Wednesday, March 26

21For behold, the Lord is bringing wrath from His holy place upon the inhabitants of the earth, and the earth will uncover its blood and will not cover its slain.

1In that day, God will bring His holy, great, and strong sword upon the fleeing dragon serpent, the perverse dragon serpent that flees; and He shall destroy the dragon.

2In that day, there shall be a beautiful vineyard, and a desire to begin a hymn against a city:

3'I am a strong city, a besieged city; I water it in vain; for it shall be taken at night, and its wall shall fall by day.

4There is no woman who has not taken hold of it. Who will appoint me to guard straw in a field? I rejected it because of this enemy. For that very reason therefore, the Lord God did all the things He ordered. I am burned down.'

5Those who dwell in it will cry out, 'Let us make peace with Him, let us make peace.'

6Those who come are the children of Jacob. Israel shall bud and put forth flowers, and the inhabited earth shall be filled with its fruit.

7As he struck, shall he not be thus struck? As he slew, shall he not be thus slain?

8Fighting and denouncing he shall send them away. Did you not think with a harsh spirit about killing them in a spirit of anger?

9Therefore the lawlessness of Jacob will be removed; and this is his blessing when I take away his sin, when they make all the stones of the altars beaten like fine dust. Their trees do not remain, and their idols shall be cut down like a distant forest.

18Now the sons of Noah who went out of the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth; and Ham was the father of Canaan.

19These three were the sons of Noah, and from these the whole earth was populated.

20Then Noah began to be a husbandman, and he planted a vineyard.

21So he drank of the wine and was drunk and naked in his house.

22Now Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside.

23But Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it on both their shoulders, and walking backwards they covered their father's nakedness. Since their faces were turned away, they did not see his nakedness.

24Thus when Noah became sober and knew what his younger son had done to him,

25he said: 'Cursed be Canaan; A servant of servants shall he be to his brothers.'

26'Blessed be the Lord God of Shem, And Canaan shall be his servant.

27May God enlarge Japheth, And let him dwell in the habitations of Shem.

28Let Canaan be his servant as well.' Now Noah lived three hundred and fifty years after the flood.

29So all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years, and he died.

1Now this is the genealogy of Noah's sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and sons were born to them after the flood.

23Nothing unrighteous will ever be pleasing to the righteous, But the ungodly will be filled with evil things.

24Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, But he who shows faithfulness is acceptable to Him.

25A man of understanding is a throne of perception, But the heart of the undiscerning will meet with curses.

26The hand of the chosen shall prevail easily, But the deceitful shall be for captivity.

27A fearful word troubles the heart of a righteous man, But a good message makes him glad.

28A righteous arbiter shall be his own friend, But the decisions of the ungodly are unreasonable.

29Evil things shall pursue sinners, And the way of the ungodly will lead them astray.

30A deceitful man will not gain his prey, But a pure man is a precious possession.

31In the ways of righteousness there is life, But the ways of remembering wrongs are unto death.

1An astute son is obedient to his father, But a disobedient son is for destruction.

2A good man eats from the fruits of righteousness, But the souls of the lawless will destroy themselves before their time.

3He who guards his mouth keeps his own soul, But he who is hasty with his lips will dismay himself.

4Every idle man has desire, But the hands of the courageous are diligent.

5A righteous man hates an unrighteous word, But an ungodly man is ashamed and will not have confidence.

6Righteousness guards the simple, But sin makes the ungodly worthless.

7There are those with nothing who make themselves rich, And there are those, though very rich, who humble themselves.

8The ransom of a man's soul is his own wealth, But the poor man does not withstand a threat.

9Light is with the righteous continually, But the light of the ungodly is extinguished.

11For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren,

12saying: 'I will declare Your name to My brethren; In the midst of the assembly I will sing praise to You.'

13And again: 'I will put My trust in Him.' And again: 'Here am I and the children whom God has given Me.'

14Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil,

15and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.

16For indeed He does not give aid to angels, but He does give aid to the seed of Abraham.

17Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.

18For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted.

24Now after those days his wife Elizabeth conceived; and she hid herself five months, saying,

25'Thus the Lord has dealt with me, in the days when He looked on me, to take away my reproach among people.'

26Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth,

27to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin's name was Mary.

28And having come in, the angel said to her, 'Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!'

29But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was.

30Then the angel said to her, 'Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.

31And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS.

32He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David.

33And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.'

34Then Mary said to the angel, 'How can this be, since I do not know a man?'

35And the angel answered and said to her, 'The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.

36Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren.

37For with God nothing will be impossible.'

38Then Mary said, 'Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.' And the angel departed from her.