Today's Reading

¹The Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying,

²"Take a census of the sons of Kohath from among the sons of Levi, by their families, by their fathers' houses,

³from thirty years old and upward even until fifty years old, all who enter into the service, to do the work in the Tent of Meeting.

⁴This is the service of the sons of Kohath in the Tent of Meeting, the most holy things.

⁵When the camp moves forward, Aaron shall go in, and his sons, and they shall take down the veil of the screen, and cover the ark of the Testimony with it,

⁶and shall put a covering of sealskin on it, and shall spread over it a cloth all of blue, and shall put in its poles.

⁷On the table of show bread they shall spread a blue cloth, and put on it the dishes, the spoons, the bowls, and the cups with which to pour out; and the continual bread shall be on it.

⁸They shall spread on them a scarlet cloth, and cover the same with a covering of sealskin, and shall put in its poles.

⁹They shall take a blue cloth, and cover the menorah of the light, and its lamps, and its snuffers, and its snuff dishes, and all its oil vessels, with which they minister to it.

¹⁰They shall put it and all its vessels within a covering of sealskin, and shall put it on the frame.

¹¹On the golden altar they shall spread a blue cloth, and cover it with a covering of sealskin, and shall put in its poles.

¹²They shall take all the vessels of ministry, with which they minister in the sanctuary, and put them in a blue cloth, and cover them with a covering of sealskin, and shall put them on the frame.

¹³They shall take away the ashes from the altar, and spread a purple cloth on it.

¹⁴They shall put on it all its vessels, with which they minister about it, the fire pans, the flesh hooks, the shovels, and the basins; all the vessels of the altar; and they shall spread on it a covering of sealskin, and put in its poles.

¹⁵"When Aaron and his sons have finished covering the sanctuary, and all the furniture of the sanctuary, as the camp moves forward; after that, the sons of Kohath shall come to carry it: but they shall not touch the sanctuary, lest they die. These things are the burden of the sons of Kohath in the Tent of Meeting.

¹⁶"The duty of Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest shall be the oil for the light, the sweet incense, the continual meal offering, and the anointing oil, the requirements of all the tabernacle, and of all that is in it, the sanctuary, and its furnishings."

¹⁷The Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying,

¹⁸"Do not cut off the tribe of the families of the Kohathites from among the Levites;

¹⁹but thus do to them, that they may live, and not die, when they approach to the most holy things: Aaron and his sons shall go in, and appoint them everyone to his service and to his burden;

²⁰but they shall not go in to see the sanctuary even for a moment, lest they die."

²¹The Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

²²"Take a census of the sons of Gershon also, by their fathers' houses, by their families;

²³you shall count them from thirty years old and upward until fifty years old; all who enter in to wait on the service, to do the work in the Tent of Meeting.

²⁴This is the service of the families of the Gershonites, in serving and in bearing burdens:

²⁵they shall carry the curtains of the tabernacle, and the Tent of Meeting, its covering, and the covering of sealskin that is above on it, and the screen for the door of the Tent of Meeting,

²⁶and the hangings of the court, and the screen for the door of the gate of the court, which is by the tabernacle and around the altar, and their cords, and all the instruments of their service, and whatever shall be done with them. Therein shall they serve.

²⁷At the commandment of Aaron and his sons shall be all the service of the sons of the Gershonites, in all their burden, and in all their service; and you shall appoint their duty to them in all their responsibilities.

²⁸This is the service of the families of the sons of the Gershonites in the Tent of Meeting: and their duty shall be under the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.

²⁹"As for the sons of Merari, you shall number them by their families, by their fathers' houses;

³⁰you shall count them from thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old, everyone who enters on the service, to do the work of the Tent of Meeting.

³¹This is the duty of their burden, according to all their service in the Tent of Meeting: the tabernacle's boards, its bars, its pillars, its sockets,

³²and the pillars of the court around it, and their sockets, and their pins, and their cords, with all their instruments, and with all their service: and by name you shall appoint the instruments of the duty of their burden.

³³This is the service of the families of the sons of Merari, according to all their service, in the Tent of Meeting, under the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest."

³⁴Moses and Aaron and the princes of the congregation numbered the sons of the Kohathites by their families, and by their fathers' houses,

³⁵from thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old, everyone who entered into the service, for work in the Tent of Meeting.

³⁶Those who were numbered of them by their families were two thousand seven hundred fifty.

³⁷These are those who were numbered of the families of the Kohathites, all who served in the Tent of Meeting, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the commandment of the Lord by Moses.

³⁸Those who were numbered of the sons of Gershon, their families, and by their fathers' houses,

³⁹from thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old, everyone who entered into the service, for work in the Tent of Meeting,

⁴⁰even those who were numbered of them, by their families, by their fathers' houses, were two thousand six hundred thirty.

⁴¹These are those who were numbered of the families of the sons of Gershon, all who served in the Tent of Meeting, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the commandment of the Lord.

⁴²Those who were numbered of the families of the sons of Merari, by their families, by their fathers' houses,

⁴³from thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old, everyone who entered into the service, for work in the Tent of Meeting,

⁴⁴even those who were numbered of them by their families, were three thousand two hundred.

⁴⁵These are those who were numbered of the families of the sons of Merari, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the commandment of the Lord by Moses.

⁴⁶All those who were numbered of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron and the princes of Israel numbered, by their families, and by their fathers' houses,

⁴⁷from thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old, everyone who entered in to do the work of service, and the work of bearing burdens in the Tent of Meeting,

⁴⁸even those who were numbered of them, were eight thousand five hundred eighty.

⁴⁹According to the commandment of the Lord they were numbered by Moses, everyone according to his service, and according to his burden. Thus were they numbered by him, as the Lord commanded Moses.

¹The Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

²"Command the children of Israel that they put out of the camp every leper, and everyone who has an issue, and whoever is unclean by the dead.

³Both you shall put male and female outside of the camp; that they not defile their camp, in the midst of which I dwell."

⁴The children of Israel did so, and put them out outside of the camp; as the Lord spoke to Moses, so did the children of Israel.

⁵The Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

⁶"Speak to the children of Israel: When a man or woman commits any sin that men commit, so as to trespass against the Lord, and that soul is guilty;

⁷then he shall confess his sin which he has done, and he shall make restitution for his guilt in full, and add to it the fifth part of it, and give it to him in respect of whom he has been guilty.

⁸But if the man has no kinsman to whom restitution may be made for the guilt, the restitution for guilt which is made to the Lord shall be the priest's; besides the ram of the atonement, by which atonement shall be made for him.

⁹Every heave offering of all the holy things of the children of Israel, which they present to the priest, shall be his.

¹⁰Every man's holy things shall be his: whatever any man gives the priest, it shall be his."

¹¹The Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

¹²"Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them: If any man's wife goes astray, and is unfaithful to him,

¹³and a man lies with her carnally, and it is hidden from the eyes of her husband, and is kept close, and she is defiled, and there is no witness against her, and she isn't taken in the act;

¹⁴and the spirit of jealousy comes on him, and he is jealous of his wife, and she is defiled: or if the spirit of jealousy comes on him, and he is jealous of his wife, and she isn't defiled:

¹⁵then the man shall bring his wife to the priest, and shall bring her offering for her: the tenth part of an ephah of barley meal. He shall pour no oil on it, nor put frankincense on it, for it is a meal offering of jealousy, a meal offering of memorial, bringing iniquity to memory.

¹⁶The priest shall bring her near, and set her before the Lord;

¹⁷and the priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel; and of the dust that is on the floor of the tabernacle the priest shall take, and put it into the water.

¹⁸The priest shall set the woman before the Lord, and let the hair of the woman's head go loose, and put the meal offering of memorial in her hands, which is the meal offering of jealousy. The priest shall have in his hand the water of bitterness that brings a curse.

¹⁹The priest shall cause her to swear, and shall tell the woman, 'If no man has lain with you, and if you haven't gone aside to uncleanness, being under your husband, be free from this water of bitterness that brings a curse.

²⁰But if you have gone astray, being under your husband, and if you are defiled, and some man has lain with you besides your husband:'

²¹then the priest shall cause the woman to swear with the oath of cursing, and the priest shall tell the woman, 'The Lord make you a curse and an oath among your people, when the Lord allows your thigh to fall away, and your body to swell;

²²and this water that brings a curse will go into your bowels, and make your body swell, and your thigh fall away.' The woman shall say, 'Amen, Amen.'

²³"The priest shall write these curses in a book, and he shall blot them out into the water of bitterness.

²⁴He shall make the woman drink the water of bitterness that causes the curse; and the water that causes the curse shall enter into her and become bitter.

²⁵The priest shall take the meal offering of jealousy out of the woman's hand, and shall wave the meal offering before the Lord, and bring it to the altar.

²⁶The priest shall take a handful of the meal offering, as its memorial, and burn it on the altar, and afterward shall make the woman drink the water.

²⁷When he has made her drink the water, then it shall happen, if she is defiled, and has committed a trespass against her husband, that the water that causes the curse will enter into her and become bitter, and her body will swell, and her thigh will fall away: and the woman will be a curse among her people.

²⁸If the woman isn't defiled, but is clean; then she shall be free, and shall conceive seed.

²⁹"This is the law of jealousy, when a wife, being under her husband, goes astray, and is defiled;

³⁰or when the spirit of jealousy comes on a man, and he is jealous of his wife; then he shall set the woman before the Lord, and the priest shall execute on her all this law.

³¹The man shall be free from iniquity, and that woman shall bear her iniquity."

¹The Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

²"Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them: When either man or woman shall make a special vow, the vow of a Nazirite, to separate himself to the Lord,

³he shall separate himself from wine and strong drink. He shall drink no vinegar of wine, or vinegar of fermented drink, neither shall he drink any juice of grapes, nor eat fresh grapes or dried.

⁴All the days of his separation he shall eat nothing that is made of the grapevine, from the seeds even to the skins.

⁵"All the days of his vow of separation there shall no razor come on his head, until the days are fulfilled, in which he separates himself to the Lord. He shall be holy. He shall let the locks of the 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.

⁷He shall not make himself unclean for his father, or for his mother, for his brother, or for his sister, when they die; because his separation to God is on his head.

⁸All the days of his separation he is holy to the Lord.

⁹"If any man dies very suddenly beside him, and he defiles the head of his separation; then he shall shave his head in the day of his cleansing. On the seventh day he shall shave it.

¹⁰On the eighth day he shall bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons to the priest, to the door of the Tent of Meeting.

¹¹The 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, and shall make his head holy that same day.

¹²He shall separate to the Lord the days of his separation, and shall bring a male lamb a year old for a trespass offering; but the former days shall be void, because his separation was defiled.

¹³"This is the law of the Nazirite: when the days of his separation are fulfilled, he shall be brought to the door of the Tent of Meeting,

¹⁴and he shall offer his offering to the Lord, one male lamb a year old without blemish for a burnt offering, and one ewe lamb a year old without blemish for a sin offering, and one ram without blemish for peace offerings,

¹⁵and a basket of unleavened bread, cakes of fine flour mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil, and their meal offering, and their drink offerings.

¹⁶The priest shall present them before the Lord, and shall offer his sin offering, and his burnt offering.

¹⁷He shall offer the ram for a sacrifice of peace offerings to the Lord, with the basket of unleavened bread. The priest shall offer also its meal offering, and its drink offering.

¹⁸The Nazirite shall shave the head of his separation at the door of the Tent of Meeting, and shall take the hair of the head of his separation, and put it on the fire which is under the sacrifice of peace offerings.

¹⁹The priest shall take the boiled shoulder of the ram, and one unleavened cake out of the basket, and one unleavened wafer, and shall put them on the hands of the Nazirite, after he has shaved the head of his separation;

²⁰and the priest shall wave them for a wave offering before the Lord. This is holy for the priest, together with the breast that is waved and the thigh that is offered. After that the Nazirite may drink wine.

²¹"This is the law of the Nazirite who vows, and of his offering to the Lord for his separation, besides that which he is able to get. According to his vow which he vows, so he must do after the law of his separation."

²²The Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

²³"Speak to Aaron and to his sons, saying, 'This is how you shall bless the children of Israel.' You shall tell them,

²⁴'The Lord bless you, and keep you.

²⁵The Lord make his face to shine on you, and be gracious to you.

²⁶The Lord lift up his face toward you, and give you peace.'

²⁷"So they shall put my name on the children of Israel; and I will bless them."

¹As he went out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, "Teacher, see what kind of stones and what kind of buildings!"

²And Jesus said to him, "Do you see these great buildings? There will not be left here one stone on another, which will not be thrown down."

³As he sat on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, Jacob, John, and Andrew asked him privately,

⁴"Tell us, when will these things be? What is the sign that these things are all about to be fulfilled?"

⁵And Jesus began to say to them, "Be careful that no one leads you astray.

⁶Many will come in my name, saying, 'I am he!' and will lead many astray.

⁷"When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be troubled. Such things must happen, but the end is not yet.

⁸For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places. There will be famines. These things are the beginning of birth pains.

⁹But watch yourselves, for they will deliver you up to councils. You will be beaten in synagogues. You will stand before rulers and kings for my sake, as a testimony to them.

¹⁰The Good News must first be preached to all the nations.

¹¹When they lead you away and deliver you up, do not be anxious beforehand, or premeditate what you will say, but say whatever will be given you in that hour. For it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit.

¹²"Brother will deliver up brother to death, and the father his child. Children will rise up against parents, and cause them to be put to death.

¹³You will be hated by all men for my name's sake, but he who endures to the end, the same will be saved.

¹⁴But when you see the abomination of desolation, standing where it ought not (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains,

¹⁵and let him who is on the housetop not go down, nor enter in, to take anything out of his house.

¹⁶Let him who is in the field not return back to take his cloak.

¹⁷But woe to those who are with child and to those who nurse babies in those days!

¹⁸And pray that it won't be in the winter.

¹⁹For in those days there will be oppression, such as there has not been the like from the beginning of the creation which God created until now, and never will be.

²⁰Unless the Lord had shortened the days, no flesh would have been saved; but for the sake of the chosen ones, whom he picked out, he shortened the days.

²¹Then if anyone tells you, 'Look, here is the Messiah!' or, 'Look, there!' do not believe it.

²²For there will arise false messiahs and false prophets, and will show signs and wonders, that they may lead astray, if possible, the chosen ones.

²³But you watch. "I have told you all things beforehand.

²⁴But in those days, after that oppression, the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its light,

²⁵the stars will be falling from the sky, and the powers that are in the heavens will be shaken.

²⁶Then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory.

²⁷Then he will send out his angels, and will gather together his chosen ones from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the sky.

²⁸"Now from the fig tree, learn this parable. When the branch has now become tender, and puts forth its leaves, you know that the summer is near;

²⁹even so you also, when you see these things coming to pass, know that it is near, at the doors.

³⁰Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things happen.

³¹Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

³²But of that day or the hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.

³³Watch, keep alert; for you do not know when the time is.

³⁴"It is like a man, traveling to another country, having left his house, and given authority to his servants, and to each one his work, and also commanded the doorkeeper to keep watch.

³⁵Watch therefore, for you do not know when the lord of the house is coming -- at evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning;

³⁶lest coming suddenly he might find you sleeping.

³⁷What I tell you, I tell all: Watch."

¹ Blessed is he who considers the poor. The Lord will deliver him in the day of evil.

²The Lord will preserve him, and keep him alive. He shall be blessed on the earth, and he will not surrender him to the will of his enemies.

³The Lord will sustain him on his sickbed, and restore him from his bed of illness.

⁴I said, "Lord, have mercy on me! Heal me, for I have sinned against you."

⁵My enemies speak evil against me: "When will he die, and his name perish?"

⁶If he comes to see me, he speaks falsehood. His heart gathers iniquity to itself. When he goes abroad, he tells it.

⁷All who hate me whisper together against me. They imagine the worst for me.

⁸"An evil disease," they say, "has afflicted him. Now that he lies he shall rise up no more."

⁹Yes, my own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, who ate bread with me, has lifted up his heel against me.

¹⁰But you, Lord, have mercy on me, and raise me up, that I may repay them.

¹¹By this I know that you delight in me, because my enemy doesn't triumph over me.

¹²As for me, you uphold me in my integrity, and set me in your presence forever.

¹³Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting and to everlasting! Amen and amen.

¹The proverbs of Solomon. A wise son makes a glad father; but a foolish son brings grief to his mother.

²Treasures of wickedness profit nothing, but righteousness delivers from death.

³The Lord will not allow the soul of the righteous to go hungry, but he thrusts away the desire of the wicked.

⁴He becomes poor who works with a lazy hand, but the hand of the diligent brings wealth.

⁵He who gathers in summer is a wise son, but he who sleeps during the harvest is a son who causes shame.

⁶Blessings are on the head of the righteous, but violence covers the mouth of the wicked.

⁷The memory of the righteous is blessed, but the name of the wicked will rot.

⁸The wise in heart accept commandments, but a chattering fool will fall.

⁹He who walks blamelessly walks surely, but he who perverts his ways will be found out.

¹⁰One winking with the eye causes sorrow, but a chattering fool will fall.

¹¹The mouth of the righteous is a spring of life, but violence covers the mouth of the wicked.

¹²Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all wrongs.

¹³Wisdom is found on the lips of him who has discernment, but a rod is for the back of him who is void of understanding.

¹⁴Wise men lay up knowledge, but the mouth of the foolish is near ruin.

¹⁵The rich man's wealth is his strong city. The destruction of the poor is their poverty.

¹⁶The labor of the righteous leads to life. The increase of the wicked leads to sin.

¹⁷He is in the way of life who heeds correction, but he who forsakes reproof leads others astray.

¹⁸He who hides hatred has lying lips. He who utters a slander is a fool.

¹⁹In the multitude of words there is no lack of disobedience, but he who restrains his lips does wisely.

²⁰The tongue of the righteous is like choice silver. The heart of the wicked is of little worth.

²¹The lips of the righteous feed many, but the foolish die for lack of understanding.

²²The Lord's blessing brings wealth, and he adds no trouble to it.

²³It is a fool's pleasure to do wickedness, but wisdom is a man of understanding's pleasure.

²⁴What the wicked fear, will overtake them, but the desire of the righteous will be granted.

²⁵When the whirlwind passes, the wicked is no more; but the righteous stand firm forever.

²⁶As vinegar to the teeth, and as smoke to the eyes, so is the sluggard to those who send him.

²⁷The fear of the Lord prolongs days, but the years of the wicked shall be shortened.

²⁸The prospect of the righteous is joy, but the hope of the wicked will perish.

²⁹The way of the Lord is a stronghold to the upright, but it is a destruction to the workers of iniquity.

³⁰The righteous will never be removed, but the wicked will not dwell in the land.

³¹The mouth of the righteous brings forth wisdom, but the perverse tongue will be cut off.

³²The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable, but the mouth of the wicked is perverse.