Day 223 – August 11, 2021

Wisdom of Sirach 36

A Prayer for Israel

1 Have mercy on us, O Lord, the God of all, and look upon us, And put Your fear on all the nations.† 

2 Raise Your hand against foreign nations And let them see Your power. 

3 As in us You have been sanctified before them, So in them may You be made great before us. 

4 Let them know You as we also have known You, For there is no God but You, O Lord. 

5 Renew Your signs and work fresh wonders; Glorify Your hand and Your right arm. 

6 Stir up Your anger and pour out Your wrath; Drive away the adversary and destroy the enemy. 

7 Hasten the time and remember Your oath, And let people declare Your mighty works.† 

8 Let him who survives be devoured in Your fiery wrath, And may those who harm Your people meet destruction.† 

9 Crush the heads of the rulers of the enemies Who say, “There is no one but us.” 

10 Gather together all the tribes of Jacob, And grant them their inheritance as from the beginning.† 

11 Have mercy upon Your people called by Your Name, O Lord— Upon Israel, whom You have likened to Your firstborn son. 

12 Have pity on the city of Your sanctuary, Jerusalem, the place of Your rest. 

13 Fill Zion with the celebration of Your divine virtue And Your people with Your glory.† 

14 Give testimony to what You created in the beginning And raise up the prophecies spoken in Your name. 

15 Reward those who wait for You And let Your prophets be found trustworthy. 

16 Hear, O Lord, the prayer of Your suppliants, According to the blessing of Aaron over Your people; 

17 And all on earth will know That You are the Lord, the God of the ages.† 

Using Discernment

18 The stomach eats any kind of food, But some food is better than others. 

19 As the palate tastes the flavor of game, So an understanding heart detects lying words. 

20 A crooked heart will cause grief, But a man with great experience will pay him back. 

21 A woman will accept any son, But one daughter is better than another.† 

22 A beautiful woman gladdens a man’s face And surpasses his every desire. 

23 If there is mercy and gentleness on her tongue, Her husband is not like other men. 

24 He who gains a wife gets his best possession, A helper like himself and a pillar of support.† 

25 Where there is no wall, the property will be plundered, And where a man has no wife, he will wander around and groan.† 

26 Who will trust a well-equipped thief Who skips from city to city? 

27 Who will trust a man who has no home And lodges wherever night overtakes him?

Psalms 37

1 A psalm by David; for remembrance concerning the Sabbath. †

2 O Lord, do not rebuke me in Your wrath, Nor chasten me in Your anger. 

3 For Your arrows are fixed in me, And Your hand rests on me; 

4 There is no healing in my flesh because of Your wrath; There is no peace in my bones because of my sins. 

5 For my transgressions rise up over my head; Like a heavy burden they are heavy on me. 

6 My wounds grow foul and fester Because of my folly. 

7 I suffer misery, and I am utterly bowed down; I go all the day long with a sad face. 

8 For my loins are filled with mockeries, And there is no healing in my flesh. 

9 I am afflicted and greatly humbled; I roar because of the groaning of my heart. 

10 O Lord, all my desire is before You, And my groaning is not hidden from You. 

11 My heart is troubled; my strength fails me, And the light of my eyes, even this is not with me.

Proverbs of Solomon 8

Divine Wisdom for Mankind

1 You shall proclaim wisdom That discernment may obey you; 

2 For she is on the lofty summit And stands in the midst of the paths.† 

3 For she sits beside the gates of princes And sings at the entrances, 

4 “You, O men, I exhort, And I utter my voice to the sons of men;† 

5 Understand astuteness, O simple ones, And put it in your heart, O uninstructed ones.

Romans 11

God Elects a Remnant of Israel

1 I say then, has God cast away His people? Certainly not! For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.†

2 God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel, saying,

3 “LORD, they have killed Your prophets and torn down Your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life” ?

4 But what does the divine response say to him? “I have reserved for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” 

5 Even so then, at this present time there is a remnant according to the election of grace.

6 And if by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace. But if it is of works, it is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work.

7 What then? Israel has not obtained what it seeks; but the elect have obtained it, and the rest were blinded.

8 Just as it is written: “God has given them a spirit of stupor, Eyes that they should not see And ears that they should not hear, To this very day.” 

9 And David says: “Let their table become a snare and a trap, A stumbling block and a recompense to them. 

10 Let their eyes be darkened, so that they do not see, And bow down their back always.” 

Gentiles Are Being Saved

11 I say then, have they stumbled that they should fall? Certainly not! But through their fall, to provoke them to jealousy, salvation has come to the Gentiles.†

12 Now if their fall is riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more their fullness!

13 For I speak to you Gentiles; inasmuch as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry,

14 if by any means I may provoke to jealousy those who are my flesh and save some of them.

15 For if their being cast away is the reconciling of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?