Thursday, April 22

8Thus says the Lord: 'As the grape shall be found in a cluster, and they shall say, 'Do not destroy it, for there is a blessing from the Lord in it,' so shall I do for the sake of him who serves Me. For his sake I will not destroy them all.

9I will bring forth the seed of Jacob and the seed of Judah, and they shall inherit My holy mountain. My elect shall inherit it, and My servants shall dwell there.

10There shall be in the forest a fold of flocks, and the valley of Achor shall be for the resting place of herds for My people who sought Me.

11But you are those who forsook Me, and forget My holy mountain, and prepare a table for the devil, and fill a drink-offering to Fortune.

12I will deliver you to the sword, and all of you shall fall in the slaughter; because I called you, but you did not obey; I spoke, but you refused to listen. You did evil in My sight, and did not choose the things I willed.'

13Therefore, thus says the Lord: 'Behold, My servants shall eat, but you shall hunger. Behold, My servants shall drink, but you shall thirst. Behold, My servants shall be glad, but you shall be ashamed.

14Behold, My servants shall rejoice exceedingly in gladness, but you shall cry out because of the pain in your heart; and you shall wail from the crushing of your spirit.

15For you shall leave your name as an example of excess to My elect, and the Lord shall destroy you. But those who serve Him shall be called by a new name,

16which shall be blessed upon the earth. For they shall bless the true God, and those who swear upon the earth shall swear by the true God; for they shall forget their former tribulation, and it shall not come into their heart.

1Now Israel took his journey with all he had, and came to the Well of Oath, and offered a sacrifice to the God of his father Isaac.

2Then God spoke to Israel in a vision of the night, and said, 'Jacob, Jacob!' So he said, 'Here I am.'

3So God said to him, 'I am the God of your fathers; do not fear to go down to Egypt, for I will make of you a great nation there.

4I will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also surely bring you up again, and Joseph will put his hand on your eyes.'

5Then Jacob arose from the Well of Oath, and the sons of Israel carried their father Jacob, their baggage, and their wives in the carts Pharaoh had sent to carry him.

6So they took their livestock and their goods which they had acquired in the land of Canaan and went to Egypt, Jacob and all his seed with him.

7His sons and his sons' sons, his daughters and his sons' daughters, and all his seed he brought with him to Egypt.

15My son, if your heart becomes wise, You will also gladden my heart;

16And your lips shall spend time with the words on my lips, If they be upright.

17Do not let your heart envy sinners, But be in fear of the Lord the whole day long.

18For if you keep these words, you shall have offspring, And your hope will not depart from you.

19Hear, my son, and become wise, And direct aright the thoughts of your heart.

20Do not be a wine-bibber, Neither provide contributions of meats or goods at drinking parties.

21For every drunkard and fornicator shall become impoverished, And every sluggard shall clothe himself with tattered and ragged garments.

22Hear, my son, your father who begot you, And do not despise your mother because she has grown old.

23A righteous father rears his child well, And his soul rejoices in a wise son.

24Let your father and mother be glad in you, And let her who bore you rejoice.

25My son, give me your heart, And let your eyes observe my ways;

26For a house of prostitution is a pierced vessel And a strange and empty well;

27For he shall perish suddenly, And every lawless man shall be destroyed.

28Who has woe? Who has tumult? Who has condemnation? Who has unpleasantness and gossip? Who has afflictions with no purpose? Whose eyes are pale?

29Is it not those who linger long with wines? Is it not those who hunt for the whereabouts of drinking parties?

30Do not be drunk with wine, but keep company with righteous men, And keep company in public walks;

31For if you set your eyes to the bowls and cups, Afterward you will walk about more naked than ground meat.

32And at last, he stretches himself out as one bitten by a serpent, And the venom spreads through him as one bitten by a horned serpent.

33When your eyes behold a strange woman, Then your mouth will speak twisted things;

34And you will lie down as in the heart of the sea And as a pilot in a great storm;

35And you will say, 'They beat me, but I did not suffer, And they mocked me, but I knew it not;

36When will it be morning, That I may go seek those with whom I may company?'

1My son, do not envy evil men, Neither desire to be with them;

2For their heart ponders a lie, And their lips speak of sufferings.

3A house is built with wisdom, And it is built up with understanding.

4Storehouses are filled with perception From all honorable and good riches.

5It is better to be a wise man of strength And a man having discernment, than to be a man who has a large estate.

9All the nations are gathered together, and the rulers shall be assembled from among them. Who will declare these things or tell us things from the beginning? Let them bring forth their witnesses, and be proven right; and let them speak the truth.

10'You are My witnesses, and I am a witness,' says the Lord God, 'and My Servant whom I chose, that you may know and believe, and understand that I am He. Before Me there was no other God, nor shall there be after Me.

11I am God, and besides Me there is no one who saves.

12I proclaimed, and I saved. I denounced foreign gods so there were none among you. You are My witnesses, and I am a witness,' says the Lord God.

13'Even from the beginning, there is no one who can deliver out of My hands; I will work, and who will reverse it?'

14Thus says the Lord God who redeems you, the Holy One of Israel: 'For your sake I will send to Babylon and arouse all who flee, and the Chaldeans shall be bound in ships.

1But the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, And no torture will ever touch them.

2In the eyes of the undiscerning they seemed to have died, And their departure was considered to be misfortune,

3And their passage from us to be their destruction; But they are at peace.

4For though in man's view they were punished, Their hope is full of immortality.

5Though chastened in a few things, Great kindness will be shown them, For God tested them and found them worthy of Himself.

6He tested them like gold in a furnace And accepted them as a whole burnt offering.

7In the time of their visitation they will shine forth, And they will run about like sparks through straw.

8They will judge nations and rule over peoples, And the Lord shall reign over them unto the ages.

9Those who trust in Him will understand truth, And the faithful shall continue with Him in love, Because grace and mercy are upon His elect.

7But though a righteous man may die before his time, He shall be at rest.

8For old age is not honored for its length of existence, Nor measured by its number of years;

9But discernment is gray hair for mankind, And a spotless life is the maturity of old age.

10There was once a man pleasing to God and loved by Him, And while living among sinners he was taken up.

11He was caught up lest evil change his understanding Or deceit deceive his soul.

12For envy arising from lack of judgment obscures what is good, And a whirling of desire undermines an innocent heart.

13He was made perfect, For in a short time he fulfilled long years,

14For his soul was pleasing to the Lord; Therefore, He took him early from the midst of evil. Yet peoples saw this but did not understand, Nor take such a thing to heart,

15That the Lord's grace and mercy are with His elect And that He watches over His holy ones.