Day 321 The Bible in a Year (Orthodox canon)

Isaiah 58

1 Cry aloud, and spare not; lift up thy voice as with a trumpet, and declare to my people their sins, and to the house of Jacob their iniquities. 2 They seek me day by day, and desire to know my ways, as a people that had done righteousness, and had not forsaken the judgment of their God: they now ask of me righteous judgment, and desire to draw nigh to God, 3 saying, Why have we fasted, and thou regardest not? [why] have we afflicted our souls, and thou didst not know it? Nay, in the days of your fasts ye find your pleasures, and all them that are under your power ye wound. 4 If ye fast for quarrels and strifes, and smite the lowly with [your] fists, wherefore do ye fast to me as [ye do] this day, so that your voice may be heard in crying? 5 I have not chosen this fast, nor [such] a day for a man to afflict his soul; neither though thou shouldest bend down thy neck as a ring, and spread under thee sackcloth and ashes, neither thus shall ye call a fast acceptable. 6 I have not chosen such a fast, saith the Lord; but do thou loose every burden of iniquity, do thou untie the knots of hard bargains, set the bruised free, and cancel every unjust account. 7 Break thy bread to the hungry, and lead the unsheltered poor to thy house: if thou seest one naked, clothe [him], and thou shalt not disregard the relations of thine own seed. 8 Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thy health shall speedily spring forth: and thy righteousness shall go before thee, and the glory of God shall compass thee. 9 Then shalt thou cry, and God shall hearken to thee; while thou art yet speaking he will say, Behold, I am here. If thou remove from thee the band, and the stretching forth of the hands, and murmuring speech; 10 and [if] thou give bread to the hungry from thy heart, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light spring up in darkness, and thy darkness [shall be] as noon-day: 11 and thy God shall be with thee continually, and thou shalt be satisfied according as thy soul desires; and thy bones shall be made fat, and shall be as a well-watered garden, and as a fountain [from] which the water has not failed. 12 And thy old waste desert [places] shall be built up, and thy foundations shall last through all generations; and thou shalt be called a repairer of breaches, and thou shalt cause thy paths between to be in peace. 13 If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, so as not to do thy pleasure on the holy days, and shalt call the sabbaths delightful, holy to God; [if] thou shalt not lift up thy foot to work, nor speak a word in anger out of thy mouth, 14 then shalt thou trust on the Lord; and he shall bring thee up to the good places of the land, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the Lord has spoken this.

Isaiah 59

1 Has the hand of the Lord no power to save? or has he made his ear heavy, so that he should not hear? 2 Nay, your iniquities separate between you and God, and because of your sins has he turned away [his] face from you, so as not to have mercy [upon you]. 3 For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with sins; your lips also have spoken iniquity, and your tongue meditates unrighteousness. 4 None speaks justly, neither is there true judgment: they trust in vanities, and speak empty [words]; for they conceive trouble, and bring forth iniquity. 5 They have hatched asps' eggs, and weave a spider's web: and he that is going to eat of their eggs, having crushed an addled egg, has found also in it a basilisk. 6 Their web shall not become a garment, nor shall they at all clothe themselves with their works; for their works are works of iniquity. 7 And their feet run to wickedness, swift to shed blood; their thoughts also are thoughts of murder; destruction and misery are in their ways; 8 and the way of peace they know not, neither is there judgment in their ways; for their paths by which they go are crooked, and they know not peace. 9 Therefore has judgment departed from them, and righteousness shall not overtake them: while they waited for light, darkness came upon them; while they waited for brightness, they walked in perplexity. 10 They shall feel for the wall as blind [men], and shall feel [for it] as if they had no eyes: and they shall feel at noon-day as at midnight; they shall groan as dying men. 11 They shall proceed together as a bear and as a dove: we have waited for judgment, and there is no salvation, it is gone far from us. 12 For our iniquity is great before thee, and our sins have risen up against us: for our iniquities are in us, and we know our unrighteous deeds. 13 We have sinned, and dealt falsely, and revolted from our God: we have spoken unrighteous words, and have been disobedient; we have conceived and uttered from our heart unrighteous words. 14 And we have turned judgment back, and righteousness has departed afar off: for truth is consumed in their ways, and they could not pass by a straight [path]. 15 And truth has been taken away, and they have turned aside [their] mind from understanding. And the Lord saw it, and it pleased him not that there was no judgment. 16 And he looked, and there was no man, and he observed, and there was none to help: so he defended them with his arm, and stablished [them] with [his] mercy. 17 And he put on righteousness as a breast-plate, and placed the helmet of salvation on his head; and he clothed himself with the garment of vengeance, and with his cloak, 18 as one about to render a recompence, [even] reproach to his adversaries. 19 So shall they of the west fear the name of the Lord, and they [that come] from the rising of the sun his glorious name: for the wrath of the Lord shall come as a mighty river, it shall come with fury. 20 And the deliverer shall come for Sion's sake, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob. 21 And this shall be my covenant with them, said the Lord; My Spirit which is upon thee, and the words which I have put in thy mouth, shall never fail from thy mouth, nor from the mouth of thy seed, for the Lord has spoken it, henceforth and for ever.

Isaiah 60

1 Be enlightened, be enlightened, O Jerusalem, for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. 2 Behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and [there shall be] gross darkness on the nations: but the Lord shall appear upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. 3 And kings shall walk in thy light, and nations in thy brightness. 4 Lift up thine eyes round about, and behold thy children gathered: all thy sons have come from far, and thy daughters shall be borne on [men's] shoulders. 5 Then shalt thou see, and fear, and be amazed in thine heart; for the wealth of the sea shall come round to thee, and of nations and peoples; and herds of camels shall come to thee, 6 and the camels of Madiam and Gæpha shall cover thee: all from Saba shall come bearing gold, and shall bring frankincense, and they shall publish the salvation of the Lord. 7 And all the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered, and the rams of Nabæoth shall come; and acceptable sacrifices shall be offered on my altar, and my house of prayer shall be glorified. 8 Who are these [that] fly as clouds, and as doves with young ones to me? 9 The isles have waited for me, and the ships of Tharsis among the first, to bring thy children from afar, and their silver and their gold with them, and [that] for the sake of the holy name of the Lord, and because the Holy One of Israel is glorified. 10 And strangers shall build thy walls, and their kings shall wait upon thee: for by reason of my wrath I smote thee, and by reason of mercy I loved thee. 11 And thy gates shall be opened continually; they shall not be shut day nor night; to bring in to thee the power of the Gentiles, and their kings as captives. 12 For the nations and the kings which will not serve thee shall perish; and those nations shall be made utterly desolate. 13 And the glory of Libanus shall come to thee, with the cypress, and pine, and cedar together, to glorify my holy place. 14 And the sons of them that afflicted thee, and of them that provoked thee, shall come to thee in fear; and thou shalt be called Sion, the city of the Holy One of Israel. 15 Because thou hast become desolate and hated, and there was no helper, therefore I will make thee a perpetual gladness, a joy of many generations. 16 And thou shalt suck the milk of the Gentiles, and shalt eat the wealth of kings: and shalt know that I am the Lord that saves thee and delivers thee, the Holy One of Israel. 17 And for brass I will bring thee gold, and for iron I will bring thee silver, and instead of wood I will bring thee brass, and instead of stones, iron; and I will make thy princes peaceable, and thine overseers righteous. 18 And injustice shall no more be heard in thy land, nor destruction nor misery in thy coasts; but thy walls shall be called Salvation, and thy gates Sculptured Work. 19 And thou shalt no more have the sun for a light by day, nor shall the rising of the moon lighten thy night; but the Lord shall be thine everlasting light, and God thy glory. 20 For the sun shall no more set, nor shall the moon be eclipsed; for the Lord shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be completed. 21 Thy people also shall be all righteous; they shall inherit the land for ever, preserving that which they have planted, [even] the works of their hands, for glory. 22 The little one shall become thousands, and the least a great nation; I the Lord will gather them in [due] time.

Hebrews 4

1 Let’s fear therefore, lest perhaps anyone of you should seem to have come short of a promise of entering into his rest. 2 For indeed we have had good news preached to us, even as they also did, but the word they heard didn’t profit them, because it wasn’t mixed with faith by those who heard. 3 For we who have believed do enter into that rest, even as he has said, “As I swore in my wrath, they will not enter into my rest;” although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. 4 For he has said this somewhere about the seventh day, “God rested on the seventh day from all his works;” 5 and in this place again, “They will not enter into my rest.” 6 Seeing therefore it remains that some should enter into it, and they to whom the good news was preached before failed to enter in because of disobedience, 7 he again defines a certain day, “today”, saying through David so long a time afterward (just as has been said), “Today if you will hear his voice, don’t harden your hearts.” 8 For if Joshua had given them rest, he would not have spoken afterward of another day. 9 There remains therefore a Sabbath rest for the people of God. 10 For he who has entered into his rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from his. 11 Let’s therefore give diligence to enter into that rest, lest anyone fall after the same example of disobedience. 12 For the word of God is living and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and is able to discern the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 13 There is no creature that is hidden from his sight, but all things are naked and laid open before the eyes of him to whom we must give an account. 14 Having then a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let’s hold tightly to our confession. 15 For we don’t have a high priest who can’t be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but one who has been in all points tempted like we are, yet without sin. 16 Let’s therefore draw near with boldness to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and may find grace for help in time of need.