Baramhat 5, 1741

¹Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. ²For by it the elders obtained a good testimony. ³By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible. ⁴By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks. ⁵By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, "and was not found, because God had taken him"; for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God. ⁶But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. ⁷By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith. ⁸By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.

¹⁷But you, beloved, remember the words which were spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ: ¹⁸how they told you that there would be mockers in the last time who would walk according to their own ungodly lusts. ¹⁹These are sensual persons, who cause divisions, not having the Spirit. ²⁰But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, ²¹keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. ²²And on some have compassion, making a distinction; ²³but others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment defiled by the flesh. ²⁴Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, And to present you faultless Before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, ²⁵To God our Savior, Who alone is wise, Be glory and majesty, Dominion and power, Both now and forever. Amen.

⁶But when Paul perceived that one part were Sadducees and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, "Men and brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee; concerning the hope and resurrection of the dead I am being judged!" ⁷And when he had said this, a dissension arose between the Pharisees and the Sadducees; and the assembly was divided. ⁸For Sadducees say that there is no resurrection--and no angel or spirit; but the Pharisees confess both. ⁹Then there arose a loud outcry. And the scribes of the Pharisees' party arose and protested, saying, "We find no evil in this man; but if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him, let us not fight against God." ¹⁰Now when there arose a great dissension, the commander, fearing lest Paul might be pulled to pieces by them, commanded the soldiers to go down and take him by force from among them, and bring him into the barracks. ¹¹But the following night the Lord stood by him and said, "Be of good cheer, Paul; for as you have testified for Me in Jerusalem, so you must also bear witness at Rome."

¹Preserve me, O God, for in You I put my trust. ²O my soul, you have said to the LORD, "You are my Lord, My goodness is nothing apart from You." ³As for the saints who are on the earth, "They are the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight." ⁴Their sorrows shall be multiplied who hasten after another god; Their drink offerings of blood I will not offer, Nor take up their names on my lips. ⁵O LORD, You are the portion of my inheritance and my cup; You maintain my lot. ⁶The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places; Yes, I have a good inheritance. ⁷I will bless the LORD who has given me counsel; My heart also instructs me in the night seasons. ⁸I have set the LORD always before me; Because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved. ⁹Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices; My flesh also will rest in hope. ¹⁰For You will not leave my soul in Sheol, Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption. ¹¹You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

¹⁴And He was casting out a demon, and it was mute. So it was, when the demon had gone out, that the mute spoke; and the multitudes marveled. ¹⁵But some of them said, "He casts out demons by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons." ¹⁶Others, testing Him, sought from Him a sign from heaven. ¹⁷But He, knowing their thoughts, said to them: "Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and a house divided against a house falls. ¹⁸If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? Because you say I cast out demons by Beelzebub. ¹⁹And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. ²⁰But if I cast out demons with the finger of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you. ²¹When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are in peace. ²²But when a stronger than he comes upon him and overcomes him, he takes from him all his armor in which he trusted, and divides his spoils. ²³He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters. ²⁴"When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he says, "I will return to my house from which I came.' ²⁵And when he comes, he finds it swept and put in order. ²⁶Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first."

Deuteronomy 9

⁷"Remember! Do not forget how you provoked the LORD your God to wrath in the wilderness. From the day that you departed from the land of Egypt until you came to this place, you have been rebellious against the LORD. ⁸Also in Horeb you provoked the LORD to wrath, so that the LORD was angry enough with you to have destroyed you. ⁹When I went up into the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant which the LORD made with you, then I stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights. I neither ate bread nor drank water. ¹⁰Then the LORD delivered to me two tablets of stone written with the finger of God, and on them were all the words which the LORD had spoken to you on the mountain from the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly. ¹¹And it came to pass, at the end of forty days and forty nights, that the LORD gave me the two tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant. ¹²"Then the LORD said to me, "Arise, go down quickly from here, for your people whom you brought out of Egypt have acted corruptly; they have quickly turned aside from the way which I commanded them; they have made themselves a molded image.' ¹³"Furthermore the LORD spoke to me, saying, "I have seen this people, and indeed they are a stiff-necked people. ¹⁴Let Me alone, that I may destroy them and blot out their name from under heaven; and I will make of you a nation mightier and greater than they.' ¹⁵"So I turned and came down from the mountain, and the mountain burned with fire; and the two tablets of the covenant were in my two hands. ¹⁶And I looked, and behold, you had sinned against the LORD your God--had made for yourselves a molded calf! You had turned aside quickly from the way which the LORD had commanded you. ¹⁷Then I took the two tablets and threw them out of my two hands and broke them before your eyes. ¹⁸And I fell down before the LORD, as at the first, forty days and forty nights; I neither ate bread nor drank water, because of all your sin which you committed in doing wickedly in the sight of the LORD, to provoke Him to anger. ¹⁹For I was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure with which the LORD was angry with you, to destroy you. But the LORD listened to me at that time also. ²⁰And the LORD was very angry with Aaron and would have destroyed him; so I prayed for Aaron also at the same time. ²¹Then I took your sin, the calf which you had made, and burned it with fire and crushed it and ground it very small, until it was as fine as dust; and I threw its dust into the brook that descended from the mountain. ²²"Also at Taberah and Massah and Kibroth Hattaavah you provoked the LORD to wrath. ²³Likewise, when the LORD sent you from Kadesh Barnea, saying, "Go up and possess the land which I have given you,' then you rebelled against the commandment of the LORD your God, and you did not believe Him nor obey His voice. ²⁴You have been rebellious against the LORD from the day that I knew you. ²⁵"Thus I prostrated myself before the LORD; forty days and forty nights I kept prostrating myself, because the LORD had said He would destroy you. ²⁶Therefore I prayed to the LORD, and said: "O Lord GOD, do not destroy Your people and Your inheritance whom You have redeemed through Your greatness, whom You have brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand. ²⁷Remember Your servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; do not look on the stubbornness of this people, or on their wickedness or their sin, ²⁸lest the land from which You brought us should say, "Because the LORD was not able to bring them to the land which He promised them, and because He hated them, He has brought them out to kill them in the wilderness." ²⁹Yet they are Your people and Your inheritance, whom You brought out by Your mighty power and by Your outstretched arm.'

Deuteronomy 10

¹"At that time the LORD said to me, "Hew for yourself two tablets of stone like the first, and come up to Me on the mountain and make yourself an ark of wood. ²And I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke; and you shall put them in the ark.' ³"So I made an ark of acacia wood, hewed two tablets of stone like the first, and went up the mountain, having the two tablets in my hand. ⁴And He wrote on the tablets according to the first writing, the Ten Commandments, which the LORD had spoken to you in the mountain from the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly; and the LORD gave them to me. ⁵Then I turned and came down from the mountain, and put the tablets in the ark which I had made; and there they are, just as the LORD commanded me." ⁶(Now the children of Israel journeyed from the wells of Bene Jaakan to Moserah, where Aaron died, and where he was buried; and Eleazar his son ministered as priest in his stead. ⁷From there they journeyed to Gudgodah, and from Gudgodah to Jotbathah, a land of rivers of water. ⁸At that time the LORD separated the tribe of Levi to bear the ark of the covenant of the LORD, to stand before the LORD to minister to Him and to bless in His name, to this day. ⁹Therefore Levi has no portion nor inheritance with his brethren; the LORD is his inheritance, just as the LORD your God promised him.) ¹⁰"As at the first time, I stayed in the mountain forty days and forty nights; the LORD also heard me at that time, and the LORD chose not to destroy you. ¹¹Then the LORD said to me, "Arise, begin your journey before the people, that they may go in and possess the land which I swore to their fathers to give them.'

1 Samuel 23

²⁶Then Saul went on one side of the mountain, and David and his men on the other side of the mountain. So David made haste to get away from Saul, for Saul and his men were encircling David and his men to take them. ²⁷But a messenger came to Saul, saying, "Hurry and come, for the Philistines have invaded the land!" ²⁸Therefore Saul returned from pursuing David, and went against the Philistines; so they called that place the Rock of Escape. ²⁹Then David went up from there and dwelt in strongholds at En Gedi.

1 Samuel 24

¹Now it happened, when Saul had returned from following the Philistines, that it was told him, saying, "Take note! David is in the Wilderness of En Gedi." ²Then Saul took three thousand chosen men from all Israel, and went to seek David and his men on the Rocks of the Wild Goats. ³So he came to the sheepfolds by the road, where there was a cave; and Saul went in to attend to his needs. (David and his men were staying in the recesses of the cave.) ⁴Then the men of David said to him, "This is the day of which the LORD said to you, "Behold, I will deliver your enemy into your hand, that you may do to him as it seems good to you."' And David arose and secretly cut off a corner of Saul's robe. ⁵Now it happened afterward that David's heart troubled him because he had cut Saul's robe. ⁶And he said to his men, "The LORD forbid that I should do this thing to my master, the LORD's anointed, to stretch out my hand against him, seeing he is the anointed of the LORD." ⁷So David restrained his servants with these words, and did not allow them to rise against Saul. And Saul got up from the cave and went on his way. ⁸David also arose afterward, went out of the cave, and called out to Saul, saying, "My lord the king!" And when Saul looked behind him, David stooped with his face to the earth, and bowed down. ⁹And David said to Saul: "Why do you listen to the words of men who say, "Indeed David seeks your harm'? ¹⁰Look, this day your eyes have seen that the LORD delivered you today into my hand in the cave, and someone urged me to kill you. But my eye spared you, and I said, "I will not stretch out my hand against my lord, for he is the LORD's anointed.' ¹¹Moreover, my father, see! Yes, see the corner of your robe in my hand! For in that I cut off the corner of your robe, and did not kill you, know and see that there is neither evil nor rebellion in my hand, and I have not sinned against you. Yet you hunt my life to take it. ¹²Let the LORD judge between you and me, and let the LORD avenge me on you. But my hand shall not be against you. ¹³As the proverb of the ancients says, "Wickedness proceeds from the wicked.' But my hand shall not be against you. ¹⁴After whom has the king of Israel come out? Whom do you pursue? A dead dog? A flea? ¹⁵Therefore let the LORD be judge, and judge between you and me, and see and plead my case, and deliver me out of your hand." ¹⁶So it was, when David had finished speaking these words to Saul, that Saul said, "Is this your voice, my son David?" And Saul lifted up his voice and wept. ¹⁷Then he said to David: "You are more righteous than I; for you have rewarded me with good, whereas I have rewarded you with evil. ¹⁸And you have shown this day how you have dealt well with me; for when the LORD delivered me into your hand, you did not kill me. ¹⁹For if a man finds his enemy, will he let him get away safely? Therefore may the LORD reward you with good for what you have done to me this day. ²⁰And now I know indeed that you shall surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in your hand. ²¹Therefore swear now to me by the LORD that you will not cut off my descendants after me, and that you will not destroy my name from my father's house." ²²So David swore to Saul. And Saul went home, but David and his men went up to the stronghold.

Isaiah 13

²"Lift up a banner on the high mountain, Raise your voice to them; Wave your hand, that they may enter the gates of the nobles. ³I have commanded My sanctified ones; I have also called My mighty ones for My anger-- Those who rejoice in My exaltation." ⁴The noise of a multitude in the mountains, Like that of many people! A tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations gathered together! The LORD of hosts musters The army for battle. ⁵They come from a far country, From the end of heaven-- The LORD and His weapons of indignation, To destroy the whole land. ⁶Wail, for the day of the LORD is at hand! It will come as destruction from the Almighty. ⁷Therefore all hands will be limp, Every man's heart will melt, ⁸And they will be afraid. Pangs and sorrows will take hold of them; They will be in pain as a woman in childbirth; They will be amazed at one another; Their faces will be like flames. ⁹Behold, the day of the LORD comes, Cruel, with both wrath and fierce anger, To lay the land desolate; And He will destroy its sinners from it. ¹⁰For the stars of heaven and their constellations Will not give their light; The sun will be darkened in its going forth, And the moon will not cause its light to shine. ¹¹"I will punish the world for its evil, And the wicked for their iniquity; I will halt the arrogance of the proud, And will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible. ¹²I will make a mortal more rare than fine gold, A man more than the golden wedge of Ophir. ¹³Therefore I will shake the heavens, And the earth will move out of her place, In the wrath of the LORD of hosts And in the day of His fierce anger.

Job 15

¹Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said: ²"Should a wise man answer with empty knowledge, And fill himself with the east wind? ³Should he reason with unprofitable talk, Or by speeches with which he can do no good? ⁴Yes, you cast off fear, And restrain prayer before God. ⁵For your iniquity teaches your mouth, And you choose the tongue of the crafty. ⁶Your own mouth condemns you, and not I; Yes, your own lips testify against you. ⁷"Are you the first man who was born? Or were you made before the hills? ⁸Have you heard the counsel of God? Do you limit wisdom to yourself? ⁹What do you know that we do not know? What do you understand that is not in us? ¹⁰Both the gray-haired and the aged are among us, Much older than your father. ¹¹Are the consolations of God too small for you, And the word spoken gently with you? ¹²Why does your heart carry you away, And what do your eyes wink at, ¹³That you turn your spirit against God, And let such words go out of your mouth? ¹⁴"What is man, that he could be pure? And he who is born of a woman, that he could be righteous? ¹⁵If God puts no trust in His saints, And the heavens are not pure in His sight, ¹⁶How much less man, who is abominable and filthy, Who drinks iniquity like water! ¹⁷"I will tell you, hear me; What I have seen I will declare, ¹⁸What wise men have told, Not hiding anything received from their fathers, ¹⁹To whom alone the land was given, And no alien passed among them: ²⁰The wicked man writhes with pain all his days, And the number of years is hidden from the oppressor. ²¹Dreadful sounds are in his ears; In prosperity the destroyer comes upon him. ²²He does not believe that he will return from darkness, For a sword is waiting for him. ²³He wanders about for bread, saying, "Where is it?' He knows that a day of darkness is ready at his hand. ²⁴Trouble and anguish make him afraid; They overpower him, like a king ready for battle. ²⁵For he stretches out his hand against God, And acts defiantly against the Almighty, ²⁶Running stubbornly against Him With his strong, embossed shield. ²⁷"Though he has covered his face with his fatness, And made his waist heavy with fat, ²⁸He dwells in desolate cities, In houses which no one inhabits, Which are destined to become ruins. ²⁹He will not be rich, Nor will his wealth continue, Nor will his possessions overspread the earth. ³⁰He will not depart from darkness; The flame will dry out his branches, And by the breath of His mouth he will go away. ³¹Let him not trust in futile things, deceiving himself, For futility will be his reward. ³²It will be accomplished before his time, And his branch will not be green. ³³He will shake off his unripe grape like a vine, And cast off his blossom like an olive tree. ³⁴For the company of hypocrites will be barren, And fire will consume the tents of bribery. ³⁵They conceive trouble and bring forth futility; Their womb prepares deceit."

Sirach 2