is lawful and right, he shall live thereby.

²⁰Yet you say, 'The way of the Lord is not equal.' House of Israel, I will judge every one of you after his ways."

²¹It happened in the twelfth year of our captivity, in the tenth month, in the fifth day of the month, that one who had escaped out of Jerusalem came to me, saying, "The city has been struck."

²²Now the hand of the Lord had been on me in the evening, before he who was escaped came; and he had opened my mouth, until he came to me in the morning; and my mouth was opened, and I was no more mute.

²³The word of the Lord came to me, saying,

²⁴"Son of man, they who inhabit those waste places in the land of Israel speak, saying, 'Abraham was one, and he inherited the land: but we are many; the land is given us for inheritance.'

²⁵Therefore tell them, 'Thus says the Lord God: "You eat with the blood, and lift up your eyes to your idols, and shed blood: and shall you possess the land?

²⁶You stand on your sword, you work abomination, and every one of you defiles his neighbor's wife: and shall you possess the land?"'

²⁷"You shall tell them, 'Thus says the Lord God: "As I live, surely those who are in the waste places shall fall by the sword; and him who is in the open field will I give to the animals to be devoured; and those who are in the strongholds and in the caves shall die of the pestilence.

²⁸I will make the land a desolation and an astonishment; and the pride of her power shall cease; and the mountains of Israel shall be desolate, so that none shall pass through.

²⁹Then shall they know that I am the Lord, when I have made the land a desolation and an astonishment, because of all their abominations which they have committed."'

³⁰"As for you, son of man, the children of your people talk of you by the walls and in the doors of the houses, and speak one to another, everyone to his brother, saying, 'Please come and hear what is the word that comes forth from the Lord.'

³¹They come to you as the people come, and they sit before you as my people, and they hear your words, but do not do them; for with their mouth they show much love, but their heart goes after their gain.

³²Behold, you are to them as a very lovely song of one who has a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument; for they hear your words, but they do not do them.

³³When this comes to pass, (behold, it comes), then shall they know that a prophet has been among them."

¹Jacob, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are in the Diaspora: Greetings.

²Count it all joy, my brothers, when you fall into various temptations,

³knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.

⁴Let endurance have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

⁵But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach; and it will be given to him.

⁶But let him ask in faith, without any doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven by the wind and tossed.

⁷For let that man not think that he will receive anything from the Lord.

⁸He is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

⁹But let the brother in humble circumstances glory in his high position;

¹⁰and the rich, in that he is made humble, because like the flower in the grass, he will pass away.

¹¹For the sun arises with the scorching wind, and withers the grass, and the flower in it falls, and the beauty of its appearance perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in his pursuits.

¹²Blessed is the man who endures temptation, for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life, which he promised to those who love him.

¹³Let no man say when he is tempted, "I am tempted by God," for God cannot be tempted by evil, and he himself tempts no one.

¹⁴But each one is tempted, when he is drawn away by his own lust, and enticed.

¹⁵Then the lust, when it has conceived, bears sin; and the sin, when it is full grown, brings forth death.

¹⁶Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers.

¹⁷Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom can be no variation, nor turning shadow.

¹⁸Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures.

¹⁹This you know, my beloved brothers. But let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger;

²⁰for the anger of man does not accomplish the righteousness of God.

²¹Therefore, putting away all filthiness and overflowing of wickedness, receive with humility the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.

²²But be doers of the word, and not only hearers, deluding your own selves.

²³For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man looking at his natural face in a mirror;

²⁴for he sees himself, and goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.

²⁵But he who looks into the perfect Law of freedom, and continues, not being a hearer who forgets, but a doer of the work, this man will be blessed in what he does.

²⁶If anyone thinks himself to be religious while he does not bridle his tongue, but deceives his heart, this man's religion is worthless.

²⁷Pure religion and undefiled before our God and Father is this: to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.

¹The proverbs of Solomon, the son of David, king of Israel:

²to know wisdom and instruction; to discern the words of understanding;

³to receive instruction in wise dealing, in righteousness, justice, and equity;

⁴to give prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the young man:

⁵that the wise man may hear, and increase in learning; that the man of understanding may attain to sound counsel:

⁶to understand a proverb, and parables, the words and riddles of the wise.

⁷The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; but the foolish despise wisdom and instruction.

⁸My son, listen to your father's instruction, and do not forsake your mother's teaching:

⁹for they will be a garland to grace your head, and chains around your neck.

¹⁰My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent.

¹¹If they say, "Come with us, Let's lie in wait for blood; let's lurk secretly for the innocent without cause;

¹²let's swallow them up alive like Sheol, and whole, like those who go down into the pit.

¹³We'll find all valuable wealth. We'll fill our houses with spoil.

¹⁴You shall cast your lot among us. We'll all have one purse."

¹⁵My son, do not walk in the way with them. Keep your foot from their path,

¹⁶for their feet run to evil. They hurry to shed blood.

¹⁷For in vain is the net spread in the sight of any bird:

¹⁸but these lie in wait for their own blood. They lurk secretly for their own lives.

¹⁹So are the ways of everyone who is greedy for gain. It takes away the life of its owners.

²⁰Wisdom calls aloud in the street. She utters her voice in the public squares.

²¹She calls at the head of noisy places. At the entrance of the city gates, she utters her words:

²²"How long, you simple ones, will you love simplicity? How long will mockers delight themselves in mockery, and fools hate knowledge?

²³Turn at my reproof. Behold, I will pour out my spirit on you. I will make known my words to you.

²⁴Because I have called, and you have refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no one has paid attention;

²⁵but you have ignored all my counsel, and wanted none of my reproof;

²⁶I also will laugh at your disaster. I will mock when calamity overtakes you;

²⁷when calamity overtakes you like a storm, when your disaster comes on like a whirlwind; when distress and anguish come on you.

²⁸Then will they call on me, but I will not answer. They will seek me diligently, but they will not find me;

²⁹because they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the Lord.

³⁰They wanted none of my counsel. They despised all my reproof.

³¹Therefore they will eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own schemes.

³²For the backsliding of the simple will kill them. The careless ease of fools will destroy them.

³³But whoever listens to me will dwell securely, and will be at ease, without fear of harm."