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Archive for the ‘Angel’ Category

Exodus 23 ( Listen ) 23:1? “You shall not spread a false report. You shall not join hands with a wicked man to be a malicious witness. You shall not fall in with the many to do evil, nor shall you bear witness in a lawsuit, siding with the many, so as to pervert justice, nor shall you be partial to a poor man in his lawsuit. “If you meet your enemy’s ox or his donkey going astray, you shall bring it back to him. If you see the donkey of one who hates you lying down under its burden, you shall refrain from leaving him with it; you shall rescue it with him. “You shall not pervert the justice due to your poor in his lawsuit. Keep far from a false charge, and do not kill the innocent and righteous, for I will not acquit the wicked. And you shall take no bribe, for a bribe blinds the clear-sighted and subverts the cause of those who are in the right. “You shall not oppress a sojourner. You know the heart of a sojourner, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt. Laws About the Sabbath and Festivals “For six years you shall sow your land and gather in its yield, but the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow, that the poor of your people may eat; and what they leave the beasts of the field may eat. You shall do likewise with your vineyard, and with your olive orchard. “Six days you shall do your work, but on the seventh day you shall rest; that your ox and your donkey may have rest, and the son of your servant woman, and the alien, may be refreshed. “Pay attention to all that I have said to you, and make no mention of the names of other gods, nor let it be heard on your lips. “Three times in the year you shall keep a feast to me. You shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread. As I commanded you, you shall eat unleavened bread for seven days at the appointed time in the month of Abib, for in it you came out of Egypt. None shall appear before me empty-handed. You shall keep the Feast of Harvest, of the firstfruits of your labor, of what you sow in the field. You shall keep the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather in from the field the fruit of your labor. Three times in the year shall all your males appear before the Lord GOD. “You shall not offer the blood of my sacrifice with anything leavened, or let the fat of my feast remain until the morning. “The best of the firstfruits of your ground you shall bring into the house of the LORD your God. “You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk. Conquest of Canaan Promised “Behold, I send an angel before you to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place that I have prepared. Pay careful attention to him and obey his voice; do not rebel against him, for he will not pardon your transgression, for my name is in him. “But if you carefully obey his voice and do all that I say, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries. “When my angel goes before you and brings you to the Amorites and the Hittites and the Perizzites and the Canaanites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, and I blot them out, you shall not bow down to their gods nor serve them, nor do as they do, but you shall utterly overthrow them and break their pillars in pieces. You shall serve the LORD your God, and he will bless your bread and your water, and I will take sickness away from among you. None shall miscarry or be barren in your land; I will fulfill the number of your days. I will send my terror before you and will throw into confusion all the people against whom you shall come, and I will make all your enemies turn their backs to you. And I will send hornets before you, which shall drive out the Hivites, the Canaanites, and the Hittites from before you. I will not drive them out from before you in one year, lest the land become desolate and the wild beasts multiply against you. Little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased and possess the land. And I will set your border from the Red Sea to the Sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness to the Euphrates, for I will give the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you shall drive them out before you. You shall make no covenant with them and their gods. They shall not dwell in your land, lest they make you sin against me; for if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you.” John 2 ( Listen ) The Wedding at Cana 2:1? On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples. When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. And he said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.” So they took it. When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.” This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him. After this he went down to Capernaum, with his mother and his brothers and his disciples, and they stayed there for a few days. Jesus Cleanses the Temple The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there. And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. And he told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; do not make my Father’s house a house of trade.” His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.” So the Jews said to him, “What sign do you show us for doing these things?” Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” But he was speaking about the temple of his body. When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken. Jesus Knows What Is in Man Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing. But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man. Job 41 ( Listen ) 41:1? “Can you draw out Leviathan with a fishhook ?? or press down his tongue with a cord? Can you put a rope in his nose ?? or pierce his jaw with a hook? Will he make many pleas to you? ?? Will he speak to you soft words? Will he make a covenant with you ?? to take him for your servant forever? Will you play with him as with a bird, ?? or will you put him on a leash for your girls? Will traders bargain over him? ?? Will they divide him up among the merchants? Can you fill his skin with harpoons ?? or his head with fishing spears? Lay your hands on him; ?? remember the battle—you will not do it again! Behold, the hope of a man is false; ?? he is laid low even at the sight of him. No one is so fierce that he dares to stir him up. ?? Who then is he who can stand before me? Who has first given to me, that I should repay him? ?? Whatever is under the whole heaven is mine. “I will not keep silence concerning his limbs, ?? or his mighty strength, or his goodly frame. Who can strip off his outer garment? ?? Who would come near him with a bridle? Who can open the doors of his face? ?? Around his teeth is terror. His back is made of rows of shields, ?? shut up closely as with a seal. One is so near to another ?? that no air can come between them. They are joined one to another; ?? they clasp each other and cannot be separated. His sneezings flash forth light, ?? and his eyes are like the eyelids of the dawn. Out of his mouth go flaming torches; ?? sparks of fire leap forth. Out of his nostrils comes forth smoke, ?? as from a boiling pot and burning rushes. His breath kindles coals, ?? and a flame comes forth from his mouth. In his neck abides strength, ?? and terror dances before him. The folds of his flesh stick together, ?? firmly cast on him and immovable. His heart is hard as a stone, ?? hard as the lower millstone. When he raises himself up the mighty are afraid; ?? at the crashing they are beside themselves. Though the sword reaches him, it does not avail, ?? nor the spear, the dart, or the javelin. He counts iron as straw, ?? and bronze as rotten wood. The arrow cannot make him flee; ?? for him sling stones are turned to stubble. Clubs are counted as stubble; ?? he laughs at the rattle of javelins. His underparts are like sharp potsherds; ?? he spreads himself like a threshing sledge on the mire. He makes the deep boil like a pot; ?? he makes the sea like a pot of ointment. Behind him he leaves a shining wake; ?? one would think the deep to be white-haired. On earth there is not his like, ?? a creature without fear. He sees everything that is high; ?? he is king over all the sons of pride.” 2 Corinthians 11 ( Listen ) Paul and the False Apostles 11:1? I wish you would bear with me in a little foolishness. Do bear with me! For I feel a divine jealousy for you, since I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ. But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough. Indeed, I consider that I am not in the least inferior to these super-apostles. Even if I am unskilled in speaking, I am not so in knowledge; indeed, in every way we have made this plain to you in all things. Or did I commit a sin in humbling myself so that you might be exalted, because I preached God’s gospel to you free of charge? I robbed other churches by accepting support from them in order to serve you. And when I was with you and was in need, I did not burden anyone, for the brothers who came from Macedonia supplied my need. So I refrained and will refrain from burdening you in any way. As the truth of Christ is in me, this boasting of mine will not be silenced in the regions of Achaia. And why? Because I do not love you? God knows I do! And what I do I will continue to do, in order to undermine the claim of those who would like to claim that in their boasted mission they work on the same terms as we do. For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds. Paul’s Sufferings as an Apostle I repeat, let no one think me foolish. But even if you do, accept me as a fool, so that I too may boast a little. What I am saying with this boastful confidence, I say not with the Lord’s authority but as a fool. Since many boast according to the flesh, I too will boast. For you gladly bear with fools, being wise yourselves! For you bear it if someone makes slaves of you, or devours you, or takes advantage of you, or puts on airs, or strikes you in the face. To my shame, I must say, we were too weak for that! But whatever anyone else dares to boast of—I am speaking as a fool—I also dare to boast of that. Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they offspring of Abraham? So am I. Are they servants of Christ? I am a better one—I am talking like a madman—with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death. Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches. Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to fall, and I am not indignant? If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, he who is blessed forever, knows that I am not lying. At Damascus, the governor under King Aretas was guarding the city of Damascus in order to seize me, but I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall and escaped his hands. ( ESV ) Footnotes [1] 23:25 Septuagint, Vulgate I [2] 2:6 Greek two or three measures ( metrētas ); a metrētēs was about 10 gallons or 35 liters [3] 2:12 Or brothers and sisters . The plural Greek word adelphoi (translated “brothers”) refers to siblings in a family. In New Testament usage, depending on the context, adelphoi may refer either to brothers or to brothers and sisters [4] 41:1 Ch 40:25 in Hebrew [5] 41:1 A large sea animal, exact identity unknown [6] 41:9 Ch 41:1 in Hebrew [7] 41:15 Or His pride is in his [8] 41:25 Or gods [9] 11:27 Or often in fasting

Read more from the original source:
March 12: Exodus 23, John 2, Job 41, 2 Corinthians 11

Psalm 95 ( Listen ) Let Us Sing Songs of Praise 95:1? Oh come, let us sing to the LORD; ?? let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; ?? let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise! For the LORD is a great God, ?? and a great King above all gods. In his hand are the depths of the earth; ?? the heights of the mountains are his also. The sea is his, for he made it, ?? and his hands formed the dry land. Oh come, let us worship and bow down; ?? let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker! For he is our God, ?? and we are the people of his pasture, ?? and the sheep of his hand. Today, if you hear his voice, ?? do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, ?? as on the day at Massah in the wilderness, when your fathers put me to the test ?? and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work. For forty years I loathed that generation ?? and said, “They are a people who go astray in their heart, ?? and they have not known my ways.” Therefore I swore in my wrath, ?? “They shall not enter my rest.” Psalm 88 ( Listen ) I Cry Out Day and Night Before You A Song. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah. To the choirmaster: according to Mahalath Leannoth. A Maskil of Heman the Ezrahite. 88:1? O LORD, God of my salvation; ?? I cry out day and night before you. Let my prayer come before you; ?? incline your ear to my cry! For my soul is full of troubles, ?? and my life draws near to Sheol. I am counted among those who go down to the pit; ?? I am a man who has no strength, like one set loose among the dead, ?? like the slain that lie in the grave, like those whom you remember no more, ?? for they are cut off from your hand. You have put me in the depths of the pit, ?? in the regions dark and deep. Your wrath lies heavy upon me, ?? and you overwhelm me with all your waves. ???? Selah You have caused my companions to shun me; ?? you have made me a horror to them. I am shut in so that I cannot escape; ?? my eye grows dim through sorrow. Every day I call upon you, O LORD; ?? I spread out my hands to you. Do you work wonders for the dead? ?? Do the departed rise up to praise you? ???? Selah Is your steadfast love declared in the grave, ?? or your faithfulness in Abaddon? Are your wonders known in the darkness, ?? or your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness? But I, O LORD, cry to you; ?? in the morning my prayer comes before you. O LORD, why do you cast my soul away? ?? Why do you hide your face from me? Afflicted and close to death from my youth up, ?? I suffer your terrors; I am helpless. Your wrath has swept over me; ?? your dreadful assaults destroy me. They surround me like a flood all day long; ?? they close in on me together. You have caused my beloved and my friend to shun me; ?? my companions have become darkness. Psalm 91 ( Listen ) My Refuge and My Fortress 91:1? He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High ?? will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the LORD, “My refuge and my fortress, ?? my God, in whom I trust.” For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler ?? and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his pinions, ?? and under his wings you will find refuge; ?? his faithfulness is a shield and buckler. You will not fear the terror of the night, ?? nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness, ?? nor the destruction that wastes at noonday. A thousand may fall at your side, ?? ten thousand at your right hand, ?? but it will not come near you. You will only look with your eyes ?? and see the recompense of the wicked. Because you have made the LORD your dwelling place— ?? the Most High, who is my refuge— no evil shall be allowed to befall you, ?? no plague come near your tent. For he will command his angels concerning you ?? to guard you in all your ways. On their hands they will bear you up, ?? lest you strike your foot against a stone. You will tread on the lion and the adder; ?? the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot. “Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him; ?? I will protect him, because he knows my name. When he calls to me, I will answer him; ?? I will be with him in trouble; ?? I will rescue him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him ?? and show him my salvation.” Psalm 92 ( Listen ) How Great Are Your Works A Psalm. A Song for the Sabbath. 92:1? It is good to give thanks to the LORD, ?? to sing praises to your name, O Most High; to declare your steadfast love in the morning, ?? and your faithfulness by night, to the music of the lute and the harp, ?? to the melody of the lyre. For you, O LORD, have made me glad by your work; ?? at the works of your hands I sing for joy. How great are your works, O LORD! ?? Your thoughts are very deep! The stupid man cannot know; ?? the fool cannot understand this: that though the wicked sprout like grass ?? and all evildoers flourish, they are doomed to destruction forever; ?? but you, O LORD, are on high forever. For behold, your enemies, O LORD, ?? for behold, your enemies shall perish; ?? all evildoers shall be scattered. But you have exalted my horn like that of the wild ox; ?? you have poured over me fresh oil. My eyes have seen the downfall of my enemies; ?? my ears have heard the doom of my evil assailants. The righteous flourish like the palm tree ?? and grow like a cedar in Lebanon. They are planted in the house of the LORD; ?? they flourish in the courts of our God. They still bear fruit in old age; ?? they are ever full of sap and green, to declare that the LORD is upright; ?? he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him. Genesis 47:1-26 ( Listen ) Jacob’s Family Settles in Goshen 47:1? So Joseph went in and told Pharaoh, “My father and my brothers, with their flocks and herds and all that they possess, have come from the land of Canaan. They are now in the land of Goshen.” And from among his brothers he took five men and presented them to Pharaoh. Pharaoh said to his brothers, “What is your occupation?” And they said to Pharaoh, “Your servants are shepherds, as our fathers were.” They said to Pharaoh, “We have come to sojourn in the land, for there is no pasture for your servants’ flocks, for the famine is severe in the land of Canaan. And now, please let your servants dwell in the land of Goshen.” Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Your father and your brothers have come to you. The land of Egypt is before you. Settle your father and your brothers in the best of the land. Let them settle in the land of Goshen, and if you know any able men among them, put them in charge of my livestock.” Then Joseph brought in Jacob his father and stood him before Pharaoh, and Jacob blessed Pharaoh. And Pharaoh said to Jacob, “How many are the days of the years of your life?” And Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The days of the years of my sojourning are 130 years. Few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their sojourning.” And Jacob blessed Pharaoh and went out from the presence of Pharaoh. Then Joseph settled his father and his brothers and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded. And Joseph provided his father, his brothers, and all his father’s household with food, according to the number of their dependents. Joseph and the Famine Now there was no food in all the land, for the famine was very severe, so that the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan languished by reason of the famine. And Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, in exchange for the grain that they bought. And Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh’s house. And when the money was all spent in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came to Joseph and said, “Give us food. Why should we die before your eyes? For our money is gone.” And Joseph answered, “Give your livestock, and I will give you food in exchange for your livestock, if your money is gone.” So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and Joseph gave them food in exchange for the horses, the flocks, the herds, and the donkeys. He supplied them with food in exchange for all their livestock that year. And when that year was ended, they came to him the following year and said to him, “We will not hide from my lord that our money is all spent. The herds of livestock are my lord’s. There is nothing left in the sight of my lord but our bodies and our land. Why should we die before your eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land for food, and we with our land will be servants to Pharaoh. And give us seed that we may live and not die, and that the land may not be desolate.” So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh, for all the Egyptians sold their fields, because the famine was severe on them. The land became Pharaoh’s. As for the people, he made servants of them from one end of Egypt to the other. Only the land of the priests he did not buy, for the priests had a fixed allowance from Pharaoh and lived on the allowance that Pharaoh gave them; therefore they did not sell their land. Then Joseph said to the people, “Behold, I have this day bought you and your land for Pharaoh. Now here is seed for you, and you shall sow the land. And at the harvests you shall give a fifth to Pharaoh, and four fifths shall be your own, as seed for the field and as food for yourselves and your households, and as food for your little ones.” And they said, “You have saved our lives; may it please my lord, we will be servants to Pharaoh.” So Joseph made it a statute concerning the land of Egypt, and it stands to this day, that Pharaoh should have the fifth; the land of the priests alone did not become Pharaoh’s. 1 Corinthians 9:16-27 ( Listen ) For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward, but if not of my own will, I am still entrusted with a stewardship. What then is my reward? That in my preaching I may present the gospel free of charge, so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel. For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings. Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified. Mark 6:47-56 ( Listen ) And when evening came, the boat was out on the sea, and he was alone on the land. And he saw that they were making headway painfully, for the wind was against them. And about the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. He meant to pass by them, but when they saw him walking on the sea they thought it was a ghost, and cried out, for they all saw him and were terrified. But immediately he spoke to them and said, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.” And he got into the boat with them, and the wind ceased. And they were utterly astounded, for they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened. Jesus Heals the Sick in Gennesaret When they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret and moored to the shore. And when they got out of the boat, the people immediately recognized him and ran about the whole region and began to bring the sick people on their beds to wherever they heard he was. And wherever he came, in villages, cities, or countryside, they laid the sick in the marketplaces and implored him that they might touch even the fringe of his garment. And as many as touched it were made well. Footnotes [1] 88:1 Probably musical or liturgical terms [2] 88:8 Or an abomination [3] 88:15 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain [4] 88:18 Or darkness has become my only companion [5] 91:2 Septuagint He will say [6] 91:9 Or For you, O Lord , are my refuge! You have made the Most High your dwelling place [7] 92:10 Compare Syriac; the meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain [8] 47:21 Samaritan, Septuagint, Vulgate; Hebrew he removed them to the cities [9] 9:27 Greek I pummel my body and make it a slave [10] 6:48 That is, between 3 a.m. and 6 a.m. The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright ??2001 by Crossway Bibles , a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Quotation information . This reading plan is adapted from the Daily Office Lectionary found in The Book of Common Prayer .

Original post:
March 12 (3 Lent): Ps. 95, 88; Ps. 91, 92; Gen. 47:1-26; 1 Cor. 9:16-27; Mark 6:47-56 (ESV)

Deuteronomy 14-16 ( Listen ) Clean and Unclean Food 14:1? “You are the sons of the LORD your God. You shall not cut yourselves or make any baldness on your foreheads for the dead. For you are a people holy to the LORD your God, and the LORD has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. “You shall not eat any abomination. These are the animals you may eat: the ox, the sheep, the goat, the deer, the gazelle, the roebuck, the wild goat, the ibex, the antelope, and the mountain sheep. Every animal that parts the hoof and has the hoof cloven in two and chews the cud, among the animals, you may eat. Yet of those that chew the cud or have the hoof cloven you shall not eat these: the camel, the hare, and the rock badger, because they chew the cud but do not part the hoof, are unclean for you. And the pig, because it parts the hoof but does not chew the cud, is unclean for you. Their flesh you shall not eat, and their carcasses you shall not touch. “Of all that are in the waters you may eat these: whatever has fins and scales you may eat. And whatever does not have fins and scales you shall not eat; it is unclean for you. “You may eat all clean birds. But these are the ones that you shall not eat: the eagle, the bearded vulture, the black vulture, the kite, the falcon of any kind; every raven of any kind; the ostrich, the nighthawk, the sea gull, the hawk of any kind; the little owl and the short-eared owl, the barn owl and the tawny owl, the carrion vulture and the cormorant, the stork, the heron of any kind; the hoopoe and the bat. And all winged insects are unclean for you; they shall not be eaten. All clean winged things you may eat. “You shall not eat anything that has died naturally. You may give it to the sojourner who is within your towns, that he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner. For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. “You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk. Tithes “You shall tithe all the yield of your seed that comes from the field year by year. And before the LORD your God, in the place that he will choose, to make his name dwell there, you shall eat the tithe of your grain, of your wine, and of your oil, and the firstborn of your herd and flock, that you may learn to fear the LORD your God always. And if the way is too long for you, so that you are not able to carry the tithe, when the LORD your God blesses you, because the place is too far from you, which the LORD your God chooses, to set his name there, then you shall turn it into money and bind up the money in your hand and go to the place that the LORD your God chooses and spend the money for whatever you desire—oxen or sheep or wine or strong drink, whatever your appetite craves. And you shall eat there before the LORD your God and rejoice, you and your household. And you shall not neglect the Levite who is within your towns, for he has no portion or inheritance with you. “At the end of every three years you shall bring out all the tithe of your produce in the same year and lay it up within your towns. And the Levite, because he has no portion or inheritance with you, and the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, who are within your towns, shall come and eat and be filled, that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands that you do. The Sabbatical Year 15:1? “At the end of every seven years you shall grant a release. And this is the manner of the release: every creditor shall release what he has lent to his neighbor. He shall not exact it of his neighbor, his brother, because the LORD’s release has been proclaimed. Of a foreigner you may exact it, but whatever of yours is with your brother your hand shall release. But there will be no poor among you; for the LORD will bless you in the land that the LORD your God is giving you for an inheritance to possess— if only you will strictly obey the voice of the LORD your God, being careful to do all this commandment that I command you today. For the LORD your God will bless you, as he promised you, and you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow, and you shall rule over many nations, but they shall not rule over you. “If among you, one of your brothers should become poor, in any of your towns within your land that the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart or shut your hand against your poor brother, but you shall open your hand to him and lend him sufficient for his need, whatever it may be. Take care lest there be an unworthy thought in your heart and you say, ‘The seventh year, the year of release is near,’ and your eye look grudgingly on your poor brother, and you give him nothing, and he cry to the LORD against you, and you be guilty of sin. You shall give to him freely, and your heart shall not be grudging when you give to him, because for this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in all that you undertake. For there will never cease to be poor in the land. Therefore I command you, ‘You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in your land.’ “If your brother, a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman, is sold to you, he shall serve you six years, and in the seventh year you shall let him go free from you. And when you let him go free from you, you shall not let him go empty-handed. You shall furnish him liberally out of your flock, out of your threshing floor, and out of your winepress. As the LORD your God has blessed you, you shall give to him. You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God redeemed you; therefore I command you this today. But if he says to you, ‘I will not go out from you,’ because he loves you and your household, since he is well-off with you, then you shall take an awl, and put it through his ear into the door, and he shall be your slave forever. And to your female slave you shall do the same. It shall not seem hard to you when you let him go free from you, for at half the cost of a hired servant he has served you six years. So the LORD your God will bless you in all that you do. “All the firstborn males that are born of your herd and flock you shall dedicate to the LORD your God. You shall do no work with the firstborn of your herd, nor shear the firstborn of your flock. You shall eat it, you and your household, before the LORD your God year by year at the place that the LORD will choose. But if it has any blemish, if it is lame or blind or has any serious blemish whatever, you shall not sacrifice it to the LORD your God. You shall eat it within your towns. The unclean and the clean alike may eat it, as though it were a gazelle or a deer. Only you shall not eat its blood; you shall pour it out on the ground like water. Passover 16:1? “Observe the month of Abib and keep the Passover to the LORD your God, for in the month of Abib the LORD your God brought you out of Egypt by night. And you shall offer the Passover sacrifice to the LORD your God, from the flock or the herd, at the place that the LORD will choose, to make his name dwell there. You shall eat no leavened bread with it. Seven days you shall eat it with unleavened bread, the bread of affliction—for you came out of the land of Egypt in haste—that all the days of your life you may remember the day when you came out of the land of Egypt. No leaven shall be seen with you in all your territory for seven days, nor shall any of the flesh that you sacrifice on the evening of the first day remain all night until morning. You may not offer the Passover sacrifice within any of your towns that the LORD your God is giving you, but at the place that the LORD your God will choose, to make his name dwell in it, there you shall offer the Passover sacrifice, in the evening at sunset, at the time you came out of Egypt. And you shall cook it and eat it at the place that the LORD your God will choose. And in the morning you shall turn and go to your tents. For six days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be a solemn assembly to the LORD your God. You shall do no work on it. The Feast of Weeks “You shall count seven weeks. Begin to count the seven weeks from the time the sickle is first put to the standing grain. Then you shall keep the Feast of Weeks to the LORD your God with the tribute of a freewill offering from your hand, which you shall give as the LORD your God blesses you. And you shall rejoice before the LORD your God, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant, the Levite who is within your towns, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow who are among you, at the place that the LORD your God will choose, to make his name dwell there. You shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt; and you shall be careful to observe these statutes. The Feast of Booths “You shall keep the Feast of Booths seven days, when you have gathered in the produce from your threshing floor and your winepress. You shall rejoice in your feast, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant, the Levite, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow who are within your towns. For seven days you shall keep the feast to the LORD your God at the place that the LORD will choose, because the LORD your God will bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your hands, so that you will be altogether joyful. “Three times a year all your males shall appear before the LORD your God at the place that he will choose: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, at the Feast of Weeks, and at the Feast of Booths. They shall not appear before the LORD empty-handed. Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the LORD your God that he has given you. Justice “You shall appoint judges and officers in all your towns that the LORD your God is giving you, according to your tribes, and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment. You shall not pervert justice. You shall not show partiality, and you shall not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and subverts the cause of the righteous. Justice, and only justice, you shall follow, that you may live and inherit the land that the LORD your God is giving you. Forbidden Forms of Worship “You shall not plant any tree as an Asherah beside the altar of the LORD your God that you shall make. And you shall not set up a pillar, which the LORD your God hates. Mark 13:14-37 ( Listen ) The Abomination of Desolation “But when you see the abomination of desolation standing where he ought not to be (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let the one who is on the housetop not go down, nor enter his house, to take anything out, and let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak. And alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! Pray that it may not happen in winter. For in those days there will be such tribulation as has not been from the beginning of the creation that God created until now, and never will be. And if the Lord had not cut short the days, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect, whom he chose, he shortened the days. And then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘Look, there he is!’ do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform signs and wonders, to lead astray, if possible, the elect. But be on guard; I have told you all things beforehand. The Coming of the Son of Man “But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. And then he will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven. The Lesson of the Fig Tree “From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that he is near, at the very gates. Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. No One Knows That Day or Hour “But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be on guard, keep awake. For you do not know when the time will come. It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his servants in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to stay awake. Therefore stay awake—for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning— lest he come suddenly and find you asleep. And what I say to you I say to all: Stay awake.” ( ESV ) Footnotes [1] 14:5 Or addax [2] 14:12 The identity of many of these birds is uncertain [3] 15:9 Or be evil ; also verse 10 [4] 15:12 Or sells himself [5] 13:33 Some manuscripts add and pray [6] 13:34 Greek bondservants [7] 13:35 That is, the third watch of the night, between midnight and 3 a.m.

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March 11: Deuteronomy 14-16, Mark 13:14-37