ESV: Digging Deep into the Bible

ESV: Digging Deep into the Bible

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ESV: Digging Deep into the Bible episodes

  • May 1: Psalm 120; Leviticus 27; Isaiah 36–37; Ephesians 5:1–21
    Psalms and Wisdom:
    Psalm 120
    Psalm 120 (Listen)
    Deliver Me, O Lord
    A Song of Ascents.

    120   In my distress I called to the LORD,
        and he answered me.
    2   Deliver me, O LORD,
        from lying lips,
        from a deceitful tongue.
    3   What shall be given to you,
        and what more shall be done to you,
        you deceitful tongue?
    4   A warrior's sharp arrows,
        with glowing coals of the broom tree!
    5   Woe to me, that I sojourn in Meshech,
        that I dwell among the tents of Kedar!
    6   Too long have I had my dwelling
        among those who hate peace.
    7   I am for peace,
        but when I speak, they are for war!

    (ESV)

    Pentateuch and History:
    Leviticus 27
    Leviticus 27 (Listen)
    Laws About Vows

    27 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, If anyone makes a special vow to the LORD involving the valuation of persons, 3 then the valuation of a male from twenty years old up to sixty years old shall be fifty shekelsA shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams">1 of silver, according to the shekel of the sanctuary. 4 If the person is a female, the valuation shall be thirty shekels. 5 If the person is from five years old up to twenty years old, the valuation shall be for a male twenty shekels, and for a female ten shekels. 6 If the person is from a month old up to five years old, the valuation shall be for a male five shekels of silver, and for a female the valuation shall be three shekels of silver. 7 And if the person is sixty years old or over, then the valuation for a male shall be fifteen shekels, and for a female ten shekels. 8 And if someone is too poor to pay the valuation, then he shall be made to stand before the priest, and the priest shall value him; the priest shall value him according to what the vower can afford.

    9 “If the vowHebrew it">2 is an animal that may be offered as an offering to the LORD, all of it that he gives to the LORD is holy. 10 He shall not exchange it or make a substitute for it, good for bad, or bad for good; and if he does in fact substitute one animal for another, then both it and the substitute shall be holy. 11 And if it is any unclean animal that may not be offered as an offering to the LORD, then he shall stand the animal before the priest, 12 and the priest shall value it as either good or bad; as the priest values it, so it shall be. 13 But if he wishes to redeem it, he shall add a fifth to the valuation.

    14 “When a man dedicates his house as a holy gift to the LORD, the priest shall value it as either good or bad; as the priest values it, so it shall stand. 15 And if the donor wishes to redeem his house, he shall add a fifth to the valuation price, and it shall be his.

    16 “If a man dedicates to the LORD part of the land that is his possession, then the valuation shall be in proportion to its seed. A homerA homer was about 6 bushels or 220 liters">3 of barley seed shall be valued at fifty shekels of silver. 17 If he dedicates his field from the year of jubilee, the valuation shall stand, 18 but if he dedicates his field after the jubilee, then the priest shall calculate the price according to the years that remain until the year of jubilee, and a deduction shall be made from the valuation. 19 And if he who dedicates the field wishes to redeem it, then he shall add a fifth to its valuation price, and it shall remain his. 20 But if he does not wish to redeem the field, or if he has sold the field to another man, it shall not be redeemed anymore. 21 But the field, when it is released in the jubilee, shall be a holy gift to the LORD, like a field that has been devoted. The priest shall be in possession of it. 22 If he dedicates to the LORD a field that he has bought, which is not a part of his possession, 23 then the priest shall calculate the amount of the valuation for it up to the year of jubilee, and the man shall give the valuation on that day as a holy gift to the LORD. 24 In the year of jubilee the field shall return to him from whom it was bought, to whom the land belongs as a possession. 25 Every valuation shall be according to the shekel of the sanctuary: twenty gerahsA gerah was about 1/50 ounce or 0.6 gram">4 shall make a shekel.

    26 “But a firstborn of animals, which as a firstborn belongs to the LORD, no man may dedicate; whether ox or sheep, it is the LORD's. 27 And if it is an unclean animal, then he shall buy it back at the valuation, and add a fifth to it; or, if it is not redeemed, it shall be sold at the valuation.

    28 “But no devoted thing that a man devotes to the LORD, of anything that he has, whether man or beast, or of his inherited field, shall be sold or redeemed; every devoted thing is most holy to the LORD. 29 No one devoted, who is to be devoted for destructionThat is, set apart (devoted) as an offering to the Lord (for destruction)">5 from mankind, shall be ransomed; he shall surely be put to death.

    30 “Every tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the trees, is the LORD's; it is holy to the LORD. 31 If a man wishes to redeem some of his tithe, he shall add a fifth to it. 32 And every tithe of herds and flocks, every tenth animal of all that pass under the herdsman's staff, shall be holy to the LORD. 33 One shall not differentiate between good or bad, neither shall he make a substitute for it; and if he does substitute for it, then both it and the substitute shall be holy; it shall not be redeemed.”

    34 These are the commandments that the LORD commanded Moses for the people of Israel on Mount Sinai.

    Footnotes

    [1] 27:3 A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams


    [2] 27:9 Hebrew it

    [3] 27:16 A homer was about 6 bushels or 220 liters

    [4] 27:25 A gerah was about 1/50 ounce or 0.6 gram

    [5] 27:29 That is, set apart (devoted) as an offering to the Lord (for destruction)

    (ESV)

    Chronicles and Prophets:
    Isaiah 36–37
    Isaiah 36–37 (Listen)
    Sennacherib Invades Judah

    36 In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and took them. 2 And the king of Assyria sent the RabshakehRabshakeh is the title of a high-ranking Assyrian military officer">1 from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem, with a great army. And he stood by the conduit of the upper pool on the highway to the Washer's Field. 3 And there came out to him Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna the secretary, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder.

    4 And the Rabshakeh said to them, “Say to Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria: On what do you rest this trust of yours? 5 Do you think that mere words are strategy and power for war? In whom do you now trust, that you have rebelled against me? 6 Behold, you are trusting in Egypt, that broken reed of a staff, which will pierce the hand of any man who leans on it. Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him. 7 But if you say to me, “We trust in the LORD our God,” is it not he whose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed, saying to Judah and to Jerusalem, “You shall worship before this altar”? 8 Come now, make a wager with my master the king of Assyria: I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able on your part to set riders on them. 9 How then can you repulse a single captain among the least of my master's servants, when you trust in Egypt for chariots and for horsemen? 10 Moreover, is it without the LORD that I have come up against this land to destroy it? The LORD said to me, “Go up against this land and destroy it.”’”

    11 Then Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah said to the Rabshakeh, “Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, for we understand it. Do not speak to us in the language of Judah within the hearing of the people who are on the wall.” 12 But the Rabshakeh said, “Has my master sent me to speak these words to your master and to you, and not to the men sitting on the wall, who are doomed with you to eat their own dung and drink their own urine?”

    13 Then the Rabshakeh stood and called out in a loud voice in the language of Judah: “Hear the words of the great king, the king of Assyria! 14 Thus says the king: ‘Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you. 15 Do not let Hezekiah make you trust in the LORD by saying, “The LORD will surely deliver us. This city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.” 16 Do not listen to Hezekiah. For thus says the king of Assyria: Make your peace with meHebrew Make a blessing with me">2 and come out to me. Then each one of you will eat of his own vine, and each one of his own fig tree, and each one of you will drink the water of his own cistern, 17 until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of grain and wine, a land of bread and vineyards. 18 Beware lest Hezekiah mislead you by saying, “The LORD will deliver us.” Has any of the gods of the nations delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria? 19 Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? Have they delivered Samaria out of my hand? 20 Who among all the gods of these lands have delivered their lands out of my hand, that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?’”

    21 But they were silent and answered him not a word, for the king's command was, “Do not answer him.” 22 Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna the secretary, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn, and told him the words of the Rabshakeh.

    Hezekiah Seeks Isaiah's Help

    37 As soon as King Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes and covered himself with sackcloth and went into the house of the LORD. 2 And he sent Eliakim, who was over the household, and Shebna the secretary, and the senior priests, covered with sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz. 3 They said to him, “Thus says Hezekiah, ‘This day is a day of distress, of rebuke, and of disgrace; children have come to the point of birth, and there is no strength to bring them forth. 4 It may be that the LORD your God will hear the words of the Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to mock the living God, and will rebuke the words that the LORD your God has heard; therefore lift up your prayer for the remnant that is left.’”

    5 When the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah, 6 Isaiah said to them, “Say to your master, ‘Thus says the LORD: Do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard, with which the young men of the king of Assyria have reviled me. 7 Behold, I will put a spirit in him, so that he shall hear a rumor and return to his own land, and I will make him fall by the sword in his own land.’”

    8 The Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria fighting against Libnah, for he had heard that the king had left Lachish. 9 Now the king heard concerning Tirhakah king of Cush,Probably Nubia">3 “He has set out to fight against you.” And when he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying, 10 “Thus shall you speak to Hezekiah king of Judah: ‘Do not let your God in whom you trust deceive you by promising that Jerusalem will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria. 11 Behold, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, devoting them to destruction. And shall you be delivered? 12 Have the gods of the nations delivered them, the nations that my fathers destroyed, Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the people of Eden who were in Telassar? 13 Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, the king of Hena, or the king of Ivvah?’”

    Hezekiah's Prayer for Deliverance

    14 Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it; and Hezekiah went up to the house of the LORD, and spread it before the LORD. 15 And Hezekiah prayed to the LORD: 16 “O LORD of hosts, God of Israel, enthroned above the cherubim, you are the God, you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; you have made heaven and earth. 17 Incline your ear, O LORD, and hear; open your eyes, O LORD, and see; and hear all the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to mock the living God. 18 Truly, O LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations and their lands, 19 and have cast their gods into the fire. For they were no gods, but the work of men's hands, wood and stone. Therefore they were destroyed. 20 So now, O LORD our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone are the LORD.”

    Sennacherib's Fall

    21 Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Because you have prayed to me concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria, 22 this is the word that the LORD has spoken concerning him:

      “‘She despises you, she scorns you—
        the virgin daughter of Zion;
      she wags her head behind you—
        the daughter of Jerusalem.
    23   “‘Whom have you mocked and reviled?
        Against whom have you raised your voice
      and lifted your eyes to the heights?
        Against the Holy One of Israel!
    24   By your servants you have mocked the Lord,
        and you have said, With my many chariots
      I have gone up the heights of the mountains,
        to the far recesses of Lebanon,
      to cut down its tallest cedars,
        its choicest cypresses,
      to come to its remotest height,
        its most fruitful forest.
    25   I dug wells
        and drank waters,
      to dry up with the sole of my foot
        all the streams of Egypt.
    26   “‘Have you not heard
        that I determined it long ago?
      I planned from days of old
        what now I bring to pass,
      that you should make fortified cities
        crash into heaps of ruins,
    27   while their inhabitants, shorn of strength,
        are dismayed and confounded,
      and have become like plants of the field
        and like tender grass,
      like grass on the housetops,
        blightedSome Hebrew manuscripts and 2 Kings 19:26; most Hebrew manuscripts a field">4 before it is grown.
    28   “‘I know your sitting down
        and your going out and coming in,
        and your raging against me.
    29   Because you have raged against me
        and your complacency has come to my ears,
      I will put my hook in your nose
        and my bit in your mouth,
      and I will turn you back on the way
        by which you came.’

    30 “And this shall be the sign for you: this year you shall eat what grows of itself, and in the second year what springs from that. Then in the third year sow and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat their fruit. 31 And the surviving remnant of the house of Judah shall again take root downward and bear fruit upward. 32 For out of Jerusalem shall go a remnant, and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.

    33 “Therefore thus says the LORD concerning the king of Assyria: He shall not come into this city or shoot an arrow there or come before it with a shield or cast up a siege mound against it. 34 By the way that he came, by the same he shall return, and he shall not come into this city, declares the LORD. 35 For I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake and for the sake of my servant David.”

    36 And the angel of the LORD went out and struck down 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians. And when people arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies. 37 Then Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and returned home and lived at Nineveh. 38 And as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, Adrammelech and Sharezer, his sons, struck him down with the sword. And after they escaped into the land of Ararat, Esarhaddon his son reigned in his place.

    Footnotes

    [1] 36:2 Rabshakeh is the title of a high-ranking Assyrian military officer


    [2] 36:16 Hebrew Make a blessing with me

    [3] 37:9 Probably Nubia

    [4] 37:27 Some Hebrew manuscripts and 2 Kings 19:26; most Hebrew manuscripts a field

    (ESV)

    Gospels and Epistles:
    Ephesians 5:1–21
    Ephesians 5:1–21 (Listen)
    Walk in Love

    5 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. 2 And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

    3 But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. 4 Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. 5 For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. 6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. 7 Therefore do not become partners with them; 8 for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light 9 (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), 10 and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. 11 Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. 12 For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret. 13 But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, 14 for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says,

      “Awake, O sleeper,
        and arise from the dead,
      and Christ will shine on you.”

    15 Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, 19 addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, 20 giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21 submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.

    (ESV)

    18 min
  • April 30: Psalm 119:89–176; Leviticus 26; Isaiah 35; Ephesians 4:17–32
    Psalms and Wisdom:
    Psalm 119:89–176
    Psalm 119:89–176 (Listen)
    Lamedh

    89   Forever, O LORD, your word
        is firmly fixed in the heavens.
    90   Your faithfulness endures to all generations;
        you have established the earth, and it stands fast.
    91   By your appointment they stand this day,
        for all things are your servants.
    92   If your law had not been my delight,
        I would have perished in my affliction.
    93   I will never forget your precepts,
        for by them you have given me life.
    94   I am yours; save me,
        for I have sought your precepts.
    95   The wicked lie in wait to destroy me,
        but I consider your testimonies.
    96   I have seen a limit to all perfection,
        but your commandment is exceedingly broad.

    Mem

    97   Oh how I love your law!
        It is my meditation all the day.
    98   Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies,
        for it is ever with me.
    99   I have more understanding than all my teachers,
        for your testimonies are my meditation.
    100   I understand more than the aged,Or the elders">1
        for I keep your precepts.
    101   I hold back my feet from every evil way,
        in order to keep your word.
    102   I do not turn aside from your rules,
        for you have taught me.
    103   How sweet are your words to my taste,
        sweeter than honey to my mouth!
    104   Through your precepts I get understanding;
        therefore I hate every false way.

    Nun

    105   Your word is a lamp to my feet
        and a light to my path.
    106   I have sworn an oath and confirmed it,
        to keep your righteous rules.
    107   I am severely afflicted;
        give me life, O LORD, according to your word!
    108   Accept my freewill offerings of praise, O LORD,
        and teach me your rules.
    109   I hold my life in my hand continually,
        but I do not forget your law.
    110   The wicked have laid a snare for me,
        but I do not stray from your precepts.
    111   Your testimonies are my heritage forever,
        for they are the joy of my heart.
    112   I incline my heart to perform your statutes
        forever, to the end.Or statutes; the reward is eternal">2

    Samekh

    113   I hate the double-minded,
        but I love your law.
    114   You are my hiding place and my shield;
        I hope in your word.
    115   Depart from me, you evildoers,
        that I may keep the commandments of my God.
    116   Uphold me according to your promise, that I may live,
        and let me not be put to shame in my hope!
    117   Hold me up, that I may be safe
        and have regard for your statutes continually!
    118   You spurn all who go astray from your statutes,
        for their cunning is in vain.
    119   All the wicked of the earth you discard like dross,
        therefore I love your testimonies.
    120   My flesh trembles for fear of you,
        and I am afraid of your judgments.

    Ayin

    121   I have done what is just and right;
        do not leave me to my oppressors.
    122   Give your servant a pledge of good;
        let not the insolent oppress me.
    123   My eyes long for your salvation
        and for the fulfillment of your righteous promise.
    124   Deal with your servant according to your steadfast love,
        and teach me your statutes.
    125   I am your servant; give me understanding,
        that I may know your testimonies!
    126   It is time for the LORD to act,
        for your law has been broken.
    127   Therefore I love your commandments
        above gold, above fine gold.
    128   Therefore I consider all your precepts to be right;
        I hate every false way.

    Pe

    129   Your testimonies are wonderful;
        therefore my soul keeps them.
    130   The unfolding of your words gives light;
        it imparts understanding to the simple.
    131   I open my mouth and pant,
        because I long for your commandments.
    132   Turn to me and be gracious to me,
        as is your way with those who love your name.
    133   Keep steady my steps according to your promise,
        and let no iniquity get dominion over me.
    134   Redeem me from man's oppression,
        that I may keep your precepts.
    135   Make your face shine upon your servant,
        and teach me your statutes.
    136   My eyes shed streams of tears,
        because people do not keep your law.

    Tsadhe

    137   Righteous are you, O LORD,
        and right are your rules.
    138   You have appointed your testimonies in righteousness
        and in all faithfulness.
    139   My zeal consumes me,
        because my foes forget your words.
    140   Your promise is well tried,
        and your servant loves it.
    141   I am small and despised,
        yet I do not forget your precepts.
    142   Your righteousness is righteous forever,
        and your law is true.
    143   Trouble and anguish have found me out,
        but your commandments are my delight.
    144   Your testimonies are righteous forever;
        give me understanding that I may live.

    Qoph

    145   With my whole heart I cry; answer me, O LORD!
        I will keep your statutes.
    146   I call to you; save me,
        that I may observe your testimonies.
    147   I rise before dawn and cry for help;
        I hope in your words.
    148   My eyes are awake before the watches of the night,
        that I may meditate on your promise.
    149   Hear my voice according to your steadfast love;
        O LORD, according to your justice give me life.
    150   They draw near who persecute me with evil purpose;
        they are far from your law.
    151   But you are near, O LORD,
        and all your commandments are true.
    152   Long have I known from your testimonies
        that you have founded them forever.

    Resh

    153   Look on my affliction and deliver me,
        for I do not forget your law.
    154   Plead my cause and redeem me;
        give me life according to your promise!
    155   Salvation is far from the wicked,
        for they do not seek your statutes.
    156   Great is your mercy, O LORD;
        give me life according to your rules.
    157   Many are my persecutors and my adversaries,
        but I do not swerve from your testimonies.
    158   I look at the faithless with disgust,
        because they do not keep your commands.
    159   Consider how I love your precepts!
        Give me life according to your steadfast love.
    160   The sum of your word is truth,
        and every one of your righteous rules endures forever.

    Sin and Shin

    161   Princes persecute me without cause,
        but my heart stands in awe of your words.
    162   I rejoice at your word
        like one who finds great spoil.
    163   I hate and abhor falsehood,
        but I love your law.
    164   Seven times a day I praise you
        for your righteous rules.
    165   Great peace have those who love your law;
        nothing can make them stumble.
    166   I hope for your salvation, O LORD,
        and I do your commandments.
    167   My soul keeps your testimonies;
        I love them exceedingly.
    168   I keep your precepts and testimonies,
        for all my ways are before you.

    Taw

    169   Let my cry come before you, O LORD;
        give me understanding according to your word!
    170   Let my plea come before you;
        deliver me according to your word.
    171   My lips will pour forth praise,
        for you teach me your statutes.
    172   My tongue will sing of your word,
        for all your commandments are right.
    173   Let your hand be ready to help me,
        for I have chosen your precepts.
    174   I long for your salvation, O LORD,
        and your law is my delight.
    175   Let my soul live and praise you,
        and let your rules help me.
    176   I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek your servant,
        for I do not forget your commandments.

    Footnotes

    [1] 119:100 Or the elders


    [2] 119:112 Or statutes; the reward is eternal

    (ESV)

    Pentateuch and History:
    Leviticus 26
    Leviticus 26 (Listen)
    Blessings for Obedience

    26 “You shall not make idols for yourselves or erect an image or pillar, and you shall not set up a figured stone in your land to bow down to it, for I am the LORD your God. 2 You shall keep my Sabbaths and reverence my sanctuary: I am the LORD.

    3 “If you walk in my statutes and observe my commandments and do them, 4 then I will give you your rains in their season, and the land shall yield its increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit. 5 Your threshing shall last to the time of the grape harvest, and the grape harvest shall last to the time for sowing. And you shall eat your bread to the full and dwell in your land securely. 6 I will give peace in the land, and you shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid. And I will remove harmful beasts from the land, and the sword shall not go through your land. 7 You shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword. 8 Five of you shall chase a hundred, and a hundred of you shall chase ten thousand, and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword. 9 I will turn to you and make you fruitful and multiply you and will confirm my covenant with you. 10 You shall eat old store long kept, and you shall clear out the old to make way for the new. 11 I will make my dwellingHebrew tabernacle">1 among you, and my soul shall not abhor you. 12 And I will walk among you and will be your God, and you shall be my people. 13 I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that you should not be their slaves. And I have broken the bars of your yoke and made you walk erect.

    Punishment for Disobedience

    14 “But if you will not listen to me and will not do all these commandments, 15 if you spurn my statutes, and if your soul abhors my rules, so that you will not do all my commandments, but break my covenant, 16 then I will do this to you: I will visit you with panic, with wasting disease and fever that consume the eyes and make the heart ache. And you shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it. 17 I will set my face against you, and you shall be struck down before your enemies. Those who hate you shall rule over you, and you shall flee when none pursues you. 18 And if in spite of this you will not listen to me, then I will discipline you again sevenfold for your sins, 19 and I will break the pride of your power, and I will make your heavens like iron and your earth like bronze. 20 And your strength shall be spent in vain, for your land shall not yield its increase, and the trees of the land shall not yield their fruit.

    21 “Then if you walk contrary to me and will not listen to me, I will continue striking you, sevenfold for your sins. 22 And I will let loose the wild beasts against you, which shall bereave you of your children and destroy your livestock and make you few in number, so that your roads shall be deserted.

    23 “And if by this discipline you are not turned to me but walk contrary to me, 24 then I also will walk contrary to you, and I myself will strike you sevenfold for your sins. 25 And I will bring a sword upon you, that shall execute vengeance for the covenant. And if you gather within your cities, I will send pestilence among you, and you shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy. 26 When I break your supplyHebrew staff">2 of bread, ten women shall bake your bread in a single oven and shall dole out your bread again by weight, and you shall eat and not be satisfied.

    27 “But if in spite of this you will not listen to me, but walk contrary to me, 28 then I will walk contrary to you in fury, and I myself will discipline you sevenfold for your sins. 29 You shall eat the flesh of your sons, and you shall eat the flesh of your daughters. 30 And I will destroy your high places and cut down your incense altars and cast your dead bodies upon the dead bodies of your idols, and my soul will abhor you. 31 And I will lay your cities waste and will make your sanctuaries desolate, and I will not smell your pleasing aromas. 32 And I myself will devastate the land, so that your enemies who settle in it shall be appalled at it. 33 And I will scatter you among the nations, and I will unsheathe the sword after you, and your land shall be a desolation, and your cities shall be a waste.

    34 “Then the land shall enjoyOr pay for; twice in this verse; also verse 43">3 its Sabbaths as long as it lies desolate, while you are in your enemies' land; then the land shall rest, and enjoy its Sabbaths. 35 As long as it lies desolate it shall have rest, the rest that it did not have on your Sabbaths when you were dwelling in it. 36 And as for those of you who are left, I will send faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies. The sound of a driven leaf shall put them to flight, and they shall flee as one flees from the sword, and they shall fall when none pursues. 37 They shall stumble over one another, as if to escape a sword, though none pursues. And you shall have no power to stand before your enemies. 38 And you shall perish among the nations, and the land of your enemies shall eat you up. 39 And those of you who are left shall rot away in your enemies' lands because of their iniquity, and also because of the iniquities of their fathers they shall rot away like them.

    40 “But if they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers in their treachery that they committed against me, and also in walking contrary to me, 41 so that I walked contrary to them and brought them into the land of their enemies—if then their uncircumcised heart is humbled and they make amends for their iniquity, 42 then I will remember my covenant with Jacob, and I will remember my covenant with Isaac and my covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land. 43 But the land shall be abandoned by them and enjoy its Sabbaths while it lies desolate without them, and they shall make amends for their iniquity, because they spurned my rules and their soul abhorred my statutes. 44 Yet for all that, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not spurn them, neither will I abhor them so as to destroy them utterly and break my covenant with them, for I am the LORD their God. 45 But I will for their sake remember the covenant with their forefathers, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations, that I might be their God: I am the LORD.”

    46 These are the statutes and rules and laws that the LORD made between himself and the people of Israel through Moses on Mount Sinai.

    Footnotes

    [1] 26:11 Hebrew tabernacle


    [2] 26:26 Hebrew staff

    [3] 26:34 Or pay for; twice in this verse; also verse 43

    (ESV)

    Chronicles and Prophets:
    Isaiah 35
    Isaiah 35 (Listen)
    The Ransomed Shall Return

    35   The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad;
        the desert shall rejoice and blossom like the crocus;
    2   it shall blossom abundantly
        and rejoice with joy and singing.
      The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it,
        the majesty of Carmel and Sharon.
      They shall see the glory of the LORD,
        the majesty of our God.
    3   Strengthen the weak hands,
        and make firm the feeble knees.
    4   Say to those who have an anxious heart,
        “Be strong; fear not!
      Behold, your God
        will come with vengeance,
      with the recompense of God.
        He will come and save you.”
    5   Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
        and the ears of the deaf unstopped;
    6   then shall the lame man leap like a deer,
        and the tongue of the mute sing for joy.
      For waters break forth in the wilderness,
        and streams in the desert;
    7   the burning sand shall become a pool,
        and the thirsty ground springs of water;
      in the haunt of jackals, where they lie down,
        the grass shall become reeds and rushes.
    8   And a highway shall be there,
        and it shall be called the Way of Holiness;
      the unclean shall not pass over it.
        It shall belong to those who walk on the way;
        even if they are fools, they shall not go astray.Or if they are fools, they shall not wander in it">1
    9   No lion shall be there,
        nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it;
      they shall not be found there,
        but the redeemed shall walk there.
    10   And the ransomed of the LORD shall return
        and come to Zion with singing;
      everlasting joy shall be upon their heads;
        they shall obtain gladness and joy,
        and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

    Footnotes

    [1] 35:8 Or if they are fools, they shall not wander in it

    (ESV)

    Gospels and Epistles:
    Ephesians 4:17–32
    Ephesians 4:17–32 (Listen)
    The New Life

    17 Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. 18 They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. 19 They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. 20 But that is not the way you learned Christ!—21 assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, 22 to put off your old self,Greek man; also verse 24">1 which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

    25 Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. 26 Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27 and give no opportunity to the devil. 28 Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. 29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. 32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

    Footnotes

    [1] 4:22 Greek man; also verse 24

    (ESV)

    19 min
  • April 29: Psalm 119:1–88; Leviticus 25; Isaiah 33–34; Ephesians 4:1–16
    Psalms and Wisdom:
    Psalm 119:1–88
    Psalm 119:1–88 (Listen)
    Your Word Is a Lamp to My Feet
    Aleph

    119   This psalm is an acrostic poem of twenty-two stanzas, following the letters of the Hebrew alphabet; within a stanza, each verse begins with the same Hebrew letter">1 Blessed are those whose way is blameless,
        who walk in the law of the LORD!
    2   Blessed are those who keep his testimonies,
        who seek him with their whole heart,
    3   who also do no wrong,
        but walk in his ways!
    4   You have commanded your precepts
        to be kept diligently.
    5   Oh that my ways may be steadfast
        in keeping your statutes!
    6   Then I shall not be put to shame,
        having my eyes fixed on all your commandments.
    7   I will praise you with an upright heart,
        when I learn your righteous rules.Or your just and righteous decrees; also verses 62, 106, 160, 164">2
    8   I will keep your statutes;
        do not utterly forsake me!

    Beth

    9   How can a young man keep his way pure?
        By guarding it according to your word.
    10   With my whole heart I seek you;
        let me not wander from your commandments!
    11   I have stored up your word in my heart,
        that I might not sin against you.
    12   Blessed are you, O LORD;
        teach me your statutes!
    13   With my lips I declare
        all the rulesOr all the just decrees">3 of your mouth.
    14   In the way of your testimonies I delight
        as much as in all riches.
    15   I will meditate on your precepts
        and fix my eyes on your ways.
    16   I will delight in your statutes;
        I will not forget your word.

    Gimel

    17   Deal bountifully with your servant,
        that I may live and keep your word.
    18   Open my eyes, that I may behold
        wondrous things out of your law.
    19   I am a sojourner on the earth;
        hide not your commandments from me!
    20   My soul is consumed with longing
        for your rulesOr your just decrees; also verses 30, 39, 43, 52, 75, 102, 108, 137, 156, 175">4 at all times.
    21   You rebuke the insolent, accursed ones,
        who wander from your commandments.
    22   Take away from me scorn and contempt,
        for I have kept your testimonies.
    23   Even though princes sit plotting against me,
        your servant will meditate on your statutes.
    24   Your testimonies are my delight;
        they are my counselors.

    Daleth

    25   My soul clings to the dust;
        give me life according to your word!
    26   When I told of my ways, you answered me;
        teach me your statutes!
    27   Make me understand the way of your precepts,
        and I will meditate on your wondrous works.
    28   My soul melts away for sorrow;
        strengthen me according to your word!
    29   Put false ways far from me
        and graciously teach me your law!
    30   I have chosen the way of faithfulness;
        I set your rules before me.
    31   I cling to your testimonies, O LORD;
        let me not be put to shame!
    32   I will run in the way of your commandments
        when you enlarge my heart!Or for you set my heart free">5

    He

    33   Teach me, O LORD, the way of your statutes;
        and I will keep it to the end.Or keep it as my reward">6
    34   Give me understanding, that I may keep your law
        and observe it with my whole heart.
    35   Lead me in the path of your commandments,
        for I delight in it.
    36   Incline my heart to your testimonies,
        and not to selfish gain!
    37   Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things;
        and give me life in your ways.
    38   Confirm to your servant your promise,
        that you may be feared.
    39   Turn away the reproach that I dread,
        for your rules are good.
    40   Behold, I long for your precepts;
        in your righteousness give me life!

    Waw

    41   Let your steadfast love come to me, O LORD,
        your salvation according to your promise;
    42   then shall I have an answer for him who taunts me,
        for I trust in your word.
    43   And take not the word of truth utterly out of my mouth,
        for my hope is in your rules.
    44   I will keep your law continually,
        forever and ever,
    45   and I shall walk in a wide place,
        for I have sought your precepts.
    46   I will also speak of your testimonies before kings
        and shall not be put to shame,
    47   for I find my delight in your commandments,
        which I love.
    48   I will lift up my hands toward your commandments, which I love,
        and I will meditate on your statutes.

    Zayin

    49   Remember your word to your servant,
        in which you have made me hope.
    50   This is my comfort in my affliction,
        that your promise gives me life.
    51   The insolent utterly deride me,
        but I do not turn away from your law.
    52   When I think of your rules from of old,
        I take comfort, O LORD.
    53   Hot indignation seizes me because of the wicked,
        who forsake your law.
    54   Your statutes have been my songs
        in the house of my sojourning.
    55   I remember your name in the night, O LORD,
        and keep your law.
    56   This blessing has fallen to me,
        that I have kept your precepts.

    Heth

    57   The LORD is my portion;
        I promise to keep your words.
    58   I entreat your favor with all my heart;
        be gracious to me according to your promise.
    59   When I think on my ways,
        I turn my feet to your testimonies;
    60   I hasten and do not delay
        to keep your commandments.
    61   Though the cords of the wicked ensnare me,
        I do not forget your law.
    62   At midnight I rise to praise you,
        because of your righteous rules.
    63   I am a companion of all who fear you,
        of those who keep your precepts.
    64   The earth, O LORD, is full of your steadfast love;
        teach me your statutes!

    Teth

    65   You have dealt well with your servant,
        O LORD, according to your word.
    66   Teach me good judgment and knowledge,
        for I believe in your commandments.
    67   Before I was afflicted I went astray,
        but now I keep your word.
    68   You are good and do good;
        teach me your statutes.
    69   The insolent smear me with lies,
        but with my whole heart I keep your precepts;
    70   their heart is unfeeling like fat,
        but I delight in your law.
    71   It is good for me that I was afflicted,
        that I might learn your statutes.
    72   The law of your mouth is better to me
        than thousands of gold and silver pieces.

    Yodh

    73   Your hands have made and fashioned me;
        give me understanding that I may learn your commandments.
    74   Those who fear you shall see me and rejoice,
        because I have hoped in your word.
    75   I know, O LORD, that your rules are righteous,
        and that in faithfulness you have afflicted me.
    76   Let your steadfast love comfort me
        according to your promise to your servant.
    77   Let your mercy come to me, that I may live;
        for your law is my delight.
    78   Let the insolent be put to shame,
        because they have wronged me with falsehood;
        as for me, I will meditate on your precepts.
    79   Let those who fear you turn to me,
        that they may know your testimonies.
    80   May my heart be blameless in your statutes,
        that I may not be put to shame!

    Kaph

    81   My soul longs for your salvation;
        I hope in your word.
    82   My eyes long for your promise;
        I ask, “When will you comfort me?”
    83   For I have become like a wineskin in the smoke,
        yet I have not forgotten your statutes.
    84   How long must your servant endure?Hebrew How many are the days of your servant?">7
        When will you judge those who persecute me?
    85   The insolent have dug pitfalls for me;
        they do not live according to your law.
    86   All your commandments are sure;
        they persecute me with falsehood; help me!
    87   They have almost made an end of me on earth,
        but I have not forsaken your precepts.
    88   In your steadfast love give me life,
        that I may keep the testimonies of your mouth.

    Footnotes

    [1] 119:1 This psalm is an acrostic poem of twenty-two stanzas, following the letters of the Hebrew alphabet; within a stanza, each verse begins with the same Hebrew letter


    [2] 119:7 Or your just and righteous decrees; also verses 62, 106, 160, 164

    [3] 119:13 Or all the just decrees

    [4] 119:20 Or your just decrees; also verses 30, 39, 43, 52, 75, 102, 108, 137, 156, 175

    [5] 119:32 Or for you set my heart free

    [6] 119:33 Or keep it as my reward

    [7] 119:84 Hebrew How many are the days of your servant?

    (ESV)

    Pentateuch and History:
    Leviticus 25
    Leviticus 25 (Listen)
    The Sabbath Year

    25 The LORD spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai, saying, 2 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you come into the land that I give you, the land shall keep a Sabbath to the LORD. 3 For six years you shall sow your field, and for six years you shall prune your vineyard and gather in its fruits, 4 but in the seventh year there shall be a Sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a Sabbath to the LORD. You shall not sow your field or prune your vineyard. 5 You shall not reap what grows of itself in your harvest, or gather the grapes of your undressed vine. It shall be a year of solemn rest for the land. 6 The Sabbath of the landThat is, the Sabbath produce of the land">1 shall provide food for you, for yourself and for your male and female slavesOr servants">2 and for your hired worker and the sojourner who lives with you, 7 and for your cattle and for the wild animals that are in your land: all its yield shall be for food.

    The Year of Jubilee

    8 “You shall count seven weeksOr Sabbaths">3 of years, seven times seven years, so that the time of the seven weeks of years shall give you forty-nine years. 9 Then you shall sound the loud trumpet on the tenth day of the seventh month. On the Day of Atonement you shall sound the trumpet throughout all your land. 10 And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you, when each of you shall return to his property and each of you shall return to his clan. 11 That fiftieth year shall be a jubilee for you; in it you shall neither sow nor reap what grows of itself nor gather the grapes from the undressed vines. 12 For it is a jubilee. It shall be holy to you. You may eat the produce of the field.Or countryside">4

    13 “In this year of jubilee each of you shall return to his property. 14 And if you make a sale to your neighbor or buy from your neighbor, you shall not wrong one another. 15 You shall pay your neighbor according to the number of years after the jubilee, and he shall sell to you according to the number of years for crops. 16 If the years are many, you shall increase the price, and if the years are few, you shall reduce the price, for it is the number of the crops that he is selling to you. 17 You shall not wrong one another, but you shall fear your God, for I am the LORD your God.

    18 “Therefore you shall do my statutes and keep my rules and perform them, and then you will dwell in the land securely. 19 The land will yield its fruit, and you will eat your fill and dwell in it securely. 20 And if you say, ‘What shall we eat in the seventh year, if we may not sow or gather in our crop?’ 21 I will command my blessing on you in the sixth year, so that it will produce a crop sufficient for three years. 22 When you sow in the eighth year, you will be eating some of the old crop; you shall eat the old until the ninth year, when its crop arrives.

    Redemption of Property

    23 “The land shall not be sold in perpetuity, for the land is mine. For you are strangers and sojourners with me. 24 And in all the country you possess, you shall allow a redemption of the land.

    25 “If your brother becomes poor and sells part of his property, then his nearest redeemer shall come and redeem what his brother has sold. 26 If a man has no one to redeem it and then himself becomes prosperous and finds sufficient means to redeem it, 27 let him calculate the years since he sold it and pay back the balance to the man to whom he sold it, and then return to his property. 28 But if he does not have sufficient means to recover it, then what he sold shall remain in the hand of the buyer until the year of jubilee. In the jubilee it shall be released, and he shall return to his property.

    29 “If a man sells a dwelling house in a walled city, he may redeem it within a year of its sale. For a full year he shall have the right of redemption. 30 If it is not redeemed within a full year, then the house in the walled city shall belong in perpetuity to the buyer, throughout his generations; it shall not be released in the jubilee. 31 But the houses of the villages that have no wall around them shall be classified with the fields of the land. They may be redeemed, and they shall be released in the jubilee. 32 As for the cities of the Levites, the Levites may redeem at any time the houses in the cities they possess. 33 And if one of the Levites exercises his right of redemption, then the house that was sold in a city they possess shall be released in the jubilee. For the houses in the cities of the Levites are their possession among the people of Israel. 34 But the fields of pastureland belonging to their cities may not be sold, for that is their possession forever.

    Kindness for Poor Brothers

    35 “If your brother becomes poor and cannot maintain himself with you, you shall support him as though he were a stranger and a sojourner, and he shall live with you. 36 Take no interest from him or profit, but fear your God, that your brother may live beside you. 37 You shall not lend him your money at interest, nor give him your food for profit. 38 I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan, and to be your God.

    39 “If your brother becomes poor beside you and sells himself to you, you shall not make him serve as a slave: 40 he shall be with you as a hired worker and as a sojourner. He shall serve with you until the year of the jubilee. 41 Then he shall go out from you, he and his children with him, and go back to his own clan and return to the possession of his fathers. 42 For they are my servants,Hebrew slaves">5 whom I brought out of the land of Egypt; they shall not be sold as slaves. 43 You shall not rule over him ruthlessly but shall fear your God. 44 As for your male and female slaves whom you may have: you may buy male and female slaves from among the nations that are around you. 45 You may also buy from among the strangers who sojourn with you and their clans that are with you, who have been born in your land, and they may be your property. 46 You may bequeath them to your sons after you to inherit as a possession forever. You may make slaves of them, but over your brothers the people of Israel you shall not rule, one over another ruthlessly.

    Redeeming a Poor Man

    47 “If a stranger or sojourner with you becomes rich, and your brother beside him becomes poor and sells himself to the stranger or sojourner with you or to a member of the stranger's clan, 48 then after he is sold he may be redeemed. One of his brothers may redeem him, 49 or his uncle or his cousin may redeem him, or a close relative from his clan may redeem him. Or if he grows rich he may redeem himself. 50 He shall calculate with his buyer from the year when he sold himself to him until the year of jubilee, and the price of his sale shall vary with the number of years. The time he was with his owner shall be rated as the time of a hired worker. 51 If there are still many years left, he shall pay proportionately for his redemption some of his sale price. 52 If there remain but a few years until the year of jubilee, he shall calculate and pay for his redemption in proportion to his years of service. 53 He shall treat him as a worker hired year by year. He shall not rule ruthlessly over him in your sight. 54 And if he is not redeemed by these means, then he and his children with him shall be released in the year of jubilee. 55 For it is to me that the people of Israel are servants.Or slaves">6 They are my servants whom I brought out of the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.

    Footnotes

    [1] 25:6 That is, the Sabbath produce of the land


    [2] 25:6 Or servants

    [3] 25:8 Or Sabbaths

    [4] 25:12 Or countryside

    [5] 25:42 Hebrew slaves

    [6] 25:55 Or slaves

    (ESV)

    Chronicles and Prophets:
    Isaiah 33–34
    Isaiah 33–34 (Listen)
    O Lord, Be Gracious to Us

    33   Ah, you destroyer,
        who yourself have not been destroyed,
      you traitor,
        whom none has betrayed!
      When you have ceased to destroy,
        you will be destroyed;
      and when you have finished betraying,
        they will betray you.
    2   O LORD, be gracious to us; we wait for you.
        Be our arm every morning,
        our salvation in the time of trouble.
    3   At the tumultuous noise peoples flee;
        when you lift yourself up, nations are scattered,
    4   and your spoil is gathered as the caterpillar gathers;
        as locusts leap, it is leapt upon.
    5   The LORD is exalted, for he dwells on high;
        he will fill Zion with justice and righteousness,
    6   and he will be the stability of your times,
        abundance of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge;
        the fear of the LORD is Zion'sHebrew his">1 treasure.
    7   Behold, their heroes cry in the streets;
        the envoys of peace weep bitterly.
    8   The highways lie waste;
        the traveler ceases.
      Covenants are broken;
        citiesMasoretic Text; Dead Sea Scroll witnesses">2 are despised;
        there is no regard for man.
    9   The land mourns and languishes;
        Lebanon is confounded and withers away;
      Sharon is like a desert,
        and Bashan and Carmel shake off their leaves.
    10   “Now I will arise,” says the LORD,
        “now I will lift myself up;
        now I will be exalted.
    11   You conceive chaff; you give birth to stubble;
        your breath is a fire that will consume you.
    12   And the peoples will be as if burned to lime,
        like thorns cut down, that are burned in the fire.”
    13   Hear, you who are far off, what I have done;
        and you who are near, acknowledge my might.
    14   The sinners in Zion are afraid;
        trembling has seized the godless:
      “Who among us can dwell with the consuming fire?
        Who among us can dwell with everlasting burnings?”
    15   He who walks righteously and speaks uprightly,
        who despises the gain of oppressions,
      who shakes his hands, lest they hold a bribe,
        who stops his ears from hearing of bloodshed
        and shuts his eyes from looking on evil,
    16   he will dwell on the heights;
        his place of defense will be the fortresses of rocks;
        his bread will be given him; his water will be sure.
    17   Your eyes will behold the king in his beauty;
        they will see a land that stretches afar.
    18   Your heart will muse on the terror:
        “Where is he who counted, where is he who weighed the tribute?
        Where is he who counted the towers?”
    19   You will see no more the insolent people,
        the people of an obscure speech that you cannot comprehend,
        stammering in a tongue that you cannot understand.
    20   Behold Zion, the city of our appointed feasts!
        Your eyes will see Jerusalem,
        an untroubled habitation, an immovable tent,
      whose stakes will never be plucked up,
        nor will any of its cords be broken.
    21   But there the LORD in majesty will be for us
        a place of broad rivers and streams,
      where no galley with oars can go,
        nor majestic ship can pass.
    22   For the LORD is our judge; the LORD is our lawgiver;
        the LORD is our king; he will save us.
    23   Your cords hang loose;
        they cannot hold the mast firm in its place
        or keep the sail spread out.
      Then prey and spoil in abundance will be divided;
        even the lame will take the prey.
    24   And no inhabitant will say, “I am sick”;
        the people who dwell there will be forgiven their iniquity.

    Judgment on the Nations

    34   Draw near, O nations, to hear,
        and give attention, O peoples!
      Let the earth hear, and all that fills it;
        the world, and all that comes from it.
    2   For the LORD is enraged against all the nations,
        and furious against all their host;
        he has devoted them to destruction,That is, set apart (devoted) as an offering to the Lord (for destruction); also verse 5">3 has given them over for slaughter.
    3   Their slain shall be cast out,
        and the stench of their corpses shall rise;
        the mountains shall flow with their blood.
    4   All the host of heaven shall rot away,
        and the skies roll up like a scroll.
      All their host shall fall,
        as leaves fall from the vine,
        like leaves falling from the fig tree.
    5   For my sword has drunk its fill in the heavens;
        behold, it descends for judgment upon Edom,
        upon the people I have devoted to destruction.
    6   The LORD has a sword; it is sated with blood;
        it is gorged with fat,
        with the blood of lambs and goats,
        with the fat of the kidneys of rams.
      For the LORD has a sacrifice in Bozrah,
        a great slaughter in the land of Edom.
    7   Wild oxen shall fall with them,
        and young steers with the mighty bulls.
      Their land shall drink its fill of blood,
        and their soil shall be gorged with fat.
    8   For the LORD has a day of vengeance,
        a year of recompense for the cause of Zion.
    9   And the streams of EdomHebrew her streams">4 shall be turned into pitch,
        and her soil into sulfur;
        her land shall become burning pitch.
    10   Night and day it shall not be quenched;
        its smoke shall go up forever.
      From generation to generation it shall lie waste;
        none shall pass through it forever and ever.
    11   But the hawk and the porcupineThe identity of the animals rendered hawk and porcupine is uncertain">5 shall possess it,
        the owl and the raven shall dwell in it.
      He shall stretch the line of confusionHebrew formlessness">6 over it,
        and the plumb line of emptiness.
    12   Its nobles—there is no one there to call it a kingdom,
        and all its princes shall be nothing.
    13   Thorns shall grow over its strongholds,
        nettles and thistles in its fortresses.
      It shall be the haunt of jackals,
        an abode for ostriches.Or owls">7
    14   And wild animals shall meet with hyenas;
        the wild goat shall cry to his fellow;
      indeed, there the night birdIdentity uncertain">8 settles
        and finds for herself a resting place.
    15   There the owl nests and lays
        and hatches and gathers her young in her shadow;
      indeed, there the hawks are gathered,
        each one with her mate.
    16   Seek and read from the book of the LORD:
        Not one of these shall be missing;
        none shall be without her mate.
      For the mouth of the LORD has commanded,
        and his Spirit has gathered them.
    17   He has cast the lot for them;
        his hand has portioned it out to them with the line;
      they shall possess it forever;
        from generation to generation they shall dwell in it.

    Footnotes

    [1] 33:6 Hebrew his


    [2] 33:8 Masoretic Text; Dead Sea Scroll witnesses

    [3] 34:2 That is, set apart (devoted) as an offering to the Lord (for destruction); also verse 5

    [4] 34:9 Hebrew her streams

    [5] 34:11 The identity of the animals rendered hawk and porcupine is uncertain

    [6] 34:11 Hebrew formlessness

    [7] 34:13 Or owls

    [8] 34:14 Identity uncertain

    (ESV)

    Gospels and Epistles:
    Ephesians 4:1–16
    Ephesians 4:1–16 (Listen)
    Unity in the Body of Christ

    4 I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call—5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. 7 But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ's gift. 8 Therefore it says,

      “When he ascended on high he led a host of captives,
        and he gave gifts to men.”The Greek word anthropoi can refer to both men and women">1

    9 (In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth?Or the lower parts of the earth?">2 10 He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.) 11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherdsOr pastors">3 and teachers,Or the shepherd-teachers">4 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood,Greek to a full-grown man">5 to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. 15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

    Footnotes

    [1] 4:8 The Greek word anthropoi can refer to both men and women


    [2] 4:9 Or the lower parts of the earth?

    [3] 4:11 Or pastors

    [4] 4:11 Or the shepherd-teachers

    [5] 4:13 Greek to a full-grown man

    (ESV)

    25 min
  • April 28: Psalm 118; Leviticus 24; Isaiah 30:18–32:20; Ephesians 3
    Psalms and Wisdom:
    Psalm 118
    Psalm 118 (Listen)
    His Steadfast Love Endures Forever

    118   Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;
        for his steadfast love endures forever!
    2   Let Israel say,
        “His steadfast love endures forever.”
    3   Let the house of Aaron say,
        “His steadfast love endures forever.”
    4   Let those who fear the LORD say,
        “His steadfast love endures forever.”
    5   Out of my distress I called on the LORD;
        the LORD answered me and set me free.
    6   The LORD is on my side; I will not fear.
        What can man do to me?
    7   The LORD is on my side as my helper;
        I shall look in triumph on those who hate me.
    8   It is better to take refuge in the LORD
        than to trust in man.
    9   It is better to take refuge in the LORD
        than to trust in princes.
    10   All nations surrounded me;
        in the name of the LORD I cut them off!
    11   They surrounded me, surrounded me on every side;
        in the name of the LORD I cut them off!
    12   They surrounded me like bees;
        they went out like a fire among thorns;
        in the name of the LORD I cut them off!
    13   I was pushed hard,Hebrew You (that is, the enemy) pushed me hard">1 so that I was falling,
        but the LORD helped me.
    14   The LORD is my strength and my song;
        he has become my salvation.
    15   Glad songs of salvation
        are in the tents of the righteous:
      “The right hand of the LORD does valiantly,
    16     the right hand of the LORD exalts,
        the right hand of the LORD does valiantly!”
    17   I shall not die, but I shall live,
        and recount the deeds of the LORD.
    18   The LORD has disciplined me severely,
        but he has not given me over to death.
    19   Open to me the gates of righteousness,
        that I may enter through them
        and give thanks to the LORD.
    20   This is the gate of the LORD;
        the righteous shall enter through it.
    21   I thank you that you have answered me
        and have become my salvation.
    22   The stone that the builders rejected
        has become the cornerstone.Hebrew the head of the corner">2
    23   This is the LORD's doing;
        it is marvelous in our eyes.
    24   This is the day that the LORD has made;
        let us rejoice and be glad in it.
    25   Save us, we pray, O LORD!
        O LORD, we pray, give us success!
    26   Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD!
        We bless you from the house of the LORD.
    27   The LORD is God,
        and he has made his light to shine upon us.
      Bind the festal sacrifice with cords,
        up to the horns of the altar!
    28   You are my God, and I will give thanks to you;
        you are my God; I will extol you.
    29   Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;
        for his steadfast love endures forever!

    Footnotes

    [1] 118:13 Hebrew You (that is, the enemy) pushed me hard


    [2] 118:22 Hebrew the head of the corner

    (ESV)

    Pentateuch and History:
    Leviticus 24
    Leviticus 24 (Listen)
    The Lamps

    24 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Command the people of Israel to bring you pure oil from beaten olives for the lamp, that a light may be kept burning regularly. 3 Outside the veil of the testimony, in the tent of meeting, Aaron shall arrange it from evening to morning before the LORD regularly. It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations. 4 He shall arrange the lamps on the lampstand of pure goldHebrew the pure lampstand">1 before the LORD regularly.

    Bread for the Tabernacle

    5 “You shall take fine flour and bake twelve loaves from it; two tenths of an ephahAn ephah was about 3/5 bushel or 22 liters">2 shall be in each loaf. 6 And you shall set them in two piles, six in a pile, on the table of pure goldHebrew the pure table">3 before the LORD. 7 And you shall put pure frankincense on each pile, that it may go with the bread as a memorial portion as a food offering to the LORD. 8 Every Sabbath day Aaron shall arrange it before the LORD regularly; it is from the people of Israel as a covenant forever. 9 And it shall be for Aaron and his sons, and they shall eat it in a holy place, since it is for him a most holy portion out of the LORD's food offerings, a perpetual due.”

    Punishment for Blasphemy

    10 Now an Israelite woman's son, whose father was an Egyptian, went out among the people of Israel. And the Israelite woman's son and a man of Israel fought in the camp, 11 and the Israelite woman's son blasphemed the Name, and cursed. Then they brought him to Moses. His mother's name was Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan. 12 And they put him in custody, till the will of the LORD should be clear to them.

    13 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 14 “Bring out of the camp the one who cursed, and let all who heard him lay their hands on his head, and let all the congregation stone him. 15 And speak to the people of Israel, saying, Whoever curses his God shall bear his sin. 16 Whoever blasphemes the name of the LORD shall surely be put to death. All the congregation shall stone him. The sojourner as well as the native, when he blasphemes the Name, shall be put to death.

    An Eye for an Eye

    17 “Whoever takes a human life shall surely be put to death. 18 Whoever takes an animal's life shall make it good, life for life. 19 If anyone injures his neighbor, as he has done it shall be done to him, 20 fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; whatever injury he has given a person shall be given to him. 21 Whoever kills an animal shall make it good, and whoever kills a person shall be put to death. 22 You shall have the same rule for the sojourner and for the native, for I am the LORD your God.” 23 So Moses spoke to the people of Israel, and they brought out of the camp the one who had cursed and stoned him with stones. Thus the people of Israel did as the LORD commanded Moses.

    Footnotes

    [1] 24:4 Hebrew the pure lampstand


    [2] 24:5 An ephah was about 3/5 bushel or 22 liters

    [3] 24:6 Hebrew the pure table

    (ESV)

    Chronicles and Prophets:
    Isaiah 30:18–32:20
    Isaiah 30:18–32:20 (Listen)
    The Lord Will Be Gracious

    18   Therefore the LORD waits to be gracious to you,
        and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you.
      For the LORD is a God of justice;
        blessed are all those who wait for him.

    19 For a people shall dwell in Zion, in Jerusalem; you shall weep no more. He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry. As soon as he hears it, he answers you. 20 And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your Teacher will not hide himself anymore, but your eyes shall see your Teacher. 21 And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left. 22 Then you will defile your carved idols overlaid with silver and your gold-plated metal images. You will scatter them as unclean things. You will say to them, “Be gone!”

    23 And he will give rain for the seed with which you sow the ground, and bread, the produce of the ground, which will be rich and plenteous. In that day your livestock will graze in large pastures, 24 and the oxen and the donkeys that work the ground will eat seasoned fodder, which has been winnowed with shovel and fork. 25 And on every lofty mountain and every high hill there will be brooks running with water, in the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall. 26 Moreover, the light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day when the LORD binds up the brokenness of his people, and heals the wounds inflicted by his blow.

    27   Behold, the name of the LORD comes from afar,
        burning with his anger, and in thick rising smoke;Hebrew in weight of uplifted clouds">1
      his lips are full of fury,
        and his tongue is like a devouring fire;
    28   his breath is like an overflowing stream
        that reaches up to the neck;
      to sift the nations with the sieve of destruction,
        and to place on the jaws of the peoples a bridle that leads astray.

    29 You shall have a song as in the night when a holy feast is kept, and gladness of heart, as when one sets out to the sound of the flute to go to the mountain of the LORD, to the Rock of Israel. 30 And the LORD will cause his majestic voice to be heard and the descending blow of his arm to be seen, in furious anger and a flame of devouring fire, with a cloudburst and storm and hailstones. 31 The Assyrians will be terror-stricken at the voice of the LORD, when he strikes with his rod. 32 And every stroke of the appointed staff that the LORD lays on them will be to the sound of tambourines and lyres. Battling with brandished arm, he will fight with them. 33 For a burning placeOr For Topheth">2 has long been prepared; indeed, for the king it is made ready, its pyre made deep and wide, with fire and wood in abundance; the breath of the LORD, like a stream of sulfur, kindles it.

    Woe to Those Who Go Down to Egypt

    31   WoeOr Ah,">3 to those who go down to Egypt for help
        and rely on horses,
      who trust in chariots because they are many
        and in horsemen because they are very strong,
      but do not look to the Holy One of Israel
        or consult the LORD!
    2   And yet he is wise and brings disaster;
        he does not call back his words,
      but will arise against the house of the evildoers
        and against the helpers of those who work iniquity.
    3   The Egyptians are man, and not God,
        and their horses are flesh, and not spirit.
      When the LORD stretches out his hand,
        the helper will stumble, and he who is helped will fall,
        and they will all perish together.
    4   For thus the LORD said to me,
      “As a lion or a young lion growls over his prey,
        and when a band of shepherds is called out against him
      he is not terrified by their shouting
        or daunted at their noise,
      so the LORD of hosts will come down
        to fightThe Hebrew words for hosts and to fight sound alike">4 on Mount Zion and on its hill.
    5   Like birds hovering, so the LORD of hosts
        will protect Jerusalem;
      he will protect and deliver it;
        he will spare and rescue it.”

    6 Turn to him from whom peopleHebrew they">5 have deeply revolted, O children of Israel. 7 For in that day everyone shall cast away his idols of silver and his idols of gold, which your hands have sinfully made for you.

    8   “And the Assyrian shall fall by a sword, not of man;
        and a sword, not of man, shall devour him;
      and he shall flee from the sword,
        and his young men shall be put to forced labor.
    9   His rock shall pass away in terror,
        and his officers desert the standard in panic,”
      declares the LORD, whose fire is in Zion,
        and whose furnace is in Jerusalem.

    A King Will Reign in Righteousness

    32   Behold, a king will reign in righteousness,
        and princes will rule in justice.
    2   Each will be like a hiding place from the wind,
        a shelter from the storm,
      like streams of water in a dry place,
        like the shade of a great rock in a weary land.
    3   Then the eyes of those who see will not be closed,
        and the ears of those who hear will give attention.
    4   The heart of the hasty will understand and know,
        and the tongue of the stammerers will hasten to speak distinctly.
    5   The fool will no more be called noble,
        nor the scoundrel said to be honorable.
    6   For the fool speaks folly,
        and his heart is busy with iniquity,
      to practice ungodliness,
        to utter error concerning the LORD,
      to leave the craving of the hungry unsatisfied,
        and to deprive the thirsty of drink.
    7   As for the scoundrel—his devices are evil;
        he plans wicked schemes
      to ruin the poor with lying words,
        even when the plea of the needy is right.
    8   But he who is noble plans noble things,
        and on noble things he stands.

    Complacent Women Warned of Disaster

    9   Rise up, you women who are at ease, hear my voice;
        you complacent daughters, give ear to my speech.
    10   In little more than a year
        you will shudder, you complacent women;
      for the grape harvest fails,
        the fruit harvest will not come.
    11   Tremble, you women who are at ease,
        shudder, you complacent ones;
      strip, and make yourselves bare,
        and tie sackcloth around your waist.
    12   Beat your breasts for the pleasant fields,
        for the fruitful vine,
    13   for the soil of my people
        growing up in thorns and briers,
      yes, for all the joyous houses
        in the exultant city.
    14   For the palace is forsaken,
        the populous city deserted;
      the hill and the watchtower
        will become dens forever,
      a joy of wild donkeys,
        a pasture of flocks;
    15   until the Spirit is poured upon us from on high,
        and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field,
        and the fruitful field is deemed a forest.
    16   Then justice will dwell in the wilderness,
        and righteousness abide in the fruitful field.
    17   And the effect of righteousness will be peace,
        and the result of righteousness, quietness and trustOr security">6 forever.
    18   My people will abide in a peaceful habitation,
        in secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places.
    19   And it will hail when the forest falls down,
        and the city will be utterly laid low.
    20   Happy are you who sow beside all waters,
        who let the feet of the ox and the donkey range free.

    Footnotes

    [1] 30:27 Hebrew in weight of uplifted clouds


    [2] 30:33 Or For Topheth

    [3] 31:1 Or Ah,

    [4] 31:4 The Hebrew words for hosts and to fight sound alike

    [5] 31:6 Hebrew they

    [6] 32:17 Or security

    (ESV)

    Gospels and Epistles:
    Ephesians 3
    Ephesians 3 (Listen)
    The Mystery of the Gospel Revealed

    3 For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles—2 assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God's grace that was given to me for you, 3 how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly. 4 When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, 5 which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. 6 This mystery isThe words This mystery is are inferred from verse 4">1 that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.

    7 Of this gospel I was made a minister according to the gift of God's grace, which was given me by the working of his power. 8 To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, 9 and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages inOr by">2 God, who created all things, 10 so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. 11 This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, 12 in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him. 13 So I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you, which is your glory.

    Prayer for Spiritual Strength

    14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every familyOr from whom all fatherhood; the Greek word patria in verse 15 is closely related to the word for Father in verse 14">3 in heaven and on earth is named, 16 that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

    20 Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

    Footnotes

    [1] 3:6 The words This mystery is are inferred from verse 4


    [2] 3:9 Or by

    [3] 3:15 Or from whom all fatherhood; the Greek word patria in verse 15 is closely related to the word for Father in verse 14

    (ESV)

    16 min
  • April 27: Psalm 117; Leviticus 23; Isaiah 29–30:17; Ephesians 2
    Psalms and Wisdom:
    Psalm 117
    Psalm 117 (Listen)
    The Lord's Faithfulness Endures Forever

    117   Praise the LORD, all nations!
        Extol him, all peoples!
    2   For great is his steadfast love toward us,
        and the faithfulness of the LORD endures forever.
      Praise the LORD!

    (ESV)

    Pentateuch and History:
    Leviticus 23
    Leviticus 23 (Listen)
    Feasts of the Lord

    23 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, These are the appointed feasts of the LORD that you shall proclaim as holy convocations; they are my appointed feasts.

    The Sabbath

    3 “Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work. It is a Sabbath to the LORD in all your dwelling places.

    The Passover

    4 “These are the appointed feasts of the LORD, the holy convocations, which you shall proclaim at the time appointed for them. 5 In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at twilight,Hebrew between the two evenings">1 is the LORD's Passover. 6 And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the LORD; for seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. 7 On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall not do any ordinary work. 8 But you shall present a food offering to the LORD for seven days. On the seventh day is a holy convocation; you shall not do any ordinary work.”

    The Feast of Firstfruits

    9 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 10 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you come into the land that I give you and reap its harvest, you shall bring the sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest, 11 and he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, so that you may be accepted. On the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it. 12 And on the day when you wave the sheaf, you shall offer a male lamb a year old without blemish as a burnt offering to the LORD. 13 And the grain offering with it shall be two tenths of an ephahAn ephah was about 3/5 bushel or 22 liters">2 of fine flour mixed with oil, a food offering to the LORD with a pleasing aroma, and the drink offering with it shall be of wine, a fourth of a hin.A hin was about 4 quarts or 3.5 liters">3 14 And you shall eat neither bread nor grain parched or fresh until this same day, until you have brought the offering of your God: it is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.

    The Feast of Weeks

    15 “You shall count seven full weeks from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering. 16 You shall count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath. Then you shall present a grain offering of new grain to the LORD. 17 You shall bring from your dwelling places two loaves of bread to be waved, made of two tenths of an ephah. They shall be of fine flour, and they shall be baked with leaven, as firstfruits to the LORD. 18 And you shall present with the bread seven lambs a year old without blemish, and one bull from the herd and two rams. They shall be a burnt offering to the LORD, with their grain offering and their drink offerings, a food offering with a pleasing aroma to the LORD. 19 And you shall offer one male goat for a sin offering, and two male lambs a year old as a sacrifice of peace offerings. 20 And the priest shall wave them with the bread of the firstfruits as a wave offering before the LORD, with the two lambs. They shall be holy to the LORD for the priest. 21 And you shall make a proclamation on the same day. You shall hold a holy convocation. You shall not do any ordinary work. It is a statute forever in all your dwelling places throughout your generations.

    22 “And when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, nor shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the LORD your God.”

    The Feast of Trumpets

    23 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 24 “Speak to the people of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall observe a day of solemn rest, a memorial proclaimed with blast of trumpets, a holy convocation. 25 You shall not do any ordinary work, and you shall present a food offering to the LORD.”

    The Day of Atonement

    26 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 27 “Now on the tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. It shall be for you a time of holy convocation, and you shall afflict yourselvesOr shall fast; also verse 32">4 and present a food offering to the LORD. 28 And you shall not do any work on that very day, for it is a Day of Atonement, to make atonement for you before the LORD your God. 29 For whoever is not afflictedOr is not fasting">5 on that very day shall be cut off from his people. 30 And whoever does any work on that very day, that person I will destroy from among his people. 31 You shall not do any work. It is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwelling places. 32 It shall be to you a Sabbath of solemn rest, and you shall afflict yourselves. On the ninth day of the month beginning at evening, from evening to evening shall you keep your Sabbath.”

    The Feast of Booths

    33 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 34 “Speak to the people of Israel, saying, On the fifteenth day of this seventh month and for seven days is the Feast of BoothsOr Tabernacles">6 to the LORD. 35 On the first day shall be a holy convocation; you shall not do any ordinary work. 36 For seven days you shall present food offerings to the LORD. On the eighth day you shall hold a holy convocation and present a food offering to the LORD. It is a solemn assembly; you shall not do any ordinary work.

    37 “These are the appointed feasts of the LORD, which you shall proclaim as times of holy convocation, for presenting to the LORD food offerings, burnt offerings and grain offerings, sacrifices and drink offerings, each on its proper day, 38 besides the LORD's Sabbaths and besides your gifts and besides all your vow offerings and besides all your freewill offerings, which you give to the LORD.

    39 “On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the produce of the land, you shall celebrate the feast of the LORD seven days. On the first day shall be a solemn rest, and on the eighth day shall be a solemn rest. 40 And you shall take on the first day the fruit of splendid trees, branches of palm trees and boughs of leafy trees and willows of the brook, and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God seven days. 41 You shall celebrate it as a feast to the LORD for seven days in the year. It is a statute forever throughout your generations; you shall celebrate it in the seventh month. 42 You shall dwell in booths for seven days. All native Israelites shall dwell in booths, 43 that your generations may know that I made the people of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.”

    44 Thus Moses declared to the people of Israel the appointed feasts of the LORD.

    Footnotes

    [1] 23:5 Hebrew between the two evenings


    [2] 23:13 An ephah was about 3/5 bushel or 22 liters

    [3] 23:13 A hin was about 4 quarts or 3.5 liters

    [4] 23:27 Or shall fast; also verse 32

    [5] 23:29 Or is not fasting

    [6] 23:34 Or Tabernacles

    (ESV)

    Chronicles and Prophets:
    Isaiah 29–30:17
    Isaiah 29–30:17 (Listen)
    The Siege of Jerusalem

    29   Ah, Ariel, Ariel,
        the city where David encamped!
      Add year to year;
        let the feasts run their round.
    2   Yet I will distress Ariel,
        and there shall be moaning and lamentation,
        and she shall be to me like an Ariel.Ariel could mean lion of God, or hero (2 Samuel 23:20), or altar hearth (Ezekiel 43:15–16)">1
    3   And I will encamp against you all around,
        and will besiege you with towers
        and I will raise siegeworks against you.
    4   And you will be brought low; from the earth you shall speak,
        and from the dust your speech will be bowed down;
      your voice shall come from the ground like the voice of a ghost,
        and from the dust your speech shall whisper.
    5   But the multitude of your foreign foes shall be like small dust,
        and the multitude of the ruthless like passing chaff.
      And in an instant, suddenly,
    6     you will be visited by the LORD of hosts
      with thunder and with earthquake and great noise,
        with whirlwind and tempest, and the flame of a devouring fire.
    7   And the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel,
        all that fight against her and her stronghold and distress her,
        shall be like a dream, a vision of the night.
    8   As when a hungry man dreams, and behold, he is eating,
        and awakes with his hunger not satisfied,
      or as when a thirsty man dreams, and behold, he is drinking,
        and awakes faint, with his thirst not quenched,
      so shall the multitude of all the nations be
        that fight against Mount Zion.
    9   Astonish yourselvesOr Linger awhile">2 and be astonished;
        blind yourselves and be blind!
      Be drunk,Or They are drunk">3 but not with wine;
        stagger,Or they stagger">4 but not with strong drink!
    10   For the LORD has poured out upon you
        a spirit of deep sleep,
      and has closed your eyes (the prophets),
        and covered your heads (the seers).

    11 And the vision of all this has become to you like the words of a book that is sealed. When men give it to one who can read, saying, “Read this,” he says, “I cannot, for it is sealed.” 12 And when they give the book to one who cannot read, saying, “Read this,” he says, “I cannot read.”

    13   And the Lord said:
      “Because this people draw near with their mouth
        and honor me with their lips,
        while their hearts are far from me,
      and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men,
    14   therefore, behold, I will again
        do wonderful things with this people,
        with wonder upon wonder;
      and the wisdom of their wise men shall perish,
        and the discernment of their discerning men shall be hidden.”
    15   Ah, you who hide deep from the LORD your counsel,
        whose deeds are in the dark,
        and who say, “Who sees us? Who knows us?”
    16   You turn things upside down!
      Shall the potter be regarded as the clay,
      that the thing made should say of its maker,
        “He did not make me”;
      or the thing formed say of him who formed it,
        “He has no understanding”?
    17   Is it not yet a very little while
        until Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field,
        and the fruitful field shall be regarded as a forest?
    18   In that day the deaf shall hear
        the words of a book,
      and out of their gloom and darkness
        the eyes of the blind shall see.
    19   The meek shall obtain fresh joy in the LORD,
        and the poor among mankind shall exult in the Holy One of Israel.
    20   For the ruthless shall come to nothing
        and the scoffer cease,
        and all who watch to do evil shall be cut off,
    21   who by a word make a man out to be an offender,
        and lay a snare for him who reproves in the gate,
        and with an empty plea turn aside him who is in the right.

    22 Therefore thus says the LORD, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob:

      “Jacob shall no more be ashamed,
        no more shall his face grow pale.
    23   For when he sees his children,
        the work of my hands, in his midst,
        they will sanctify my name;
      they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob
        and will stand in awe of the God of Israel.
    24   And those who go astray in spirit will come to understanding,
        and those who murmur will accept instruction.”

    Do Not Go Down to Egypt

    30   “Ah, stubborn children,” declares the LORD,
      “who carry out a plan, but not mine,
      and who make an alliance,Hebrew who weave a web">5 but not of my Spirit,
        that they may add sin to sin;
    2   who set out to go down to Egypt,
        without asking for my direction,
      to take refuge in the protection of Pharaoh
        and to seek shelter in the shadow of Egypt!
    3   Therefore shall the protection of Pharaoh turn to your shame,
        and the shelter in the shadow of Egypt to your humiliation.
    4   For though his officials are at Zoan
        and his envoys reach Hanes,
    5   everyone comes to shame
        through a people that cannot profit them,
      that brings neither help nor profit,
        but shame and disgrace.”

    6 An oracle on the beasts of the Negeb.

      Through a land of trouble and anguish,
        from where come the lioness and the lion,
        the adder and the flying fiery serpent,
      they carry their riches on the backs of donkeys,
        and their treasures on the humps of camels,
        to a people that cannot profit them.
    7   Egypt's help is worthless and empty;
        therefore I have called her
        “Rahab who sits still.”

    A Rebellious People

    8   And now, go, write it before them on a tablet
        and inscribe it in a book,
      that it may be for the time to come
        as a witness forever.Some Hebrew manuscripts, Syriac, Targum, Vulgate, and Greek versions; Masoretic Text forever and ever">6
    9   For they are a rebellious people,
        lying children,
      children unwilling to hear
        the instruction of the LORD;
    10   who say to the seers, “Do not see,”
        and to the prophets, “Do not prophesy to us what is right;
      speak to us smooth things,
        prophesy illusions,
    11   leave the way, turn aside from the path,
        let us hear no more about the Holy One of Israel.”
    12   Therefore thus says the Holy One of Israel,
      “Because you despise this word
        and trust in oppression and perverseness
        and rely on them,
    13   therefore this iniquity shall be to you
        like a breach in a high wall, bulging out and about to collapse,
        whose breaking comes suddenly, in an instant;
    14   and its breaking is like that of a potter's vessel
        that is smashed so ruthlessly
      that among its fragments not a shard is found
        with which to take fire from the hearth,
        or to dip up water out of the cistern.”
    15   For thus said the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel,
      “In returningOr repentance">7 and rest you shall be saved;
        in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.”
      But you were unwilling, 16 and you said,
      “No! We will flee upon horses”;
        therefore you shall flee away;
      and, “We will ride upon swift steeds”;
        therefore your pursuers shall be swift.
    17   A thousand shall flee at the threat of one;
        at the threat of five you shall flee,
      till you are left
        like a flagstaff on the top of a mountain,
        like a signal on a hill.

    Footnotes

    [1] 29:2 Ariel could mean lion of God, or hero (2 Samuel 23:20), or altar hearth (Ezekiel 43:15–16)


    [2] 29:9 Or Linger awhile

    [3] 29:9 Or They are drunk

    [4] 29:9 Or they stagger

    [5] 30:1 Hebrew who weave a web

    [6] 30:8 Some Hebrew manuscripts, Syriac, Targum, Vulgate, and Greek versions; Masoretic Text forever and ever

    [7] 30:15 Or repentance

    (ESV)

    Gospels and Epistles:
    Ephesians 2
    Ephesians 2 (Listen)
    By Grace Through Faith

    2 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the bodyGreek flesh">1 and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.Greek like the rest">2 4 ButOr And">3 God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

    One in Christ

    11 Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands—12 remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility 15 by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, 16 and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. 17 And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. 19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens,Or sojourners">4 but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God byOr in">5 the Spirit.

    Footnotes

    [1] 2:3 Greek flesh


    [2] 2:3 Greek like the rest

    [3] 2:4 Or And

    [4] 2:19 Or sojourners

    [5] 2:22 Or in

    (ESV)

    17 min
  • April 26: Psalm 116; Leviticus 22:17–33; Isaiah 28; Ephesians 1
    Psalms and Wisdom:
    Psalm 116
    Psalm 116 (Listen)
    I Love the Lord

    116   I love the LORD, because he has heard
        my voice and my pleas for mercy.
    2   Because he inclined his ear to me,
        therefore I will call on him as long as I live.
    3   The snares of death encompassed me;
        the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me;
        I suffered distress and anguish.
    4   Then I called on the name of the LORD:
        “O LORD, I pray, deliver my soul!”
    5   Gracious is the LORD, and righteous;
        our God is merciful.
    6   The LORD preserves the simple;
        when I was brought low, he saved me.
    7   Return, O my soul, to your rest;
        for the LORD has dealt bountifully with you.
    8   For you have delivered my soul from death,
        my eyes from tears,
        my feet from stumbling;
    9   I will walk before the LORD
        in the land of the living.
    10   I believed, even whenOr believed, indeed; Septuagint believed, therefore">1 I spoke:
        “I am greatly afflicted”;
    11   I said in my alarm,
        “All mankind are liars.”
    12   What shall I render to the LORD
        for all his benefits to me?
    13   I will lift up the cup of salvation
        and call on the name of the LORD,
    14   I will pay my vows to the LORD
        in the presence of all his people.
    15   Precious in the sight of the LORD
        is the death of his saints.
    16   O LORD, I am your servant;
        I am your servant, the son of your maidservant.
        You have loosed my bonds.
    17   I will offer to you the sacrifice of thanksgiving
        and call on the name of the LORD.
    18   I will pay my vows to the LORD
        in the presence of all his people,
    19   in the courts of the house of the LORD,
        in your midst, O Jerusalem.
      Praise the LORD!

    Footnotes

    [1] 116:10 Or believed, indeed; Septuagint believed, therefore

    (ESV)

    Pentateuch and History:
    Leviticus 22:17–33
    Leviticus 22:17–33 (Listen)
    Acceptable Offerings

    17 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 18 “Speak to Aaron and his sons and all the people of Israel and say to them, When any one of the house of Israel or of the sojourners in Israel presents a burnt offering as his offering, for any of their vows or freewill offerings that they offer to the LORD, 19 if it is to be accepted for you it shall be a male without blemish, of the bulls or the sheep or the goats. 20 You shall not offer anything that has a blemish, for it will not be acceptable for you. 21 And when anyone offers a sacrifice of peace offerings to the LORD to fulfill a vow or as a freewill offering from the herd or from the flock, to be accepted it must be perfect; there shall be no blemish in it. 22 Animals blind or disabled or mutilated or having a discharge or an itch or scabs you shall not offer to the LORD or give them to the LORD as a food offering on the altar. 23 You may present a bull or a lamb that has a part too long or too short for a freewill offering, but for a vow offering it cannot be accepted. 24 Any animal that has its testicles bruised or crushed or torn or cut you shall not offer to the LORD; you shall not do it within your land, 25 neither shall you offer as the bread of your God any such animals gotten from a foreigner. Since there is a blemish in them, because of their mutilation, they will not be accepted for you.”

    26 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 27 “When an ox or sheep or goat is born, it shall remain seven days with its mother, and from the eighth day on it shall be acceptable as a food offering to the LORD. 28 But you shall not kill an ox or a sheep and her young in one day. 29 And when you sacrifice a sacrifice of thanksgiving to the LORD, you shall sacrifice it so that you may be accepted. 30 It shall be eaten on the same day; you shall leave none of it until morning: I am the LORD.

    31 “So you shall keep my commandments and do them: I am the LORD. 32 And you shall not profane my holy name, that I may be sanctified among the people of Israel. I am the LORD who sanctifies you, 33 who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God: I am the LORD.”

    (ESV)

    Chronicles and Prophets:
    Isaiah 28
    Isaiah 28 (Listen)
    Judgment on Ephraim and Jerusalem

    28   Ah, the proud crown of the drunkards of Ephraim,
        and the fading flower of its glorious beauty,
        which is on the head of the rich valley of those overcome with wine!
    2   Behold, the Lord has one who is mighty and strong;
        like a storm of hail, a destroying tempest,
      like a storm of mighty, overflowing waters,
        he casts down to the earth with his hand.
    3   The proud crown of the drunkards of Ephraim
        will be trodden underfoot;
    4   and the fading flower of its glorious beauty,
        which is on the head of the rich valley,
      will be like a first-ripe figOr fruit">1 before the summer:
        when someone sees it, he swallows it
        as soon as it is in his hand.
    5   In that day the LORD of hosts will be a crown of glory,The Hebrew words for glory and hosts sound alike">2
        and a diadem of beauty, to the remnant of his people,
    6   and a spirit of justice to him who sits in judgment,
        and strength to those who turn back the battle at the gate.
    7   These also reel with wine
        and stagger with strong drink;
      the priest and the prophet reel with strong drink,
        they are swallowed byOr confused by">3 wine,
        they stagger with strong drink,
      they reel in vision,
        they stumble in giving judgment.
    8   For all tables are full of filthy vomit,
        with no space left.
    9   “To whom will he teach knowledge,
        and to whom will he explain the message?
      Those who are weaned from the milk,
        those taken from the breast?
    10   For it is precept upon precept, precept upon precept,
        line upon line, line upon line,
        here a little, there a little.”
    11   For by people of strange lips
        and with a foreign tongue
      the LORD will speak to this people,
    12     to whom he has said,
      “This is rest;
        give rest to the weary;
      and this is repose”;
        yet they would not hear.
    13   And the word of the LORD will be to them
      precept upon precept, precept upon precept,
        line upon line, line upon line,
        here a little, there a little,
      that they may go, and fall backward,
        and be broken, and snared, and taken.

    A Cornerstone in Zion

    14   Therefore hear the word of the LORD, you scoffers,
        who rule this people in Jerusalem!
    15   Because you have said, “We have made a covenant with death,
        and with Sheol we have an agreement,
      when the overwhelming whip passes through
        it will not come to us,
      for we have made lies our refuge,
        and in falsehood we have taken shelter”;
    16   therefore thus says the Lord GOD,
      “Behold, I am the one who has laidDead Sea Scroll I am laying">4 as a foundation in Zion,
        a stone, a tested stone,
      a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation:
        ‘Whoever believes will not be in haste.’
    17   And I will make justice the line,
        and righteousness the plumb line;
      and hail will sweep away the refuge of lies,
        and waters will overwhelm the shelter.”
    18   Then your covenant with death will be annulled,
        and your agreement with Sheol will not stand;
      when the overwhelming scourge passes through,
        you will be beaten down by it.
    19   As often as it passes through it will take you;
        for morning by morning it will pass through,
        by day and by night;
      and it will be sheer terror to understand the message.
    20   For the bed is too short to stretch oneself on,
        and the covering too narrow to wrap oneself in.
    21   For the LORD will rise up as on Mount Perazim;
        as in the Valley of Gibeon he will be roused;
      to do his deed—strange is his deed!
        and to work his work—alien is his work!
    22   Now therefore do not scoff,
        lest your bonds be made strong;
      for I have heard a decree of destruction
        from the Lord GOD of hosts against the whole land.
    23   Give ear, and hear my voice;
        give attention, and hear my speech.
    24   Does he who plows for sowing plow continually?
        Does he continually open and harrow his ground?
    25   When he has leveled its surface,
        does he not scatter dill, sow cumin,
      and put in wheat in rows
        and barley in its proper place,
        and emmerA type of wheat">5 as the border?
    26   For he is rightly instructed;
        his God teaches him.
    27   Dill is not threshed with a threshing sledge,
        nor is a cart wheel rolled over cumin,
      but dill is beaten out with a stick,
        and cumin with a rod.
    28   Does one crush grain for bread?
        No, he does not thresh it forever;Or Grain is crushed for bread; he will surely thresh it, but not forever">6
      when he drives his cart wheel over it
        with his horses, he does not crush it.
    29   This also comes from the LORD of hosts;
        he is wonderful in counsel
        and excellent in wisdom.

    Footnotes

    [1] 28:4 Or fruit


    [2] 28:5 The Hebrew words for glory and hosts sound alike

    [3] 28:7 Or confused by

    [4] 28:16 Dead Sea Scroll I am laying

    [5] 28:25 A type of wheat

    [6] 28:28 Or Grain is crushed for bread; he will surely thresh it, but not forever

    (ESV)

    Gospels and Epistles:
    Ephesians 1
    Ephesians 1 (Listen)
    Greeting

    1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,

    To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithfulSome manuscripts saints who are also faithful (omitting in Ephesus)">1 in Christ Jesus:

    2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

    Spiritual Blessings in Christ

    3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5 he predestined usOr before him in love, 5having predestined us">2 for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, 8 which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight 9 making knownOr he lavished upon us in all wisdom and insight, making known . . .">3 to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ 10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

    11 In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, 12 so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. 13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the guaranteeOr down payment">4 of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it,Or until God redeems his possession">5 to the praise of his glory.

    Thanksgiving and Prayer

    15 For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your loveSome manuscripts omit your love">6 toward all the saints, 16 I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, 18 having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might 20 that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. 22 And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

    Footnotes

    [1] 1:1 Some manuscripts saints who are also faithful (omitting in Ephesus)


    [2] 1:5 Or before him in love, 5having predestined us

    [3] 1:9 Or he lavished upon us in all wisdom and insight, making known . . .

    [4] 1:14 Or down payment

    [5] 1:14 Or until God redeems his possession

    [6] 1:15 Some manuscripts omit your love

    (ESV)

    12 min
  • April 25: Psalm 115; Leviticus 21–22:16; Isaiah 26–27; Galatians 6
    Psalms and Wisdom:
    Psalm 115
    Psalm 115 (Listen)
    To Your Name Give Glory

    115   Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your name give glory,
        for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!
    2   Why should the nations say,
        “Where is their God?”
    3   Our God is in the heavens;
        he does all that he pleases.
    4   Their idols are silver and gold,
        the work of human hands.
    5   They have mouths, but do not speak;
        eyes, but do not see.
    6   They have ears, but do not hear;
        noses, but do not smell.
    7   They have hands, but do not feel;
        feet, but do not walk;
        and they do not make a sound in their throat.
    8   Those who make them become like them;
        so do all who trust in them.
    9   O Israel,Masoretic Text; many Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint, Syriac O house of Israel">1 trust in the LORD!
        He is their help and their shield.
    10   O house of Aaron, trust in the LORD!
        He is their help and their shield.
    11   You who fear the LORD, trust in the LORD!
        He is their help and their shield.
    12   The LORD has remembered us; he will bless us;
        he will bless the house of Israel;
        he will bless the house of Aaron;
    13   he will bless those who fear the LORD,
        both the small and the great.
    14   May the LORD give you increase,
        you and your children!
    15   May you be blessed by the LORD,
        who made heaven and earth!
    16   The heavens are the LORD's heavens,
        but the earth he has given to the children of man.
    17   The dead do not praise the LORD,
        nor do any who go down into silence.
    18   But we will bless the LORD
        from this time forth and forevermore.
      Praise the LORD!

    Footnotes

    [1] 115:9 Masoretic Text; many Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint, Syriac O house of Israel

    (ESV)

    Pentateuch and History:
    Leviticus 21–22:16
    Leviticus 21–22:16 (Listen)
    Holiness and the Priests

    21 And the LORD said to Moses, “Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them, No one shall make himself unclean for the dead among his people, 2 except for his closest relatives, his mother, his father, his son, his daughter, his brother, 3 or his virgin sister (who is near to him because she has had no husband; for her he may make himself unclean). 4 He shall not make himself unclean as a husband among his people and so profane himself. 5 They shall not make bald patches on their heads, nor shave off the edges of their beards, nor make any cuts on their body. 6 They shall be holy to their God and not profane the name of their God. For they offer the LORD's food offerings, the bread of their God; therefore they shall be holy. 7 They shall not marry a prostitute or a woman who has been defiled, neither shall they marry a woman divorced from her husband, for the priest is holy to his God. 8 You shall sanctify him, for he offers the bread of your God. He shall be holy to you, for I, the LORD, who sanctify you, am holy. 9 And the daughter of any priest, if she profanes herself by whoring, profanes her father; she shall be burned with fire.

    10 “The priest who is chief among his brothers, on whose head the anointing oil is poured and who has been consecrated to wear the garments, shall not let the hair of his head hang loose nor tear his clothes. 11 He shall not go in to any dead bodies nor make himself unclean, even for his father or for his mother. 12 He shall not go out of the sanctuary, lest he profane the sanctuary of his God, for the consecration of the anointing oil of his God is on him: I am the LORD. 13 And he shall take a wife in her virginity.Or a young wife">1 14 A widow, or a divorced woman, or a woman who has been defiled, or a prostitute, these he shall not marry. But he shall take as his wife a virginHebrew young woman">2 of his own people, 15 that he may not profane his offspring among his people, for I am the LORD who sanctifies him.”

    16 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 17 “Speak to Aaron, saying, None of your offspring throughout their generations who has a blemish may approach to offer the bread of his God. 18 For no one who has a blemish shall draw near, a man blind or lame, or one who has a mutilated face or a limb too long, 19 or a man who has an injured foot or an injured hand, 20 or a hunchback or a dwarf or a man with a defect in his sight or an itching disease or scabs or crushed testicles. 21 No man of the offspring of Aaron the priest who has a blemish shall come near to offer the LORD's food offerings; since he has a blemish, he shall not come near to offer the bread of his God. 22 He may eat the bread of his God, both of the most holy and of the holy things, 23 but he shall not go through the veil or approach the altar, because he has a blemish, that he may not profane my sanctuaries,Or my holy precincts">3 for I am the LORD who sanctifies them.” 24 So Moses spoke to Aaron and to his sons and to all the people of Israel.

    22 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to Aaron and his sons so that they abstain from the holy things of the people of Israel, which they dedicate to me, so that they do not profane my holy name: I am the LORD. 3 Say to them, ‘If any one of all your offspring throughout your generations approaches the holy things that the people of Israel dedicate to the LORD, while he has an uncleanness, that person shall be cut off from my presence: I am the LORD. 4 None of the offspring of Aaron who has a leprous disease or a discharge may eat of the holy things until he is clean. Whoever touches anything that is unclean through contact with the dead or a man who has had an emission of semen, 5 and whoever touches a swarming thing by which he may be made unclean or a person from whom he may take uncleanness, whatever his uncleanness may be—6 the person who touches such a thing shall be unclean until the evening and shall not eat of the holy things unless he has bathed his body in water. 7 When the sun goes down he shall be clean, and afterward he may eat of the holy things, because they are his food. 8 He shall not eat what dies of itself or is torn by beasts, and so make himself unclean by it: I am the LORD.’ 9 They shall therefore keep my charge, lest they bear sin for it and die thereby when they profane it: I am the LORD who sanctifies them.

    10 “A lay person shall not eat of a holy thing; no foreign guest of the priest or hired worker shall eat of a holy thing, 11 but if a priest buys a slaveOr servant; twice in this verse">4 as his property for money, the slaveHebrew he">5 may eat of it, and anyone born in his house may eat of his food. 12 If a priest's daughter marries a layman, she shall not eat of the contribution of the holy things. 13 But if a priest's daughter is widowed or divorced and has no child and returns to her father's house, as in her youth, she may eat of her father's food; yet no lay person shall eat of it. 14 And if anyone eats of a holy thing unintentionally, he shall add the fifth of its value to it and give the holy thing to the priest. 15 They shall not profane the holy things of the people of Israel, which they contribute to the LORD, 16 and so cause them to bear iniquity and guilt, by eating their holy things: for I am the LORD who sanctifies them.”

    Footnotes

    [1] 21:13 Or a young wife


    [2] 21:14 Hebrew young woman

    [3] 21:23 Or my holy precincts

    [4] 22:11 Or servant; twice in this verse

    [5] 22:11 Hebrew he

    (ESV)

    Chronicles and Prophets:
    Isaiah 26–27
    Isaiah 26–27 (Listen)
    You Keep Him in Perfect Peace

    26 In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah:

      “We have a strong city;
        he sets up salvation
        as walls and bulwarks.
    2   Open the gates,
        that the righteous nation that keeps faith may enter in.
    3   You keep him in perfect peace
        whose mind is stayed on you,
        because he trusts in you.
    4   Trust in the LORD forever,
        for the LORD GOD is an everlasting rock.
    5   For he has humbled
        the inhabitants of the height,
        the lofty city.
      He lays it low, lays it low to the ground,
        casts it to the dust.
    6   The foot tramples it,
        the feet of the poor,
        the steps of the needy.”
    7   The path of the righteous is level;
        you make level the way of the righteous.
    8   In the path of your judgments,
        O LORD, we wait for you;
      your name and remembrance
        are the desire of our soul.
    9   My soul yearns for you in the night;
        my spirit within me earnestly seeks you.
      For when your judgments are in the earth,
        the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.
    10   If favor is shown to the wicked,
        he does not learn righteousness;
      in the land of uprightness he deals corruptly
        and does not see the majesty of the LORD.
    11   O LORD, your hand is lifted up,
        but they do not see it.
      Let them see your zeal for your people, and be ashamed.
        Let the fire for your adversaries consume them.
    12   O LORD, you will ordain peace for us,
        for you have indeed done for us all our works.
    13   O LORD our God,
        other lords besides you have ruled over us,
        but your name alone we bring to remembrance.
    14   They are dead, they will not live;
        they are shades, they will not arise;
      to that end you have visited them with destruction
        and wiped out all remembrance of them.
    15   But you have increased the nation, O LORD,
        you have increased the nation; you are glorified;
        you have enlarged all the borders of the land.
    16   O LORD, in distress they sought you;
        they poured out a whispered prayer
        when your discipline was upon them.
    17   Like a pregnant woman
        who writhes and cries out in her pangs
        when she is near to giving birth,
      so were we because of you, O LORD;
    18     we were pregnant, we writhed,
        but we have given birth to wind.
      We have accomplished no deliverance in the earth,
        and the inhabitants of the world have not fallen.
    19   Your dead shall live; their bodies shall rise.
        You who dwell in the dust, awake and sing for joy!
      For your dew is a dew of light,
        and the earth will give birth to the dead.
    20   Come, my people, enter your chambers,
        and shut your doors behind you;
      hide yourselves for a little while
        until the fury has passed by.
    21   For behold, the LORD is coming out from his place
        to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity,
      and the earth will disclose the blood shed on it,
        and will no more cover its slain.

    The Redemption of Israel

    27 In that day the LORD with his hard and great and strong sword will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent, Leviathan the twisting serpent, and he will slay the dragon that is in the sea.

    2   In that day,
      “A pleasant vineyard,Many Hebrew manuscripts A vineyard of wine">1 sing of it!
    3     I, the LORD, am its keeper;
        every moment I water it.
        Lest anyone punish it,
      I keep it night and day;
    4     I have no wrath.
      Would that I had thorns and briers to battle!
        I would march against them,
        I would burn them up together.
    5   Or let them lay hold of my protection,
        let them make peace with me,
        let them make peace with me.”
    6   In days to comeHebrew In those to come">2 Jacob shall take root,
        Israel shall blossom and put forth shoots
        and fill the whole world with fruit.
    7   Has he struck them as he struck those who struck them?
        Or have they been slain as their slayers were slain?
    8   Measure by measure,Or By driving her away; the meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain">3 by exile you contended with them;
        he removed them with his fierce breathOr wind">4 in the day of the east wind.
    9   Therefore by this the guilt of Jacob will be atoned for,
        and this will be the full fruit of the removal of his sin:Septuagint and this is the blessing when I take away his sin">5
      when he makes all the stones of the altars
        like chalkstones crushed to pieces,
        no Asherim or incense altars will remain standing.
    10   For the fortified city is solitary,
        a habitation deserted and forsaken, like the wilderness;
      there the calf grazes;
        there it lies down and strips its branches.
    11   When its boughs are dry, they are broken;
        women come and make a fire of them.
      For this is a people without discernment;
        therefore he who made them will not have compassion on them;
        he who formed them will show them no favor.

    12 In that day from the river EuphratesHebrew from the River">6 to the Brook of Egypt the LORD will thresh out the grain, and you will be gleaned one by one, O people of Israel. 13 And in that day a great trumpet will be blown, and those who were lost in the land of Assyria and those who were driven out to the land of Egypt will come and worship the LORD on the holy mountain at Jerusalem.

    Footnotes

    [1] 27:2 Many Hebrew manuscripts A vineyard of wine


    [2] 27:6 Hebrew In those to come

    [3] 27:8 Or By driving her away; the meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain

    [4] 27:8 Or wind

    [5] 27:9 Septuagint and this is the blessing when I take away his sin

    [6] 27:12 Hebrew from the River

    (ESV)

    Gospels and Epistles:
    Galatians 6
    Galatians 6 (Listen)
    Bear One Another's Burdens

    6 Brothers,Or Brothers and sisters; also verse 18">1 if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. 2 Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. 3 For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. 4 But let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor. 5 For each will have to bear his own load.

    6 Let the one who is taught the word share all good things with the one who teaches. 7 Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. 8 For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. 9 And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. 10 So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.

    Final Warning and Benediction

    11 See with what large letters I am writing to you with my own hand. 12 It is those who want to make a good showing in the flesh who would force you to be circumcised, and only in order that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ. 13 For even those who are circumcised do not themselves keep the law, but they desire to have you circumcised that they may boast in your flesh. 14 But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whichOr through whom">2 the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. 15 For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. 16 And as for all who walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God.

    17 From now on let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus.

    18 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers. Amen.

    Footnotes

    [1] 6:1 Or Brothers and sisters; also verse 18


    [2] 6:14 Or through whom

    (ESV)

    16 min
  • April 24: Psalm 114; Leviticus 20; Isaiah 25; Galatians 5
    Psalms and Wisdom:
    Psalm 114
    Psalm 114 (Listen)
    Tremble at the Presence of the Lord

    114   When Israel went out from Egypt,
        the house of Jacob from a people of strange language,
    2   Judah became his sanctuary,
        Israel his dominion.
    3   The sea looked and fled;
        Jordan turned back.
    4   The mountains skipped like rams,
        the hills like lambs.
    5   What ails you, O sea, that you flee?
        O Jordan, that you turn back?
    6   O mountains, that you skip like rams?
        O hills, like lambs?
    7   Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord,
        at the presence of the God of Jacob,
    8   who turns the rock into a pool of water,
        the flint into a spring of water.

    (ESV)

    Pentateuch and History:
    Leviticus 20
    Leviticus 20 (Listen)
    Punishment for Child Sacrifice

    20 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Say to the people of Israel, Any one of the people of Israel or of the strangers who sojourn in Israel who gives any of his children to Molech shall surely be put to death. The people of the land shall stone him with stones. 3 I myself will set my face against that man and will cut him off from among his people, because he has given one of his children to Molech, to make my sanctuary unclean and to profane my holy name. 4 And if the people of the land do at all close their eyes to that man when he gives one of his children to Molech, and do not put him to death, 5 then I will set my face against that man and against his clan and will cut them off from among their people, him and all who follow him in whoring after Molech.

    6 “If a person turns to mediums and necromancers, whoring after them, I will set my face against that person and will cut him off from among his people. 7 Consecrate yourselves, therefore, and be holy, for I am the LORD your God. 8 Keep my statutes and do them; I am the LORD who sanctifies you. 9 For anyone who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death; he has cursed his father or his mother; his blood is upon him.

    Punishments for Sexual Immorality

    10 “If a man commits adultery with the wife ofHebrew repeats if a man commits adultery with the wife of">1 his neighbor, both the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death. 11 If a man lies with his father's wife, he has uncovered his father's nakedness; both of them shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them. 12 If a man lies with his daughter-in-law, both of them shall surely be put to death; they have committed perversion; their blood is upon them. 13 If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them. 14 If a man takes a woman and her mother also, it is depravity; he and they shall be burned with fire, that there may be no depravity among you. 15 If a man lies with an animal, he shall surely be put to death, and you shall kill the animal. 16 If a woman approaches any animal and lies with it, you shall kill the woman and the animal; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them.

    17 “If a man takes his sister, a daughter of his father or a daughter of his mother, and sees her nakedness, and she sees his nakedness, it is a disgrace, and they shall be cut off in the sight of the children of their people. He has uncovered his sister's nakedness, and he shall bear his iniquity. 18 If a man lies with a woman during her menstrual period and uncovers her nakedness, he has made naked her fountain, and she has uncovered the fountain of her blood. Both of them shall be cut off from among their people. 19 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother's sister or of your father's sister, for that is to make naked one's relative; they shall bear their iniquity. 20 If a man lies with his uncle's wife, he has uncovered his uncle's nakedness; they shall bear their sin; they shall die childless. 21 If a man takes his brother's wife, it is impurity.Literally menstrual impurity">2 He has uncovered his brother's nakedness; they shall be childless.

    You Shall Be Holy

    22 “You shall therefore keep all my statutes and all my rules and do them, that the land where I am bringing you to live may not vomit you out. 23 And you shall not walk in the customs of the nation that I am driving out before you, for they did all these things, and therefore I detested them. 24 But I have said to you, ‘You shall inherit their land, and I will give it to you to possess, a land flowing with milk and honey.’ I am the LORD your God, who has separated you from the peoples. 25 You shall therefore separate the clean beast from the unclean, and the unclean bird from the clean. You shall not make yourselves detestable by beast or by bird or by anything with which the ground crawls, which I have set apart for you to hold unclean. 26 You shall be holy to me, for I the LORD am holy and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be mine.

    27 “A man or a woman who is a medium or a necromancer shall surely be put to death. They shall be stoned with stones; their blood shall be upon them.”

    Footnotes

    [1] 20:10 Hebrew repeats if a man commits adultery with the wife of


    [2] 20:21 Literally menstrual impurity

    (ESV)

    Chronicles and Prophets:
    Isaiah 25
    Isaiah 25 (Listen)
    God Will Swallow Up Death Forever

    25   O LORD, you are my God;
        I will exalt you; I will praise your name,
      for you have done wonderful things,
        plans formed of old, faithful and sure.
    2   For you have made the city a heap,
        the fortified city a ruin;
      the foreigners' palace is a city no more;
        it will never be rebuilt.
    3   Therefore strong peoples will glorify you;
        cities of ruthless nations will fear you.
    4   For you have been a stronghold to the poor,
        a stronghold to the needy in his distress,
        a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat;
      for the breath of the ruthless is like a storm against a wall,
    5     like heat in a dry place.
      You subdue the noise of the foreigners;
        as heat by the shade of a cloud,
        so the song of the ruthless is put down.
    6   On this mountain the LORD of hosts will make for all peoples
        a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine,
        of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined.
    7   And he will swallow up on this mountain
        the covering that is cast over all peoples,
        the veil that is spread over all nations.
    8     He will swallow up death forever;
      and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces,
        and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth,
        for the LORD has spoken.
    9   It will be said on that day,
        “Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us.
        This is the LORD; we have waited for him;
        let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”
    10   For the hand of the LORD will rest on this mountain,
        and Moab shall be trampled down in his place,
        as straw is trampled down in a dunghill.The Hebrew words for dunghill and for the Moabite town Madmen (Jeremiah 48:2) sound alike">1
    11   And he will spread out his hands in the midst of it
        as a swimmer spreads his hands out to swim,
        but the LORD will lay low his pompous pride together with the skillOr in spite of the skill">2 of his hands.
    12   And the high fortifications of his walls he will bring down,
        lay low, and cast to the ground, to the dust.

    Footnotes

    [1] 25:10 The Hebrew words for dunghill and for the Moabite town Madmen (Jeremiah 48:2) sound alike


    [2] 25:11 Or in spite of the skill

    (ESV)

    Gospels and Epistles:
    Galatians 5
    Galatians 5 (Listen)
    Christ Has Set Us Free

    5 For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

    2 Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. 3 I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. 4 You are severed from Christ, you who would be justifiedOr counted righteous">1 by the law; you have fallen away from grace. 5 For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.

    7 You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? 8 This persuasion is not from him who calls you. 9 A little leaven leavens the whole lump. 10 I have confidence in the Lord that you will take no other view, and the one who is troubling you will bear the penalty, whoever he is. 11 But if I, brothers,Or brothers and sisters; also verse 13">2 still preachGreek proclaim">3 circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been removed. 12 I wish those who unsettle you would emasculate themselves!

    13 For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. 14 For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 15 But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another.

    Keep in Step with the Spirit

    16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy,Some manuscripts add murder">4 drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who doOr make a practice of doing">5 such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

    25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.

    Footnotes

    [1] 5:4 Or counted righteous


    [2] 5:11 Or brothers and sisters; also verse 13

    [3] 5:11 Greek proclaim

    [4] 5:21 Some manuscripts add murder

    [5] 5:21 Or make a practice of doing

    (ESV)

    11 min
  • April 23: Psalm 113; Leviticus 19; Isaiah 24; Galatians 4
    Psalms and Wisdom:
    Psalm 113
    Psalm 113 (Listen)
    Who Is like the Lord Our God?

    113   Praise the LORD!
      Praise, O servants of the LORD,
        praise the name of the LORD!
    2   Blessed be the name of the LORD
        from this time forth and forevermore!
    3   From the rising of the sun to its setting,
        the name of the LORD is to be praised!
    4   The LORD is high above all nations,
        and his glory above the heavens!
    5   Who is like the LORD our God,
        who is seated on high,
    6   who looks far down
        on the heavens and the earth?
    7   He raises the poor from the dust
        and lifts the needy from the ash heap,
    8   to make them sit with princes,
        with the princes of his people.
    9   He gives the barren woman a home,
        making her the joyous mother of children.
      Praise the LORD!

    (ESV)

    Pentateuch and History:
    Leviticus 19
    Leviticus 19 (Listen)
    The Lord Is Holy

    19 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them, You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy. 3 Every one of you shall revere his mother and his father, and you shall keep my Sabbaths: I am the LORD your God. 4 Do not turn to idols or make for yourselves any gods of cast metal: I am the LORD your God.

    5 “When you offer a sacrifice of peace offerings to the LORD, you shall offer it so that you may be accepted. 6 It shall be eaten the same day you offer it or on the day after, and anything left over until the third day shall be burned up with fire. 7 If it is eaten at all on the third day, it is tainted; it will not be accepted, 8 and everyone who eats it shall bear his iniquity, because he has profaned what is holy to the LORD, and that person shall be cut off from his people.

    Love Your Neighbor as Yourself

    9 “When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, neither shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. 10 And you shall not strip your vineyard bare, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the LORD your God.

    11 “You shall not steal; you shall not deal falsely; you shall not lie to one another. 12 You shall not swear by my name falsely, and so profane the name of your God: I am the LORD.

    13 “You shall not oppress your neighbor or rob him. The wages of a hired worker shall not remain with you all night until the morning. 14 You shall not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block before the blind, but you shall fear your God: I am the LORD.

    15 “You shall do no injustice in court. You shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great, but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor. 16 You shall not go around as a slanderer among your people, and you shall not stand up against the lifeHebrew blood">1 of your neighbor: I am the LORD.

    17 “You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall reason frankly with your neighbor, lest you incur sin because of him. 18 You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD.

    You Shall Keep My Statutes

    19 “You shall keep my statutes. You shall not let your cattle breed with a different kind. You shall not sow your field with two kinds of seed, nor shall you wear a garment of cloth made of two kinds of material.

    20 “If a man lies sexually with a woman who is a slave, assigned to another man and not yet ransomed or given her freedom, a distinction shall be made. They shall not be put to death, because she was not free; 21 but he shall bring his compensation to the LORD, to the entrance of the tent of meeting, a ram for a guilt offering. 22 And the priest shall make atonement for him with the ram of the guilt offering before the LORD for his sin that he has committed, and he shall be forgiven for the sin that he has committed.

    23 “When you come into the land and plant any kind of tree for food, then you shall regard its fruit as forbidden.Hebrew as its uncircumcision">2 Three years it shall be forbidden to you; it must not be eaten. 24 And in the fourth year all its fruit shall be holy, an offering of praise to the LORD. 25 But in the fifth year you may eat of its fruit, to increase its yield for you: I am the LORD your God.

    26 “You shall not eat any flesh with the blood in it. You shall not interpret omens or tell fortunes. 27 You shall not round off the hair on your temples or mar the edges of your beard. 28 You shall not make any cuts on your body for the dead or tattoo yourselves: I am the LORD.

    29 “Do not profane your daughter by making her a prostitute, lest the land fall into prostitution and the land become full of depravity. 30 You shall keep my Sabbaths and reverence my sanctuary: I am the LORD.

    31 “Do not turn to mediums or necromancers; do not seek them out, and so make yourselves unclean by them: I am the LORD your God.

    32 “You shall stand up before the gray head and honor the face of an old man, and you shall fear your God: I am the LORD.

    33 “When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. 34 You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.

    35 “You shall do no wrong in judgment, in measures of length or weight or quantity. 36 You shall have just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin:An ephah was about 3/5 bushel or 22 liters; a hin was about 4 quarts or 3.5 liters">3 I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt. 37 And you shall observe all my statutes and all my rules, and do them: I am the LORD.”

    Footnotes

    [1] 19:16 Hebrew blood


    [2] 19:23 Hebrew as its uncircumcision

    [3] 19:36 An ephah was about 3/5 bushel or 22 liters; a hin was about 4 quarts or 3.5 liters

    (ESV)

    Chronicles and Prophets:
    Isaiah 24
    Isaiah 24 (Listen)
    Judgment on the Whole Earth

    24   Behold, the LORD will empty the earthOr land; also throughout this chapter">1 and make it desolate,
        and he will twist its surface and scatter its inhabitants.
    2   And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest;
        as with the slave, so with his master;
        as with the maid, so with her mistress;
      as with the buyer, so with the seller;
        as with the lender, so with the borrower;
        as with the creditor, so with the debtor.
    3   The earth shall be utterly empty and utterly plundered;
        for the LORD has spoken this word.
    4   The earth mourns and withers;
        the world languishes and withers;
        the highest people of the earth languish.
    5   The earth lies defiled
        under its inhabitants;
      for they have transgressed the laws,
        violated the statutes,
        broken the everlasting covenant.
    6   Therefore a curse devours the earth,
        and its inhabitants suffer for their guilt;
      therefore the inhabitants of the earth are scorched,
        and few men are left.
    7   The wine mourns,
        the vine languishes,
        all the merry-hearted sigh.
    8   The mirth of the tambourines is stilled,
        the noise of the jubilant has ceased,
        the mirth of the lyre is stilled.
    9   No more do they drink wine with singing;
        strong drink is bitter to those who drink it.
    10   The wasted city is broken down;
        every house is shut up so that none can enter.
    11   There is an outcry in the streets for lack of wine;
        all joy has grown dark;
        the gladness of the earth is banished.
    12   Desolation is left in the city;
        the gates are battered into ruins.
    13   For thus it shall be in the midst of the earth
        among the nations,
      as when an olive tree is beaten,
        as at the gleaning when the grape harvest is done.
    14   They lift up their voices, they sing for joy;
        over the majesty of the LORD they shout from the west.Hebrew from the sea">2
    15   Therefore in the eastHebrew in the realm of light, or with the fires">3 give glory to the LORD;
        in the coastlands of the sea, give glory to the name of the LORD, the God of Israel.
    16   From the ends of the earth we hear songs of praise,
        of glory to the Righteous One.
      But I say, “I waste away,
        I waste away. Woe is me!
      For the traitors have betrayed,
        with betrayal the traitors have betrayed.”
    17   Terror and the pit and the snareThe Hebrew words for terror, pit, and snare sound alike">4
        are upon you, O inhabitant of the earth!
    18   He who flees at the sound of the terror
        shall fall into the pit,
      and he who climbs out of the pit
        shall be caught in the snare.
      For the windows of heaven are opened,
        and the foundations of the earth tremble.
    19   The earth is utterly broken,
        the earth is split apart,
        the earth is violently shaken.
    20   The earth staggers like a drunken man;
        it sways like a hut;
      its transgression lies heavy upon it,
        and it falls, and will not rise again.
    21   On that day the LORD will punish
        the host of heaven, in heaven,
        and the kings of the earth, on the earth.
    22   They will be gathered together
        as prisoners in a pit;
      they will be shut up in a prison,
        and after many days they will be punished.
    23   Then the moon will be confounded
        and the sun ashamed,
      for the LORD of hosts reigns
        on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem,
      and his glory will be before his elders.

    Footnotes

    [1] 24:1 Or land; also throughout this chapter


    [2] 24:14 Hebrew from the sea

    [3] 24:15 Hebrew in the realm of light, or with the fires

    [4] 24:17 The Hebrew words for terror, pit, and snare sound alike

    (ESV)

    Gospels and Epistles:
    Galatians 4
    Galatians 4 (Listen)
    Sons and Heirs

    4 I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave,For the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos, see Preface; also verse 7">1 though he is the owner of everything, 2 but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father. 3 In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principlesOr elemental spirits; also verse 9">2 of the world. 4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. 6 And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.

    Paul's Concern for the Galatians

    8 Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods. 9 But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more? 10 You observe days and months and seasons and years! 11 I am afraid I may have labored over you in vain.

    12 Brothers,Or Brothers and sisters; also verses 28, 31">3 I entreat you, become as I am, for I also have become as you are. You did me no wrong. 13 You know it was because of a bodily ailment that I preached the gospel to you at first, 14 and though my condition was a trial to you, you did not scorn or despise me, but received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus. 15 What then has become of your blessedness? For I testify to you that, if possible, you would have gouged out your eyes and given them to me. 16 Have I then become your enemy by telling you the truth?Or by dealing truthfully with you">4 17 They make much of you, but for no good purpose. They want to shut you out, that you may make much of them. 18 It is always good to be made much of for a good purpose, and not only when I am present with you, 19 my little children, for whom I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you! 20 I wish I could be present with you now and change my tone, for I am perplexed about you.

    Example of Hagar and Sarah

    21 Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not listen to the law? 22 For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave woman and one by a free woman. 23 But the son of the slave was born according to the flesh, while the son of the free woman was born through promise. 24 Now this may be interpreted allegorically: these women are two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery; she is Hagar. 25 Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia;Some manuscripts For Sinai is a mountain in Arabia">5 she corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. 26 But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother. 27 For it is written,

      “Rejoice, O barren one who does not bear;
        break forth and cry aloud, you who are not in labor!
      For the children of the desolate one will be more
        than those of the one who has a husband.”

    28 Now you,Some manuscripts we">6 brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise. 29 But just as at that time he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, so also it is now. 30 But what does the Scripture say? “Cast out the slave woman and her son, for the son of the slave woman shall not inherit with the son of the free woman.” 31 So, brothers, we are not children of the slave but of the free woman.

    Footnotes

    [1] 4:1 For the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos, see Preface; also verse 7


    [2] 4:3 Or elemental spirits; also verse 9

    [3] 4:12 Or Brothers and sisters; also verses 28, 31

    [4] 4:16 Or by dealing truthfully with you

    [5] 4:25 Some manuscripts For Sinai is a mountain in Arabia

    [6] 4:28 Some manuscripts we

    (ESV)

    13 min
  • April 22: Psalm 112; Leviticus 18; Isaiah 23; Galatians 3
    Psalms and Wisdom:
    Psalm 112
    Psalm 112 (Listen)
    The Righteous Will Never Be Moved

    112   This psalm is an acrostic poem, each line beginning with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet">1 Praise the LORD!
      Blessed is the man who fears the LORD,
        who greatly delights in his commandments!
    2   His offspring will be mighty in the land;
        the generation of the upright will be blessed.
    3   Wealth and riches are in his house,
        and his righteousness endures forever.
    4   Light dawns in the darkness for the upright;
        he is gracious, merciful, and righteous.
    5   It is well with the man who deals generously and lends;
        who conducts his affairs with justice.
    6   For the righteous will never be moved;
        he will be remembered forever.
    7   He is not afraid of bad news;
        his heart is firm, trusting in the LORD.
    8   His heart is steady;Or established (compare 111:8)">2 he will not be afraid,
        until he looks in triumph on his adversaries.
    9   He has distributed freely; he has given to the poor;
        his righteousness endures forever;
        his horn is exalted in honor.
    10   The wicked man sees it and is angry;
        he gnashes his teeth and melts away;
        the desire of the wicked will perish!

    Footnotes

    [1] 112:1 This psalm is an acrostic poem, each line beginning with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet


    [2] 112:8 Or established (compare 111:8)

    (ESV)

    Pentateuch and History:
    Leviticus 18
    Leviticus 18 (Listen)
    Unlawful Sexual Relations

    18 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, I am the LORD your God. 3 You shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt, where you lived, and you shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan, to which I am bringing you. You shall not walk in their statutes. 4 You shall follow my rulesOr my just decrees; also verse 5">1 and keep my statutes and walk in them. I am the LORD your God. 5 You shall therefore keep my statutes and my rules; if a person does them, he shall live by them: I am the LORD.

    6 “None of you shall approach any one of his close relatives to uncover nakedness. I am the LORD. 7 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father, which is the nakedness of your mother; she is your mother, you shall not uncover her nakedness. 8 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father's wife; it is your father's nakedness. 9 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your sister, your father's daughter or your mother's daughter, whether brought up in the family or in another home. 10 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your son's daughter or of your daughter's daughter, for their nakedness is your own nakedness. 11 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father's wife's daughter, brought up in your father's family, since she is your sister. 12 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father's sister; she is your father's relative. 13 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother's sister, for she is your mother's relative. 14 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father's brother, that is, you shall not approach his wife; she is your aunt. 15 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your daughter-in-law; she is your son's wife, you shall not uncover her nakedness. 16 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your brother's wife; it is your brother's nakedness. 17 You shall not uncover the nakedness of a woman and of her daughter, and you shall not take her son's daughter or her daughter's daughter to uncover her nakedness; they are relatives; it is depravity. 18 And you shall not take a woman as a rival wife to her sister, uncovering her nakedness while her sister is still alive.

    19 “You shall not approach a woman to uncover her nakedness while she is in her menstrual uncleanness. 20 And you shall not lie sexually with your neighbor's wife and so make yourself unclean with her. 21 You shall not give any of your children to offer themHebrew to make them pass through [the fire]">2 to Molech, and so profane the name of your God: I am the LORD. 22 You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination. 23 And you shall not lie with any animal and so make yourself unclean with it, neither shall any woman give herself to an animal to lie with it: it is perversion.

    24 “Do not make yourselves unclean by any of these things, for by all these the nations I am driving out before you have become unclean, 25 and the land became unclean, so that I punished its iniquity, and the land vomited out its inhabitants. 26 But you shall keep my statutes and my rules and do none of these abominations, either the native or the stranger who sojourns among you 27 (for the people of the land, who were before you, did all of these abominations, so that the land became unclean), 28 lest the land vomit you out when you make it unclean, as it vomited out the nation that was before you. 29 For everyone who does any of these abominations, the persons who do them shall be cut off from among their people. 30 So keep my charge never to practice any of these abominable customs that were practiced before you, and never to make yourselves unclean by them: I am the LORD your God.”

    Footnotes

    [1] 18:4 Or my just decrees; also verse 5


    [2] 18:21 Hebrew to make them pass through [the fire]

    (ESV)

    Chronicles and Prophets:
    Isaiah 23
    Isaiah 23 (Listen)
    An Oracle Concerning Tyre and Sidon

    23 The oracle concerning Tyre.

      Wail, O ships of Tarshish,
        for Tyre is laid waste, without house or harbor!
      From the land of CyprusHebrew Kittim; also verse 12">1
        it is revealed to them.
    2   Be still, O inhabitants of the coast;
        the merchants of Sidon, who cross the sea, have filled you.
    3   And on many waters
      your revenue was the grain of Shihor,
        the harvest of the Nile;
        you were the merchant of the nations.
    4   Be ashamed, O Sidon, for the sea has spoken,
        the stronghold of the sea, saying:
      “I have neither labored nor given birth,
        I have neither reared young men
        nor brought up young women.”
    5   When the report comes to Egypt,
        they will be in anguishHebrew they will have labor pains">2 over the report about Tyre.
    6   Cross over to Tarshish;
        wail, O inhabitants of the coast!
    7   Is this your exultant city
        whose origin is from days of old,
      whose feet carried her
        to settle far away?
    8   Who has purposed this
        against Tyre, the bestower of crowns,
      whose merchants were princes,
        whose traders were the honored of the earth?
    9   The LORD of hosts has purposed it,
        to defile the pompous pride of all glory,The Hebrew words for glory and hosts sound alike">3
        to dishonor all the honored of the earth.
    10   Cross over your land like the Nile,
        O daughter of Tarshish;
        there is no restraint anymore.
    11   He has stretched out his hand over the sea;
        he has shaken the kingdoms;
      the LORD has given command concerning Canaan
        to destroy its strongholds.
    12   And he said:
      “You will no more exult,
        O oppressed virgin daughter of Sidon;
      arise, cross over to Cyprus,
        even there you will have no rest.”

    13 Behold the land of the Chaldeans! This is the people that was not;Or that has become nothing">4 Assyria destined it for wild beasts. They erected their siege towers, they stripped her palaces bare, they made her a ruin.

    14   Wail, O ships of Tarshish,
        for your stronghold is laid waste.

    15 In that day Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years, like the daysOr lifetime">5 of one king. At the end of seventy years, it will happen to Tyre as in the song of the prostitute:

    16   “Take a harp;
        go about the city,
        O forgotten prostitute!
      Make sweet melody;
        sing many songs,
        that you may be remembered.”

    17 At the end of seventy years, the LORD will visit Tyre, and she will return to her wages and will prostitute herself with all the kingdoms of the world on the face of the earth. 18 Her merchandise and her wages will be holy to the LORD. It will not be stored or hoarded, but her merchandise will supply abundant food and fine clothing for those who dwell before the LORD.

    Footnotes

    [1] 23:1 Hebrew Kittim; also verse 12


    [2] 23:5 Hebrew they will have labor pains

    [3] 23:9 The Hebrew words for glory and hosts sound alike

    [4] 23:13 Or that has become nothing

    [5] 23:15 Or lifetime

    (ESV)

    Gospels and Epistles:
    Galatians 3
    Galatians 3 (Listen)
    By Faith, or by Works of the Law?

    3 O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. 2 Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? 3 Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected byOr now ending with">1 the flesh? 4 Did you sufferOr experience">2 so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain? 5 Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith—6 just as Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”?

    7 Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. 8 And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justifyOr count righteous; also verses 11, 24">3 the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” 9 So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.

    The Righteous Shall Live by Faith

    10 For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.” 11 Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.”Or The one who by faith is righteous will live">4 12 But the law is not of faith, rather “The one who does them shall live by them.” 13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”—14 so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised SpiritGreek receive the promise of the Spirit">5 through faith.

    The Law and the Promise

    15 To give a human example, brothers:Or brothers and sisters">6 even with a man-made covenant, no one annuls it or adds to it once it has been ratified. 16 Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, “And to your offspring,” who is Christ. 17 This is what I mean: the law, which came 430 years afterward, does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to make the promise void. 18 For if the inheritance comes by the law, it no longer comes by promise; but God gave it to Abraham by a promise.

    19 Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made, and it was put in place through angels by an intermediary. 20 Now an intermediary implies more than one, but God is one.

    21 Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law. 22 But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.

    23 Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. 24 So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. 25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, 26 for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. 27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slaveFor the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos, see Preface">7 nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise.

    Footnotes

    [1] 3:3 Or now ending with


    [2] 3:4 Or experience

    [3] 3:8 Or count righteous; also verses 11, 24

    [4] 3:11 Or The one who by faith is righteous will live

    [5] 3:14 Greek receive the promise of the Spirit

    [6] 3:15 Or brothers and sisters

    [7] 3:28 For the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos, see Preface

    (ESV)

    12 min

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