Bible in a Year.

On day 243, Jeremiah 28-29 presents the confrontation between false prophets and the true word of God, highlighting hope in exile. Daniel 10-11 provides detailed visions of future conflicts and divine sovereignty over the kingdoms. Proverbs 16:13-16 exhorts us to live with justice and discernment, reminding us that wisdom protects and guides those who seek it.

Chapter 28

1. And it came to pass in that year, in the beginning of the reign of Sedecias king of Juda, in the fourth year, in the fifth month, that Hananias the son of Azur, a prophet of Gabaon spoke to me, in the house of the Lord before the priests, and all the people, saying:

2. Thus saith the Lord of hosts the God of Israel: I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon.

3. As yet two years of days, and I will cause all the vessels of the house of the Lord to be brought back into this place, which Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon took away from this place, and carried them to Babylon.

4. And I will bring back to this place Jechonias the son of Joakim king of Juda, and all the captives of Juda, that are gone to Babylon, saith the Lord: for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.

5. And Jeremias the prophet said to Hananias the prophet in the presence of the priests, and in the presence of all the people that stood in the house of the Lord:

6. And Jeremias the prophet said: Amen, the Lord do so: the Lord perform thy words, which thou hast prophesied: that the vessels may be brought again into the house of the Lord, and all the captives may return out of Babylon to this place.

7. Nevertheless hear this word that I speak in thy ears, and in the ears of all the people:

8. The prophets that have been before me, and before thee from the beginning, and have prophesied concerning many countries, and concerning great kingdoms, of war, and of affliction, and of famine.

9. The prophet that prophesied peace when his word shall come to pass, the prophet shall be known, whom the Lord hath sent in truth.

10. And Hananias the prophet took the chain from the neck of Jeremias the prophet, and broke it.

11. And Hananias spoke in the presence of all the people, saying: Thus saith the Lord: Even so will I break the yoke of Nabuchodonosor the king of Babylon after two full years from off the neck of all the nations.

12. And Jeremias the prophet went his way. And the word of the Lord came to Jeremias, after that Hananias the prophet had broken the chain from off the neck of Jeremias the prophet, saying:

13. Go, and tell Hananias: Thus saith the Lord: Thou hast broken chains of wood, and thou shalt make for them chains of iron.

14. For thus saith the Lord of hosts the God of Israel: I have put a yoke of iron upon the neck of all these nations, to serve Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon, and they shall serve him: moreover also I have given him the beasts of the earth.

15. And Jeremias the prophet said to Hananias the prophet: Hear now, Hananias: the Lord hath not sent thee, and thou hast made this people to trust in a lie.

16. Therefore thus saith the Lord: Behold I will send thee away from off the face of the earth: this year shalt thou die: for thou hast spoken against the Lord.

17. And Hananias the prophet died in that year, in the seventh month.

Chapter 29

1. Now these are the words of the letter which Jeremias, the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the residue of the ancients that were carried into captivity, and to the priests, and to the prophets, and to all the people, whom Nabuchodonosor had carried away from Jerusalem to Babylon:

2. After that Jechonias the king, and the queen, and the eunuchs, and the princes of Juda, and of Jerusalem, and the craftsman, and the engravers were departed out of Jerusalem :

3. By the hand of Elasa the son of Saphan, and Gamarias the son of Helcias, whom Sedecias king of Juda sent to Babylon to Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon, saying:

4. Thus saith the Lord of hosts the God of Israel, to all that are carried away captives, whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem to Babylon:

5. Build ye houses, and dwell in them: and plant orchards, and eat the fruit of them.

6. Take ye wives, and beget sons and daughters: and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, and let them bear sons and daughters: and be ye multiplied there, and be not few in number.

7. And seek the peace of the city, to which I have caused you to be carried away captives; and pray to the Lord for it: for in the peace thereof shall be your peace.

8. For thus saith the Lord of hoses the God of Israel: Let not your prophets that are in the midst of you, and your diviners deceive you: and give no heed to your dreams which you dream:

9. For they prophesy falsely to you in my name: and I have not sent them, saith the Lord.

10. For thus saith the Lord: When the seventy years shall begin to be accomplished in Babylon, I will visit you: and I will perform my good word in your favour, to bring you again to this place.

11. For I know the thoughts that I think towards you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of affliction, to give you an end and patience.

12. And you shall call upon me, and you shall go: and you shall pray to me, and I will hear you.

13. You shall seek me, and shall And me: when you shall seek me with all your heart.

14. And I will be found by you, saith the Lord: and I will bring back your captivity, and I will gather you out of all nations, and from all the places to which I have driven you out, saith the Lord: and I will bring you back from the place to which I caused you to be carried away captive.

15. Because you have said: The Lord hath raised us up prophets in Babylon:

16. For thus saith the Lord to the king that sitteth upon the throne of David, and to all the people that dwell in this city, to your brethren that are not gone forth with you into captivity.

17. Thus saith the Lord of hosts: Behold I will send upon them the sword, and the famine, and the pestilence: and I will make them like bad figs that cannot be eaten, because they are very bad.

18. And I will persecute them with the sword, and with famine, and pith the pestilence: and I will give them up unto affliction to all the kingdoms of the earth: to be a curse, and an astonishment, and a hissing, and a reproach to all the nations to which I have driven them out:

19. Because they have not hearkened to my words, saith the Lord: which I sent to them by my servants the prophets, rising by night, and sending: and you have not heard, saith the Lord.

20. Hear ye therefore the word of the Lord, all ye of the captivity, whom I have sent out from Jerusalem to Babylon.

21. Thus saith the Lord of hosts the God of Israel, to Achab the son of Colias, and to Sedecias the son of Maasias, who prophesy unto you in my name falsely: Behold I will deliver them up into the hands of Nabuchodonosor the king of Babylon: and he shall kill them before your eyes.

22. And of them shall be taken up a curse by all the captivity of Juda, that are in Babylon, saying: The Lord make thee like Sedecias, and like Achab, whom the king of Babylon fried in the fire :

23. Because they have acted folly in Israel, and have committed adultery with the wives of their friends, and have spoken lying words in my name, which I commanded them not: I am the judge and the witness, saith the Lord.

24. And to Semeias the Nehelamite thou shalt say:

25. Thus saith the Lord of hosts the God of Israel: Because thou hast sent letters in thy name to all the people that are in Jerusalem, and to Sophonias the son of Maasias the priest, and to all the priests, saying:

26. The Lord hath made thee priest in- stead of Joiada the priest, that thou shouldst be ruler in the house of the Lord, over every man that raveth and prophesieth, to put him in the stocks, and into prison.

27. And now why hast thou not rebuked Jeremias the Anathothite, who prophesieth to you?

28. For he hath also sent to us in Babylon, saying: It is a long time: build ye houses, and dwell in them: and plant gardens, and eat the fruits of them.

29. So Sophonias the priest read this letter, in the hearing of Jeremias the prophet.

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

31. Send to all them of the captivity, saying: Thus saith the Lord to Semeias the Nehelamite: Because Semeias hath prophesied to you, and I sent him not: and hath caused you to trust in a lie :

32. Therefore thus saith the Lord: behold I will visit upon Semeias the Nehelamite, and upon his seed: he shall not have a man to sit in the midst of this people, and he shall not see the good that I will do to my people, saith the Lord: because he hath spoken treason against the Lord.

Chapter 10

1. In the third year of Cyrus king of the Persians, a word was revealed to Daniel surnamed Baltassar, and a true word, and great strength: and he understood the word: for there is need of understanding in a vision.

2. In those days I Daniel mourned the days of three weeks.

3. I ate no desirable bread, and neither flesh, nor wine entered into my mouth, neither was I anointed with ointment: till the days of three weeks were accomplished.

4. And in the four and twentieth day of the first month I was by the great river which is the Tigris.

5. And I lifted up my eyes, and I saw: and behold a man clothed in linen, and his loins were girded with the finest gold:

6. And his body was like the chrysolite, and his face as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes as a burning lamp: and his arms, and all downward even to the feet, like in appearance to glittering brass: and the voice of his word like the voice of a multitude.

7. And I Daniel alone saw the vision: for the men that were with me saw it not: but an exceeding great terror fell upon them, and they fled away, and hid themselves.

8. And I being left alone saw this great vision: and there remained no strength in me, and the appearance of my countenance was changed in me, and I fainted away, and retained no strength.

9. And I heard the voice of his words: and when I heard, I lay in a consternation, upon my face, and my face was close to the ground.

10. And behold a hand touched me, and lifted me up upon my knees, and upon the joints of my hands.

11. And he said to me: Daniel, thou man of desires, understand the words that I speak to thee, and stand upright: for I am sent now to thee. And when he had said this word to me, I stood trembling.

12. And he said to me: Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thy heart to understand, to afflict thyself in the sight of thy God, thy words have been heard: and I am come for thy words.

13. But the prince of the kingdom of the Persians resisted me one and twenty days: and behold Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, and I remained there by the king of the Persians.

14. But I am come to teach thee what things shall befall thy people in the latter days, for as yet the vision is for days.

15. And when he was speaking such words to me, I cast down my countenance to the ground, and held my peace.

16. And behold, as it were the likeness of a son of man touched my lips: then I opened my mouth, and spoke, and said to him that stood before me: O my Lord, at the sight of thee my joints are loosed, and no strength hath remained in me.

17. And how can the servant of my lord speak with my lord? for no strength remaineth in me, moreover my breath is stopped.

18. Therefore he that looked like a man touched me again, and strengthened me.

19. And he said: Fear not, O man of desires, peace be to thee: take courage and be strong. And when he spoke to me, I grew strong: and I said: Speak, O my lord, for thou hast strengthened me.

20. And he said: Dost thou know wherefore I am come to thee? and now I will return, to fight against the prince of the Persians. When I went forth, there appeared the prince of the Greeks coming.

21. But I will tell thee what is set down in the scripture of truth: and none is my helper in all these things, but Michael your prince.

Chapter 11

1. And from the first year of Darius the Mede I stood up that he might be strengthened and confirmed.

2. And now I will shew thee the truth. Behold there shall stand yet three kings in Persia, and the fourth shall be enriched exceedingly above them all: and when he shall be grown mighty by his riches, he shall stir up all against the kingdom of Greece.

3. But there shall rise up a strong king, and shall rule with great power: and he shall do what he pleaseth.

4. And when he shall come to his height, his kingdom shall be broken, and it shall be divided towards the four winds of the heaven: but not to his posterity, nor according to his power with which he ruled. For his kingdom shall be rent in pieces, even for strangers, beside these.

5. And the king of the south shall be strengthened, and one of his princes shall prevail over him, and he shall rule with great power: for his dominion shall be great.

6. And after the end of years they shall be in league together: and the daughter of the king of the south shall come to the king of the north to make friendship, but she shall not obtain the strength of the arm, neither shall her seed stand: and she shall be given up, and her young men that brought her, and they that strengthened her in these times.

7. And a plant of the bud of her roots, shall stand up: and he shall come with an army, and shall enter into the province of the king of the north: and he shall abuse them, and shall prevail.

8. And he shall also carry away captive into Egypt their gods, and their graven things, and their precious vessels of gold and silver: he shall prevail against the king of the north.

9. And the king of the south shall enter into the kingdom, and shall return to his own land.

10. And his sons shall be provoked, and they shall assemble a multitude of great forces: and he shall come with haste like a flood: and he shall return and be stirred up, and he shall join battle with his forces.

11. And the king of the south being provoked shall go forth, and shall fight against the king of the north, and shall prepare an exceeding great multitude, and a multitude shall be given into his hand.

12. And he shall take a multitude, and his heart shall be lifted up, and he shall cast down many thousands: but he shall not prevail.

13. For the king of the north shall return and shall prepare a multitude much greater than before: and in the end of times and years, be shall come in haste with a great army, and much riches.

14. And in those times many shall rise up against the king of the south, and the children of prevaricators of thy people shall lift up themselves to fulfil the vision, and they shall fall.

15. And the king of the north shall come, and shall cast up a mount, and shall take the best fenced cities: and the arms of the south shall not withstand, and his chosen ones shall rise up to resist, and they shall not have strength.

16. And he shall come upon him and do according to his pleasure, and there shall be none to stand against his face: and he shall stand in the glorious land, and it shall be consumed by his hand.

17. And he shall set his face to come to possess all his kingdom, and he shall make upright conditions with him: and he shall give him a daughter of women, to overthrow it: and she shall not stand, neither shall she be for him.

18. And he shall turn his face to the islands, and shall take many: and he shall cause the prince of his reproach to cease, and his reproach shall be turned upon him.

19. And he shall turn his face to the empire of his own land, and he shall stumble, and fall, and shall not be found.

20. And there shall stand up in his place, one most vile, and unworthy of kingly honour: and in a few days he shall be destroyed, not in rage nor in battle.

21. And there shall stand up in his place one despised, and the kingly honour shall not be given him: and he shall come privately, and shall obtain the kingdom by fraud.

22. And the arms of the fighter shall be overcome before his face, and shall be broken; yea also the prince of the covenant.

23. And after friendships, he will deal deceitfully with him: and he shall go up, and shall overcome with a small people.

24. And he shall enter into rich and plentiful cities: and he shall do that which his fathers never did, nor his fathers' fathers: he shall scatter their spoils, and their prey, and their riches, and shall forecast devices against the best fenced places: and this until a time.

25. And his strength and his heart shall be stirred up against the king of the south with a great army: and the king of the south shall be stirred up to battle with many and very strong succours: and they shall not stand, for they shall form designs against him.

26. And they that eat bread with him, shall destroy him, and his army shall be overthrown: and many shall fall down slain.

27. And the heart of the two kings shall be to do evil, and they shall speak lies at one table, and they shall not prosper: because as yet the end is unto another time.

28. And he shall return into his land with much riches: and his heart shall be against the holy covenant, and he shall succeed and shall return into his own land.

29. At the time appointed he shall return, and he shall come to the south, but the latter time shall not be like the former.

30. And the galleys and the Romans shall come upon him, and he shall be struck, and shall return, and shall have indignation against the covenant of the sanctuary, and he shall succeed: and he shall return and shall devise against them that have forsaken the covenant of the sanctuary.

31. And arms shall stand on his part, and they shall defile the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the continual sacrifice, and they shall place there the abomination unto desolation.

32. And such as deal wickedly against the covenant shall deceitfully dissemble: but the people that know their God shall prevail and succeed.

33. And they that are learned among the people shall teach many: and they shall fall by the sword, and by fire, and by captivity, and by spoil for many days.

34. And when they shall have fallen they shall be relieved with a small help: and many shall be joined to them deceitfully.

35. And some of the learned shall fall, that they may be tried, and may be chosen, and made white even to the appointed time, because yet there shall be another time.

36. And the king shall do according to his will, and he shall be lifted up, and shall magnify himself against every god: and he shall speak great things against the God of gods, and shall prosper, till the wrath be accomplished. For the determination is made.

37. And he shall make no account of the God of his fathers: and he shall follow the lust of women, and he shall not regard any gods: for he shall rise up against all things.

38. But he shall worship the god Maozim in his place: and a god whom his fathers knew not, he shall worship with gold, and silver, and precious stones, and things of great price.

39. And he shall do this to fortify Maozim with a strange god, whom he hath acknowledged, and he shall increase glory and shall give them power over many, and shall divide the land gratis.

40. And at the time prefixed the king of the south shall fight against him, and the king of the north shall come against him like a tempest, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with a great navy, and he shall enter into the countries, and shall destroy, and pass through.

41. And he shall enter into the glorious land, and many shall fall: and these only shall be saved out of his hand, Edom, and Moab, and the principality of the children of Ammon.

42. And he shall lay his hand upon the lands: and the land of Egypt shall not escape.

43. And he shall have power over the treasures of gold, and of silver, and all the precious things of Egypt: and he shall pass through Libya, and Ethiopia.

44. And tidings out of the east, and out of the north shall trouble him: and he shall come with a great multitude to destroy and slay many.

45. And he shall fix his tabernacle Apadno between the seas, upon a glorious and holy mountain: and he shall come even to the top thereof, and none shall help him.

13. Just lips are the delight of kings: he that speaketh right things shall be loved.

14. The wrath of a king is as messengers of death : and the wise man will pacify it.

15. In the cheerfulness of the king's countenance is life: and his clemency is like the latter rain.

16. Get wisdom, because it is better than gold: and purchase prudence, for it is more precious than silver.