Tuesday, March 31, 2026

⁶And he said to me, It is a great thing for thee to be called my servant, to establish the tribes of Jacob, and to recover the dispersion of Israel: behold, I have given thee for the covenant of a race, for a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation to the end of the earth.

⁷Thus saith the Lord that delivered thee, the God of Israel, Sanctify him that despises his life, him that is abhorred by the nations that are the servants of princes: kings shall behold him, and princes shall arise, and shall worship him, for the Lord's sake: for the Holy One of Israel is faithful, and I have chosen thee.

⁸Thus saith the Lord, In an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I succoured thee: and I have formed thee, and given thee for a covenant of the nations, to establish the earth, and to cause to inherit the desert heritages: ⁹saying to them that are in bonds, Go forth; and bidding them that are in darkness shew themselves. They shall be fed in all the ways, and in all the paths shall be their pasture. ¹⁰They shall not hunger, neither shall they thirst; neither shall the heat nor the sun smite them; but he that has mercy on them shall comfort them, and by fountains of waters shall he lead them.

³And the Lord said to Jacob, Return to the land of thy father, and to thy family, and I will be with thee. ⁴And Jacob sent and called Lea and Rachel to the plain where the flocks were. ⁵And he said to them, I see the face of your father, that it is not toward me as before, but the God of my father was with me. ⁶And ye too know that with all my might I have served your father. ⁷But your father deceived me, and changed my wages for the ten lambs, yet God gave him not power to hurt me. ⁸If he should say thus, The speckled shall be thy reward, then all the cattle would bear speckled; and if he should say, The white shall be thy reward, then would all the cattle bear white. ⁹So God has taken away all the cattle of your father, and given them to me. ¹⁰And it came to pass when the cattle conceived and were with young, that I beheld with mine eyes in sleep, and behold the he-goats and the rams leaping on the sheep and the she-goats, speckled and variegated and spotted with ash-coloured spots. ¹¹And the angel of God said to me in a dream, Jacob; and I said, What is it? ¹²And he said, Look up with thine eyes, and behold the he-goats and the rams leaping on the sheep and the she-goats, speckled and variegated and spotted with ash-coloured spots; for I have seen all things that Laban does to thee. ¹³I am God that appeared to thee in the place of God, where thou anointedst a pillar to me, and vowedst to me there a vow; now then arise and depart out of this land, depart into the land of thy nativity, and I will be with thee. ¹⁴And Rachel and Lea answered and said to him, Have we yet a part or inheritance in the house of our father? ¹⁵Are we not considered strangers by him? for he has sold us, and quite devoured our money. ¹⁶All the wealth and the glory which God has taken from our father, it shall be our's and our children's; now then do whatsoever God has said to thee.

³To do justly and to speak truth, are more pleasing to God than the blood of sacrifices. ⁴A high-minded man is stout-hearted in his pride; and the lamp of the wicked is sin. ⁶He that gathers treasures with a lying tongue pursues vanity on to the snares of death. ⁷Destruction shall lodge with the ungodly; for they refuse to do justly. ⁸To the froward God sends froward ways; for his works are pure and right. ⁹It is better to dwell in a corner on the house-top, than in plastered rooms with unrighteousness, and in an open house. ¹⁰The soul of the ungodly shall not be pitied by any man. ¹¹When an intemperate man is punished the simple becomes wiser: and a wise man understanding will receive knowledge. ¹²A righteous man understands the hearts of the ungodly: and despises the ungodly for their wickedness.

¹³He that stops his ears from hearing the poor, himself also shall cry, and there shall be none to hear him. ¹⁴A secret gift calms anger: but he that forbears to give stirs up strong wrath. ¹⁵It is the joy of the righteous to do judgment: but a holy man is abominable with evil-doers. ¹⁶A man that wanders out of the way of righteousness, shall rest in the congregation of giants. ¹⁷A poor man loves mirth, loving wine and oil in abundance; ¹⁸and a transgressor is the abomination of a righteous man. ¹⁹It is better to dwell in a wilderness than with a quarrelsome and talkative and passionate woman. ²⁰A desirable treasure will rest on the mouth of the wise; but foolish men will swallow it up. ²¹The way of righteousness and mercy will find life and glory.