Bible in a Year.

On day 247, Jeremiah 33-34 announces promises of restoration and righteous judgment. Judith 3-5 continues to demonstrate courage, faith, and strategy in protecting her people from powerful enemies. Proverbs 16:29-33 reinforces that righteousness and integrity lead to peace, and that faith and patience are rewarded by the Lord.

Chapter 33

1. And the word of the Lord came to Jeremias the second time, while he was yet shut up in the court of the prison, saying:

2. Thus saith the Lord, who will do, and will form it, and prepare it, the Lord is his name.

3. Cry to me and I will hear thee: and I will shew thee great things, and sure things which thou knowest not.

4. For thus saith the Lord the God of Israel to the houses of this city, and to the houses of the king of Juda, which rue destroyed, and to the bulwarks, and to the sword.

5. Of them that come to fight with the Chaldeans, and to fill them with the dead bodies of the men whom I have slain in my wrath, and in my indignation, hiding my face from this city because of all their wickedness.

6. Behold I will close their wounds and give them health, and I will cure them: and I will reveal to them the prayer of peace and truth.

7. And I will bring back the captivity of Juda, and the captivity of Jerusalem: and I will build them as from the beginning.

8. And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, whereby they have sinned against me: and I will forgive all their iniquities, whereby they have sinned against me, and despised me.

9. And it shall be to me a name, and a joy, and a praise, and a gladness before all the nations of the earth, that shall hear of all the good things which I will do to them: and they shall fear and be troubled for all the good things, and for all the peace that I will make for them.

10. Thus saith the Lord: There shall be heard again in this place (which you say is desolate, because there is neither man nor beast: in the cities of Juda, and without Jerusalem, which are desolate without man, and without inhabitant, and without beast)

11. The voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voice of them that shall say: Give ye glory to the Lord of hosts, for the Lord is good, for his mercy endureth for ever: and of them that shall bring their vows into the house of the Lord: for I will bring back the captivity of the land as at the first, saith the Lord.

12. Thus saith the Lord of hosts: There shall be again in this place that is desolate without man, and without beast, and in all the cities thereof, an habitation of shepherds causing their flocks to lie down.

13. And in the cities on the mountains, and in the cities of the plains, and in the cities that are towards the south: and in the land of Benjamin, and round about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Juda shall the flocks pass again under the hand of him that numbereth them, saith the Lord.

14. Behold the days come, saith the Lord, that I will perform the good word that I have spoken to the house of Israel, and to the house of Juda.

15. In those days, and at that time, I will make the bud of justice to spring forth unto David, and he shall do judgment and justice in the earth.

16. In those days shall Juda be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell securely: and this is the name that they shall call him, The Lord our just one.

17. For thus saith the Lord: There shall not be cut off from David a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel.

18. Neither shall there be cut off from the priests and Levites a man before my face to offer holocausts, and to burn sacrifices, and to kill victims continually:

19. And the word of the Lord came to Jeremias, saying:

20. Thus saith the Lord: If my covenant with the day can be made void, and my covenant with the night, that there should not be day and night in their season:

21. Also my covenant with David my servant may be made void, that he should not have a son to reign upon his throne, and with the Levites and priests my ministers.

22. As the stars of heaven cannot be numbered, nor the sand of the sea be measured: so will I multiply the seed of David my servant, and the Levites my ministers.

23. And the word of the Lord came to Jeremias, saying:

24. Hast thou not seen what this people hath spoken, saying: The two families which the Lord had chosen, are cast off: and they have despised my people, so that it is no more a nation before them?

25. Thus saith the Lord: If I have not set my covenant between day and night, and laws to heaven and earth:

26. Surely I will also cast; off the seed of Jacob, and of David my servant, so as not to take any of his seed to be rulers of the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: for I will bring back their captivity, and will have mercy on them.

Chapter 34

1. The word that came to Jeremias from the Lord, (when Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon, and all his army, and all the kingdoms of the earth, that were under the power of his hand, and all the people fought against Jerusalem and against all the cities thereof,) saying:

2. Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel: Go, and speak to Sedecias king of Juda, and say to him: Thus saith the Lord: Behold I will deliver this city into the hands of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire.

3. And thou shalt not escape out of his hand: but thou shalt surely be taken, and thou shalt be delivered into his hand: and thy eyes shall see the eyes of the king of Babylon, and his mouth shall speak with thy mouth, and thou shalt go to Babylon.

4. Yet hear the word of the Lord, O Sedecias king of Juda: Thus saith the Lord to thee: Thou shalt not die by the sword.

5. But thou shalt die in peace, and according to the burnings of thy fathers, the former kings that were before thee, so shall they burn thee: and they shall mourn for thee, saying: Alas, Lord: for I have spoken the word, saith the Lord.

6. And Jeremias the prophet spoke all these words to Sedecias the king of Juda in Jerusalem.

7. And the army of the king of Babylon fought against Jerusalem, and against all the cities of Juda that were left, against Lachis, and against Azecha: for these remained of the cities of Juda, fenced cities.

8. The word that came to Jeremias from the Lord, after that king Sedecias had made a covenant with all the people in Jerusalem making a proclamation:

9. That every man should let his manservant, and every man his maidservant, being a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman, go free: and that they should not lord it over them, to wit, over the Jews their brethren.

10. And all the princes, and all the people who entered into the covenant, heard that every man should let his manservant, and every man his maidservant go free, and should no more have dominion over them: and they obeyed, and let them go free.

11. But afterwards they turned: and brought back again their servants and their handmaids, whom they had let go free, and brought them into subjection as menservants and maidservants.

12. And the word of the Lord came to Jeremias from the Lord, saying:

13. Thus saith the Lord the God of Israel: I made a covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, saying:

14. At the end of seven years, let ye go every man his brother being a Hebrew, who hath been sold to thee, so he shall serve thee six years: and thou shalt let him go free from thee: and your fathers did not hearken to me, nor did they incline their ear.

15. And you turned to day, and did that which was right in my eyes, in proclaiming liberty every one to his brother: and you made a covenant in my sight, in the house upon which my name is invocated.

16. And you are fallen back, and have defiled my name: and you have brought back again every man his manservant, and every man his maidservant, whom you had let go free, and set at liberty: and you have brought them into subjection to be your servants and handmaids.

17. Therefore thus saith the Lord: You have not hearkened to me, in proclaiming liberty every man to his brother and every man to his friend: behold I proclaim a liberty for you, saith the Lord, to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine: and I will cause you to be removed to all the kingdoms of the earth.

18. And I will give the men that have transgressed my covenant, and have not performed the words of the covenant which they agreed to in my presence, when they cut the calf in two and passed between the parts thereof:

19. The princes of Juda, and the princes of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, and the priests, and all the people of the land that passed between the parts of the calf:

20. And I will give them into the hands of their enemies, and into the hands of them that seek their life : and their dead bodies shall be for meat to the fowls of the air, and to the beasts of the earth.

21. And Sedecias the king of Juda, and his princes, I will give into the hands of their enemies, and into the hands of them that seek their lives, and into the hands of the armies of the king of Babylon, which are gone from you.

22. Behold I will command, saith the Lord, and I will bring them again to this city, and they shall fight against it, and take it, and burn it with fire: and I will make the cities of Juda a desolation, without an inhabitant.

Chapter 3

1. Then the kings and the princes of all the cities and provinces, of Syria, Mesopotamia, and Syria Sobal, and Libya, and Cilicia sent their ambassadors, who coming to Holofernes, said:

2. Let thy indignation towards us cease: for it is better for us to live and serve Nabuchodonosor the great king, and be subject to thee, than to die and to perish, or suffer the miseries of slavery.

3. All our cities and our possessions, all mountains and hills, and fields, and herds of oxen, and flocks of cheep, and goats, and horses, and camels, and all our goods, and families are in thy sight:

4. Let all we have be subject to thy law.

5. Both we and our children are thy servants.

6. Come to us a peaceable lord, and use our service as it shall please thee.

7. Then he came down from the mountains with horsemen, in great power, and made himself master of every city, and all the inhabitants of the land.

8. And from all the cities he took auxiliaries valiant men, and chosen for war.

9. And so great a fear lay upon all those provinces, that the inhabitants of all the cities, both princes and nobles, as well as the people, went out to meet him at his coming.

10. And received him with garlands, and lights, and dances, and tumbrels, and flutes.

11. And though they did these things, they could not for all that mitigate the fierceness of his heart:

12. For he both destroyed their cities and cut down their groves.

13. For Nabuchodonosor the king had commanded him to destroy all the gods of the earth, that he only might be called God by those nations which could be brought under him by the power of Holofernes.

14. And when he had passed through all Syria Sobal, and all Apamea, and all Mesopotamia, he came to the Idumeans into the land of Gabaa,

15. And he took possession of their cities, and stayed there for thirty days, in which days he commanded all the troops of his army to be united.

Chapter 4

1. Then the children of Israel, who dwelt in the land of Juda, hearing these things, were exceedingly afraid of him.

2. Dread and horror seized upon their minds, lest he should do the same to Jerusalem and to the temple of the Lord, that he had done to other cities and their temples.

3. And they sent into all Samaria round about, as far as Jericho, and seized upon all the tops of the mountains:

4. And they compassed their towns with walls, and gathered together corn for provision for war.

5. And Eliachim the priest wrote to all that were over against Esdrelon, which faceth the great plain near Dothain, and to all by whom there might be a passage of way, that they should take possession of the ascents of the mountains, by which there might be any way to Jerusalem, and should keep watch where the way was narrow between the mountains.

6. And the children of Israel did as the priest of the Lord Eliachim had appointed them,

7. And all the people cried to the Lord with great earnestness, and they humbled their souls in fastings, and prayers, both they and their wives.

8. And the priests put on haircloths, and they caused the little children to lie prostrate before the temple of the Lord, and the altar of the Lord they covered with haircloth.

9. And they cried to the Lord the God of Israel with one accord, that their children might not be made a prey, and their wives carried off, and their cities destroyed, and their holy things profaned, and that they might not be made a reproach to the Gentiles.

10. Then Eliachim the high priest of the Lord went about all Israel and spoke to them,

11. Saying: Know ye that the Lord will hear your prayers, if you continue with perseverance in fastings and prayers in the sight of the Lord.

12. Remember Moses the servant of the Lord, who overcame Amalec that trusted in his own strength, and in his power, and in his army, and in his shields, and in his chariots, and in his horsemen, not by fighting with the sword, but by holy prayers:

13. So shall all the enemies of Israel be, if you persevere in this work which you have begun.

14. So they being moved by this exhortation of his, prayed to the Lord, and continued in the sight of the Lord.

15. So that even they who offered the holocausts to the Lord, offered the sacrifices to the Lord girded with haircloths, and with ashes upon their head.

16. And they all begged of God with all their heart, that he would visit his people Israel.

Chapter 5

1. And it was told Holofernes the general of the army of the Assyrians, that the children of Israel prepared themselves to resist, and had shut up the ways of the mountains.

2. And he was transported with exceeding great fury and indignation, and he called all the princes of Moab and the leaders of Amman.

3. And he said to them: Tell me what is this people that besetteth the mountains: or what are their cities, and of what sort, and how great: also what is their power, or what is their multitude: or who is the king over their warfare:

4. And why they above all that dwell in the east, have despised us, and have not come out to meet us, that they might receive us with peace?

5. Then Achior captain of all the children of Ammon answering, said: If thou vouch safe, my lord, to hear, I will tell the truth in thy sight concerning this people, that dwelleth in the mountains, and there shall not a false word come out of my mouth.

6. This people is of the offspring of the Chaldeans.

7. They dwelt first in Mesopotamia, because they would not follow the gods of their fathers, who were in the land of the Chaldeans.

8. Wherefore forsaking the ceremonies of their fathers, which consisted in the worship of many gods,

9. They worshipped one God of heaven, who also commanded them to depart from thence, and to dwell in Charan. And when there was a famine over all the land, they went down into Egypt, and there for four hundred years were so multiplied, that the army of them could not be numbered.

10. And when the king of Egypt oppressed them, and made slaves of them to labour in clay and brick, in the building of his cities, they cried to their Lord, and he struck the whole land of Egypt with divers plagues.

11. And when the Egyptians had cast them out from them, and the plague had ceased from them, and they had a mind to take them again, and bring them back to their service,

12. The God of heaven opened the sea to them in their flight, so that the waters were made to stand firm as a wall on either side, and they walked through the bottom of the sea and passed it dry foot.

13. And when an innumerable army of the Egyptians pursued after them in that place, they were so overwhelmed with the waters, that there was not one left, to tell what had happened to posterity.

14. And after they came out of the Red Sea, they abode in the deserts of mount Sina, in which never man could dwell, or son of man rested.

15. There bitter fountains were made sweet for them to drink, and for forty years they received food from heaven.

16. Wheresoever they went in without bow and arrow, and without shield and sword, their God fought for them and overcame.

17. And there was no one that triumphed over this people, but when they departed from the worship of the Lord their God.

18. But as often as beside their own God, they worshipped any other, they were given to spoil, and to the sword, and to reproach.

19. And as often as they were penitent for having revolted from the worship of their God, the God of heaven gave them power to resist.

20. So they overthrew the king of the Chanaanites, and of the Jebusites, and of the Pherezites, and of the Hethites, and of the Hevites, and of the Amorrhites, and all the mighty ones in Hesebon, and they possessed their lands, and their cities:

21. And as long as they sinned not in the sight of their God, it was well with them: for their God hateth iniquity.

22. And even some years ago when they had revolted from the way which God had given them to walk therein, they were destroyed in battles by many nations, and very many of them were led away captive into a strange land.

23. But of late returning to the Lord their God, from the different places wherein they were scattered, they are come together and are gone up into all these mountains, and possess Jerusalem again, where their holies are

24. Now therefore, my lord, search if there be any iniquity of theirs in the sight of their God: let us go up to them, because their God will surely deliver them to thee, and they shall be brought under the yoke of thy power:

25. But if there be no offense of this people in the sight of their God, we can not resist them, because their God will defend them: and we shall be a reproach to the whole earth.

26. And it came to pass, when Achior had ceased to speak these words, all the great men of Holofernes were angry, and they had a mind to kill him, saying to each other:

27. Who is this, that saith the children of Israel can resist king Nabuchodonosor, and his armies, men unarmed, and without force, and without skill in the art of war?

28. That Achior therefore may know that he deceiveth us, let us go up into the mountains: and when the bravest of them shall be taken, then shall he with them be stabbed with the sword:

29. That every nation may know that Nabuchodonosor is god of the earth, and besides him there is no other.

29. An unjust man allureth his friend: and leadeth him into a way that is not good

30. He that with fixed eyes deviseth· wicked things, biting his lips, bringeth: evil to pass.

31. Old age is a crown of dignity, when it is found in the ways of justice.

32. The patient man is better than the valiant: and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh cities.

33. Lots are cast into the lap, but they are disposed of by the Lord.