Isaiah 1:1-20

¹ The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. ² Hear, heavens, and listen, earth; for Yahweh has spoken: “I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me. ³ The ox knows his owner, and the donkey his master’s crib; but Israel doesn’t know, my people don’t consider.” ⁴ Ah sinful nation, a people loaded with iniquity, offspring of evildoers, children who deal corruptly! They have forsaken Yahweh. They have despised the Holy One of Israel. They are estranged and backward. ⁵ Why should you be beaten more, that you revolt more and more? The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. ⁶ From the sole of the foot even to the head there is no soundness in it: wounds, welts, and open sores. They haven’t been closed, neither bandaged, neither soothed with oil. ⁷ Your country is desolate. Your cities are burned with fire. Strangers devour your land in your presence, and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers. ⁸ The daughter of Zion is left like a shelter in a vineyard, like a hut in a field of melons, like a besieged city. ⁹ Unless Yahweh of Armies had left to us a very small remnant, we would have been as Sodom; we would have been like Gomorrah. ¹⁰ Hear Yahweh’s word, you rulers of Sodom! Listen to the law of our God, you people of Gomorrah! ¹¹ “What are the multitude of your sacrifices to me?”, says Yahweh. “I have had enough of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed animals. I don’t delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of male goats. ¹² When you come to appear before me, who has required this at your hand, to trample my courts? ¹³ Bring no more vain offerings. Incense is an abomination to me; new moons, Sabbaths, and convocations: I can’t stand evil assemblies. ¹⁴ My soul hates your New Moons and your appointed feasts. They are a burden to me. I am weary of bearing them. ¹⁵ When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you. Yes, when you make many prayers, I will not hear. Your hands are full of blood. ¹⁶ Wash yourselves, make yourself clean. Put away the evil of your doings from before my eyes. Cease to do evil. ¹⁷ Learn to do well. Seek justice. Relieve the oppressed. Judge the fatherless. Plead for the widow.” ¹⁸ “Come now, and let us reason together,” says Yahweh: “Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. ¹⁹ If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; ²⁰ but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured with the sword; for the mouth of Yahweh has spoken it.”

Genesis 1:1-13

¹ In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. ² The earth was formless and empty. Darkness was on the surface of the deep and God’s Spirit was hovering over the surface of the waters. ³ God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. ⁴ God saw the light, and saw that it was good. God divided the light from the darkness. ⁵ God called the light “day”, and the darkness he called “night”. There was evening and there was morning, the first day. ⁶ God said, “Let there be an expanse in the middle of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.” ⁷ God made the expanse, and divided the waters which were under the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so. ⁸ God called the expanse “sky”. There was evening and there was morning, a second day. ⁹ God said, “Let the waters under the sky be gathered together to one place, and let the dry land appear”; and it was so. ¹⁰ God called the dry land “earth”, and the gathering together of the waters he called “seas”. God saw that it was good. ¹¹ God said, “Let the earth yield grass, herbs yielding seeds, and fruit trees bearing fruit after their kind, with their seeds in it, on the earth”; and it was so. ¹² The earth yielded grass, herbs yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit, with their seeds in it, after their kind; and God saw that it was good. ¹³ There was evening and there was morning, a third day.

Proverbs 1:1-20

¹ The proverbs of Solomon, the son of David, king of Israel: ² to know wisdom and instruction; to discern the words of understanding; ³ to receive instruction in wise dealing, in righteousness, justice, and equity; ⁴ to give prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the young man: ⁵ that the wise man may hear, and increase in learning; that the man of understanding may attain to sound counsel: ⁶ to understand a proverb, and parables, the words and riddles of the wise. ⁷ The fear of Yahweh is the beginning of knowledge; but the foolish despise wisdom and instruction. ⁸ My son, listen to your father’s instruction, and don’t forsake your mother’s teaching: ⁹ for they will be a garland to grace your head, and chains around your neck. ¹⁰ My son, if sinners entice you, don’t consent. ¹¹ If they say, “Come with us. Let’s lay in wait for blood. Let’s lurk secretly for the innocent without cause. ¹² Let’s swallow them up alive like Sheol, and whole, like those who go down into the pit. ¹³ We’ll find all valuable wealth. We’ll fill our houses with plunder. ¹⁴ You shall cast your lot among us. We’ll all have one purse.” ¹⁵ My son, don’t walk on the path with them. Keep your foot from their path, ¹⁶ for their feet run to evil. They hurry to shed blood. ¹⁷ For in vain is the net spread in the sight of any bird: ¹⁸ but these lay wait for their own blood. They lurk secretly for their own lives. ¹⁹ So are the ways of everyone who is greedy for gain. It takes away the life of its owners. ²⁰ Wisdom calls aloud in the street. She utters her voice in the public squares.