Day 333 The Bible in a Year (Orthodox canon)

Jeremiah 28

1 Thus saith the Lord; Behold, I stir up against Babylon, and against the Chaldeans dwelling therein, a deadly burning wind. 2 And I will send forth against Babylon spoilers, and they shall spoil her, and shall ravage her land. Woe to Babylon round about [her] in the day of her affliction. 3 Let the archer bend his bow, and him that has armour put it on: and spare ye not her young men, but destroy ye all her host. 4 And slain men shall fall in the land of the Chaldeans, and [men] pierced through shall fall without it. 5 For Israel and Juda have not been forsaken of their God, of the Lord Almighty; whereas their land was filled with iniquity against the holy things of Israel. 6 Flee ye out of the midst of Babylon, and deliver every one his soul: and be not overthrown in her iniquity; for it is the time of her retribution from the Lord; he is rendering to her a recompence. 7 Babylon has been a golden cup in the Lord's hand, causing all the earth to be drunken: the nations have drunk of her wine; therefore they were shaken. 8 And Babylon is fallen suddenly, and is broken to pieces: lament for her; take balm for her deadly wound, if by any means she may be healed. 9 We tried to heal Babylon, but she was not healed: let us forsake her, and depart every one to his own country: for her judgment has reached to the heaven, it has mounted up to the stars. 10 The Lord has brought forth his judgment: come, and let us declare in Sion the works of the Lord our God. 11 Prepare the arrows; fill the quivers: the Lord has stirred up the spirit of the king of the Medes: for his wrath is against Babylon, to destroy it utterly; for it is the Lord's vengeance, it is the vengeance of his people. 12 Lift up a standard on the walls of Babylon, prepare the quivers, rouse the guards, prepare the weapons: for the Lord has taken [the work] in hand, and will execute what he has spoken against the inhabitants of Babylon, 13 dwelling on many waters, and amidst the abundance of her treasures; thine end is come verily into thy bowels. 14 For the Lord has sworn by his arm, [saying], I will fill thee with men as with locusts; and they that come down shall cry against thee. 15 The Lord made the earth by his power, preparing the world by his wisdom, by his understanding he stretched out the heaven. 16 At [his] voice he makes a sound of water in the heaven, and brings up clouds from the extremity of the earth; he makes lightnings for rain, and brings light out of his treasures. 17 Every man has completely lost understanding; every goldsmith is confounded because of his graven [images]: for they have cast false [gods], there is no breath in them. 18 They are vain works, objects of scorn; in the time of their visitation they shall perish. 19 Not such is Jacob's portion; for he that formed all things, he is his inheritance; the Lord is his name. 20 Thou scatterest for me the weapons of war: and I will scatter nations by thee, and will destroy kings by means of thee. 21 And by thee I will scatter the horse and his rider; and by thee I will scatter chariots and them that ride in them. 22 And by thee I will scatter youth and maid; and by thee I will scatter man and woman. 23 And by thee I will scatter the shepherd and his flock; and by thee I will scatter the husbandman and his husbandry; and by thee I will scatter leaders and the captains. 24 And I will recompense to Babylon and to all the Chaldeans that dwell [there] all their mischiefs that they have done to Sion before your eyes, saith the Lord. 25 Behold, I am against thee, the ruined mountain, that destroys the whole earth; and I will stretch out mine hand upon thee, and will roll thee down upon the rocks, and will make thee as a burnt mountain. 26 And they shall not take from thee a stone for a corner, nor a stone for a foundation: for thou shalt be a desolation for ever, saith the Lord. 27 Lift up a standard in the land, sound the trumpet among the nations, consecrate the nations against her, raise up kings against her by me, and [that] for the people of Achanaz; set against her engines of war; bring up against her horses as a multitude of locusts. 28 Bring up nations against her, [even] the king of the Medes and of the whole earth, his rulers, and all his captains. 29 The earth has quaked and been troubled, because the purpose of the Lord has risen up against Babylon, to make the land of Babylon a desolation, and uninhabitable. 30 The warrior of Babylon has failed to fight; they shall sit there in the siege; their power is broken; they are become like women; her tabernacles have been set on fire; her bars are broken. 31 One shall rush, running to meet [another] runner, and one [shall go] with tidings to meet [another] with tidings, to bring tidings to the king of Babylon, that his city is taken. 32 At the end of his passages they were taken, and his cisterns they have burnt with fire, and his warriors are going forth. 33 For thus saith the Lord, The houses of the king of Babylon shall be threshed as a floor in the season; yet a little while, and her harvest shall come. 34 He has devoured me, he has torn me asunder, airy darkness has come upon me; Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon has swallowed me up, as a dragon has he filled his belly with my delicacies. 35 My troubles and my distresses have driven me out into Babylon, shall she that dwells in Sion say; and my blood [shall be] upon the Chaldeans dwelling [there], shall Jerusalem say. 36 Therefore thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will judge thine adversary, and I will execute vengeance for thee; and I will waste her sea, and dry up her fountain. 37 And Babylon shall be a desolation, and shall not be inhabited. 38 For they rose up together as lions, and as lions' whelps. 39 In their heat I will give them a draught, and make them drunk, that they may be stupified, and sleep an everlasting sleep, and not awake, saith the Lord. 40 And bring thou them down as lambs to the slaughter, and rams with kids. 41 How has the boast of all the earth been taken and caught in a snare! how has Babylon become a desolation among the nations! 42 The sea has come up upon Babylon with the sound of its waves, and she is covered. 43 Her cities are become like a dry and trackless land; not so much as one [man] shall dwell in it, neither shall a son of man lodge in it. 44 And I will take vengeance on Babylon, and bring forth out of her mouth what she has swallowed down, and the nations shall no more be gathered to her: 49 and in Babylon the slain men of all the earth shall fall. 50 Go forth of the land, ye that escape, and stay not; ye that are afar off, remember the Lord, and let Jerusalem come into your mind. 51 We are ashamed, because we have heard our reproach; disgrace has covered our face; aliens are come into our sanctuary, [even] into the house of the Lord. 52 Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will take vengeance upon her graven [images]: and slain men shall fall in all her land. 53 For though Babylon should go up as the heaven, and though she should strengthen her walls with her power, from me shall come they that shall destroy her, saith the Lord. 54 A sound of a cry in Babylon, and great destruction in the land of the Chaldeans: 55 for the Lord has utterly destroyed Babylon, and cut off from her the great voice sounding as many waters: he has consigned her voice to destruction. 56 For distress has come upon Babylon, her warriors are taken, their bows are useless: for God recompenses them. 57 The Lord recompenses, and will make her leaders and her wise men and her captains completely drunk, saith the King, the Lord Almighty is his name. 58 Thus saith the Lord, The wall of Babylon was made broad, but it shall be completely broken down, and her high gates shall be burnt with fire; and the peoples shall not labour in vain, nor the nations fail in [their] rule. 59 The Word which the Lord commanded the Prophet Jeremias to say to Saræas son of Nerias, son of Maasæas, when he went from Sedekias king of Juda to Babylon, in the fourth year of his reign. And Saræas was over the bounties. 60 And Jeremias wrote in a book all the evils which should come upon Babylon, [even] all these words that are written against Babylon. 61 And Jeremias said to Saræas, When thou art come to Babylon, and shalt see and read all these words; 62 then thou shalt say, O Lord God, thou hast spoken against this place, to destroy it, and that there should be none to dwell in it, neither man nor beast; for it shall be a desolation for ever. 63 And it shall come to pass, when thou shalt cease from reading this book, that thou shalt bind a stone upon it, and cast it into the midst of Euphrates; 64 and shalt say, Thus shall Babylon sink, and not rise, because of the evils which I bring upon it.

Jeremiah 29

1 Thus saith the Lord against the Philistines; 2 Behold, waters come up from the north, and shall become a sweeping torrent, and it shall sweep away the land, and its fulness; the city, and them that dwell in it: and men shall cry and all that dwell in the land shall howl, 3 at the sound of his rushing, at [the sound of] his hoofs, and at the rattling of his chariots, at the noise of his wheels: the fathers turned not to their children because of the weakness of their hands, 4 in the day that is coming to destroy all the Philistines: and I will utterly destroy Tyre and Sidon, and all the rest of their allies: for the Lord will destroy the remaining [inhabitants] of the islands. 5 Baldness is come upon Gaza; Ascalon is cast away, and the remnant of the Enakim. 6 How long wilt thou smite, O sword of the Lord? how long will it be ere thou art quiet? return into thy sheath, rest, and be removed. 7 How shall it be quiet, whereas the Lord has given it a commission against Ascalon, and against the regions on the sea-coast, to awake against the remaining [countries]!

Jeremiah 30

1 Concerning Idumea, thus saith the Lord; There is no longer wisdom in Thæman, counsel has perished from the wise ones, their wisdom is gone, 2 their place has been deceived. Dig deep for a dwelling, ye that inhabit Dædam, for he has wrought grievously: I brought trouble upon him in the time at which I visited him. 3 For grape-gatherers are come, who shall not leave thee a remnant; as thieves by night, they shall lay their hand upon [thy possessions]. 4 For I have stripped Esau, I have uncovered their secret places; they shall have no power to hide themselves, they have perished [each] by the hand of his brother, my neighbour, and it is impossible 5 for thy fatherless one to be left to live, but I shall live, and the widows trust in me. 6 For thus saith the Lord; They who were not appointed to drink the cup have drunk [it]; and thou shalt by no means be cleared: 7 for by myself I have sworn, saith the Lord, that thou shalt be in the midst of her an impassable [land], and a reproach, and a curse; and all her cities shall be desert for ever. 8 I have heard a report from the Lord, and he has sent messengers to the nations, [saying], Assemble yourselves, and come against her; rise ye up to war. 9 I have made thee small among the nations, utterly contemptible among men. 10 Thine insolence has risen up against thee, the fierceness of thine heart has burst the holes of the rocks, it has seized upon the strength of a lofty hill; for as an eagle he set his nest on high: thence will I bring thee down. 11 And Idumea shall be a desert: every one that passes by shall hiss at it. 12 As Sodom was overthrown and Gomorrha and they that sojourned in her, saith the Lord Almighty, no man shall dwell there, nor shall any son of man inhabit there. 13 Behold, he shall come up as a lion out of the midst of Jordan to the place of Ætham: for I will speedily drive them from it, and do ye set the young men against her: for who is like me? and who will withstand me? and who [is] this shepherd, who shall confront me? 14 Therefore hear ye the counsel of the Lord, which he has framed against Idumea; and his device, which he has devised against the inhabitants of Thæman: surely the least of the sheep shall be swept off; surely their dwelling shall be made desolate for them. 15 For at the sound of their fall the earth was scared, and the cry of the sea was not heard. 16 Behold, he shall look [upon her] as an eagle, and spread forth [his] wings over her strongholds; and the heart of the mighty men of Idumea shall be in that day as the heart of a woman in her pangs. 17 Concerning the sons of Ammon thus saith the Lord, Are there no sons in Israel? or have they no one to succeed [them]? wherefore has Melchol inherited Galaad, and why shall their people dwell in their cities? 18 Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will cause to be heard in Rabbath a tumult of wars; and they shall become a waste and ruined place, and her altars shall be burned with fire; then shall Israel succeed to his dominion. 19 Howl, O Esebon, for Gai has perished; cry, ye daughters of Rabbath, gird yourselves with sackclothes, and lament; for Melchol shall go into banishment, his priests and his princes together. 20 Why do ye exult in the plains of the Enakim, thou haughty daughter, that trustest in [thy] treasures, that sayest, Who shall come in to me? 21 Behold, I [will] bring terror upon thee, saith the Lord, from all the country round about thee; and ye shall be scattered every one right before him, and there is none to gather you. 23 Concerning Kedar the Queen of the Palace, whom Nabuchodonosor King of Babylon smote, thus saith the Lord; Arise ye, and go up to Kedar, and fill the sons of Kedem. 24 They shall take their tents and their sheep, they shall take for themselves their garments, and all their baggage and their camels; and summon ye destruction against them from every side. 25 Flee ye, dig very deep for a dwelling-place, ye that dwell in the palace; for the king of Babylon has framed a counsel, and devised a device against you. 26 Rise up, and go up against a nation settled [and] dwelling at ease, who have no doors, nor bolts, nor bars, [who] dwell alone. 27 And their camels shall be a spoil, and the multitude of their cattle shall be destroyed: and I will scatter them as chaff with every wind, having their hair cut about their foreheads, I will bring on their overthrow from all sides, saith the Lord. 28 And the palace shall be a resting-place for ostriches, and desolate for ever: no man shall abide there, and no son of man shall dwell there. 29 Concerning Damascus. Emath is brought to shame, and Arphath: for they have heard an evil report: they are amazed, they are angry, they shall be utterly unable to rest. 30 Damascus is utterly weakened, she is put to flight; trembling has seized upon her. 31 How has she not left my city, they have loved the village? 32 Therefore shall the young men fall in thy streets, and all thy warriors shall fall, saith the Lord. 33 And I will kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus, and it shall devour the streets of the son of Ader.

Hebrews 13

1 Let brotherly love continue. 2 Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for in doing so, some have entertained angels without knowing it. 3 Remember those who are in bonds, as bound with them, and those who are ill-treated, since you are also in the body. 4 Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the bed be undefiled; but God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterers. 5 Be free from the love of money, content with such things as you have, for he has said, “I will in no way leave you, neither will I in any way forsake you.” 6 So that with good courage we say, “The Lord is my helper. I will not fear. What can man do to me?” 7 Remember your leaders, men who spoke to you the word of God, and considering the results of their conduct, imitate their faith. 8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. 9 Don’t be carried away by various and strange teachings, for it is good that the heart be established by grace, not by foods, through which those who were so occupied were not benefited. 10 We have an altar from which those who serve the holy tabernacle have no right to eat. 11 For the bodies of those animals, whose blood is brought into the holy place by the high priest as an offering for sin, are burned outside of the camp. 12 Therefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people through his own blood, suffered outside of the gate. 13 Let’s therefore go out to him outside of the camp, bearing his reproach. 14 For we don’t have here an enduring city, but we seek that which is to come. 15 Through him, then, let’s offer up a sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of lips which proclaim allegiance to his name. 16 But don’t forget to be doing good and sharing, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased. 17 Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they watch on behalf of your souls, as those who will give account, that they may do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be unprofitable for you. 18 Pray for us, for we are persuaded that we have a good conscience, desiring to live honorably in all things. 19 I strongly urge you to do this, that I may be restored to you sooner. 20 Now may the God of peace, who brought again from the dead the great shepherd of the sheep with the blood of an eternal covenant, our Lord Jesus, 21 make you complete in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen. 22 But I exhort you, brothers, endure the word of exhortation, for I have written to you in few words. 23 Know that our brother Timothy has been freed, with whom, if he comes shortly, I will see you. 24 Greet all of your leaders and all the saints. The Italians greet you. 25 Grace be with you all. Amen.