ESV: Digging Deep into the Bible

ESV: Digging Deep into the Bible

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ESV: Digging Deep into the Bible episodes

  • May 6: Psalm 125; Numbers 6; Isaiah 42; Philippians 2:12–30
    Psalms and Wisdom:
    Psalm 125
    Psalm 125 (Listen)
    The Lord Surrounds His People
    A Song of Ascents.

    125   Those who trust in the LORD are like Mount Zion,
        which cannot be moved, but abides forever.
    2   As the mountains surround Jerusalem,
        so the LORD surrounds his people,
        from this time forth and forevermore.
    3   For the scepter of wickedness shall not rest
        on the land allotted to the righteous,
      lest the righteous stretch out
        their hands to do wrong.
    4   Do good, O LORD, to those who are good,
        and to those who are upright in their hearts!
    5   But those who turn aside to their crooked ways
        the LORD will lead away with evildoers!
        Peace be upon Israel!

    (ESV)

    Pentateuch and History:
    Numbers 6
    Numbers 6 (Listen)
    The Nazirite Vow

    6 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When either a man or a woman makes a special vow, the vow of a Nazirite,Nazirite means one separated, or one consecrated">1 to separate himself to the LORD, 3 he shall separate himself from wine and strong drink. He shall drink no vinegar made from wine or strong drink and shall not drink any juice of grapes or eat grapes, fresh or dried. 4 All the days of his separationOr Naziriteship">2 he shall eat nothing that is produced by the grapevine, not even the seeds or the skins.

    5 “All the days of his vow of separation, no razor shall touch his head. Until the time is completed for which he separates himself to the LORD, he shall be holy. He shall let the locks of hair of his head grow long.

    6 “All the days that he separates himself to the LORD he shall not go near a dead body. 7 Not even for his father or for his mother, for brother or sister, if they die, shall he make himself unclean, because his separation to God is on his head. 8 All the days of his separation he is holy to the LORD.

    9 “And if any man dies very suddenly beside him and he defiles his consecrated head, then he shall shave his head on the day of his cleansing; on the seventh day he shall shave it. 10 On the eighth day he shall bring two turtledoves or two pigeons to the priest to the entrance of the tent of meeting, 11 and the priest shall offer one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering, and make atonement for him, because he sinned by reason of the dead body. And he shall consecrate his head that same day 12 and separate himself to the LORD for the days of his separation and bring a male lamb a year old for a guilt offering. But the previous period shall be void, because his separation was defiled.

    13 “And this is the law for the Nazirite, when the time of his separation has been completed: he shall be brought to the entrance of the tent of meeting, 14 and he shall bring his gift to the LORD, one male lamb a year old without blemish for a burnt offering, and one ewe lamb a year old without blemish as a sin offering, and one ram without blemish as a peace offering, 15 and a basket of unleavened bread, loaves of fine flour mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers smeared with oil, and their grain offering and their drink offerings. 16 And the priest shall bring them before the LORD and offer his sin offering and his burnt offering, 17 and he shall offer the ram as a sacrifice of peace offering to the LORD, with the basket of unleavened bread. The priest shall offer also its grain offering and its drink offering. 18 And the Nazirite shall shave his consecrated head at the entrance of the tent of meeting and shall take the hair from his consecrated head and put it on the fire that is under the sacrifice of the peace offering. 19 And the priest shall take the shoulder of the ram, when it is boiled, and one unleavened loaf out of the basket and one unleavened wafer, and shall put them on the hands of the Nazirite, after he has shaved the hair of his consecration, 20 and the priest shall wave them for a wave offering before the LORD. They are a holy portion for the priest, together with the breast that is waved and the thigh that is contributed. And after that the Nazirite may drink wine.

    21 “This is the law of the Nazirite. But if he vows an offering to the LORD above his Nazirite vow, as he can afford, in exact accordance with the vow that he takes, then he shall do in addition to the law of the Nazirite.”

    Aaron’s Blessing

    22 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 23 “Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, Thus you shall bless the people of Israel: you shall say to them,

    24   The LORD bless you and keep you;
    25   the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;
    26   the LORD lift up his countenanceOr face">3 upon you and give you peace.

    27 “So shall they put my name upon the people of Israel, and I will bless them.”

    Footnotes

    [1] 6:2 Nazirite means one separated, or one consecrated


    [2] 6:4 Or Naziriteship

    [3] 6:26 Or face

    (ESV)

    Chronicles and Prophets:
    Isaiah 42
    Isaiah 42 (Listen)
    The Lord’s Chosen Servant

    42   Behold my servant, whom I uphold,
        my chosen, in whom my soul delights;
      I have put my Spirit upon him;
        he will bring forth justice to the nations.
    2   He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice,
        or make it heard in the street;
    3   a bruised reed he will not break,
        and a faintly burning wick he will not quench;
        he will faithfully bring forth justice.
    4   He will not grow faint or be discouragedOr bruised">1
        till he has established justice in the earth;
        and the coastlands wait for his law.
    5   Thus says God, the LORD,
        who created the heavens and stretched them out,
        who spread out the earth and what comes from it,
      who gives breath to the people on it
        and spirit to those who walk in it:
    6   “I am the LORD; I have called youThe Hebrew for you is singular; four times in this verse">2 in righteousness;
        I will take you by the hand and keep you;
      I will give you as a covenant for the people,
        a light for the nations,
    7     to open the eyes that are blind,
      to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon,
        from the prison those who sit in darkness.
    8   I am the LORD; that is my name;
        my glory I give to no other,
        nor my praise to carved idols.
    9   Behold, the former things have come to pass,
        and new things I now declare;
      before they spring forth
        I tell you of them.”

    Sing to the Lord a New Song

    10   Sing to the LORD a new song,
        his praise from the end of the earth,
      you who go down to the sea, and all that fills it,
        the coastlands and their inhabitants.
    11   Let the desert and its cities lift up their voice,
        the villages that Kedar inhabits;
      let the habitants of Sela sing for joy,
        let them shout from the top of the mountains.
    12   Let them give glory to the LORD,
        and declare his praise in the coastlands.
    13   The LORD goes out like a mighty man,
        like a man of war he stirs up his zeal;
      he cries out, he shouts aloud,
        he shows himself mighty against his foes.
    14   For a long time I have held my peace;
        I have kept still and restrained myself;
      now I will cry out like a woman in labor;
        I will gasp and pant.
    15   I will lay waste mountains and hills,
        and dry up all their vegetation;
      I will turn the rivers into islands,Or into coastlands">3
        and dry up the pools.
    16   And I will lead the blind
        in a way that they do not know,
      in paths that they have not known
        I will guide them.
      I will turn the darkness before them into light,
        the rough places into level ground.
      These are the things I do,
        and I do not forsake them.
    17   They are turned back and utterly put to shame,
        who trust in carved idols,
      who say to metal images,
        “You are our gods.”

    Israel’s Failure to Hear and See

    18   Hear, you deaf,
        and look, you blind, that you may see!
    19   Who is blind but my servant,
        or deaf as my messenger whom I send?
      Who is blind as my dedicated one,Or as the one at peace with me">4
        or blind as the servant of the LORD?
    20   He sees many things, but does not observe them;
        his ears are open, but he does not hear.
    21   The LORD was pleased, for his righteousness’ sake,
        to magnify his law and make it glorious.
    22   But this is a people plundered and looted;
        they are all of them trapped in holes
        and hidden in prisons;
      they have become plunder with none to rescue,
        spoil with none to say, “Restore!”
    23   Who among you will give ear to this,
        will attend and listen for the time to come?
    24   Who gave up Jacob to the looter,
        and Israel to the plunderers?
      Was it not the LORD, against whom we have sinned,
        in whose ways they would not walk,
        and whose law they would not obey?
    25   So he poured on him the heat of his anger
        and the might of battle;
      it set him on fire all around, but he did not understand;
        it burned him up, but he did not take it to heart.

    Footnotes

    [1] 42:4 Or bruised


    [2] 42:6 The Hebrew for you is singular; four times in this verse

    [3] 42:15 Or into coastlands

    [4] 42:19 Or as the one at peace with me

    (ESV)

    Gospels and Epistles:
    Philippians 2:12–30
    Philippians 2:12–30 (Listen)
    Lights in the World

    12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

    14 Do all things without grumbling or disputing, 15 that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, 16 holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain. 17 Even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. 18 Likewise you also should be glad and rejoice with me.

    Timothy and Epaphroditus

    19 I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, so that I too may be cheered by news of you. 20 For I have no one like him, who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare. 21 For they all seek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. 22 But you know Timothy’sGreek his">1 proven worth, how as a sonGreek child">2 with a father he has served with me in the gospel. 23 I hope therefore to send him just as soon as I see how it will go with me, 24 and I trust in the Lord that shortly I myself will come also.

    25 I have thought it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus my brother and fellow worker and fellow soldier, and your messenger and minister to my need, 26 for he has been longing for you all and has been distressed because you heard that he was ill. 27 Indeed he was ill, near to death. But God had mercy on him, and not only on him but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow. 28 I am the more eager to send him, therefore, that you may rejoice at seeing him again, and that I may be less anxious. 29 So receive him in the Lord with all joy, and honor such men, 30 for he nearly diedOr he drew near to the point of death; compare verse 8">3 for the work of Christ, risking his life to complete what was lacking in your service to me.

    Footnotes

    [1] 2:22 Greek his


    [2] 2:22 Greek child

    [3] 2:30 Or he drew near to the point of death; compare verse 8

    (ESV)

    11 min
  • May 5: Psalm 124; Numbers 5; Isaiah 41; Philippians 1:27–2:11
    Psalms and Wisdom:
    Psalm 124
    Psalm 124 (Listen)
    Our Help Is in the Name of the Lord
    A Song of Ascents. Of David.

    124   If it had not been the LORD who was on our side—
        let Israel now say—
    2   if it had not been the LORD who was on our side
        when people rose up against us,
    3   then they would have swallowed us up alive,
        when their anger was kindled against us;
    4   then the flood would have swept us away,
        the torrent would have gone over us;
    5   then over us would have gone
        the raging waters.
    6   Blessed be the LORD,
        who has not given us
        as prey to their teeth!
    7   We have escaped like a bird
        from the snare of the fowlers;
      the snare is broken,
        and we have escaped!
    8   Our help is in the name of the LORD,
        who made heaven and earth.

    (ESV)

    Pentateuch and History:
    Numbers 5
    Numbers 5 (Listen)
    Unclean People

    5 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Command the people of Israel that they put out of the camp everyone who is leprousLeprosy was a term for several skin diseases; see Leviticus 13">1 or has a discharge and everyone who is unclean through contact with the dead. 3 You shall put out both male and female, putting them outside the camp, that they may not defile their camp, in the midst of which I dwell.” 4 And the people of Israel did so, and put them outside the camp; as the LORD said to Moses, so the people of Israel did.

    Confession and Restitution

    5 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 6 “Speak to the people of Israel, When a man or woman commits any of the sins that people commit by breaking faith with the LORD, and that person realizes his guilt, 7 he shall confess his sin that he has committed.Hebrew they shall confess their sin that they have committed">2 And he shall make full restitution for his wrong, adding a fifth to it and giving it to him to whom he did the wrong. 8 But if the man has no next of kin to whom restitution may be made for the wrong, the restitution for wrong shall go to the LORD for the priest, in addition to the ram of atonement with which atonement is made for him. 9 And every contribution, all the holy donations of the people of Israel, which they bring to the priest, shall be his. 10 Each one shall keep his holy donations: whatever anyone gives to the priest shall be his.”

    A Test for Adultery

    11 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 12 “Speak to the people of Israel, If any man’s wife goes astray and breaks faith with him, 13 if a man lies with her sexually, and it is hidden from the eyes of her husband, and she is undetected though she has defiled herself, and there is no witness against her, since she was not taken in the act, 14 and if the spirit of jealousy comes over him and he is jealous of his wife who has defiled herself, or if the spirit of jealousy comes over him and he is jealous of his wife, though she has not defiled herself, 15 then the man shall bring his wife to the priest and bring the offering required of her, a tenth of an ephahAn ephah was about 3/5 bushel or 22 liters">3 of barley flour. He shall pour no oil on it and put no frankincense on it, for it is a grain offering of jealousy, a grain offering of remembrance, bringing iniquity to remembrance.

    16 “And the priest shall bring her near and set her before the LORD. 17 And the priest shall take holy water in an earthenware vessel and take some of the dust that is on the floor of the tabernacle and put it into the water. 18 And the priest shall set the woman before the LORD and unbind the hair of the woman’s head and place in her hands the grain offering of remembrance, which is the grain offering of jealousy. And in his hand the priest shall have the water of bitterness that brings the curse. 19 Then the priest shall make her take an oath, saying, ‘If no man has lain with you, and if you have not turned aside to uncleanness while you were under your husband’s authority, be free from this water of bitterness that brings the curse. 20 But if you have gone astray, though you are under your husband’s authority, and if you have defiled yourself, and some man other than your husband has lain with you, 21 then’ (let the priest make the woman take the oath of the curse, and say to the woman) ‘the LORD make you a curse and an oath among your people, when the LORD makes your thigh fall away and your body swell. 22 May this water that brings the curse pass into your bowels and make your womb swell and your thigh fall away.’ And the woman shall say, ‘Amen, Amen.’

    23 “Then the priest shall write these curses in a book and wash them off into the water of bitterness. 24 And he shall make the woman drink the water of bitterness that brings the curse, and the water that brings the curse shall enter into her and cause bitter pain. 25 And the priest shall take the grain offering of jealousy out of the woman’s hand and shall wave the grain offering before the LORD and bring it to the altar. 26 And the priest shall take a handful of the grain offering, as its memorial portion, and burn it on the altar, and afterward shall make the woman drink the water. 27 And when he has made her drink the water, then, if she has defiled herself and has broken faith with her husband, the water that brings the curse shall enter into her and cause bitter pain, and her womb shall swell, and her thigh shall fall away, and the woman shall become a curse among her people. 28 But if the woman has not defiled herself and is clean, then she shall be free and shall conceive children.

    29 “This is the law in cases of jealousy, when a wife, though under her husband’s authority, goes astray and defiles herself, 30 or when the spirit of jealousy comes over a man and he is jealous of his wife. Then he shall set the woman before the LORD, and the priest shall carry out for her all this law. 31 The man shall be free from iniquity, but the woman shall bear her iniquity.”

    Footnotes

    [1] 5:2 Leprosy was a term for several skin diseases; see Leviticus 13


    [2] 5:7 Hebrew they shall confess their sin that they have committed

    [3] 5:15 An ephah was about 3/5 bushel or 22 liters

    (ESV)

    Chronicles and Prophets:
    Isaiah 41
    Isaiah 41 (Listen)
    Fear Not, for I Am with You

    41   Listen to me in silence, O coastlands;
        let the peoples renew their strength;
      let them approach, then let them speak;
        let us together draw near for judgment.
    2   Who stirred up one from the east
        whom victory meets at every step?Or whom righteousness calls to follow?">1
      He gives up nations before him,
        so that he tramples kings underfoot;
      he makes them like dust with his sword,
        like driven stubble with his bow.
    3   He pursues them and passes on safely,
        by paths his feet have not trod.
    4   Who has performed and done this,
        calling the generations from the beginning?
      I, the LORD, the first,
        and with the last; I am he.
    5   The coastlands have seen and are afraid;
        the ends of the earth tremble;
        they have drawn near and come.
    6   Everyone helps his neighbor
        and says to his brother, “Be strong!”
    7   The craftsman strengthens the goldsmith,
        and he who smooths with the hammer him who strikes the anvil,
      saying of the soldering, “It is good”;
        and they strengthen it with nails so that it cannot be moved.
    8   But you, Israel, my servant,
        Jacob, whom I have chosen,
        the offspring of Abraham, my friend;
    9   you whom I took from the ends of the earth,
        and called from its farthest corners,
      saying to you, “You are my servant,
        I have chosen you and not cast you off”;
    10   fear not, for I am with you;
        be not dismayed, for I am your God;
      I will strengthen you, I will help you,
        I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
    11   Behold, all who are incensed against you
        shall be put to shame and confounded;
      those who strive against you
        shall be as nothing and shall perish.
    12   You shall seek those who contend with you,
        but you shall not find them;
      those who war against you
        shall be as nothing at all.
    13   For I, the LORD your God,
        hold your right hand;
      it is I who say to you, “Fear not,
        I am the one who helps you.”
    14   Fear not, you worm Jacob,
        you men of Israel!
      I am the one who helps you, declares the LORD;
        your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.
    15   Behold, I make of you a threshing sledge,
        new, sharp, and having teeth;
      you shall thresh the mountains and crush them,
        and you shall make the hills like chaff;
    16   you shall winnow them, and the wind shall carry them away,
        and the tempest shall scatter them.
      And you shall rejoice in the LORD;
        in the Holy One of Israel you shall glory.
    17   When the poor and needy seek water,
        and there is none,
        and their tongue is parched with thirst,
      I the LORD will answer them;
        I the God of Israel will not forsake them.
    18   I will open rivers on the bare heights,
        and fountains in the midst of the valleys.
      I will make the wilderness a pool of water,
        and the dry land springs of water.
    19   I will put in the wilderness the cedar,
        the acacia, the myrtle, and the olive.
      I will set in the desert the cypress,
        the plane and the pine together,
    20   that they may see and know,
        may consider and understand together,
      that the hand of the LORD has done this,
        the Holy One of Israel has created it.

    The Futility of Idols

    21   Set forth your case, says the LORD;
        bring your proofs, says the King of Jacob.
    22   Let them bring them, and tell us
        what is to happen.
      Tell us the former things, what they are,
        that we may consider them,
      that we may know their outcome;
        or declare to us the things to come.
    23   Tell us what is to come hereafter,
        that we may know that you are gods;
      do good, or do harm,
        that we may be dismayed and terrified.Or that we may both be dismayed and see">2
    24   Behold, you are nothing,
        and your work is less than nothing;
        an abomination is he who chooses you.
    25   I stirred up one from the north, and he has come,
        from the rising of the sun, and he shall call upon my name;
      he shall trample on rulers as on mortar,
        as the potter treads clay.
    26   Who declared it from the beginning, that we might know,
        and beforehand, that we might say, “He is right”?
      There was none who declared it, none who proclaimed,
        none who heard your words.
    27   I was the first to sayOr Formerly I said">3 to Zion, “Behold, here they are!”
        and I give to Jerusalem a herald of good news.
    28   But when I look, there is no one;
        among these there is no counselor
        who, when I ask, gives an answer.
    29   Behold, they are all a delusion;
        their works are nothing;
        their metal images are empty wind.

    Footnotes

    [1] 41:2 Or whom righteousness calls to follow?


    [2] 41:23 Or that we may both be dismayed and see

    [3] 41:27 Or Formerly I said

    (ESV)

    Gospels and Epistles:
    Philippians 1:27–2:11
    Philippians 1:27–2:11 (Listen)

    27 Only let your manner of life be worthyGreek Only behave as citizens worthy">1 of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, 28 and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God. 29 For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake, 30 engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have.

    Christ’s Example of Humility

    2 So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, 2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,Or which was also in Christ Jesus">2 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,Or a thing to be held on to for advantage">3 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant,Or slave (for the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos, see Preface)">4 being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

    Footnotes

    [1] 1:27 Greek Only behave as citizens worthy


    [2] 2:5 Or which was also in Christ Jesus

    [3] 2:6 Or a thing to be held on to for advantage

    [4] 2:7 Or slave (for the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos, see Preface)

    (ESV)

    13 min
  • May 4: Psalm 123; Numbers 3–4; Isaiah 40; Philippians 1:1–26
    Psalms and Wisdom:
    Psalm 123
    Psalm 123 (Listen)
    Our Eyes Look to the Lord Our God
    A Song of Ascents.

    123   To you I lift up my eyes,
        O you who are enthroned in the heavens!
    2   Behold, as the eyes of servants
        look to the hand of their master,
      as the eyes of a maidservant
        to the hand of her mistress,
      so our eyes look to the LORD our God,
        till he has mercy upon us.
    3   Have mercy upon us, O LORD, have mercy upon us,
        for we have had more than enough of contempt.
    4   Our soul has had more than enough
        of the scorn of those who are at ease,
        of the contempt of the proud.

    (ESV)

    Pentateuch and History:
    Numbers 3–4
    Numbers 3–4 (Listen)
    The Sons of Aaron

    3 These are the generations of Aaron and Moses at the time when the LORD spoke with Moses on Mount Sinai. 2 These are the names of the sons of Aaron: Nadab the firstborn, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. 3 These are the names of the sons of Aaron, the anointed priests, whom he ordained to serve as priests. 4 But Nadab and Abihu died before the LORD when they offered unauthorized fire before the LORD in the wilderness of Sinai, and they had no children. So Eleazar and Ithamar served as priests in the lifetime of Aaron their father.

    Duties of the Levites

    5 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 6 “Bring the tribe of Levi near, and set them before Aaron the priest, that they may minister to him. 7 They shall keep guard over him and over the whole congregation before the tent of meeting, as they minister at the tabernacle. 8 They shall guard all the furnishings of the tent of meeting, and keep guard over the people of Israel as they minister at the tabernacle. 9 And you shall give the Levites to Aaron and his sons; they are wholly given to him from among the people of Israel. 10 And you shall appoint Aaron and his sons, and they shall guard their priesthood. But if any outsider comes near, he shall be put to death.”

    11 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 12 “Behold, I have taken the Levites from among the people of Israel instead of every firstborn who opens the womb among the people of Israel. The Levites shall be mine, 13 for all the firstborn are mine. On the day that I struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I consecrated for my own all the firstborn in Israel, both of man and of beast. They shall be mine: I am the LORD.”

    14 And the LORD spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, saying, 15 “List the sons of Levi, by fathers’ houses and by clans; every male from a month old and upward you shall list.” 16 So Moses listed them according to the word of the LORD, as he was commanded. 17 And these were the sons of Levi by their names: Gershon and Kohath and Merari. 18 And these are the names of the sons of Gershon by their clans: Libni and Shimei. 19 And the sons of Kohath by their clans: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. 20 And the sons of Merari by their clans: Mahli and Mushi. These are the clans of the Levites, by their fathers’ houses.

    21 To Gershon belonged the clan of the Libnites and the clan of the Shimeites; these were the clans of the Gershonites. 22 Their listing according to the number of all the males from a month old and upward wasHebrew their listing was">1 7,500. 23 The clans of the Gershonites were to camp behind the tabernacle on the west, 24 with Eliasaph, the son of Lael as chief of the fathers’ house of the Gershonites. 25 And the guard duty of the sons of Gershon in the tent of meeting involved the tabernacle, the tent with its covering, the screen for the entrance of the tent of meeting, 26 the hangings of the court, the screen for the door of the court that is around the tabernacle and the altar, and its cords—all the service connected with these.

    27 To Kohath belonged the clan of the Amramites and the clan of the Izharites and the clan of the Hebronites and the clan of the Uzzielites; these are the clans of the Kohathites. 28 According to the number of all the males, from a month old and upward, there were 8,600, keeping guard over the sanctuary. 29 The clans of the sons of Kohath were to camp on the south side of the tabernacle, 30 with Elizaphan the son of Uzziel as chief of the fathers’ house of the clans of the Kohathites. 31 And their guard duty involved the ark, the table, the lampstand, the altars, the vessels of the sanctuary with which the priests minister, and the screen; all the service connected with these. 32 And Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest was to be chief over the chiefs of the Levites, and to have oversight of those who kept guard over the sanctuary.

    33 To Merari belonged the clan of the Mahlites and the clan of the Mushites: these are the clans of Merari. 34 Their listing according to the number of all the males from a month old and upward was 6,200. 35 And the chief of the fathers’ house of the clans of Merari was Zuriel the son of Abihail. They were to camp on the north side of the tabernacle. 36 And the appointed guard duty of the sons of Merari involved the frames of the tabernacle, the bars, the pillars, the bases, and all their accessories; all the service connected with these; 37 also the pillars around the court, with their bases and pegs and cords.

    38 Those who were to camp before the tabernacle on the east, before the tent of meeting toward the sunrise, were Moses and Aaron and his sons, guarding the sanctuary itself, to protectHebrew guard">2 the people of Israel. And any outsider who came near was to be put to death. 39 All those listed among the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron listed at the commandment of the LORD, by clans, all the males from a month old and upward, were 22,000.

    Redemption of the Firstborn

    40 And the LORD said to Moses, “List all the firstborn males of the people of Israel, from a month old and upward, taking the number of their names. 41 And you shall take the Levites for me—I am the LORD—instead of all the firstborn among the people of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the cattle of the people of Israel.” 42 So Moses listed all the firstborn among the people of Israel, as the LORD commanded him. 43 And all the firstborn males, according to the number of names, from a month old and upward as listed were 22,273.

    44 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 45 “Take the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the people of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites instead of their cattle. The Levites shall be mine: I am the LORD. 46 And as the redemption price for the 273 of the firstborn of the people of Israel, over and above the number of the male Levites, 47 you shall take five shekelsA shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams">3 per head; you shall take them according to the shekel of the sanctuary (the shekel of twenty gerahsA gerah was about 1/50 ounce or 0.6 gram">4), 48 and give the money to Aaron and his sons as the redemption price for those who are over.” 49 So Moses took the redemption money from those who were over and above those redeemed by the Levites. 50 From the firstborn of the people of Israel he took the money, 1,365 shekels, by the shekel of the sanctuary. 51 And Moses gave the redemption money to Aaron and his sons, according to the word of the LORD, as the LORD commanded Moses.

    Duties of the Kohathites, Gershonites, and Merarites

    4 The LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 2 “Take a census of the sons of Kohath from among the sons of Levi, by their clans and their fathers’ houses, 3 from thirty years old up to fifty years old, all who can come on duty, to do the work in the tent of meeting. 4 This is the service of the sons of Kohath in the tent of meeting: the most holy things. 5 When the camp is to set out, Aaron and his sons shall go in and take down the veil of the screen and cover the ark of the testimony with it. 6 Then they shall put on it a covering of goatskinThe meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain; compare Exodus 25:5">5 and spread on top of that a cloth all of blue, and shall put in its poles. 7 And over the table of the bread of the Presence they shall spread a cloth of blue and put on it the plates, the dishes for incense, the bowls, and the flagons for the drink offering; the regular showbread also shall be on it. 8 Then they shall spread over them a cloth of scarlet and cover the same with a covering of goatskin, and shall put in its poles. 9 And they shall take a cloth of blue and cover the lampstand for the light, with its lamps, its tongs, its trays, and all the vessels for oil with which it is supplied. 10 And they shall put it with all its utensils in a covering of goatskin and put it on the carrying frame. 11 And over the golden altar they shall spread a cloth of blue and cover it with a covering of goatskin, and shall put in its poles. 12 And they shall take all the vessels of the service that are used in the sanctuary and put them in a cloth of blue and cover them with a covering of goatskin and put them on the carrying frame. 13 And they shall take away the ashes from the altar and spread a purple cloth over it. 14 And they shall put on it all the utensils of the altar, which are used for the service there, the fire pans, the forks, the shovels, and the basins, all the utensils of the altar; and they shall spread on it a covering of goatskin, and shall put in its poles. 15 And when Aaron and his sons have finished covering the sanctuary and all the furnishings of the sanctuary, as the camp sets out, after that the sons of Kohath shall come to carry these, but they must not touch the holy things, lest they die. These are the things of the tent of meeting that the sons of Kohath are to carry.

    16 “And Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest shall have charge of the oil for the light, the fragrant incense, the regular grain offering, and the anointing oil, with the oversight of the whole tabernacle and all that is in it, of the sanctuary and its vessels.”

    17 The LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 18 “Let not the tribe of the clans of the Kohathites be destroyed from among the Levites, 19 but deal thus with them, that they may live and not die when they come near to the most holy things: Aaron and his sons shall go in and appoint them each to his task and to his burden, 20 but they shall not go in to look on the holy things even for a moment, lest they die.”

    21 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 22 “Take a census of the sons of Gershon also, by their fathers’ houses and by their clans. 23 From thirty years old up to fifty years old, you shall list them, all who can come to do duty, to do service in the tent of meeting. 24 This is the service of the clans of the Gershonites, in serving and bearing burdens: 25 they shall carry the curtains of the tabernacle and the tent of meeting with its covering and the covering of goatskin that is on top of it and the screen for the entrance of the tent of meeting 26 and the hangings of the court and the screen for the entrance of the gate of the court that is around the tabernacle and the altar, and their cords and all the equipment for their service. And they shall do all that needs to be done with regard to them. 27 All the service of the sons of the Gershonites shall be at the command of Aaron and his sons, in all that they are to carry and in all that they have to do. And you shall assign to their charge all that they are to carry. 28 This is the service of the clans of the sons of the Gershonites in the tent of meeting, and their guard duty is to be under the direction of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.

    29 “As for the sons of Merari, you shall list them by their clans and their fathers’ houses. 30 From thirty years old up to fifty years old, you shall list them, everyone who can come on duty, to do the service of the tent of meeting. 31 And this is what they are charged to carry, as the whole of their service in the tent of meeting: the frames of the tabernacle, with its bars, pillars, and bases, 32 and the pillars around the court with their bases, pegs, and cords, with all their equipment and all their accessories. And you shall list by name the objects that they are required to carry. 33 This is the service of the clans of the sons of Merari, the whole of their service in the tent of meeting, under the direction of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.”

    34 And Moses and Aaron and the chiefs of the congregation listed the sons of the Kohathites, by their clans and their fathers’ houses, 35 from thirty years old up to fifty years old, everyone who could come on duty, for service in the tent of meeting; 36 and those listed by clans were 2,750. 37 This was the list of the clans of the Kohathites, all who served in the tent of meeting, whom Moses and Aaron listed according to the commandment of the LORD by Moses.

    38 Those listed of the sons of Gershon, by their clans and their fathers’ houses, 39 from thirty years old up to fifty years old, everyone who could come on duty for service in the tent of meeting—40 those listed by their clans and their fathers’ houses were 2,630. 41 This was the list of the clans of the sons of Gershon, all who served in the tent of meeting, whom Moses and Aaron listed according to the commandment of the LORD.

    42 Those listed of the clans of the sons of Merari, by their clans and their fathers’ houses, 43 from thirty years old up to fifty years old, everyone who could come on duty, for service in the tent of meeting—44 those listed by clans were 3,200. 45 This was the list of the clans of the sons of Merari, whom Moses and Aaron listed according to the commandment of the LORD by Moses.

    46 All those who were listed of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron and the chiefs of Israel listed, by their clans and their fathers’ houses, 47 from thirty years old up to fifty years old, everyone who could come to do the service of ministry and the service of bearing burdens in the tent of meeting, 48 those listed were 8,580. 49 According to the commandment of the LORD through Moses they were listed, each one with his task of serving or carrying. Thus they were listed by him, as the LORD commanded Moses.

    Footnotes

    [1] 3:22 Hebrew their listing was


    [2] 3:38 Hebrew guard

    [3] 3:47 A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams

    [4] 3:47 A gerah was about 1/50 ounce or 0.6 gram

    [5] 4:6 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain; compare Exodus 25:5

    (ESV)

    Chronicles and Prophets:
    Isaiah 40
    Isaiah 40 (Listen)
    Comfort for God’s People

    40   Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.
    2   Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
        and cry to her
      that her warfareOr hardship">1 is ended,
        that her iniquity is pardoned,
      that she has received from the LORD’s hand
        double for all her sins.
    3   A voice cries:Or A voice of one crying">2
      “In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD;
        make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
    4   Every valley shall be lifted up,
        and every mountain and hill be made low;
      the uneven ground shall become level,
        and the rough places a plain.
    5   And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed,
        and all flesh shall see it together,
        for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”

    The Word of God Stands Forever

    6   A voice says, “Cry!”
        And I said,Revocalization based on Dead Sea Scroll, Septuagint, Vulgate; Masoretic Text And someone says">3 “What shall I cry?”
      All flesh is grass,
        and all its beautyOr all its constancy">4 is like the flower of the field.
    7   The grass withers, the flower fades
        when the breath of the LORD blows on it;
        surely the people are grass.
    8   The grass withers, the flower fades,
        but the word of our God will stand forever.

    The Greatness of God

    9   Go on up to a high mountain,
        O Zion, herald of good news;Or O herald of good news to Zion">5
      lift up your voice with strength,
        O Jerusalem, herald of good news;Or O herald of good news to Jerusalem">6
        lift it up, fear not;
      say to the cities of Judah,
        “Behold your God!”
    10   Behold, the Lord GOD comes with might,
        and his arm rules for him;
      behold, his reward is with him,
        and his recompense before him.
    11   He will tend his flock like a shepherd;
        he will gather the lambs in his arms;
      he will carry them in his bosom,
        and gently lead those that are with young.
    12   Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand
        and marked off the heavens with a span,
      enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure
        and weighed the mountains in scales
        and the hills in a balance?
    13   Who has measuredOr has directed">7 the Spirit of the LORD,
        or what man shows him his counsel?
    14   Whom did he consult,
        and who made him understand?
      Who taught him the path of justice,
        and taught him knowledge,
        and showed him the way of understanding?
    15   Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket,
        and are accounted as the dust on the scales;
        behold, he takes up the coastlands like fine dust.
    16   Lebanon would not suffice for fuel,
        nor are its beasts enough for a burnt offering.
    17   All the nations are as nothing before him,
        they are accounted by him as less than nothing and emptiness.
    18   To whom then will you liken God,
        or what likeness compare with him?
    19   An idol! A craftsman casts it,
        and a goldsmith overlays it with gold
        and casts for it silver chains.
    20   He who is too impoverished for an offering
        chooses woodOr He chooses valuable wood">8 that will not rot;
      he seeks out a skillful craftsman
        to set up an idol that will not move.
    21   Do you not know? Do you not hear?
        Has it not been told you from the beginning?
        Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?
    22   It is he who sits above the circle of the earth,
        and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers;
      who stretches out the heavens like a curtain,
        and spreads them like a tent to dwell in;
    23   who brings princes to nothing,
        and makes the rulers of the earth as emptiness.
    24   Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown,
        scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth,
      when he blows on them, and they wither,
        and the tempest carries them off like stubble.
    25   To whom then will you compare me,
        that I should be like him? says the Holy One.
    26   Lift up your eyes on high and see:
        who created these?
      He who brings out their host by number,
        calling them all by name;
      by the greatness of his might
        and because he is strong in power,
        not one is missing.
    27   Why do you say, O Jacob,
        and speak, O Israel,
      “My way is hidden from the LORD,
        and my right is disregarded by my God”?
    28   Have you not known? Have you not heard?
      The LORD is the everlasting God,
        the Creator of the ends of the earth.
      He does not faint or grow weary;
        his understanding is unsearchable.
    29   He gives power to the faint,
        and to him who has no might he increases strength.
    30   Even youths shall faint and be weary,
        and young men shall fall exhausted;
    31   but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength;
        they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
      they shall run and not be weary;
        they shall walk and not faint.

    Footnotes

    [1] 40:2 Or hardship


    [2] 40:3 Or A voice of one crying

    [3] 40:6 Revocalization based on Dead Sea Scroll, Septuagint, Vulgate; Masoretic Text And someone says

    [4] 40:6 Or all its constancy

    [5] 40:9 Or O herald of good news to Zion

    [6] 40:9 Or O herald of good news to Jerusalem

    [7] 40:13 Or has directed

    [8] 40:20 Or He chooses valuable wood

    (ESV)

    Gospels and Epistles:
    Philippians 1:1–26
    Philippians 1:1–26 (Listen)
    Greeting

    1 Paul and Timothy, servantsFor the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos, see Preface">1 of Christ Jesus,

    To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the overseersOr bishops; Greek episkopoi">2 and deacons:Or servants, or ministers; Greek diakonoi">3

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

    Thanksgiving and Prayer

    3 I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, 4 always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. 6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. 7 It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace,Or you all have fellowship with me in grace">4 both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. 8 For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus. 9 And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, 10 so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

    The Advance of the Gospel

    12 I want you to know, brothers,Or brothers and sisters. In New Testament usage, depending on the context, the plural Greek word adelphoi (translated “brothers”) may refer either to brothers or to brothers and sisters; also verse 14">5 that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, 13 so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guardGreek in the whole praetorium">6 and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. 14 And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the wordSome manuscripts add of God">7 without fear.

    15 Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will. 16 The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. 17 The former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment. 18 What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice.

    To Live Is Christ

    Yes, and I will rejoice, 19 for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance, 20 as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. 21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. 22 If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. 23 I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. 24 But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. 25 Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith, 26 so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus, because of my coming to you again.

    Footnotes

    [1] 1:1 For the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos, see Preface


    [2] 1:1 Or bishops; Greek episkopoi

    [3] 1:1 Or servants, or ministers; Greek diakonoi

    [4] 1:7 Or you all have fellowship with me in grace

    [5] 1:12 Or brothers and sisters. In New Testament usage, depending on the context, the plural Greek word adelphoi (translated “brothers”) may refer either to brothers or to brothers and sisters; also verse 14

    [6] 1:13 Greek in the whole praetorium

    [7] 1:14 Some manuscripts add of God

    (ESV)

    22 min
  • May 3: Psalm 122; Numbers 2; Isaiah 39; Ephesians 6:10–24
    Psalms and Wisdom:
    Psalm 122
    Psalm 122 (Listen)
    Let Us Go to the House of the Lord
    A Song of Ascents. Of David.

    122   I was glad when they said to me,
        “Let us go to the house of the LORD!”
    2   Our feet have been standing
        within your gates, O Jerusalem!
    3   Jerusalem—built as a city
        that is bound firmly together,
    4   to which the tribes go up,
        the tribes of the LORD,
      as was decreed forOr as a testimony for">1 Israel,
        to give thanks to the name of the LORD.
    5   There thrones for judgment were set,
        the thrones of the house of David.
    6   Pray for the peace of Jerusalem!
        “May they be secure who love you!
    7   Peace be within your walls
        and security within your towers!”
    8   For my brothers and companions’ sake
        I will say, “Peace be within you!”
    9   For the sake of the house of the LORD our God,
        I will seek your good.

    Footnotes

    [1] 122:4 Or as a testimony for

    (ESV)

    Pentateuch and History:
    Numbers 2
    Numbers 2 (Listen)
    Arrangement of the Camp

    2 The LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 2 “The people of Israel shall camp each by his own standard, with the banners of their fathers’ houses. They shall camp facing the tent of meeting on every side. 3 Those to camp on the east side toward the sunrise shall be of the standard of the camp of Judah by their companies, the chief of the people of Judah being Nahshon the son of Amminadab, 4 his company as listed being 74,600. 5 Those to camp next to him shall be the tribe of Issachar, the chief of the people of Issachar being Nethanel the son of Zuar, 6 his company as listed being 54,400. 7 Then the tribe of Zebulun, the chief of the people of Zebulun being Eliab the son of Helon, 8 his company as listed being 57,400. 9 All those listed of the camp of Judah, by their companies, were 186,400. They shall set out first on the march.

    10 “On the south side shall be the standard of the camp of Reuben by their companies, the chief of the people of Reuben being Elizur the son of Shedeur, 11 his company as listed being 46,500. 12 And those to camp next to him shall be the tribe of Simeon, the chief of the people of Simeon being Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai, 13 his company as listed being 59,300. 14 Then the tribe of Gad, the chief of the people of Gad being Eliasaph the son of Reuel, 15 his company as listed being 45,650. 16 All those listed of the camp of Reuben, by their companies, were 151,450. They shall set out second.

    17 “Then the tent of meeting shall set out, with the camp of the Levites in the midst of the camps; as they camp, so shall they set out, each in position, standard by standard.

    18 “On the west side shall be the standard of the camp of Ephraim by their companies, the chief of the people of Ephraim being Elishama the son of Ammihud, 19 his company as listed being 40,500. 20 And next to him shall be the tribe of Manasseh, the chief of the people of Manasseh being Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur, 21 his company as listed being 32,200. 22 Then the tribe of Benjamin, the chief of the people of Benjamin being Abidan the son of Gideoni, 23 his company as listed being 35,400. 24 All those listed of the camp of Ephraim, by their companies, were 108,100. They shall set out third on the march.

    25 “On the north side shall be the standard of the camp of Dan by their companies, the chief of the people of Dan being Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai, 26 his company as listed being 62,700. 27 And those to camp next to him shall be the tribe of Asher, the chief of the people of Asher being Pagiel the son of Ochran, 28 his company as listed being 41,500. 29 Then the tribe of Naphtali, the chief of the people of Naphtali being Ahira the son of Enan, 30 his company as listed being 53,400. 31 All those listed of the camp of Dan were 157,600. They shall set out last, standard by standard.”

    32 These are the people of Israel as listed by their fathers’ houses. All those listed in the camps by their companies were 603,550. 33 But the Levites were not listed among the people of Israel, as the LORD commanded Moses.

    34 Thus did the people of Israel. According to all that the LORD commanded Moses, so they camped by their standards, and so they set out, each one in his clan, according to his fathers’ house.

    (ESV)

    Chronicles and Prophets:
    Isaiah 39
    Isaiah 39 (Listen)
    Envoys from Babylon

    39 At that time Merodach-baladan the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent envoys with letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he heard that he had been sick and had recovered. 2 And Hezekiah welcomed them gladly. And he showed them his treasure house, the silver, the gold, the spices, the precious oil, his whole armory, all that was found in his storehouses. There was nothing in his house or in all his realm that Hezekiah did not show them. 3 Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah, and said to him, “What did these men say? And from where did they come to you?” Hezekiah said, “They have come to me from a far country, from Babylon.” 4 He said, “What have they seen in your house?” Hezekiah answered, “They have seen all that is in my house. There is nothing in my storehouses that I did not show them.”

    5 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the LORD of hosts: 6 Behold, the days are coming, when all that is in your house, and that which your fathers have stored up till this day, shall be carried to Babylon. Nothing shall be left, says the LORD. 7 And some of your own sons, who will come from you, whom you will father, shall be taken away, and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.” 8 Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the LORD that you have spoken is good.” For he thought, “There will be peace and security in my days.”

    (ESV)

    Gospels and Epistles:
    Ephesians 6:10–24
    Ephesians 6:10–24 (Listen)
    The Whole Armor of God

    10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. 14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. 16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; 17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, 18 praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, 19 and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.

    Final Greetings

    21 So that you also may know how I am and what I am doing, Tychicus the beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord will tell you everything. 22 I have sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are, and that he may encourage your hearts.

    23 Peace be to the brothers,Or brothers and sisters">1 and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 24 Grace be with all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with love incorruptible.

    Footnotes

    [1] 6:23 Or brothers and sisters

    (ESV)

    8 min
  • May 2: Psalm 121; Numbers 1; Isaiah 38; Ephesians 5:22–6:9
    Psalms and Wisdom:
    Psalm 121
    Psalm 121 (Listen)
    My Help Comes from the Lord
    A Song of Ascents.

    121   I lift up my eyes to the hills.
        From where does my help come?
    2   My help comes from the LORD,
        who made heaven and earth.
    3   He will not let your foot be moved;
        he who keeps you will not slumber.
    4   Behold, he who keeps Israel
        will neither slumber nor sleep.
    5   The LORD is your keeper;
        the LORD is your shade on your right hand.
    6   The sun shall not strike you by day,
        nor the moon by night.
    7   The LORD will keep you from all evil;
        he will keep your life.
    8   The LORD will keep
        your going out and your coming in
        from this time forth and forevermore.

    (ESV)

    Pentateuch and History:
    Numbers 1
    Numbers 1 (Listen)
    A Census of Israel’s Warriors

    1 The LORD spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the tent of meeting, on the first day of the second month, in the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying, 2 “Take a census of all the congregation of the people of Israel, by clans, by fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, every male, head by head. 3 From twenty years old and upward, all in Israel who are able to go to war, you and Aaron shall list them, company by company. 4 And there shall be with you a man from each tribe, each man being the head of the house of his fathers. 5 And these are the names of the men who shall assist you. From Reuben, Elizur the son of Shedeur; 6 from Simeon, Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai; 7 from Judah, Nahshon the son of Amminadab; 8 from Issachar, Nethanel the son of Zuar; 9 from Zebulun, Eliab the son of Helon; 10 from the sons of Joseph, from Ephraim, Elishama the son of Ammihud, and from Manasseh, Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur; 11 from Benjamin, Abidan the son of Gideoni; 12 from Dan, Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai; 13 from Asher, Pagiel the son of Ochran; 14 from Gad, Eliasaph the son of Deuel; 15 from Naphtali, Ahira the son of Enan.” 16 These were the ones chosen from the congregation, the chiefs of their ancestral tribes, the heads of the clans of Israel.

    17 Moses and Aaron took these men who had been named, 18 and on the first day of the second month, they assembled the whole congregation together, who registered themselves by clans, by fathers’ houses, according to the number of names from twenty years old and upward, head by head, 19 as the LORD commanded Moses. So he listed them in the wilderness of Sinai.

    20 The people of Reuben, Israel’s firstborn, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, head by head, every male from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go to war: 21 those listed of the tribe of Reuben were 46,500.

    22 Of the people of Simeon, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers’ houses, those of them who were listed, according to the number of names, head by head, every male from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go to war: 23 those listed of the tribe of Simeon were 59,300.

    24 Of the people of Gad, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go to war: 25 those listed of the tribe of Gad were 45,650.

    26 Of the people of Judah, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war: 27 those listed of the tribe of Judah were 74,600.

    28 Of the people of Issachar, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war: 29 those listed of the tribe of Issachar were 54,400.

    30 Of the people of Zebulun, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war: 31 those listed of the tribe of Zebulun were 57,400.

    32 Of the people of Joseph, namely, of the people of Ephraim, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war: 33 those listed of the tribe of Ephraim were 40,500.

    34 Of the people of Manasseh, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war: 35 those listed of the tribe of Manasseh were 32,200.

    36 Of the people of Benjamin, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war: 37 those listed of the tribe of Benjamin were 35,400.

    38 Of the people of Dan, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war: 39 those listed of the tribe of Dan were 62,700.

    40 Of the people of Asher, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war: 41 those listed of the tribe of Asher were 41,500.

    42 Of the people of Naphtali, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war: 43 those listed of the tribe of Naphtali were 53,400.

    44 These are those who were listed, whom Moses and Aaron listed with the help of the chiefs of Israel, twelve men, each representing his fathers’ house. 45 So all those listed of the people of Israel, by their fathers’ houses, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war in Israel—46 all those listed were 603,550.

    Levites Exempted

    47 But the Levites were not listed along with them by their ancestral tribe. 48 For the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 49 “Only the tribe of Levi you shall not list, and you shall not take a census of them among the people of Israel. 50 But appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of the testimony, and over all its furnishings, and over all that belongs to it. They are to carry the tabernacle and all its furnishings, and they shall take care of it and shall camp around the tabernacle. 51 When the tabernacle is to set out, the Levites shall take it down, and when the tabernacle is to be pitched, the Levites shall set it up. And if any outsider comes near, he shall be put to death. 52 The people of Israel shall pitch their tents by their companies, each man in his own camp and each man by his own standard. 53 But the Levites shall camp around the tabernacle of the testimony, so that there may be no wrath on the congregation of the people of Israel. And the Levites shall keep guard over the tabernacle of the testimony.” 54 Thus did the people of Israel; they did according to all that the LORD commanded Moses.

    (ESV)

    Chronicles and Prophets:
    Isaiah 38
    Isaiah 38 (Listen)
    Hezekiah’s Sickness and Recovery

    38 In those days Hezekiah became sick and was at the point of death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him, and said to him, “Thus says the LORD: Set your house in order, for you shall die, you shall not recover.”Or live; also verses 9, 21">1 2 Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD, 3 and said, “Please, O LORD, remember how I have walked before you in faithfulness and with a whole heart, and have done what is good in your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.

    4 Then the word of the LORD came to Isaiah: 5 “Go and say to Hezekiah, Thus says the LORD, the God of David your father: I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Behold, I will add fifteen years to your life.Hebrew to your days">2 6 I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria, and will defend this city.

    7 “This shall be the sign to you from the LORD, that the LORD will do this thing that he has promised: 8 Behold, I will make the shadow cast by the declining sun on the dial of Ahaz turn back ten steps.” So the sun turned back on the dial the ten steps by which it had declined.The meaning of the Hebrew verse is uncertain">3

    9 A writing of Hezekiah king of Judah, after he had been sick and had recovered from his sickness:

    10   I said, In the middleOr In the quiet">4 of my days
        I must depart;
      I am consigned to the gates of Sheol
        for the rest of my years.
    11   I said, I shall not see the LORD,
        the LORD in the land of the living;
      I shall look on man no more
        among the inhabitants of the world.
    12   My dwelling is plucked up and removed from me
        like a shepherd’s tent;
      like a weaver I have rolled up my life;
        he cuts me off from the loom;
      from day to night you bring me to an end;
    13     I calmed myselfOr (with Targum) I cried for help">5 until morning;
      like a lion he breaks all my bones;
        from day to night you bring me to an end.
    14   Like a swallow or a crane I chirp;
        I moan like a dove.
      My eyes are weary with looking upward.
        O Lord, I am oppressed; be my pledge of safety!
    15   What shall I say? For he has spoken to me,
        and he himself has done it.
      I walk slowly all my years
        because of the bitterness of my soul.
    16   O Lord, by these things men live,
        and in all these is the life of my spirit.
        Oh restore me to health and make me live!
    17   Behold, it was for my welfare
        that I had great bitterness;
      but in love you have delivered my life
        from the pit of destruction,
      for you have cast all my sins
        behind your back.
    18   For Sheol does not thank you;
        death does not praise you;
      those who go down to the pit do not hope
        for your faithfulness.
    19   The living, the living, he thanks you,
        as I do this day;
      the father makes known to the children
        your faithfulness.
    20   The LORD will save me,
        and we will play my music on stringed instruments
      all the days of our lives,
        at the house of the LORD.

    21 Now Isaiah had said, “Let them take a cake of figs and apply it to the boil, that he may recover.” 22 Hezekiah also had said, “What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of the LORD?”

    Footnotes

    [1] 38:1 Or live; also verses 9, 21


    [2] 38:5 Hebrew to your days

    [3] 38:8 The meaning of the Hebrew verse is uncertain

    [4] 38:10 Or In the quiet

    [5] 38:13 Or (with Targum) I cried for help

    (ESV)

    Gospels and Epistles:
    Ephesians 5:22–6:9
    Ephesians 5:22–6:9 (Listen)
    Wives and Husbands

    22 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.

    25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.Or holy and blameless">1 28 In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, 30 because we are members of his body. 31 “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” 32 This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. 33 However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.

    Children and Parents

    6 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), 3 “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.” 4 Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

    Bondservants and Masters

    5 Bondservants,For the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos, see Preface; also verse 6; likewise for bondservant in verse 8">2 obey your earthly mastersOr your masters according to the flesh">3 with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as you would Christ, 6 not by the way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, 7 rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man, 8 knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is a bondservant or is free. 9 Masters, do the same to them, and stop your threatening, knowing that he who is both their MasterGreek Lord">4 and yours is in heaven, and that there is no partiality with him.

    Footnotes

    [1] 5:27 Or holy and blameless


    [2] 6:5 For the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos, see Preface; also verse 6; likewise for bondservant in verse 8

    [3] 6:5 Or your masters according to the flesh

    [4] 6:9 Greek Lord

    (ESV)

    14 min
  • 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

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