Day 332 reading

Wisdom·Proverbs 21:18–26

¹⁸The wicked become a ransom for the righteous, and the faithless for the upright. ¹⁹Better to live in the desert than with a contentious and ill-tempered wife. ²⁰Precious treasures and oil are in the dwelling of the wise, but a foolish man consumes them. ²¹He who pursues righteousness and loving devotion finds life, righteousness, and honor. ²²A wise man scales the city of the mighty and pulls down the stronghold in which they trust. ²³He who guards his mouth and tongue keeps his soul from distress. ²⁴Mocker is the name of the proud and arrogant man— of him who acts with excessive pride. ²⁵The craving of the slacker kills him because his hands refuse to work. ²⁶All day long he covets more, but the righteous give without restraint.

New Testament·James 5

¹Come now, you who are rich, weep and wail over the misery to come upon you. ²Your riches have rotted and moths have eaten your clothes. ³Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and consume your flesh like fire. You have hoarded treasure in the last days. ⁴Look, the wages you withheld from the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of Hosts. ⁵You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in the day of slaughter. ⁶You have condemned and murdered the righteous, who did not resist you. ⁷Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer awaits the precious fruit of the soil—how patient he is for the fall and spring rains. ⁸You, too, be patient and strengthen your hearts, because the Lord’s coming is near. ⁹Do not complain about one another, brothers, so that you will not be judged. Look, the Judge is standing at the door! ¹⁰Brothers, as an example of patience in affliction, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. ¹¹See how blessed we consider those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen the outcome from the Lord. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy. ¹²Above all, my brothers, do not swear, not by heaven or earth or by any other oath. Simply let your “Yes” be yes, and your “No,” no, so that you will not fall under judgment. ¹³Is any one of you suffering? He should pray. Is anyone cheerful? He should sing praises. ¹⁴Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. ¹⁵And the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick. The Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. ¹⁶Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has great power to prevail. ¹⁷Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. ¹⁸Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth yielded its crops. ¹⁹My brothers, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring him back, ²⁰consider this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and cover over a multitude of sins.

Old Testament·Ezekiel 34–35

¹Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, ²“Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy and tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Woe to the shepherds of Israel, who only feed themselves! Should not the shepherds feed their flock? ³You eat the fat, wear the wool, and butcher the fattened sheep, but you do not feed the flock. ⁴You have not strengthened the weak, healed the sick, bound up the injured, brought back the strays, or searched for the lost. Instead, you have ruled them with violence and cruelty. ⁵They were scattered for lack of a shepherd, and when they were scattered they became food for all the wild beasts. ⁶My flock went astray on all the mountains and every high hill. They were scattered over the face of all the earth, with no one to search for them or seek them out.’ ⁷Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD: ⁸‘As surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, because My flock lacks a shepherd and has become prey and food for every wild beast, and because My shepherds did not search for My flock but fed themselves instead, ⁹therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD!’ ¹⁰This is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will demand from them My flock and remove them from tending the flock, so that they can no longer feed themselves. For I will deliver My flock from their mouths, and it will no longer be food for them.’ ¹¹For this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Behold, I Myself will search for My flock and seek them out. ¹²As a shepherd looks for his scattered sheep when he is among the flock, so I will look for My flock. I will rescue them from all the places to which they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness. ¹³I will bring them out from the peoples, gather them from the countries, and bring them into their own land. I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, in the ravines, and in all the settlements of the land. ¹⁴I will feed them in good pasture, and the lofty mountains of Israel will be their grazing land. There they will lie down in a good grazing land; they will feed in rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. ¹⁵I will tend My flock and make them lie down, declares the Lord GOD. ¹⁶I will seek the lost, bring back the strays, bind up the broken, and strengthen the weak; but the sleek and strong I will destroy. I will shepherd them with justice.’ ¹⁷This is what the Lord GOD says to you, My flock: ‘I will judge between one sheep and another, between the rams and the goats. ¹⁸Is it not enough for you to feed on the good pasture? Must you also trample the rest of the pasture with your feet? Is it not enough for you to drink the clear waters? Must you also muddy the rest with your feet? ¹⁹Why must My flock feed on what your feet have trampled, and drink what your feet have muddied?’ ²⁰Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says to them: ‘Behold, I Myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. ²¹Since you shove with flank and shoulder, butting all the weak ones with your horns until you have scattered them abroad, ²²I will save My flock, and they will no longer be prey. I will judge between one sheep and another. ²³I will appoint over them one shepherd, My servant David, and he will feed them. He will feed them and be their shepherd. ²⁴I, the LORD, will be their God, and My servant David will be a prince among them. I, the LORD, have spoken. ²⁵I will make with them a covenant of peace and rid the land of wild animals, so that they may dwell securely in the wilderness and sleep in the forest. ²⁶I will make them and the places around My hill a blessing. I will send down showers in season—showers of blessing. ²⁷The trees of the field will give their fruit, and the land will yield its produce; My flock will be secure in their land. Then they will know that I am the LORD, when I have broken the bars of their yoke and delivered them from the hands that enslaved them. ²⁸They will no longer be prey for the nations, and the beasts of the earth will not consume them. They will dwell securely, and no one will frighten them. ²⁹And I will raise up for them a garden of renown, and they will no longer be victims of famine in the land or bear the scorn of the nations. ³⁰Then they will know that I, the LORD their God, am with them, and that they, the house of Israel, are My people,’ declares the Lord GOD. ³¹‘You are My flock, the sheep of My pasture, My people, and I am your God,’ declares the Lord GOD.”

35Moreover, the word of the LORD came to me, saying, ²“Son of man, set your face against Mount Seir and prophesy against it, ³and declare that this is what the Lord GOD says: Behold, I am against you, O Mount Seir. I will stretch out My hand against you and make you a desolate waste. ⁴I will turn your cities into ruins, and you will become a desolation. Then you will know that I am the LORD. ⁵Because you harbored an ancient hatred and delivered the Israelites over to the sword in the time of their disaster at the final stage of their punishment, ⁶therefore as surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, I will give you over to bloodshed and it will pursue you. Since you did not hate bloodshed, it will pursue you. ⁷I will make Mount Seir a desolate waste and will cut off from it those who come and go. ⁸I will fill its mountains with the slain; those killed by the sword will fall on your hills, in your valleys, and in all your ravines. ⁹I will make you a perpetual desolation, and your cities will not be inhabited. Then you will know that I am the LORD. ¹⁰Because you have said, ‘These two nations and countries will be ours, and we will possess them,’ even though the LORD was there, ¹¹therefore as surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, I will treat you according to the anger and jealousy you showed in your hatred against them, and I will make Myself known among them when I judge you. ¹²Then you will know that I, the LORD, have heard every contemptuous word you uttered against the mountains of Israel when you said, ‘They are desolate; they are given to us to devour!’ ¹³You boasted against Me with your mouth and multiplied your words against Me. I heard it Myself! ¹⁴This is what the Lord GOD says: While the whole earth rejoices, I will make you desolate. ¹⁵As you rejoiced when the inheritance of the house of Israel became desolate, so will I do to you. You will become a desolation, O Mount Seir, and so will all of Edom. Then they will know that I am the LORD.