Tuesday, April 13

18To whom then will you liken the Lord, and to what likeness will you compare Him?

19Has the workman made an image, or has the goldsmith overspread it with gold, gilding it, making a likeness of Him?

20For the workman chooses wood that will not rot, and skillfully seeks to prepare a carved image that will not totter.

21Will you not know? Will you not hear? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Do you not know the foundations of the earth?

22It is He who possesses the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers. It is He who stretches out heaven like a vault, and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.

23He makes the rulers He establishes to rule to be as nothing; He makes the earth as nothing.

24Scarcely shall they be planted, scarcely shall they be sown, scarcely shall their stock take root in the earth, when He shall also blow on them and they will wither, and the whirlwind will take them away like stubble.

25'Now then, to whom will you liken Me, that I should be exalted?' says the Holy One.

26Lift up your eyes on high, and see. Who displayed these things? He who brings forth their host by number; He who calls them all by name. From the greatness of His glory to the strength of His might, nothing escapes Your notice.

27For why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel, saying, 'My way is hidden from God, and my God took away my judgment and departed'?

28So then, have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the God who created the ends of the earth, neither hungers nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable.

29He gives strength to the hungry, and sorrow to those who do not grieve.

30Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the elect shall be without strength.

31But those who wait on God shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not hunger.

1After these things the Word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, 'Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield and will be your exceedingly great reward.'

2But Abram said, 'Lord, what will You give me, seeing I go childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus, the son of Masek, my domestic maidservant?'

3Then Abram said, 'Look, You have given me no offspring; indeed, my household servant is my heir.'

4And immediately the Voice of the Lord came to him, saying, 'This one shall not be your heir, but the One who will come from your own body shall be your heir.'

5Then He brought him outside and said to him, 'Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.' And He said to him, 'So shall your seed be.'

6And Abram believed God, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.

7Then He said to him, 'I am the God who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to inherit it.'

8And he said, 'Master and Lord, how will I know I will inherit it?'

9So He said to him, 'Bring Me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.'

10So he brought all these to Him and cut them in half, down the middle, and placed each piece opposite the other; but he did not cut the birds in two.

11And when the vultures came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.

12Now around sunset, a trance fell upon Abram; and behold, horror and great darkness fell upon him.

13Then He said to Abram, 'Know for certain that your seed will be strangers in a land not their own, and will serve them; and they will afflict and humble them four hundred years.

14Also, the nation they serve I will judge; and afterward, they shall come out with great possessions.

15But as for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace, buried in a good old age.

7In the houses of the righteous there is much strength, But the fruits of the ungodly shall perish.

8The lips of the wise are bound by perception, But the hearts of those without discernment are not safe.

9The sacrifices of the ungodly are an abomination to the Lord, But the prayers of the upright are acceptable with Him.

10The ways of the ungodly are an abomination to the Lord, But He loves those who pursue righteousness.

11The instruction of the simple is known by those who pass by, But those who hate reproofs will die shamefully.

12Hades and destruction are manifest before the Lord; How can the hearts of men not be also?

13An uninstructed man will not love those who reprove him, And he will not keep company with the wise.

14When one's heart is glad, his face is cheerful, But when it is in grief, his face is sad.

15The upright heart seeks perception, But the mouth of the uninstructed will know evil things.

16The eyes of evil men are waiting for evil things all the time, But good men are at rest continually.

17Better is a small portion with the fear of the Lord Than great treasures with lack of fear.

18Better is a dinner of herbs with friendship and grace Than a fatted calf with hostility.

19An angry man stirs up contention, But a longsuffering man even calms the rising quarrel.