Monday, March 9, 2026

¹³Sanctify ye the Lord himself; and he shall be thy fear. ¹⁴And if thou shalt trust in him, he shall be to thee for a sanctuary; and ye shall not come against him as against a stumbling-stone, neither as against the falling of a rock: but the houses of Jacob are in a snare, and the dwellers in Jerusalem in a pit. ¹⁵Therefore many among them shall be weak, and fall, and be crushed; and they shall draw nigh, and men shall be taken securely. ¹⁶Then shall those who seal themselves that they may not learn the law be made manifest.

¹⁷And one shall say, I will wait for God, who has turned away his face from the house of Jacob, and I will trust in him. ¹⁸Behold I and the children which God has given me: and they shall be for signs and wonders in the house of Israel from the Lord of hosts, who dwells in mount Sion.

¹⁹And if they should say to you, Seek those who have in them a divining spirit, and them that speak out of the earth, them that speak vain words, who speak out of their belly: shall not a nation diligently seek to their God? why do they seek to the dead concerning the living? ²⁰For he has given the law for a help, that they should not speak according to this word, concerning which there are no gifts to give for it.

²¹And famine shall come sorely upon you, and it shall come to pass, that when ye shall be hungry, ye shall be grieved, and ye shall speak ill of the prince and your fathers' ordinances: and they shall look up to heaven above, ²²and they shall look on the earth below, and behold severe distress, and darkness, affliction, and anguish, and darkness so that one cannot see; and he that is in anguish shall not be distressed only for a time.

²³Drink this first. Act quickly, O land of Zabulon, land of Nephthalim, and the rest inhabiting the sea-coast, and the land beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles.

¹O people walking in darkness, behold a great light: ye that dwell in the region and shadow of death, a light shall shine upon you. ²The multitude of the people which thou hast brought down in thy joy, they shall even rejoice before thee as they that rejoice in harvest, and as they that divide the spoil. ³Because the yoke that was laid upon them has been taken away, and the rod that was on their neck: for he has broken the rod of the exactors, as in the day of Madiam. ⁴For they shall compensate for every garment that has been acquired by deceit, and all raiment with restitution; and they shall be willing, even if they were burnt with fire.

⁵For a child is born to us, and a son is given to us, whose government is upon his shoulder: and his name is called the Messenger of great counsel: for I will bring peace upon the princes, and health to him. ⁶His government shall be great, and of his peace there is no end: it shall be upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to establish it, and to support it with judgment and with righteousness, from henceforth and for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts shall perform this.

⁹And these are the generations of Noe. Noe was a just man; being perfect in his generation, Noe was well-pleasing to God. ¹⁰And Noe begot three sons, Sem, Cham, Japheth. ¹¹But the earth was corrupted before God, and the earth was filled with iniquity. ¹²And the Lord God saw the earth, and it was corrupted; because all flesh had corrupted its way upon the earth. ¹³And the Lord God said to Noe, A period of all men is come before me; because the earth has been filled with iniquity by them, and, behold, I destroy them and the earth. ¹⁴Make therefore for thyself an ark of square timber; thou shalt make the ark in compartments, and thou shalt pitch it within and without with pitch. ¹⁵And thus shalt thou make the ark; three hundred cubits the length of the ark, and fifty cubits the breadth, and thirty cubits the height of it. ¹⁶Thou shalt narrow the ark in making it, and in a cubit above thou shalt finish it, and the door of the ark thou shalt make on the side; with lower, second, and third stories thou shalt make it. ¹⁷And behold I bring a flood of water upon the earth, to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life under heaven, and whatsoever things are upon the earth shall die. ¹⁸And I will establish my covenant with thee, and thou shalt enter into the ark, and thy sons and thy wife, and thy sons' wives with thee. ¹⁹And of all cattle and of all reptiles and of all wild beasts, even of all flesh, thou shalt bring by pairs of all, into the ark, that thou mayest feed them with thyself: male and female they shall be. ²⁰Of all winged birds after their kind, and of all cattle after their kind, and of all reptiles creeping upon the earth after their kind, pairs of all shall come in to thee, male and female to be fed with thee. ²¹And thou shalt take to thyself of all kinds of food which ye eat, and thou shalt gather them to thyself, and it shall be for thee and them to eat. ²²And Noe did all things whatever the Lord God commanded him, so did he.

¹Thou shalt proclaim wisdom, that understanding may be obedient to thee. ²For she is on lofty eminences, and stands in the midst of the ways. ³For she sits by the gates of princes, and sings in the entrances, saying, ⁴You, O men, I exhort; and utter my voice to the sons of men. ⁵O ye simple, understand subtlety, and ye that are untaught, imbibe knowledge. ⁶Hearken to me; for I will speak solemn truths; and will produce right sayings from my lips. ⁷For my throat shall meditate truth; and false lips are an abomination before me. ⁸All the words of my mouth are in righteousness; there is nothing in them wrong or perverse. ⁹They are all evident to those that understand, and right to those that find knowledge. ¹⁰Receive instruction, and not silver; and knowledge rather than tried gold. ¹¹For wisdom is better than precious stones; and no valuable substance is of equal worth with it.

¹²I wisdom have dwelt with counsel and knowledge, and I have called upon understanding. ¹³The fear of the Lord hates unrighteousness, and insolence, and pride, and the ways of wicked men; and I hate the perverse ways of bad men. ¹⁴Counsel and safety are mine: prudence is mine, and strength is mine. ¹⁵By me kings reign, and princes decree justice. ¹⁶By me nobles become great, and monarchs by me rule over the earth. ¹⁷I love those that love me; and they that seek me shall find me.

¹⁸Wealth and glory belong to me; yea, abundant possessions and righteousness. ¹⁹It is better to have my fruit than to have gold and precious stones; and my produce is better than choice silver. ²⁰I walk in ways of righteousness, and am conversant with the paths of judgment; ²¹that I may divide substance to them that love me, and may fill their treasures with good things.

⁹All the nations are gathered together, and princes shall be gathered out of them: who will declare these things? or who will declare to you things from the beginning? let them bring forth their witnesses, and be justified; and let them hear, and declare the truth.

¹⁰Be ye my witnesses, and I too am a witness, saith the Lord God, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know, and believe, and understand that I am he: before me there was no other God, and after me there shall be none. ¹¹I am God; and beside me there is no Saviour. ¹²I have declared, and have saved; I have reproached, and there was no strange god among you: ye are my witnesses, and I am the Lord God, ¹³even from the beginning; and there is none that can deliver out of my hands: I will work, and who shall turn it back?

¹⁴Thus saith the Lord God that redeems you, the Holy One of Israel; For your sakes I will send to Babylon, and I will stir up all that flee, and the Chaldeans shall be bound in ships.

¹But the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, and there shall no torment touch them. ²In the sight of the unwise they seemed to die: and their departure is taken for misery, ³and their going from us to be utter destruction: but they are in peace. ⁴For though they be punished in the sight of men, yet is their hope full of immortality.

⁵And having been a little chastised, they shall be greatly rewarded: for God proved them, and found them worthy for himself. ⁶As gold in the furnace hath he tried them, and received them as a burnt offering.

⁷And in the time of their visitation they shall shine, and run to and fro like sparks among the stubble. ⁸They shall judge the nations, and have dominion over the people, and their Lord shall reign for ever. ⁹They that put their trust in him shall understand the truth: and such as be faithful in love shall abide with him: for grace and mercy is to his saints, and he hath care for his elect.

¹⁵But the righteous live for evermore; their reward also is with the Lord, and the care of them is with the most High. ¹⁶Therefore shall they receive a glorious kingdom, and a beautiful crown from the Lord's hand: for with his right hand shall he cover them, and with his arm shall he protect them.

¹⁷He shall take to him his jealousy for complete armour, and make the creature his weapon for the revenge of his enemies. ¹⁸He shall put on righteousness as a breastplate, and true judgment instead of an helmet. ¹⁹He shall take holiness for an invincible shield. ²⁰His severe wrath shall he sharpen for a sword, and the world shall fight with him against the unwise.

²¹Then shall the right aiming thunderbolts go abroad; and from the clouds, as from a well drawn bow, shall they fly to the mark. ²²And hailstones full of wrath shall be cast as out of a stone bow, and the water of the sea shall rage against them, and the floods shall cruelly drown them.

²³Yea, a mighty wind shall stand up against them, and like a storm shall blow them away: thus iniquity shall lay waste the whole earth, and ill dealing shall overthrow the thrones of the mighty.

¹Hear therefore, O ye kings, and understand; learn, ye that be judges of the ends of the earth. ²Give ear, ye that rule the people, and glory in the multitude of nations. ³For power is given you of the Lord, and sovereignty from the Highest, who shall try your works, and search out your counsels.