Today's Reading

¹The Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

²"Make two trumpets of silver. You shall make them of beaten work. You shall use them for the calling of the congregation, and for the journeying of the camps.

³When they blow them, all the congregation shall gather themselves to you at the door of the Tent of Meeting.

⁴If they blow just one, then the princes, the heads of the thousands of Israel, shall gather themselves to you.

⁵When you blow an alarm, the camps that lie on the east side shall go forward.

⁶When you blow an alarm the second time, the camps that lie on the south side shall go forward. They shall blow an alarm for their journeys.

⁷But when the assembly is to be gathered together, you shall blow, but you shall not sound an alarm.

⁸The sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blow the trumpets. This shall be to you for a statute forever throughout your generations.

⁹When you go to war in your land against the adversary who oppresses you, then you shall sound an alarm with the trumpets. Then you will be remembered before the Lord your God, and you will be saved from your enemies.

¹⁰"Also in the day of your gladness, and in your set feasts, and in the beginnings of your months, you shall blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings, and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; and they shall be to you for a memorial before your God. I am the Lord your God."

¹¹It happened in the second year, in the second month, on the twentieth day of the month, that the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle of the testimony.

¹²The children of Israel went forward according to their journeys out of the wilderness of Sinai; and the cloud abode in the wilderness of Paran.

¹³They first went forward according to the commandment of the Lord by Moses.

¹⁴First, the standard of the camp of the children of Judah went forward according to their armies. Nahshon the son of Amminadab was over his army.

¹⁵Nethanel the son of Zuar was over the army of the tribe of the children of Issachar.

¹⁶Eliab the son of Helon was over the army of the tribe of the children of Zebulun.

¹⁷The tabernacle was taken down; and the sons of Gershon and the sons of Merari, who bore the tabernacle, went forward.

¹⁸The standard of the camp of Reuben went forward according to their armies. Elizur the son of Shedeur was over his army.

¹⁹Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai was over the army of the tribe of the children of Simeon.

²⁰Eliasaph the son of Deuel was over the army of the tribe of the children of Gad.

²¹The Kohathites set forward, bearing the sanctuary. The others set up the tabernacle before they arrived.

²²The standard of the camp of the children of Ephraim set forward according to their armies. Elishama the son of Ammihud was over his army.

²³Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur was over the army of the tribe of the children of Manasseh.

²⁴Abidan the son of Gideoni was over the army of the tribe of the children of Benjamin.

²⁵The standard of the camp of the children of Dan, which was the rearward of all the camps, set forward according to their armies. Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai was over his army.

²⁶Pagiel the son of Ochran was over the army of the tribe of the children of Asher.

²⁷Ahira the son of Enan was over the army of the tribe of the children of Naphtali.

²⁸Thus were the travels of the children of Israel according to their armies; and they went forward.

²⁹Moses said to Hobab, the son of Reuel the Midianite, Moses' father-in-law, "We are journeying to the place of which the Lord said, 'I will give it to you.' Come with us, and we will treat you well; for the Lord has spoken good concerning Israel."

³⁰He said to him, "I will not go; but I will depart to my own land, and to my relatives."

³¹He said, "Do not leave us, please; because you know how we are to encamp in the wilderness, and you can be our eyes.

³²It shall be, if you go with us, yes, it shall be, that whatever good the Lord does to us, we will do the same to you."

³³They set forward from the Mount of the Lord three days' journey. The ark of the covenant of the Lord went before them three days' journey, to seek out a resting place for them.

³⁴The cloud of the Lord was over them by day, when they set forward from the camp.

³⁵It happened, when the ark went forward, that Moses said, "Rise up, Lord, and let your enemies be scattered! Let those who hate you flee before you!"

³⁶When it rested, he said, "Return, Lord, to the ten thousands of the thousands of Israel."

¹The people were complaining in the ears of the Lord. When the Lord heard it, his anger was kindled; and the Lord's fire burnt among them, and consumed some of the outskirts of the camp.

²The people cried to Moses; and Moses prayed to the Lord, and the fire abated.

³The name of that place was called Taberah, because the Lord's fire burnt among them.

⁴The mixed multitude that was among them lusted exceedingly: and the children of Israel also wept again, and said, "Who will give us flesh to eat?

⁵We remember the fish, which we ate in Egypt for nothing; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic;

⁶but now we have lost our appetite. There is nothing at all except this manna to look at."

⁷The manna was like coriander seed, and its appearance like the appearance of bdellium.

⁸The people went around, gathered it, and ground it in mills, or beat it in mortars, and boiled it in pots, and made cakes of it. Its taste was like the taste of fresh oil.

⁹When the dew fell on the camp in the night, the manna fell on it.

¹⁰Moses heard the people weeping throughout their families, every man at the door of his tent; and the anger of the Lord was kindled greatly; and Moses was displeased.

¹¹Moses said to the Lord, "Why have you treated with your servant so badly? Why haven't I found favor in your sight, that you lay the burden of all this people on me?

¹²Have I conceived all this people? Have I brought them forth, that you should tell me, 'Carry them in your bosom, as a nurse carries a nursing infant, to the land which you swore to their fathers?'

¹³Where could I get meat to give to all this people? For they weep to me, saying, 'Give us meat, that we may eat.'

¹⁴I am not able to bear all this people alone, because it is too heavy for me.

¹⁵If you treat me this way, please kill me right now, if I have found favor in your sight; and do not let me see my wretchedness."

¹⁶The Lord said to Moses, "Gather to me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people, and officers over them; and bring them to the Tent of Meeting, that they may stand there with you.

¹⁷I will come down and talk with you there. I will take of the Spirit which is on you, and will put it on them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, that you not bear it yourself alone.

¹⁸"Say to the people, 'Sanctify yourselves against tomorrow, and you will eat flesh; for you have wept in the ears of the Lord, saying, "Who will give us flesh to eat? For it was well with us in Egypt." Therefore the Lord will give you flesh, and you will eat.

¹⁹You will not eat one day, nor two days, nor five days, neither ten days, nor twenty days,

²⁰but a whole month, until it come out at your nostrils, and it is loathsome to you; because that you have rejected the Lord who is among you, and have wept before him, saying, "Why did we come out of Egypt?"'"

²¹Moses said, "The people, among whom I am, are six hundred thousand men on foot; and you have said, 'I will give them flesh, that they may eat a whole month.'

²²Shall flocks and herds be slaughtered for them, to be sufficient for them? Shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, to be sufficient for them?"

²³The Lord said to Moses, "Has the Lord's hand grown short? Now you will see whether my word will happen to you or not."

²⁴Moses went out, and told the people the words of the Lord; and he gathered seventy men of the elders of the people, and set them around the Tent.

²⁵The Lord came down in the cloud, and spoke to him, and took of the Spirit that was on him, and put it on the seventy elders: and it happened that when the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied, but they did so no more.

²⁶But two men remained in the camp. The name of one was Eldad, and the name of the other Medad: and the Spirit rested on them; and they were of those who were written, but had not gone out to the Tent; and they prophesied in the camp.

²⁷A young man ran, and told Moses, and said, "Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp!"

²⁸Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Moses, one of his chosen men, answered, "My lord Moses, forbid them!"

²⁹Moses said to him, "Are you jealous for my sake? I wish that all the Lord's people were prophets, that the Lord would put his Spirit on them!"

³⁰Moses went into the camp, he and the elders of Israel.

³¹A wind from the Lord went out and brought quails from the sea, and let them fall by the camp, about a day's journey on this side, and a day's journey on the other side, around the camp, and about two cubits above the surface of the earth.

³²The people rose up all that day, and all the night, and all the next day, and gathered the quails. He who gathered least gathered ten homers; and they spread them all abroad for themselves around the camp.

³³While the flesh was yet between their teeth, before it was chewed, the anger of the Lord was kindled against the people, and the Lord struck the people with a very great plague.

³⁴The name of that place was called Kibroth Hattaavah, because there they buried the people who lusted.

³⁵From Kibroth Hattaavah the people traveled to Hazeroth; and they stayed at Hazeroth.

¹Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married; for he had married a Cushite woman.

²They said, "Has the Lord indeed spoken only with Moses? Hasn't he spoken also with us?" And the Lord heard it.

³Now the man Moses was very humble, above all the men who were on the surface of the earth.

⁴The Lord spoke suddenly to Moses, to Aaron, and to Miriam, "You three come out to the Tent of Meeting!" The three of them came out.

⁵The Lord came down in a pillar of cloud, and stood at the door of the Tent, and called Aaron and Miriam; and they both came forward.

⁶He said, "Hear now my words. If there is a prophet among you, I the Lord will make myself known to him in a vision. I will speak with him in a dream.

⁷My servant Moses is not so. He is faithful in all my house.

⁸With him I will speak mouth to mouth, even plainly, and not in riddles; and he shall see the Lord's form. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant, against Moses?"

⁹The anger of the Lord was kindled against them; and he departed.

¹⁰The cloud departed from over the Tent; and behold, Miriam was leprous, as white as snow. Aaron looked at Miriam, and behold, she was leprous.

¹¹Aaron said to Moses, "Oh, my lord, please do not count this sin against us, in which we have done foolishly, and in which we have sinned.

¹²Let her not, I pray, be as one dead, of whom the flesh is half consumed when he comes out of his mother's womb."

¹³Moses cried to the Lord, saying, "Heal her, God, I beg you!"

¹⁴The Lord said to Moses, "If her father had but spit in her face, shouldn't she be ashamed seven days? Let her be shut up outside of the camp seven days, and after that she shall be brought in again."

¹⁵Miriam was shut up outside of the camp seven days, and the people did not travel until Miriam was brought in again.

¹⁶Afterward the people traveled from Hazeroth, and encamped in the wilderness of Paran.

¹Immediately in the morning the chief priests, with the elders and scribes, and the whole council, held a consultation, and bound Jesus, and carried him away, and delivered him up to Pilate.

²Pilate asked him, "Are you the King of the Jews?" He answered, "So you say."

³The chief priests accused him of many things.

⁴Pilate again asked him, "Have you no answer? See how many things they testify against you!"

⁵But Jesus made no further answer, so that Pilate marveled.

⁶Now at the feast he used to release to them one prisoner, whom they requested.

⁷There was one called Barabbas, bound with those who had made insurrection, men who in the insurrection had committed murder.

⁸And the multitude went up and began to ask him to do as he always did for them.

⁹Pilate answered them, saying, "Do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?"

¹⁰For he perceived that for envy the chief priests had delivered him up.

¹¹But the chief priests stirred up the multitude, that he should release Barabbas to them instead.

¹²Pilate again asked them, "What then should I do to him whom you call the King of the Jews?"

¹³They shouted again, "Crucify him!"

¹⁴Pilate said to them, "Why, what evil has he done?" But they shouted all the louder, "Crucify him!"

¹⁵Pilate, wishing to please the multitude, released Barabbas to them, and handed over Jesus, when he had flogged him, to be crucified.

¹⁶The soldiers led him away within the court, which is the Praetorium; and they called together the whole cohort.

¹⁷They clothed him with purple, and weaving a crown of thorns, they put it on him.

¹⁸They began to salute him, "Hail, King of the Jews!"

¹⁹They struck his head with a reed, and spat on him, and bowing their knees, did homage to him.

²⁰When they had mocked him, they took the purple off of him, and put his own garments on him. They led him out to crucify him.

²¹They compelled one passing by, coming from the country, Simon of Cyrene, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to go with them, that he might bear his cross.

²²They brought him to the place called Golgotha, which is, being interpreted, "The place of a skull."

²³They offered him wine mixed with myrrh to drink, but he did not take it.

²⁴Crucifying him, they parted his garments among them, casting lots on them, what each should take.

²⁵It was the third hour, and they crucified him.

²⁶The superscription of his accusation was written over him, "THE KING OF THE JEWS."

²⁷With him they crucified two robbers; one on his right hand, and one on his left. [The Scripture was fulfilled, which says, "He was numbered with transgressors.]

²⁸

²⁹Those who passed by blasphemed him, wagging their heads, and saying, "Ha! You who destroy the temple, and build it in three days,

³⁰save yourself, and come down from the cross!"

³¹Likewise, also the chief priests mocking among themselves with the scribes said, "He saved others. He cannot save himself.

³²Let the Messiah, the King of Israel, now come down from the cross, that we may see and believe him." Those who were crucified with him insulted him.

³³When the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour.

³⁴At the ninth hour Jesus called out with a loud voice, saying, "Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?" which is, being interpreted, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

³⁵Some of those who stood by, when they heard it, said, "Behold, he is calling Elijah."

³⁶One ran, and filling a sponge full of vinegar, put it on a reed, and gave it to him to drink, saying, "Let him be. Let us see whether Elijah comes to take him down."

³⁷Jesus gave a loud cry, and gave up the spirit.

³⁸The veil of the temple was torn in two from the top to the bottom.

³⁹When the centurion, who stood by opposite him, saw that he died like this and breathed his last, he said, "Truly this man was the Son of God!"

⁴⁰There were also women watching from afar, among whom were both Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of Jacob the younger and of Joses, and Salome;

⁴¹who, when he was in Galilee, followed him, and served him; and many other women who came up with him to Jerusalem.

⁴²When evening had now come, because it was the Preparation Day, that is, the day before the Sabbath,

⁴³Joseph of Arimathaea, a prominent council member who also himself was looking for the Kingdom of God, came. He boldly went in to Pilate, and asked for the body of Jesus.

⁴⁴Pilate marveled if he were already dead; and summoning the centurion, he asked him whether he had been dead long.

⁴⁵When he found out from the centurion, he granted the body to Joseph.

⁴⁶He bought a linen cloth, and taking him down, wound him in the linen cloth, and placed him in a tomb which had been cut out of a rock. He rolled a stone against the door of the tomb.

⁴⁷Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of Joses, saw where he was placed.

¹Vindicate me, God, and plead my cause against an ungodly nation. Oh, deliver me from deceitful and wicked men.

²For you are the God of my strength. Why have you rejected me? Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?

³Oh, send out your light and your truth. Let them lead me. Let them bring me to your holy hill, To your tents.

⁴Then I will go to the altar of God, to God, my exceeding joy. I will praise you on the harp, God, my God.

⁵Why are you in despair, my soul? Why are you disturbed within me? Hope in God! For I shall still praise him: my Savior, my helper, and my God.

¹Whoever loves correction loves knowledge, but he who hates reproof is stupid.

²A good man shall obtain favor from the Lord, but he will condemn a man of wicked devices.

³A man shall not be established by wickedness, but the root of the righteous shall not be moved.

⁴A worthy woman is the crown of her husband, but a disgraceful wife is as rottenness in his bones.

⁵The thoughts of the righteous are just, but the advice of the wicked is deceitful.

⁶The words of the wicked are about lying in wait for blood, but the speech of the upright rescues them.

⁷The wicked are overthrown, and are no more, but the house of the righteous shall stand.

⁸A man shall be commended according to his wisdom, but he who has a warped mind shall be despised.

⁹Better is he who is lightly esteemed, and has a servant, than he who honors himself, and lacks bread.

¹⁰A righteous man regards the life of his animal, but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel.

¹¹He who tills his land shall have plenty of bread, but he who chases fantasies is void of understanding.

¹²The wicked desires the plunder of evil men, but the root of the righteous flourishes.

¹³An evil man is trapped by sinfulness of lips, but the righteous shall come out of trouble.

¹⁴A man shall be satisfied with good by the fruit of his mouth. The work of a man's hands shall be rewarded to him.

¹⁵The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but he who is wise listens to counsel.

¹⁶A fool shows his annoyance the same day, but one who overlooks an insult is prudent.

¹⁷He who is truthful testifies honestly, but a false witness lies.

¹⁸There is one who speaks rashly like the piercing of a sword, but the tongue of the wise heals.

¹⁹Truth's lips will be established forever, but a lying tongue is only momentary.

²⁰Deceit is in the heart of those who plot evil, but joy comes to the promoters of peace.

²¹No mischief shall happen to the righteous, but the wicked shall be filled with evil.

²²Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, but those who do the truth are his delight.

²³A prudent man keeps his knowledge, but the hearts of fools proclaim foolishness.

²⁴The hands of the diligent ones shall rule, but laziness ends in slave labor.

²⁵Anxiety in a man's heart weighs it down, but a kind word makes it glad.

²⁶A righteous person is cautious in friendship, but the way of the wicked leads them astray.

²⁷The slothful man doesn't roast his game, but the possessions of diligent men are prized.

²⁸In the way of righteousness is life; in its path there is no death.