Day 266 – September 23, 2022

Wisdom of Sirach 26, 27

​¹ Happy is the husband of a good wife;

The number of his days will be doubled.

² A courageous wife makes her husband glad,

And his years will be full of peace.

³ A good wife is a good portion,

And she will be given in the portion

Of those who fear the Lord.

⁴ The good heart of a rich or a poor man

Is a cheerful face at all times.

Fallen Womanhood

⁵ My heart fears because of three things,

And I pray to God concerning a fourth:

The slander of a city, the gathering of a mob,

And a false accusation—all these are worse than death.

⁶ There is also pain of heart and sorrow

When a wife is jealous over another woman,

And a tongue-lashing makes it known to all.

⁷ An evil wife is like an ox-yoke that shakes to and fro,

And to take hold of her is like grabbing a scorpion.

⁸ A drunken wife is very wrathful,

And she will not conceal her shame.

⁹ The fornication of a wife will be known

By her haughty looks and her eyelids.

¹⁰ Keep strong watch over a headstrong daughter,

Lest she find some liberty and make the most of it.

¹¹ Be on guard against her shameless eye,

And do not be amazed if she trespasses against you.

¹² Her mouth will open like a thirsty traveler’s

And drink from any water nearby.

She will sit down before every tent peg

And open her quiver to any arrow.

A Blessed Wife

¹³ A wife’s grace will delight her husband,

And her skill will put fat on his bones.

¹⁴ A silent wife is a gift from the Lord,

And there is nothing worth as much as a disciplined soul.

¹⁵ A modest wife is blessing upon blessing,

And there is no scale adequate to weigh a self-controlled soul.

¹⁶ Like the sun rising in the Lord’s heaven

Is the beauty of a good wife in the ordering of her house.

¹⁷ Like a lamp shining on the holy lampstand

Is the beauty of a countenance in the prime of life.

¹⁸ Beautiful feet with a steady heart

Are like golden pillars on a silver base.

Three Griefs

¹⁹ My heart is grieved by two things,

  And because of a third, anger arises within me:

A man of war in want because of poverty;

Men of intelligence who suffer contempt;

And a man who turns back from righteousness to sin.

The Lord will prepare this one for the sword.

The Merchant

²⁰ With difficulty a merchant will deliver himself from wrongdoing,

And a peddler will not be acquitted from sin.

​¹ Many have sinned to make a profit,

And he who seeks riches will turn away his eyes.

² As a stake will be driven tightly between fitted stones,

So sin will be wedged between selling and buying.

³ If a man does not hold steadfastly to the fear of the Lord,

His house will be soon overturned.

Tested by Reason

⁴ When a sieve is shaken, the refuse remains;

So a man’s filth remains in the way he reasons.

⁵ As a furnace tests a potter’s vessels,

So the test of a man is in the way he reasons.

⁶ As fruit reveals how a tree is cultivated,

So a man’s reasoning process reveals his heart.

⁷ Do not praise a man before he reveals the way he reasons,

For this is the way a man is tested.

⁸ If you pursue righteousness, you will attain it

And put it on like a glorious robe.

⁹ As birds flock with their own kind,

So also truth will return to those who practice it.

¹⁰ As a lion lies in wait for his prey,

So sin lies in wait for those who do wrong.

Speaking Wisely

¹¹ The talk of a godly man is always wise,

But a fool changes like the moon.

¹² Among senseless men, limit your time;

Instead, spend it with men of understanding.

¹³ The talk of fools is offensive,

And they laugh at the lewdness of sin.

¹⁴ Speech filled with swearing will make one’s hair stand on end,

And quarreling will make one stop his ears.

¹⁵ The quarreling of the arrogant leads to bloodshed,

And their abusive language is hard on the ears.

¹⁶ He who reveals secrets destroys his credibility,

And he will not find a friend for life.

¹⁷ Love your friend,

And be trustworthy with him;

But if you reveal his secrets, do not pursue him closely.

¹⁸ For as surely as a man has destroyed his enemy,

So you have destroyed the friendship of your neighbor.

  ¹⁹ As you might release a bird from your hand,

So you have let your neighbor go;

And you will not catch him.

²⁰ Do not pursue him, for he has withdrawn far away

And has escaped like a deer from a snare.

²¹ For a wound can be bandaged and an insult forgiven,

But anyone who reveals secrets is without hope.

²² He who winks with his eye plots evil deeds,

And no one can draw him away from them.

²³ His speech will be sweet in your presence,

And he will marvel at your words;

But later his speech will distort what you said,

And he will cause trouble with your words.

²⁴ I hate many things, but none in comparison to him;

And the Lord will hate him.

Consequences of Sin

²⁵ He who throws a stone into the air

Throws it on his head,

And a treacherous blow will distribute wounds.

²⁶ He who digs a pit will fall into it,

And he who sets a snare will be caught in it.

²⁷ He who does evil things will have it roll back on him,

And he will not know what hit him.

²⁸ Mockery and abuse come back on an arrogant man,

And vengeance lies in wait for him like a lion.

²⁹ Those who rejoice at the fall of the godly

Will be caught in a trap,

And pain will consume them before their death.

³⁰ Anger and wrath, these are also abominations,

And a sinful man shall possess both.

Psalm 72:15–28

¹⁵ If I should speak, I would describe it thus:

Behold, I am breaking covenant with the generation of your children.

¹⁶ And I sought to understand this;

It was difficult in my sight,

¹⁷ Until I came into God’s holy place

And understood their end.

¹⁸ Surely, for their deceits You appointed deceits for them;

You cast them down in their exaltation.

¹⁹ Oh, how they came into desolation suddenly!

They ceased to be; they perished in their lawlessness.

²⁰ Like a dream to one who is awakened,

So, O Lord, You shall despise their image in Your city.

²¹ For my heart was kindled,

And my reins were changed,

²² And I was despised, and did not know;

I became like a beast before You.

²³ And I am continually with You;

You hold fast my right hand;

²⁴ With Your counsel You guide me,

And with glory You take hold of me.

²⁵ For what is there in heaven for me but You,

And what do I desire on earth besides You?

²⁶ My heart and my flesh fail,

O God of my heart; and God is my portion forever.

²⁷ For behold, those who keep themselves far away from You shall perish;

You destroy away from You all who act unfaithfully.

  ²⁸ But as for me, it is good to cling to God,

To put my hope in the Lord,

That I may proclaim all Your praises

In the gates of the daughter of Zion.

Proverbs 15:6–10

⁶ In abundant righteousness there is much strength,

But the ungodly shall utterly perish from the earth.

⁷ In the houses of the righteous there is much strength,

But the fruits of the ungodly shall perish.

⁸ The lips of the wise are bound by perception,

But the hearts of those without discernment are not safe.

⁹ The sacrifices of the ungodly are an abomination to the Lord,

But the prayers of the upright are acceptable with Him.

¹⁰ The ways of the ungodly are an abomination to the Lord,

But He loves those who pursue righteousness.

Galatians 1

​¹ Paul, an apostle (not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised Him from the dead),

² and all the brethren who are with me,

To the churches of Galatia:

³ Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ,

⁴ who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father,

⁵ to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

Only One Gospel

⁶ I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel,

⁷ which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ.

⁸ But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed.

⁹ As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed.

¹⁰ For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ.

Call to Apostleship

(cf. Acts 9:1–25)

¹¹ But I make known to you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man.

¹² For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ.

¹³ For you have heard of my former conduct in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it.

¹⁴ And I advanced in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries in my own nation, being more exceedingly zealous for the traditions of my fathers.

¹⁵ But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace,

¹⁶ to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately confer with flesh and blood,

¹⁷ nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; but I went to Arabia, and returned again to Damascus.

  Contacts at Jerusalem

(cf. Acts 9:26–31)

¹⁸ Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and remained with him fifteen days.

¹⁹ But I saw none of the other apostles except James, the Lord’s brother.

²⁰ (Now concerning the things which I write to you, indeed, before God, I do not lie.)

²¹ Afterward I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia.

²² And I was unknown by face to the churches of Judea which were in Christ.

²³ But they were hearing only, “He who formerly persecuted us now preaches the faith which he once tried to destroy.”²⁴ And they glorified God in me.