Today's Reading

¹The Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

²"Speak to the children of Israel, saying, 'If anyone sins unintentionally, in any of the things which the Lord has commanded not to be done, and does any one of them:

³if the anointed priest sins so as to bring guilt on the people, then let him offer for his sin, which he has sinned, a young bull without blemish to the Lord for a sin offering.

⁴He shall bring the bull to the door of the Tent of Meeting before the Lord; and he shall lay his hand on the head of the bull and kill the bull before the Lord.

⁵The anointed priest shall take some of the blood of the bull, and bring it to the Tent of Meeting.

⁶The priest shall dip his finger in the blood, and sprinkle some of the blood seven times before the Lord, before the veil of the sanctuary.

⁷The priest shall put some of the blood on the horns of the altar of sweet incense before the Lord, which is in the Tent of Meeting; and he shall pour out all of rest of the blood of the bull at the base of the altar of burnt offering, which is at the door of the Tent of Meeting.

⁸He shall take all the fat of the bull of the sin offering off of it; the fat that covers the innards, and all the fat that is on the innards,

⁹and the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, which is by the loins, and the cover on the liver, with the kidneys, he shall take away,

¹⁰as it is taken off of the bull of the sacrifice of peace offerings. The priest shall burn them on the altar of burnt offering.

¹¹The bull's skin, all its flesh, with its head, and with its legs, its innards, and its dung,

¹²even the whole bull shall he carry forth outside the camp to a clean place, where the ashes are poured out, and burn it on wood with fire. Where the ashes are poured out it shall be burned.

¹³"'If the whole congregation of Israel sins, and the thing is hidden from the eyes of the assembly, and they have done any of the things which the Lord has commanded not to be done, and are guilty;

¹⁴when the sin in which they have sinned is known, then the assembly shall offer a young bull for a sin offering, and bring it before the Tent of Meeting.

¹⁵The elders of the congregation shall lay their hands on the head of the bull before the Lord; and the bull shall be killed before the Lord.

¹⁶The anointed priest shall bring of the blood of the bull to the Tent of Meeting:

¹⁷and the priest shall dip his finger in the blood, and sprinkle it seven times before the Lord, before the veil.

¹⁸He shall put some of the blood on the horns of the altar which is before the Lord, that is in the Tent of Meeting; and the rest of the blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering, which is at the door of the Tent of Meeting.

¹⁹All its fat he shall take from it, and burn it on the altar.

²⁰Thus shall he do with the bull; as he did with the bull of the sin offering, so shall he do with this; and the priest shall make atonement for them, and they shall be forgiven.

²¹He shall carry forth the bull outside the camp, and burn it as he burned the first bull. It is the sin offering for the assembly.

²²"'When a ruler sins, and unwittingly does any one of all the things which the Lord his God has commanded not to be done, and is guilty;

²³if his sin, in which he has sinned, is made known to him, he shall bring as his offering a goat, a male without blemish.

²⁴He shall lay his hand on the head of the goat, and kill it in the place where they kill the burnt offering before the Lord. It is a sin offering.

²⁵The priest shall take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger, and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering. He shall pour out the rest of its blood at the base of the altar of burnt offering.

²⁶All its fat he shall burn on the altar, like the fat of the sacrifice of peace offerings; and the priest shall make atonement for him concerning his sin, and he will be forgiven.

²⁷"'If anyone of the common people sins unwittingly, in doing any of the things which the Lord has commanded not to be done, and is guilty;

²⁸if his sin, which he has sinned, is made known to him, then he shall bring for his offering a goat, a female without blemish, for his sin which he has sinned.

²⁹He shall lay his hand on the head of the sin offering, and kill the sin offering in the place of burnt offering.

³⁰The priest shall take some of its blood with his finger, and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering; and the rest of its blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar.

³¹All its fat he shall take away, like the fat is taken away from off of the sacrifice of peace offerings; and the priest shall burn it on the altar for a pleasant aroma to the Lord; and the priest shall make atonement for him, and he will be forgiven.

³²"'If he brings a lamb as his offering for a sin offering, he shall bring a female without blemish.

³³He shall lay his hand on the head of the sin offering, and kill it for a sin offering in the place where they kill the burnt offering.

³⁴The priest shall take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger, and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering; and all the rest of its blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar.

³⁵All its fat he shall take away, like the fat of the lamb is taken away from the sacrifice of peace offerings; and the priest shall burn them on the altar, on the offerings of the Lord made by fire; and the priest shall make atonement for him concerning his sin that he has sinned, and he will be forgiven.

¹"'If anyone sins, in that he hears the voice of adjuration, he being a witness, whether he has seen or known, if he doesn't report it, then he shall bear his iniquity.

²"'Or if anyone touches any unclean thing, whether it is the carcass of an unclean animal, or the carcass of unclean livestock, or the carcass of unclean creeping things, and it is hidden from him, and he is unclean, then he shall be guilty.

³"'Or if he touches the uncleanness of man, whatever his uncleanness is with which he is unclean, and it is hidden from him; when he knows of it, then he shall be guilty.

⁴"'Or if anyone swears rashly with his lips to do evil, or to do good, whatever it is that a man might utter rashly with an oath, and it is hidden from him; when he knows of it, then he shall be guilty of one of these.

⁵It shall be, when he is guilty of one of these, he shall confess that in which he has sinned:

⁶and he shall bring his trespass offering to the Lord for his sin which he has sinned, a female from the flock, a lamb or a goat, for a sin offering; and the priest shall make atonement for him concerning his sin which he sinned and it shall be forgiven him.

⁷"'If he can't afford a lamb, then he shall bring his trespass offering for that in which he has sinned, two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, to the Lord; one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering.

⁸He shall bring them to the priest, who shall first offer the one which is for the sin offering, and wring off its head from its neck, but shall not sever it completely.

⁹He shall sprinkle some of the blood of the sin offering on the side of the altar; and the rest of the blood shall be drained out at the base of the altar. It is a sin offering.

¹⁰He shall offer the second for a burnt offering, according to the ordinance; and the priest shall make atonement for him concerning his sin which he has sinned, and he shall be forgiven.

¹¹"'But if he can't afford two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, then he shall bring his offering for that in which he has sinned, the tenth part of an ephah of fine flour for a sin offering. He shall put no oil on it, neither shall he put any frankincense on it, for it is a sin offering.

¹²He shall bring it to the priest, and the priest shall take his handful of it as the memorial portion, and burn it on the altar, on the offerings of the Lord made by fire. It is a sin offering.

¹³The priest shall make atonement for him concerning his sin that he has sinned in any of these things, and he will be forgiven; and the rest shall be the priest's, as the meal offering.'"

¹⁴The Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

¹⁵"If anyone commits a trespass, and sins unwittingly, in the holy things of the Lord; then he shall bring his trespass offering to the Lord, a ram without blemish from the flock, according to your estimation in silver by shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary, for a trespass offering.

¹⁶He shall make restitution for that which he has done wrong in the holy thing, and shall add a fifth part to it, and give it to the priest; and the priest shall make atonement for him with the ram of the trespass offering, and he will be forgiven.

¹⁷"If anyone sins, and does any of the things which the Lord has commanded not to be done; though he did not know it, yet he is guilty, and shall bear his iniquity.

¹⁸He shall bring a ram without blemish from of the flock, according to your estimation, for a trespass offering, to the priest; and the priest shall make atonement for him concerning the thing in which he sinned and did not know it, and he will be forgiven.

¹⁹It is a trespass offering. He is certainly guilty before the Lord."

¹The Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

²"If anyone sins, and commits a trespass against the Lord, and deals falsely with his neighbor in a matter of deposit, or of bargain, or of robbery, or has oppressed his neighbor,

³or has found that which was lost, and dealt falsely therein, and swearing to a lie; in any of all these things that a man does, sinning therein;

⁴then it shall be, if he has sinned, and is guilty, he shall restore that which he took by robbery, or the thing which he has gotten by oppression, or the deposit which was committed to him, or the lost thing which he found,

⁵or any thing about which he has sworn falsely; he shall restore it even in full, and shall add a fifth part more to it. To him to whom it belongs he shall give it, in the day of his being found guilty.

⁶He shall bring his trespass offering to the Lord, a ram without blemish from the flock, according to your estimation, for a trespass offering, to the priest.

⁷The priest shall make atonement for him before the Lord, and he will be forgiven concerning whatever he does to become guilty."

⁸The Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

⁹"Command Aaron and his sons, saying, 'This is the law of the burnt offering: the burnt offering shall be on the hearth on the altar all night until the morning; and the fire of the altar shall be kept burning on it.

¹⁰The priest shall put on his linen garment, and he shall put on his linen breeches upon his body; and he shall remove the ashes from where the fire has consumed the burnt offering on the altar, and he shall put them beside the altar.

¹¹He shall take off his garments, and put on other garments, and carry the ashes outside the camp to a clean place.

¹²The fire on the altar shall be kept burning on it, it shall not go out; and the priest shall burn wood on it every morning: and he shall lay the burnt offering in order upon it, and shall burn on it the fat of the peace offerings.

¹³Fire shall be kept burning on the altar continually; it shall not go out.

¹⁴"'This is the law of the meal offering: the sons of Aaron shall offer it before the Lord, before the altar.

¹⁵He shall take from there his handful of the fine flour of the meal offering, and of its oil, and all the frankincense which is on the meal offering, and shall burn it on the altar for a pleasant aroma, as its memorial, to the Lord.

¹⁶That which is left of it Aaron and his sons shall eat. It shall be eaten without yeast in a holy place. They shall eat it in the court of the Tent of Meeting

¹⁷It shall not be baked with yeast. I have given it as their portion of my offerings made by fire. It is most holy, as the sin offering, and as the trespass offering.

¹⁸Every male among the children of Aaron shall eat of it, as their portion forever throughout your generations, from the offerings of the Lord made by fire. Whoever touches them shall be holy.'"

¹⁹The Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

²⁰"This is the offering of Aaron and of his sons, which they shall offer to the Lord in the day when he is anointed: the tenth part of an ephah of fine flour for a meal offering perpetually, half of it in the morning, and half of it in the evening.

²¹It shall be made with oil in a griddle. When it is soaked, you shall bring it in. You shall offer the meal offering in baked pieces for a pleasant aroma to the Lord.

²²The anointed priest that will be in his place from among his sons shall offer it. By a statute forever, it shall be wholly burnt to the Lord.

²³Every meal offering of a priest shall be wholly burned. It shall not be eaten."

²⁴The Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

²⁵"Speak to Aaron and to his sons, saying, 'This is the law of the sin offering: in the place where the burnt offering is killed, the sin offering shall be killed before the Lord. It is most holy.

²⁶The priest who offers it for sin shall eat it. It shall be eaten in a holy place, in the court of the Tent of Meeting.

²⁷Whatever shall touch its flesh shall be holy. When there is any of its blood sprinkled on a garment, you shall wash that on which it was sprinkled in a holy place.

²⁸But the earthen vessel in which it is boiled shall be broken; and if it is boiled in a bronze vessel, it shall be scoured, and rinsed in water.

²⁹Every male among the priests shall eat of it: it is most holy.

³⁰No sin offering, of which any of the blood is brought into the Tent of Meeting to make atonement in the Holy Place, shall be eaten: it shall be burned with fire.

¹Again he began to teach by the seaside. A great multitude was gathered to him, so that he entered into a boat in the sea, and sat down. All the multitude were on the land by the sea.

²Then he taught them many things in parables, and told them in his teaching,

³"Listen! Behold, the farmer went out to sow,

⁴and it happened, as he sowed, some seed fell by the road, and the birds came and devoured it.

⁵Others fell on the rocky ground, where it had little soil, and immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of soil.

⁶But when the sun had risen, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away.

⁷Others fell among the thorns, and the thorns grew up, and choked it, and it yielded no fruit.

⁸Others fell into the good ground, and yielded fruit, growing up and increasing. Some brought forth thirty times, some sixty times, and some one hundred times as much."

⁹He said, "Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear."

¹⁰When he was alone, those who were around him with the twelve asked him about the parables.

¹¹And he said to them, "To you has been given the mystery of the Kingdom of God, but to those who are outside, all things are done in parables,

¹²that 'seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest perhaps they should return and be forgiven.'"

¹³And he said to them, "Do you not understand this parable? How will you understand all of the parables?

¹⁴The farmer sows the word.

¹⁵The ones by the road are the ones where the word is sown; and when they have heard, immediately Satan comes, and takes away the word which has been sown in them.

¹⁶These are those who are sown on the rocky places, who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with joy.

¹⁷They have no root in themselves, but are short-lived. When oppression or persecution arises because of the word, immediately they stumble.

¹⁸And others are those who are sown among the thorns; these are the ones who have heard the word,

¹⁹but the cares of the age, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.

²⁰But those which were sown on the good ground are those who hear the word, and accept it, and bear fruit, some thirty times, some sixty times, and some one hundred times."

²¹And he said to them, "Is the lamp brought to be put under a basket or under a bed? Is not it put on a stand?

²²For there is nothing hidden, except that it should be made known; neither was anything made secret, but that it should come to light.

²³If any man has ears to hear, let him hear."

²⁴And he said to them, "Take heed what you hear. With whatever measure you measure, it will be measured to you, and more will be given to you.

²⁵For whoever has, more will be given, and he who does not have, even that which he has will be taken away from him."

²⁶And he said, "The Kingdom of God is as if a man should cast seed on the earth,

²⁷and should sleep and rise night and day, and the seed should spring up and grow, he does not know how.

²⁸For the earth bears fruit: first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear.

²⁹But when the fruit is ripe, immediately he puts forth the sickle, because the harvest has come."

³⁰And he said, "To what will we liken the Kingdom of God? Or with what parable will we use for it?

³¹It's like a grain of mustard seed, which, when it is sown in the earth, though it is less than all the seeds that are on the earth,

³²yet when it is sown, grows up, and becomes greater than all the herbs, and puts out great branches, so that the birds of the sky can lodge under its shadow."

³³With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it.

³⁴Without a parable he did not speak to them; but privately to his own disciples he explained everything.

³⁵On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, "Let us go over to the other side."

³⁶Leaving the multitude, they took him with them, even as he was, in the boat. Other boats were also with him.

³⁷A big wind storm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so much that the boat was already filled.

³⁸He himself was in the stern, asleep on the cushion, and they woke him up, and told him, "Teacher, do you not care that we are dying?"

³⁹And he awoke, and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Peace! Be still!" The wind ceased, and there was a great calm.

⁴⁰And he said to them, "Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?"

⁴¹And they were greatly afraid, and said to one another, "Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?"

¹ Blessed is he whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sin is covered.

²Blessed is the man to whom the Lord doesn't impute iniquity, in whose spirit there is no deceit.

³When I kept silence, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long.

⁴For day and night your hand was heavy on me. My strength was sapped in the heat of summer. Selah.

⁵I acknowledged my sin to you. I did not hide my iniquity. I said, I will confess my transgressions to the Lord, and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah.

⁶For this, let everyone who is godly pray to you in a time when you may be found. Surely when the great waters overflow, they shall not reach to him.

⁷You are my hiding place. You will preserve me from trouble. You will surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah.

⁸I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you shall go. I will counsel you with my eye on you.

⁹Do not be like the horse, or like the mule, which have no understanding, who are controlled by bit and bridle, or else they will not come near to you.

¹⁰Many sorrows come to the wicked, but loving kindness shall surround him who trusts in the Lord.

¹¹Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, you righteous! Shout for joy, all you who are upright in heart!

¹The proverbs of Solomon, the son of David, king of Israel:

²to know wisdom and instruction; to discern the words of understanding;

³to receive instruction in wise dealing, in righteousness, justice, and equity;

⁴to give prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the young man:

⁵that the wise man may hear, and increase in learning; that the man of understanding may attain to sound counsel:

⁶to understand a proverb, and parables, the words and riddles of the wise.

⁷The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; but the foolish despise wisdom and instruction.

⁸My son, listen to your father's instruction, and do not forsake your mother's teaching:

⁹for they will be a garland to grace your head, and chains around your neck.

¹⁰My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent.

¹¹If they say, "Come with us, Let's lie in wait for blood; let's lurk secretly for the innocent without cause;

¹²let's swallow them up alive like Sheol, and whole, like those who go down into the pit.

¹³We'll find all valuable wealth. We'll fill our houses with spoil.

¹⁴You shall cast your lot among us. We'll all have one purse."

¹⁵My son, do not walk in the way with them. Keep your foot from their path,

¹⁶for their feet run to evil. They hurry to shed blood.

¹⁷For in vain is the net spread in the sight of any bird:

¹⁸but these lie in wait for their own blood. They lurk secretly for their own lives.

¹⁹So are the ways of everyone who is greedy for gain. It takes away the life of its owners.

²⁰Wisdom calls aloud in the street. She utters her voice in the public squares.

²¹She calls at the head of noisy places. At the entrance of the city gates, she utters her words:

²²"How long, you simple ones, will you love simplicity? How long will mockers delight themselves in mockery, and fools hate knowledge?

²³Turn at my reproof. Behold, I will pour out my spirit on you. I will make known my words to you.

²⁴Because I have called, and you have refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no one has paid attention;

²⁵but you have ignored all my counsel, and wanted none of my reproof;

²⁶I also will laugh at your disaster. I will mock when calamity overtakes you;

²⁷when calamity overtakes you like a storm, when your disaster comes on like a whirlwind; when distress and anguish come on you.

²⁸Then will they call on me, but I will not answer. They will seek me diligently, but they will not find me;

²⁹because they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the Lord.

³⁰They wanted none of my counsel. They despised all my reproof.

³¹Therefore they will eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own schemes.

³²For the backsliding of the simple will kill them. The careless ease of fools will destroy them.

³³But whoever listens to me will dwell securely, and will be at ease, without fear of harm."