Day 248 – September 5, 2022

Wisdom of Solomon 12:12-13:19

¹² For who will say, “What have You done?”
Or who will oppose Your judgment?
Who will bring a charge against You
For destroying the nations You made?
Or who will stand before You
To plead as an advocate for unrighteous men?
¹³ For neither is there any god except You,
Whose care is for all things,
So You may show that You do not judge unjustly;
¹⁴ Nor can any king or tyrant meet You face to face
Concerning those You punish.
¹⁵ You are righteous and order all things uprightly,
And You consider it alien to Your power
To pass sentence on him who should not be punished.
¹⁶ For Your strength is the origin of righteousness,
And it causes You who are the Lord of all to spare all.
¹⁷ For to him who disbelieves the perfection of Your power,
You show forth Your strength
And rebuke the insolence among those who know it.
¹⁸ But You who gain the mastery by Your strength
Judge with gentleness,
For You govern us with great forbearance;
And power is present with You to use when You will it.
God Chastens His Children
¹⁹ Through such works You taught Your people
That the righteous man should love mankind;
And You made Your children hopeful
By offering them repentance over their sins.
²⁰ For if You punished the enemies of Your children
And those liable to death with so much attention and deliberation,
And granted them time and opportunity to depart from their evil,
²¹ With how much strictness did You judge Your children,
To whose fathers You gave oaths and covenants of good promises?
²² So then You chastened us,
But our enemies with ten thousand whips,
That we may care about Your goodness when we judge
But expect Your mercy when we are judged.
The Egyptians Were Judged
²³ Therefore those who lived unjustly in their foolishness of life
You tormented by means of their own abominations.
²⁴ For they went far astray on the paths of error,
Taking up gods which were despised even among their enemies,
Being deceived after the manner of foolish children.
²⁵ Therefore to those thoughtless children
You sent Your judgment to mock them;
²⁶ But those who were not warned by this light gesture of censure
  Will be put to the test by the deserved judgment of God.
²⁷ For when they suffered, they were indignant
At those they imagined to be gods,
Realizing they were being punished because of them.
They also came to recognize the true God
Whom they refused to know long ago;
Therefore, the utmost of condemnation came upon them.
The Futility of False Gods
​¹ For all men while ignorant of God were useless in their condition.
So from the good things that are seen
They were unable to know Him who exists,
Nor did they know the Craftsman by paying attention to His works.
² But they supposed that the gods who rule the world
Were either fire or wind or swift air,
Or the circle of the stars or violent water or the luminaries of heaven.
³ If while delighting in their beauty men assumed them to be gods,
Let them know how much better than these things is their Lord,
For the Creator of beauty created them;
⁴ And if they were amazed at their power and working,
Let them understand from them
How much more powerful than these is He who made them.
⁵ For from the greatness and beauty of created things
The Creator is seen by analogy.
⁶ Nevertheless there is little reason for complaint against them,
For perhaps they go astray while seeking God and wish to find Him.
⁷ For as they live among His works, they examine them closely
And are persuaded by what they see,
Because the things they see are beautiful.
⁸ However, they are not to be excused;
⁹ For if they were able to know so much
With their ability to investigate the world,
How is it possible they did not quickly find
The Lord of all these things?
¹⁰ But they are miserable, and so are their hopes in dead things,
Those who call “gods” the works of men’s hands,
Gold, silver, and the practice of craftsmanship,
And the likeness of animals,
Or a worthless stone of an ancient hand.
¹¹ But also, if some carpenter saws down an easily moved tree
And skillfully scrapes away all its bark,
He then builds a useful vessel beautifully made by his skill
For the service of the living,
¹² And uses up the cast-off pieces of his trade
To prepare his food and be filled.
¹³ But a cast-off piece from among them, useful for nothing,
That grew up with the tree, crooked and full of knots,
He takes and carves with care in his leisure
And forms it with intelligent skill,
And models it in the likeness of a man.
¹⁴ Or he likens it to some worthless animal
And smears it with bright red paint,
Making its surface red,
Covering every blemish in it with paint.
¹⁵ Then he makes a room fitting for it
And puts it on a wall and fastens it with iron nails
That it may not fall.
  ¹⁶ He takes care of it, knowing that it cannot help itself;
For it is an image that has need of help.
¹⁷ When he prays about his possessions,
His marriage and his children,
He is not ashamed to speak to a lifeless thing,
And he appeals to a weak thing concerning his health.
¹⁸ Concerning life he prays to something dead;
Concerning aid he supplicates something ignorant;
And concerning a journey, something that cannot take a step;
¹⁹ Concerning means of livelihood,
Profit and success with his hands;
He requests bodily strength
From something powerless with its hands.
Psalm 58

​¹ For the End; corrupt not; by David; for a pillar inscription, when Saul sent and watched his house, that he might kill him.
² Rescue me from my enemies, O God,
And redeem me from those who rise up against me.
³ Deliver me from the workers of lawlessness
And save me from men of blood.
⁴ For behold, they hunt for my soul;
Mighty men set upon me.
Neither is it for my lawlessness, nor for my sin, O Lord;
⁵ I run without lawlessness, and keep a straight path;
Rise up and meet me, and see.
⁶ And You, O Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel,
Give heed, and examine all the Gentiles;
Do not be merciful to all who work lawlessness.
(Pause)
⁷ They shall return at evening,
And hunger like dogs; and they shall encircle the city.
⁸ Behold, they shall speak with their mouth,
And a sword is in their lips; for they say, “Who hears?”
⁹ But You, O Lord, shall laugh at them;
You shall hold all the nations in contempt.
¹⁰ O my strength, I shall keep watch with You,
For You are my protector, O God.
¹¹ As for my God, His mercy shall go before me;
God will show it to me among my enemies.
¹² Do not kill them, lest they forget my people;
Scatter them by Your power,
And bring them down, O Lord my protector.
¹³ For the sin of their mouth, for the word of their lips,
Let them also be taken in their arrogance;
And from their vow of evil and lie, their end will be proclaimed
¹⁴ In a wrath of destruction, and let them be no more;
And they shall know God is Jacob’s Lord,
And the Lord of the ends of the earth.
¹⁵ They shall return at evening, and hunger like dogs;
And they shall encircle the city.
¹⁶ They shall be scattered to and fro so as to eat,
But if they are not satisfied, they shall also grumble.
¹⁷ But I will sing of Your power,
And greatly rejoice in Your mercy in the morning;
For You are my protector,
And my refuge in the day of my affliction.
  ¹⁸ You are my helper; I will sing to You;
For You, O God, are my protector;
You are my mercy, O my God.
Proverbs 12:6–10

⁶ The words of the ungodly are deceitful,
But the mouth of the upright shall deliver them.
⁷ If he does not turn, an ungodly man is destroyed,
But the houses of the righteous remain.
⁸ The mouth of a man of understanding is praised by a man,
But the slothful of heart are treated with contempt.
⁹ It is better for a man in dishonor to serve himself
Than for him to surround himself with honor while in need of bread.
¹⁰ A righteous man has compassion on the lives of his cattle,
But the affections of the ungodly are without mercy.
1 Corinthians 14:26–40

²⁶ How is it then, brethren? Whenever you come together, each of you has a psalm, has a teaching, has a tongue, has a revelation, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification.
²⁷ If anyone speaks in a tongue, let there be two or at the most three, each in turn, and let one interpret.
²⁸ But if there is no interpreter, let him keep silent in church, and let him speak to himself and to God.
²⁹ Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others judge.
³⁰ But if anything is revealed to another who sits by, let the first keep silent.
³¹ For you can all prophesy one by one, that all may learn and all may be encouraged.
³² And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets.
³³ For God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints.
  ³⁴ Let your women keep silent in the churches, for they are not permitted to speak; but they are to be submissive, as the law also says.
³⁵ And if they want to learn something, let them ask their own husbands at home; for it is shameful for women to speak in church.
³⁶ Or did the word of God come originally from you? Or was it you only that it reached?
³⁷ If anyone thinks himself to be a prophet or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things which I write to you are the commandments of the Lord.
³⁸ But if anyone is ignorant, let him be ignorant.
³⁹ Therefore, brethren, desire earnestly to prophesy, and do not forbid to speak with tongues.
⁴⁰ Let all things be done decently and in order.