Day 243  – August 31, 2022

Wisdom of Solomon 3, 4

​¹ But the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God,
And no torture will ever touch them.
² In the eyes of the undiscerning they seemed to have died,
And their departure was considered to be misfortune,
³ And their passage from us to be their destruction;
But they are at peace.
⁴ For though in man’s view they were punished,
Their hope is full of immortality.
⁵ Though chastened in a few things,
Great kindness will be shown them,
For God tested them and found them worthy of Himself.
⁶ He tested them like gold in a furnace
And accepted them as a whole burnt offering.
⁷ In the time of their visitation they will shine forth,
And they will run about like sparks through straw.
⁸ They will judge nations and rule over peoples,
And the Lord shall reign over them unto the ages.
⁹ Those who trust in Him will understand truth,
And the faithful shall continue with Him in love,
Because grace and mercy are upon His elect.
The Plight of the Ungodly
¹⁰ But the ungodly shall experience
The punishment they themselves plotted,
They who rejected the righteous man
And rebelled against the Lord.
¹¹ For whoever despises wisdom and instruction is miserable,
And their hope is vain, their labors are useless,
And their works are worthless.
¹² Their wives are foolish,
And their children are evil, their existence accursed.
The Blessing of Virtue
¹³ Blessed is the undefiled barren woman
Who has not known sexual promiscuity;
She shall have fruit in the visitation of souls.
¹⁴ Blessed also is the eunuch who has done no lawless deed,
  Nor thought evil things against the Lord;
For a chosen grace of faith will be given to him,
And a delightful portion in the temple of the Lord.
¹⁵ For the fruit of good labors is of good report,
And the root of discernment is infallible.
Children of the Ungodly
¹⁶ But the children of adulterers shall not reach maturity,
And the seed of a lawless bed shall perish.
¹⁷ For even if they live a long time
They shall be considered as nothing,
And in the end their old age will be accounted a dishonor.
¹⁸ But if they should die young, they would have no hope
Nor consolation in the day of decision.
¹⁹ For the end of an unrighteous generation is grievous.
When Virtue Is Present
​¹ Childlessness with virtue is better than this,
For immortality is in its memory
Because it is known both by God and by man.
² When virtue is present, people imitate it,
And when it goes away, they long for it.
Throughout one’s lifetime,
Virtue leads the struggle for undefiled prizes,
Wearing a crown and conquering.
³ But the prolific multitude of the ungodly are useful to no one,
And none of their illegitimate seedlings will grow a deep root
Or establish a sure footing.
⁴ For although they may flourish in their branches for a time,
Yet without a sure footing they will be shaken by the wind
And uprooted by the force of the winds.
⁵ Their twigs shall be broken off before they reach maturity,
And their fruit will be useless,
Not ripe for eating or good for anything.
⁶ For children born from lawless unions
Are witnesses of evil against their parents
In their close examination.
⁷ But though a righteous man may die before his time,
He shall be at rest.
⁸ For old age is not honored for its length of existence,
Nor measured by its number of years;
⁹ But discernment is gray hair for mankind,
And a spotless life is the maturity of old age.
The Righteous Enoch
¹⁰ There was once a man pleasing to God and loved by Him,
And while living among sinners he was taken up.
¹¹ He was caught up lest evil change his understanding
Or deceit deceive his soul.
¹² For envy arising from lack of judgment obscures what is good,
And a whirling of desire undermines an innocent heart.
¹³ He was made perfect,
For in a short time he fulfilled long years,
¹⁴ For 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,
¹⁵ That the Lord’s grace and mercy are with His elect
And that He watches over His holy ones.
A Study in Contrasts
¹⁶ But a righteous man who is dead
Shall condemn the ungodly who are living,
And a youth who is quickly perfected
Shall condemn the ripe old age of a wrongdoer.
¹⁷ For they will see the end of the wise man,
But will not understand what the Lord purposed for him
Or why He kept him safe.
¹⁸ They will see and despise him,
But the Lord will laugh them to scorn.
¹⁹ After this they shall be dead without honor
And an insult among the dead continually,
Because He will dash them headlong and speechless to the ground
And shake them from the foundations.
They shall be left dry and barren to the very end;
They shall be in pain,
And their memory shall perish.
²⁰ They will come with dread
In the day of reckoning for their sins,
  And their lawless deeds will convict them to their face.
Psalm 54:1–12

​¹ For the End; in hymns; concerning understanding; by David.
² Give ear to my prayer, O God,
And do not despise my supplication;
³ Attend to me, and hear me.
I am vexed in my prayer, and troubled
⁴ By the enemy’s voice and by the sinner’s affliction;
For they turned their lawlessness upon me,
And in wrath they were indignant with me.
⁵ My heart was troubled within me,
And the terror of death fell on me.
⁶ Fear and trembling came upon me,
And the darkness covered me.
⁷ I said, “Who will give me wings like a dove,
And I will fly away, and be at rest?
⁸ Behold, I fled far away,
And lodged in the wilderness.”
(Pause)
⁹ I wait for the One who saves me
From faintheartedness and storm.
¹⁰ Drown them in the sea, O Lord, and divide their tongues;
For I see lawlessness and strife in the city.
¹¹ Day and night, it shall surround her upon her walls;
Lawlessness and trouble and wrongdoing are in her midst;
¹² And usury and treachery
Have not ceased from her squares.
Proverbs 11:11–15

¹¹ A double-tongued man reveals deliberations heard in council,
But a man faithful in spirit conceals matters.
¹² Those for whom there is no leadership fall like leaves,
But there is salvation in much counsel.
¹³ A wicked man does evil whenever he meets a righteous man,
And he hates the sound of stability.
¹⁴ A thankful woman raises up glory to her husband,
But a throne of dishonor is a woman who hates righteousness.
¹⁵ Lazy men are in need of wealth,
But courageous men support themselves with wealth.
1 Corinthians 11:2–16

² Now I praise you, brethren, that you remember me in all things and keep the traditions just as I delivered them to you.
³ But I want you to know that the head of every man is Christ, the head of woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.
⁴ Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonors his head.
⁵ But every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head, for that is one and the same as if her head were shaved.
⁶ For if a woman is not covered, let her also be shorn. But if it is shameful for a woman to be shorn or shaved, let her be covered.
⁷ For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God; but woman is the glory of man.
⁸ For man is not from woman, but woman from man.
⁹ Nor was man created for the woman, but woman for the man.
¹⁰ For this reason the woman ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels.
¹¹ Nevertheless, neither is man independent of woman, nor woman independent of man, in the Lord.
¹² For as woman came from man, even so man also comes through woman; but all things are from God.
¹³ Judge among yourselves. Is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered?
¹⁴ Does not even nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a dishonor to him?
¹⁵ But if a woman has long hair, it is a glory to her; for her hair is given to her for a covering.
¹⁶ But if anyone seems to be contentious, we have no such custom, nor do the churches of God.