Bible in a Year.

On day 249, Jeremiah 37-38 faces opposition and persecution, remaining steadfast in God's mission. Judith 8-9 demonstrates courage and unwavering faith in the face of danger, serving as an example of divine trust. Proverbs 17:5-8 emphasizes justice, prudence, and integrity in our daily actions.

Chapter 37

1. Now king Sedecias the son of Josias reigned instead of Jechonias the son of Joakim: whom Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon made king in the land of Juda.

2. But neither he, nor his servants, nor the people of the land did obey the words of the Lord, that he spoke in the hand of Jeremias the prophet.

3. And king Sedecias sent Juchal the son of Selemias, and Sophonias the son of Maasias the priest to Jeremias the prophet, saying: Pray to the Lord our God for us.

4. Now Jeremias walked freely in the midst of the people r for they had not as yet cast him into prison. And the army of Pharao was come out of Egypt: and the Chaldeans that besieged Jerusalem, hearing these tidings, departed from Jerusalem.

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

6. Thus saith the Lord the God of Israel: Thus shall you say to the king of Juda, who sent you to inquire of me: Behold the army of Pharao, which is come forth to help you, shall return into their own land, into Egypt.

7. And the Chaldeans shall come again, and fight against this city, and take it, and burn it with fire.

8. Thus saith the Lord: Deceive not your souls, saying: The Chaldeans shall surely depart and go away from us: for they shall not go away;

9. But if you should even beat al: the army of the Chaldeans that fight against you, and there should be left of them some wounded men: they shall rise up, every man from his tent, and burn this city with Are.

10. Now when the army of the Chaldeans was gone away from Jerusalem, because of Pharao's army,

11. Jeremias went forth out of Jerusalem to go into the land of Benjamin: and to divide a possession there in the presence of the citizens.

12. And when he was come to the gate of Benjamin, the captain of the gate, who I was there in his turn, was one named Jerias, the son of Selemias, the son of Hananias: and he took hold of Jeremias the prophet, saying: Thou art fleeing to the Chaldeans.

13. And Jeremias answered: It is not so, I am not fleeing to the Chaldeans. But he hearkened not to him: so Jerias took Jeremias and brought him to the princes.

14. Wherefore the princes were angry with Jeremias, and they beat him, and cast him into the prison that was in the house of Jonathan the scribe: for he was chief over the prison.

15. So Jeremias went into the house of the prison, and into the dungeon: and Jeremias remained there many days.

16. Then Sedecias the king, sending, took him: and asked him secretly in his house, and said: Is there, thinkest thou, any word from the Lord? And Jeremias said: There is. And he said: Thou shalt be delivered into the hands of the king of Babylon.

17. And Jeremias said to king Sedecias: In what have I offended against thee, or thy servants, or thy people, that thou hast cast me into prison?

18. Where are your prophets that prophesied to you, and said: The king of Babylon shall not come against you, and against this land?

19. Now therefore hear, I beseech thee, my lord the king: let my petition be accepted in thy sight: and send me not back into the house of Jonathan the scribe, lest I die there.

20. Then king Sedecias commanded that Jeremias should be committed into the entry of the prison: and that they should give him daily a piece of bread, beside broth, till all the bread in the city were spent: and Jeremias remained in the entry of the prison.

Chapter 38

1. Now Saphatias the son of Mathan, and Gedelias the son of Phassur, and Juchal the son of Selemias, and Phassur the son of Melchias heard the words that Jeremias spoke to all the people, saying:

2. Thus saith the Lord: Whosoever shell remain in this city, shall die by the sword, and by famine, and by pestilence : but he that shall go forth to the Chaldeans, shall live, and his life shall be safe, and he shall live.

3. Thus saith the Lord: This city shall surely be delivered into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon, and he shall take it.

4. And the princes said to the king: We beseech thee that this man may be put to death: for on purpose he weakeneth the hands of the men of war, that remain in this city, and the hands of the people, speaking to them according to these words: for this man seeketh not peace to this people, but evil.

5. And king Sedecias said: Behold he is in your hands: for it is not lawful for the king to deny you any thing.

6. Then they took Jeremias and cast him into the dungeon of Melchias the son of Amelech, which was in the entry of the prison: and they let down Jeremias by ropes into the dungeon, wherein there was no water, but mire. And Jeremias sunk into the mire.

7. Now Abdemelech the Ethiopian, an eunuch that was in the king's house, heard that they had put Jeremias in the dungeon: but the king was sitting in the gate of Benjamin.

8. And Abdemelech went out of the king's house, and spoke to the king, saying:

9. My lord the king, these men have done evil in all that they have done against Jeremias the prophet, casting him into the dungeon to die there with hunger, for there is no more bread in the city.

10. Then the king commanded Abdemelech the Ethiopian, saying: Take from hence thirty men with thee, end draw up Jeremias the prophet out of the dungeon, before he die.

11. So Abdemelech taking the men with him, went into the king's house that was under the storehouse: and he took from thence old rags, and old rotten things, and he let them down by cords to Jeremias into the dungeon.

12. And Abdemelech the Ethiopian said to Jeremias: Put these old rags and these rent and rotten things under thy arms, and upon the cords: and Jeremias did so.

13. And they drew up Jeremias with the cords, and brought him forth out of the dungeon. And Jeremias remained in the entry of the prison.

14. And king Sedecias sent, and took Jeremias the prophet to him to the third gate, that was in the house of the Lord: and the king said to Jeremias: I will ask thee a thing, hide nothing from me.

15. Then Jeremias said to Sedecias: If I shall declare it to thee, wilt thou not put me to death? and if I give thee counsel, thou wilt not hearken to me.

16. Then king Sedecias swore to Jeremias, in private, saying: As the Lord liveth, that made us this soul, I will not put thee to death, nor will I deliver thee into the hands of these men that seek thy life.

17. And Jeremias said to Sedecias: Thus saith the Lord of hosts the God of Israel: If thou wilt take a resolution and go out to the princes of the king of Babylon, thy soul shall live, and this city shall not be burnt with fire: and thou shalt be safe, and thy house.

18. But if thou wilt not go out to the princes of the king of Babylon, this city shall be delivered into the hands of the Chaldeans, and they shall burn it with fire: and thou shalt not escape out of their hands.

19. And king Sedecias said to Jeremias: I am afraid because of the Jews that are fled over to the Chaldeans: lest I should be delivered into their hands, and they should abuse me.

20. But Jeremias answered: They shall not deliver thee: hearken, I beseech thee, to the word of the Lord, which I speak to thee, and it shall be well with thee, and thy soul shall live.

21. But if thou wilt not go forth, this is the word which the Lord hath shewn me:

22. Behold all the women that are left in the house of the king of Juda, shall be brought out to the princes of the king of Babylon: and they shall say: Thy men of peace have deceived thee, and have prevailed against thee, they have plunged thy feet in the mire, and in a slippery place, and they have departed from thee.

23. And all thy wives, and thy children shall be brought out to the Chaldeans, and thou shalt not escape their hands, but thou shalt be taken by the hand of the king of Babylon: and he shall burn this city with fire.

24. Then Sedecias said to Jeremias: Let no man know these words, and thou shalt not die.

25. But if the princes shall hear that I have spoken with thee, and shall come to thee, and say to thee: Tell us what thou hast said to the king, hide it not from us, and we will not kill thee: and also what the king said to thee:

26. Thou shalt say to them: I presented my supplication before the king, that he would not command me to be carried back into the house of Jonathan, to die there.

27. So all the princes came to Jeremias, and asked him: and he spoke to them according to all the words that the king had commanded him: and they left him: for nothing had been heard.

28. But Jeremias remained in the entry of the prison, until the day that Jerusalem was taken: and it came to pass that Jerusalem was taken.

Chapter 8

1. Now it came to pass, when Judith a widow had heard these words, who was the daughter of Merari, the son of Idox, the son of Joseph, the son of Ozias, the son of Elai, the son of Jamnor, the son of Gedeon, the son of Raphaim, the son of Achitob, the son of Melehias, the son of Enan, the son of Nathanias, the son of Salathiel, the son of Simeon, the son of Ruben:

2. And her husband was Manasses, who died in the time of the barley harvest:

3. For he was standing over them that bound sheaves in the field ; and the heat came upon his head, and he died in Bethulia his own city, and was buried there with his fathers.

4. And Judith his relict was a widow now three years and six months.

5. And she made herself a private chamber in the upper part of her house, in which she abode shut up with her maids.

6. And she wore haircloth upon her loins, and fasted all the days of her life, except the sabbaths, and new moons, and the feasts of the house of Israel.

7. And she was exceedingly beautiful, and her husband left her great riches, and very many servants, and large possessions of herds of oxen, and flocks of sheep.

8. And she was greatly renowned among all, because she feared the Lord very much, neither was there any one that spoke an ill word of her.

9. When therefore she had heard that Ozias had promised that he would deliver up the city after the fifth day, she sent to the ancients Chabri and Charmi.

10. And they came to her, and she said to them: What is this word, by which Ozias hath consented to give up the city to the Assyrians, if within five days there come no aid to us?

11. And who are you that tempt the Lord?

12. This is not a word that may draw down mercy, but rather that may stir up wrath, and enkindle indignation.

13. You have set a time for the mercy of the Lord, and you have appointed him a day, according to your pleasure.

14. But forasmuch as the Lord is patient, let us be penitent for this same thing, and with many tears let us beg his pardon:

15. For God will not threaten like man, nor be inflamed to anger like the son of man.

16. And therefore let us humble our souls before him, and continuing in an humble spirit, in his service:

17. Let us ask the Lord with tears, that according to his will so he would shew his mercy to us: that as our heart is troubled by their pride, so also we may glorify in our humility.

18. For we have not followed the sins of our fathers, who forsook their God, and worshipped strange gods.

19. For which crime they were given up to their enemies, to the sword, and to pillage, and to confusion: but we know no other God but him.

20. Let us humbly wait for his consolation, and the Lord our God will require our blood of the afflictions of our enemies, and he will humble all the nations that shall rise up against us, and bring them to disgrace.

21. And now, brethren, as you are the ancients among the people of God, and their very soul resteth upon you: comfort their hearts by your speech, that they may be mindful how our fathers were tempted that they might be proved, whether they worshipped their God truly.

22. They must remember how our father Abraham was tempted, and being proved by many tribulations, was made the friend of God.

23. go Isaac, so Jacob, so Moses, and all that have pleased God, passed through many tribulations, remaining faithful.

24. But they that did not receive the trials with the fear of the Lord, but uttered their impatience and the reproach of their murmuring against the Lord,

25. Were destroyed by the destroyer, and perished by serpents.

26. As for us therefore let us not revenge ourselves for these things which we suffer

27. But esteeming these very punishments to be less than our sins deserve, let us believe that these scourges of the Lord, with which like servants we are chastised, have happened for our amendment, and not for our destruction.

28. And Ozias and the ancients said to her: All things which thou hast spoken are true, and there is nothing to be reprehended in thy words.

29. Now therefore pray for us, for thou art a holy woman, and one fearing God.

30. And Judith said to them: As you know that what I have been able to say is of God:

31. So that which I intend to do prove ye if it be of God, and pray that God may strengthen my design.

32. You shall stand at the gate this night, and I will go out with my maidservant: and pray ye, that as you have said, in five days the Lord may look down upon his people Israel.

33. But I desire that you search not into what I am doing, and till I bring you word let nothing else be done but to pray for me to the Lord our God.

34. And Ozias the prince of Juda said to her: Go in peace, and the Lord be with thee to take revenge of our enemies. So returning they departed.

Chapter 9

1. And when they were gone, Judith went into her oratory: and putting on haircloth, laid ashes on her head: and falling down prostrate before the Lord, she cried to the Lord, saying:

2. O Lord God of my father Simeon, who gavest him a sword to execute vengeance against strangers, who had defiled by their uncleanness, and uncovered the virgin unto confusion:

3. And who gavest their wives to he made a prey, and their daughters into captivity: and all their spoils to be divided to thy servants, who were zealous with thy zeal: assist, I beseech thee, O Lord God, me a widow.

4. For thou hast done the things of old, and hast devised one thing after another: and what thou hast designed hath been done.

5. For all thy ways are prepared, and in thy providence thou hast placed thy judgments.

6. Look upon the camp of the Assyrians now, as thou wast pleased to look upon the camp of the Egyptians, when they pursued armed after thy servants, trusting in their chariots, and in their horsemen, and in a multitude of warriors.

7. But thou lookedst over their camp, and darkness wearied them.

8. The deep held their feet, and the waters overwhelmed them.

9. So may it be with these also, O Lord, who trust in their multitude, and in their chariots, and in their pikes, and in their shields, and in their arrows, and glory in their spears,

10. And know not that thou art our God, who destroyest wars from the beginning, and the Lord is thy name.

11. Lift up thy arm as from the beginning, and crush their power with thy power: let their power fall in their wrath, who promise themselves to violate thy sanctuary, and defile the dwelling place of thy name, and to beat down with their sword the horn of thy altar.

12. Bring to pass, O Lord, that his pride may be cut off with his own sword.

13. Let him be caught in the net of his own eyes in my regard, and do thou strike him by the graces of the words of my lips.

14. Give me constancy in my mind, that I may despise him: and fortitude that I may overthrow him.

15. For this will be a glorious monument for thy name, when he shall fall by the hand of a woman.

16. For thy power, O Lord, is not in a multitude, nor is thy pleasure in the strength of horses, nor from the beginning have the proud been acceptable to thee: but the prayer of the humble and the meek hath always pleased thee.

17. O God of the heavens, creator of the waters, and Lord of the whole creation, hear me a poor wretch, making supplication to thee, and presuming of thy mercy.

18. Remember, O Lord, thy covenant, and put thou words in my mouth, and strengthen the resolution in my heart, that thy house may continue in thy holiness:

19. And all nations may acknowledge that thou art God, and there is no other besides thee.

5. He that despiseth the poor, reproacheth his Maker; and he that rejoiceth at another man's ruin, shall not be unpunished.

6. Children's children are the crown of old men: and the glory of children are their fathers.

7. Eloquent words do not become a fool, nor lying lips a prince.

8. The expectation of him that expecteth, is a most acceptable jewel: whithersoever he turneth himself, he understandeth wisely.