Day 317 The Bible in a Year (Orthodox canon)

Isaiah 47

1 Come down, sit on the ground, O virgin daughter of Babylon: sit on the ground, O daughter of the Chaldeans: for thou shalt no more be called tender and luxurious. 2 Take a millstone, grind meal: remove thy veil, uncover thy white hairs, make bare the leg, pass through the rivers. 3 Thy shame shall be uncovered, thy reproaches shall be brought to light: I will exact of thee due vengeance, I will no longer deliver thee to men. 4 Thy deliverer is the Lord of hosts, the Holy One of Israel is his name. 5 Sit thou down pierced with woe, go into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans: thou shalt no more be called the strength of a kingdom. 6 I have been provoked with my people; thou hast defiled mine inheritance: I gave them into thy hand, but thou didst not extend mercy to them: thou madest the yoke of the aged man very heavy, 7 and saidst, I shall be a princess for ever: thou didst not perceive these things in thine heart, nor didst thou remember the latter end. 8 But now hear these words, thou luxurious one, [who art] the one that sits [at ease], that is secure, that says in her heart, I am, and there is not another; I shall not sit a widow, neither shall I know bereavement. 9 But now these two things shall come upon thee suddenly in one day, the loss of children and widowhood shall come suddenly upon thee, for thy sorcery, for the strength of thine enchantments, 10 for thy trusting in wickedness: for thou saidst, I am, and there is not another: know thou, the understanding of these things and thy harlotry shall be thy shame; for thou saidst in thy heart, I am, and there is not another. 11 And destruction shall come upon thee, and thou shalt not be aware; [there shall be] a pit, and thou shalt fall into it: and grief shall come upon thee, and thou shalt not be able to be clear; and destruction shall come suddenly upon thee, and thou shalt not know. 12 Stand now with thine enchantments, and with the abundance of thy sorcery, which thou hast learned from thy youth; if thou canst be profited. 13 Thou art wearied in thy counsels. Let now the astrologers of the heaven stand and deliver thee, let them that see the stars tell thee what is about to come upon thee. 14 Behold, they all shall be burnt up as sticks in the fire; neither shall they at all deliver their life from the flame. Because thou hast coals of fire, sit thou upon them; 15 these shall be thy help. Thou hast wearied thyself with traffic from thy youth: every man has wandered to his own home, but thou shalt have no deliverance.

Isaiah 48

1 Hear these [words], ye house of Jacob, who are called by the name of Israel, and have come forth out of Juda, who swear by the name of the Lord God of Israel, making mention [of it, but] not with truth, nor with righteousness; 2 maintaining also the name of the holy city, and staying themselves on the God of Israel: the Lord of hosts is his name. The former things I have already declared; 3 and they have proceeded out of my mouth, and it became well known; I wrought suddenly, and [the events] came to pass. 4 I know that thou art stubborn, and thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy forehead brazen. 5 And I told thee of old what [should be] before it came upon thee; I made it known to thee, lest thou shouldest say, [My] idols have done [it] for me; and shouldest say, [My] graven and molten images have commanded me. 6 Ye have heard all this, but ye have not known: yet I have made known to thee the new things from henceforth, which are coming to pass, and thou saidst not, 7 Now they come to pass, and not formerly: and thou heardest not of them in former days: say not thou, Yea, I know them. 8 Thou hast neither known, nor understood, neither from the beginning have I opened thine ears: for I knew that thou wouldest surely deal treacherously, and wouldest be called a transgressor even from the womb. 9 For mine own sake will I shew thee my wrath, and will bring before thee my glorious acts, that I may not utterly destroy thee. 10 Behold, I have sold thee, [but] not for silver; but I have rescued thee from the furnace of affliction. 11 For mine own sake I will do [this] for thee, because my name is profaned; and I will not give my glory to another. 12 Hear me, O Jacob, and Israel whom I call; I am the first, and I endure for ever. 13 My hand also has founded the earth, and my right hand has fixed the sky: I will call them, and they shall stand together. 14 And all shall be gathered, and shall hear: who has told them these things? Out of love to thee I have fulfilled thy desire on Babylon, to abolish the seed of the Chaldeans. 15 I have spoken, I have called, I have brought him, and made his way prosperous. 16 Draw nigh to me, and hear ye these words; I have not spoken in secret from the beginning: when it took place, there was I, and now the Lord, [even] the Lord, and his Spirit, hath sent me. 17 Thus saith the Lord that delivered thee, the Holy One of Israel; I am thy God, I have shewn thee how thou shouldest find the way wherein thou shouldest walk. 18 And if thou hadst hearkened to my commandments, [then] would thy peace have been like a river, and thy righteousness as a wave of the sea. 19 Thy seed also would have been as the sand, and the offspring of thy belly as the dust of the ground: neither now shalt thou by any means be utterly destroyed, neither shall thy name perish before me. 20 Go forth of Babylon, thou that fleest from the Chaldeans: utter aloud a voice of joy, and let this be made known, proclaim it to the end of the earth; say ye, The Lord hath delivered his servant Jacob. 21 And if they shall thirst, he shall lead them through the desert; he shall bring forth water to them out of the rock: the rock shall be cloven, and the water shall flow forth, and my people shall drink. 22 There is no joy, saith the Lord, to the ungodly.

Isaiah 49

1 Hearken to me, ye islands; and attend, ye Gentiles; after a long time it shall come to pass, saith the Lord: from my mother's womb he has called my name: 2 and he has made my mouth as a sharp sword, and he has hid me under the shadow of his hand; he has made me as a choice shaft, and he has hid me in his quiver; 3 and said to me, Thou art my servant, O Israel, and in thee I will be glorified. 4 Then I said, I have laboured in vain, I have given my strength for vanity and for nothing: therefore is my judgment with the Lord, and my labour before my God. 5 And now, thus saith the Lord that formed me from the womb to be his own servant, to gather Jacob to him and Israel. I shall be gathered and glorified before the Lord, and my God shall be my strength. 6 And he said to me, [It is] a great thing for thee to be called my servant, to establish the tribes of Jacob, and to recover the dispersion of Israel: behold, I have given thee for the covenant of a race, for a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation to the end of the earth. 7 Thus saith the Lord that delivered thee, the God of Israel, Sanctify him that despises his life, him that is abhorred by the nations that are the servants of princes: kings shall behold him, and princes shall arise, and shall worship him, for the Lord's sake: for the Holy One of Israel is faithful, and I have chosen thee. 8 Thus saith the Lord, In an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I succoured thee: and I have formed thee, and given thee for a covenant of the nations, to establish the earth, and to cause to inherit the desert heritages: 9 saying to them that are in bonds, Go forth; and [bidding] them that are in darkness shew themselves. They shall be fed in all the ways, and in all the paths [shall be] their pasture. 10 They shall not hunger, neither shall they thirst; neither shall the heat nor the sun smite them; but he that has mercy on them shall comfort [them], and by fountains of waters shall he lead them. 11 And I will make every mountain a way, and every path a pasture to them. 12 Behold, these shall come from far: [and] these from the north and the west, and others from the land of the Persians. 13 Rejoice, ye heavens; and let the earth be glad: let the mountains break forth [with] joy; for the Lord has had mercy on his people, and has comforted the lowly ones of his people. 14 But Sion said, The Lord has forsaken me, and, The Lord has forgotten me. 15 Will a woman forget her child, so as not to have compassion upon the offspring of her womb? but if a woman should even forget these, yet I will not forget thee, saith the Lord. 16 Behold, I have painted thy walls on my hands, and thou art continually before me. 17 And thou shalt soon be built by those by whom thou wert destroyed, and they that made thee desolate shall go forth of thee. 18 Lift up thine eyes round about, and look on them all; behold, they are gathered together, and are come to thee. [As] I live, saith the Lord, thou shalt clothe thyself with them all as with an ornament, and put them on as a bride her attire. 19 For thy desert and marred and ruined [places] shall now be too narrow by reason of the inhabitants, and they that devoured thee shall be removed far from thee. 20 For thy sons whom thou hast lost shall say in thine ears, The place [is too] narrow for me: make room for me that I may dwell. 21 And thou shalt say in thine heart, Who has begotten me these? whereas I [was] childless, and a widow; but who has brought up these for me? and I was left alone; but whence came these to me? 22 Thus saith the Lord, [even] the Lord, Behold, I lift up mine hand to the nations, and I will lift up my signal to the islands: and they shall bring thy sons in [their] bosom, and shall bear thy daughters on [their] shoulders. 23 And kings shall be thy nursing-fathers, and their princesses thy nurses, they shall bow down to thee on the face of the earth, and shall lick the dust of thy feet; and thou shalt know that I am the Lord, and they that wait on me shall not be ashamed. 24 Will any one take spoils from a giant? and if one should take [a man] captive unjustly, shall he be delivered? 25 For thus saith the Lord, If one should take a giant captive, he shall take spoils, and he who takes [them] from a mighty [man] shall be delivered: for I will plead thy cause, and I will deliver thy children. 26 And they that afflicted thee shall eat their own flesh; and they shall drink their own blood as new wine, and shall be drunken: and all flesh shall perceive that I am the Lord that delivers thee, and that upholds the strength of Jacob.