Day 316 The Bible in a Year (Orthodox canon)

Isaiah 44

1 But now hear, Jacob my servant; and Israel, whom I have chosen. 2 Thus saith the Lord God that made thee, and he that formed thee from the womb; Thou shalt yet be helped: fear not, my servant Jacob; and beloved Israel, whom I have chosen. 3 For I will give water to the thirsty that walk in a dry land: I will put my Spirit upon thy seed, and my blessings upon thy children: 4 and they shall spring up as grass between brooks, and as willows on [the banks of] running water. 5 One shall say, I am God's; and another shall call himself by the name of Jacob; and another shall write with his hand, I am God's, and shall call himself by the name of Israel. 6 Thus saith God the King of Israel, and the God of hosts that delivered him; I am the first, and I am hereafter: beside me there is no God. 7 Who is like me? let him stand, and call, and declare, and prepare for me from the time that I made man for ever; and let them tell you the things that are coming before they arrive. 8 Hide not yourselves, nor go astray: have ye not heard from the beginning, and [have not] I told you? ye are witnesses if there is a God beside me. 9 But they that framed [false gods] did not then hearken; and they that graved [images] are all vain, performing their own desires, which shall not profit them, but they shall be ashamed 10 that form a god, and all that grave worthless things: 11 and all by whom they were made are withered: yea, let all the deaf be gathered from [among] men, and let them stand together; and let them be ashamed and confounded together: 12 For the artificer sharpens the iron; he fashions [the idol] with an axe, and fixes it with an awl, and fashions it with the strength of his arm: and he will be hungry and weak, and will drink no water. 13 The artificer having chosen a piece of wood, marks it out with a rule, and fits it with glue, and makes it as the form of a man, and as the beauty of a man, to set it up in the house. 14 He cuts wood out of the forest, which the Lord planted, [even] a pine tree, and the rain made it grow, 15 that it might be for men to burn: and having taken part of it he warms himself; yea, they burn part of it, and bake loaves thereon; and [of] the rest they make for themselves gods, and they worship them. 16 Half thereof he burns in the fire, and with half of it he bakes loaves on the coals; and having roasted flesh on it he eats, and is satisfied, and having warmed himself he says, I am comfortable, for I have warmed myself, and have seen the fire. 17 And the rest he makes a graven god, and worships, and prays, saying, Deliver me; for thou art my God. 18 They have no understanding to perceive; for they have been blinded so that they should not see with their eyes, nor perceive with their heart. 19 And one has not considered in his mind, nor known in his understanding, that he has burnt up half of it in the fire, and baked loaves on the coals thereof and has roasted and eaten flesh, and of the rest of it he has made an abomination, and they worship it. 20 Know thou that their heart is ashes, and they err, and no one is able to deliver his soul: see, ye will not say, [There is] a lie in my right hand. 21 Remember these things, O Jacob and Israel; for thou art my servant; I have formed thee [to be] my servant: and do thou, Israel, not forget me. 22 For behold, I have blotted out as a cloud thy transgressions, and thy sin as darkness: turn to me, and I will redeem thee. 23 Rejoice, ye heavens; for God has had mercy upon Israel: sound the trumpet, ye foundations of the earth: ye mountains, shout [with] joy, ye hills, and all the trees therein: for God has redeemed Jacob, and Israel shall be glorified. 24 Thus saith the Lord that redeems thee, and who formed thee from the womb, I am the Lord that performs all things: I stretched out the heaven alone, and established the earth. 25 Who else will frustrate the tokens of those that have divining spirits, and prophecies from the heart [of man]? turning the wise back, and making their counsel foolishness; 26 and confirming the word of his servant, and verifying the counsel of his messengers: who says to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be inhabited; and to the cities of Idumea, Ye shall be built, and her desert places shall spring forth. 27 Who says to the deep, Thou shalt be dried up, and I will dry up the rivers. 28 Who bids Cyrus be wise, and he shall perform all my will: who says to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built, and I will lay the foundation of my holy house.

Isaiah 45

1 Thus saith the Lord God to my anointed Cyrus, whose right hand I have held, that nations might be obedient before him; and I will break through the strength of kings; I will open doors before him, and cities shall not be closed. 2 I will go before thee, and will level mountains: I will break to pieces brazen doors, and will burst iron bars. 3 And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, I will open to thee hidden, unseen [treasures], that thou mayest know that I, the Lord thy God, that call thee by name, am the God of Israel. 4 For the sake of my servant Jacob, and Israel mine elect, I will call thee by thy name, and accept thee: but thou hast not known me. 5 For I am the Lord God, and there is no other God beside me; I strengthened thee, and thou hast not known me. 6 That they that [come] from the east and they that [come] from the west may know that there is no God but me. I am the Lord God, and there is none beside. 7 I am he that prepared light, and formed darkness; who make peace, and create evil; I am the Lord God, that does all these things. 8 Let the heaven rejoice from above, and let the clouds rain righteousness: let the earth bring forth, and blossom [with] mercy, and bring forth righteousness likewise: I am the Lord that created thee. 9 What excellent thing have I prepared as clay of the potter? Will the ploughman plough the earth all day? shall the clay say to the potter, What art thou doing that thou dost not work, nor hast hands? shall the thing formed answer him that formed it? 10 As though one should say to [his] father, What wilt thou beget me? and to his mother, What art thou bringing forth? 11 For thus saith the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, who has formed the things that are to come, Enquire of me concerning my sons, and concerning the works of my hands command me. 12 I have made the earth, and man upon it: I with my hand have established the heaven; I have given commandment to all the stars. 13 I have raised him up [to be] a king with righteousness, and all his ways are right: he shall build my city, and shall turn the captivity of my people, not for ransoms, nor for rewards, saith the Lord of hosts. 14 Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Egypt has laboured [for thee]; and the merchandise of the Ethiopians, and the Sabeans, men of stature, shall pass over to thee, and shall be thy servants; and they shall follow after thee bound in fetters, and shall pass over to thee, and shall do obeisance to thee, and make supplication to thee: because God is in thee; and there is no God beside thee, [O Lord]. 15 For thou art God, yet we knew [it] not, the God of Israel, the Saviour. 16 All that are opposed to him shall be ashamed and confounded, and shall walk in shame: ye isles, keep a feast to me. 17 Israel is saved by the Lord with an everlasting salvation: they shall not be ashamed nor confounded for evermore. 18 Thus saith the Lord that made the heaven, this God that created the earth, and made it; he marked it out, he made it not in vain, but formed it to be inhabited: I am the Lord, and there is none beside. 19 I have not spoken in secret, nor in a dark place of the earth: I said not to the seed of Jacob, Seek vanity: I, even I, am the Lord, speaking righteousness, and proclaiming truth. 20 Assemble yourselves and come; take counsel together, ye that escape of the nations: they that set up wood, [even] their graven image, have no knowledge, nor they who pray to gods that do not save. 21 If they will declare, let them draw nigh, that they may know together, who has caused these things to be heard from the beginning: then was it told you. I am God, and there is not another beside me; a just [God] and a Saviour; there is none but me. 22 Turn ye to me, and ye shall be saved, ye that [come] from the end of the earth: I am God, and there is none other. 23 By myself I swear, righteousness shall surely proceed out of my mouth; my words shall not be frustrated; that to me every knee shall bend, and every tongue shall swear by God, 24 saying, Righteousness and glory shall come to him: and all that remove them from their borders shall be ashamed. 25 By the Lord shall they be justified, and in God shall all the seed of the children of Israel be glorified.

Isaiah 46

1 Bel has fallen, Nabo is broken to pieces, their graven images are gone to the wild beasts and the cattle: ye take them packed up as a burden to the weary, exhausted, hungry, and [at the same time] helpless man; 2 who will not be able to save themselves from war, but they themselves are led [away] captive. 3 Hear me, O house of Jacob, and all the remnant of Israel, who are borne [by me] from the womb, and taught [by me] from infancy, [even] to old age: 4 I am [he]; and until ye shall have grown old, I am [he]: I bear you, I have made, and I will relieve, I will take up and save you. 5 To whom have ye compared me? see, consider, ye that go astray. 6 They that furnish gold out of a purse, and silver by weight, will weigh it in a scale, and they hire a goldsmith and make idols, and bow down, and worship them. 7 They bear it upon the shoulder, and go; and if they put it upon its place, it remains, it cannot move: and whosoever shall cry to it, it cannot hear; it cannot save him from trouble. 8 Remember ye these things, and groan: repent, ye that have gone astray, return in your heart; 9 and remember the former things [that were] of old: for I am God, and there is none other beside me, 10 telling beforehand the latter events before they come to pass, and they are accomplished together: and I said, All my counsel shall stand, and I will do all things that I have planned: 11 calling a bird from the east, and from a land afar off, for the things which I have planned: I have spoken, and brought [him]; I have created and made [him]; I have brought him, and prospered his way. 12 Hearken to me, ye senseless ones, that are far from righteousness: 13 I have brought near my righteousness, and I will not be slow with the salvation that is from me: I have given salvation in Sion to Israel for glory.

Hebrews 1

1 God, having in the past spoken to the fathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, 2 has at the end of these days spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the worlds. 3 His Son is the radiance of his glory, the very image of his substance, and upholding all things by the word of his power, who, when he had by himself purified us of our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become as much better than the angels as the more excellent name he has inherited is better than theirs. 5 For to which of the angels did he say at any time, “You are my Son. Today I have become your father?” and again, “I will be to him a Father, and he will be to me a Son?” 6 When he again brings in the firstborn into the world he says, “Let all the angels of God worship him.” 7 Of the angels he says, “He makes his angels winds, and his servants a flame of fire.” 8 But of the Son he says, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. The scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your Kingdom. 9 You have loved righteousness and hated iniquity; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your fellows.” 10 And, “You, Lord, in the beginning, laid the foundation of the earth. The heavens are the works of your hands. 11 They will perish, but you continue. They all will grow old like a garment does. 12 You will roll them up like a mantle, and they will be changed; but you are the same. Your years won’t fail.” 13 But which of the angels has he told at any time, “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies the footstool of your feet?” 14 Aren’t they all serving spirits, sent out to do service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation?