Song of Songs 7

Translation: ESV

1 How beautiful are your feet in sandals,

    O noble daughter!

Your rounded thighs are like jewels,

    the work of a master hand.

2 Your navel is a rounded bowl

    that never lacks mixed wine.

Your belly is a heap of wheat,

    encircled with lilies.

3 Your two breasts are like two fawns,

    twins of a gazelle.

4 Your neck is like an ivory tower.

Your eyes are pools in Heshbon,

    by the gate of Bath-rabbim.

Your nose is like a tower of Lebanon,

    which looks toward Damascus.

5 Your head crowns you like Carmel,

    and your flowing locks are like purple;

    a king is held captive in the tresses.

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6 How beautiful and pleasant you are,

    O loved one, with all your delights!

7 Your stature is like a palm tree,

    and your breasts are like its clusters.

8 I say I will climb the palm tree

    and lay hold of its fruit.

Oh may your breasts be like clusters of the vine,

    and the scent of your breath like apples,

9 and your mouth like the best wine.

She

It goes down smoothly for my beloved,

    gliding over lips and teeth.

10 I am my beloved's,

    and his desire is for me.

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11 Come, my beloved,

    let us go out into the fields

    and lodge in the villages;

12 let us go out early to the vineyards

    and see whether the vines have budded,

whether the grape blossoms have opened

    and the pomegranates are in bloom.

There I will give you my love.

13 The mandrakes give forth fragrance,

    and beside our doors are all choice fruits,

new as well as old,

    which I have laid up for you, O my beloved.

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Proverbs 12

Translation: ESV

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Pictured: St. Ambrose of Milan

1 Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge,

    but he who hates reproof is stupid.

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Pictured: St. Andrew of Crete

2 A good man obtains favor from the Lord,

    but a man of evil devices he condemns.

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Pictured: St. David of Tessaloniki

3 No one is established by wickedness,

    but the root of the righteous will never be moved.

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4 An excellent wife is the crown of her husband,

    but she who brings shame is like rottenness in his bones.

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Pictured: Dr. Kermit Gosnell and St. Nectarios of Aegina

5 The thoughts of the righteous are just;

    the counsels of the wicked are deceitful.

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Pictured: St. Edward the King and Martyr

6 The words of the wicked lie in wait for blood,

    but the mouth of the upright delivers them.

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Pictured: St. Seraphim of Sarov

7 The wicked are overthrown and are no more,

    but the house of the righteous will stand.

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Pictured: St. Celestine I (right)

8 A man is commended according to his good sense,

    but one of twisted mind is despised.

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Pictured: Most Holy Theotokos the Untier of Knots

9 Better to be lowly and have a servant

    than to play the great man and lack bread.

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Pictured: St. Giles

10 Whoever is righteous has regard for the life of his beast,

    but the mercy of the wicked is cruel.

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11 Whoever works his land will have plenty of bread,

    but he who follows worthless pursuits lacks sense.

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12 Whoever is wicked covets the spoil of evildoers,

    but the root of the righteous bears fruit.

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13 An evil man is ensnared by the transgression of his lips,

    but the righteous escapes from trouble.

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Pictured: Fr. Dimitri Cozby of Blessed Memory

14 From the fruit of his mouth a man is satisfied with good,

    and the work of a man's hand comes back to him.

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15 The way of a fool is right in his own eyes,

    but a wise man listens to advice.

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Pictured: St. Zoticus the Protector of Orphans and Emperor Constantius I

16 The vexation of a fool is known at once,

    but the prudent ignores an insult.

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Inktober prompt: Lunar

17 Whoever speaks the truth gives honest evidence,

    but a false witness utters deceit.

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Pictured: St. John Chrysostom and eunuch Eutropius

18 There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts,

    but the tongue of the wise brings healing.

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Pictured: St. Gregory Palamas (center), Barlaam of Calabria (left), Gregory Akindynos (right)

19 Truthful lips endure forever,

    but a lying tongue is but for a moment.

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Inktober prompt: Shell

20 Deceit is in the heart of those who devise evil,

    but those who plan peace have joy.

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Pictured: The Penitent and the Impenitent Thieves

21 No ill befalls the righteous,

    but the wicked are filled with trouble.

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Inktober prompt: Half

22 Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord,

    but those who act faithfully are his delight.

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23 A prudent man conceals knowledge,

    but the heart of fools proclaims folly.

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Pictured: St. Joseph the Hesychast

24 The hand of the diligent will rule,

    while the slothful will be put to forced labor.

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25 Anxiety in a man's heart weighs him down,

    but a good word makes him glad.

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Pictured: Blaine 

26 One who is righteous is a guide to his neighbor,

    but the way of the wicked leads them astray.

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27 Whoever is slothful will not roast his game,

    but the diligent man will get precious wealth.

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In honor of the Sri Lankan New Martyrs

28 In the path of righteousness is life,

    and in its pathway there is no death.

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Job 1

Translation: ESV

Job's Character and Wealth

1 There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job, and that man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil. 2 There were born to him seven sons and three daughters. 3 He possessed 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, and 500 female donkeys, and very many servants, so that this man was the greatest of all the people of the east. 4 His sons used to go and hold a feast in the house of each one on his day, and they would send and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. 5 And when the days of the feast had run their course, Job would send and consecrate them, and he would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job said, “It may be that my children have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts.” Thus Job did continually.

Satan Allowed to Test Job

6 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them.

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Inktober prompt: Roam

7 The Lord said to Satan, “From where have you come?” Satan answered the Lord and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.”

8 And the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?”

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Inktober prompt: Demon

9 Then Satan answered the Lord and said, “Does Job fear God for no reason?

10 Have you not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. 11 But stretch out your hand and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face.” 12 And the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your hand. Only against him do not stretch out your hand.” So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord.

Satan Takes Job's Property and Children

13 Now there was a day when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house, 14 and there came a messenger to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the donkeys feeding beside them, 15 and the Sabeans fell upon them and took them and struck down the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” 16 While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, “The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants and consumed them, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” 17 While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, “The Chaldeans formed three groups and made a raid on the camels and took them and struck down the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” 18 While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, “Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house, 19 and behold, a great wind came across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young people, and they are dead, and I alone have escaped to tell you.”

20 Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. 

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21 And he said, “Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return.

The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”

22 In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong.

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Genesis 9

Translation: ESV

9 And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. 2 The fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth and upon every bird of the heavens, upon everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea. Into your hand they are delivered. 3 Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. And as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything. 4 But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood. 5 And for your lifeblood I will require a reckoning: from every beast I will require it and from man. From his fellow man I will require a reckoning for the life of man.

6 “Whoever sheds the blood of man,

    by man shall his blood be shed,

for God made man in his own image.

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Date: May 28 2020

7 And you, be fruitful and multiply, increase greatly on the earth and multiply in it.”

8 Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, 9 “Behold, I establish my covenant with you and your offspring after you, 10 and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the livestock, and every beast of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark; it is for every beast of the earth. 11 I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.” 12 And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: 13 I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14 When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, 15 I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh. And the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. 16 When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” 17 God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth.”

Noah's Descendants

18 The sons of Noah who went forth from the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. (Ham was the father of Canaan.) 19 These three were the sons of Noah, and from these the people of the whole earth were dispersed.

20 Noah began to be a man of the soil, and he planted a vineyard. 21 He drank of the wine and became drunk and lay uncovered in his tent. 22 And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father and told his two brothers outside. 23 Then Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it on both their shoulders, and walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were turned backward, and they did not see their father's nakedness. 24 When Noah awoke from his wine and knew what his youngest son had done to him, 25 he said,

“Cursed be Canaan;

    a servant of servants shall he be to his brothers.”

26 He also said,

“Blessed be the Lord, the God of Shem;

    and let Canaan be his servant.

27 May God enlarge Japheth,

    and let him dwell in the tents of Shem,

    and let Canaan be his servant.”

28 After the flood Noah lived 350 years. 29 All the days of Noah were 950 years, and he died.

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Genesis 3

Translation: ESV

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Date: December 11 2021

1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made.

He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?”

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2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden,

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3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’”

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4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

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6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise,

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she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.

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7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.

8 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” 10 And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” 11 He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?”

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12 The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” 13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

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Date: May 24 2020

14 The Lord God said to the serpent,

“Because you have done this,

    cursed are you above all livestock

    and above all beasts of the field;

on your belly you shall go,

    and dust you shall eat

    all the days of your life.

15 I will put enmity between you and the woman,

    and between your offspring and her offspring;

he shall bruise your head,

    and you shall bruise his heel.”

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16 To the woman he said,

“I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing;

    in pain you shall bring forth children.

Your desire shall be for your husband,

    and he shall rule over you.”

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Date: April 10 2022

17 And to Adam he said,

“Because you have listened to the voice of your wife

    and have eaten of the tree

of which I commanded you,

    ‘You shall not eat of it,’

cursed is the ground because of you;

    in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life;

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18 thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you;

    and you shall eat the plants of the field.

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19 By the sweat of your face

    you shall eat bread,

till you return to the ground,

    for out of it you were taken;

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Date: March 25 2022
Inktober prompt: Decay

for you are dust,

    and to dust you shall return.”

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Date: November 14 2022

20 The man called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.

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21 And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.

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22 Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—”

 

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23 therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken.

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24 He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.

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