Friday, 15 Sivan 5784 / June 21, 2024
Day 538 Readings
Torah: Parshat Behaalotecha, 6th Portion (Bamidbar (Numbers) 10:35-11:29)
Numbers 10:35-11:29
English Standard Version
35 And whenever the ark set out, Moses said, “Arise, O Lord, and let your enemies be scattered, and let those who hate you flee before you.” 36 And when it rested, he said, “Return, O Lord, to the ten thousand thousands of Israel.”
The People Complain
1 And the people complained in the hearing of the Lord about their misfortunes, and when the Lord heard it, his anger was kindled, and the fire of the Lord burned among them and consumed some outlying parts of the camp. 2 Then the people cried out to Moses, and Moses prayed to the Lord, and the fire died down. 3 So the name of that place was called Taberah,[a] because the fire of the Lord burned among them.
4 Now the rabble that was among them had a strong craving. And the people of Israel also wept again and said, “Oh that we had meat to eat! 5 We remember the fish we ate in Egypt that cost nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. 6 But now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at.”
7 Now the manna was like coriander seed, and its appearance like that of bdellium. 8 The people went about and gathered it and ground it in handmills or beat it in mortars and boiled it in pots and made cakes of it. And the taste of it was like the taste of cakes baked with oil. 9 When the dew fell upon the camp in the night, the manna fell with it.
10 Moses heard the people weeping throughout their clans, everyone at the door of his tent. And the anger of the Lord blazed hotly, and Moses was displeased. 11 Moses said to the Lord, “Why have you dealt ill with your servant? And why have I not found favor in your sight, that you lay the burden of all this people on me? 12 Did I conceive all this people? Did I give them birth, that you should say to me, ‘Carry them in your bosom, as a nurse carries a nursing child,’ to the land that you swore to give their fathers? 13 Where am I to get meat to give to all this people? For they weep before me and say, ‘Give us meat, that we may eat.’ 14 I am not able to carry all this people alone; the burden is too heavy for me. 15 If you will treat me like this, kill me at once, if I find favor in your sight, that I may not see my wretchedness.”
Elders Appointed to Aid Moses
16 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Gather for 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, and let them take their stand there with you. 17 And I will come down and talk with you there. And I will take some of the Spirit that is on you and put it on them, and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, so that you may not bear it yourself alone. 18 And say to the people, ‘Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, and you shall eat meat, for you have wept in the hearing of the Lord, saying, “Who will give us meat to eat? For it was better for us in Egypt.” Therefore the Lord will give you meat, and you shall eat. 19 You shall not eat just one day, or two days, or five days, or ten days, or twenty days, 20 but a whole month, until it comes out at your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you, because you have rejected the Lord who is among you and have wept before him, saying, “Why did we come out of Egypt?”’” 21 But Moses said, “The people among whom I am number six hundred thousand on foot, and you have said, ‘I will give them meat, that they may eat a whole month!’ 22 Shall flocks and herds be slaughtered for them, and be enough for them? Or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, and be enough for them?” 23 And the Lord said to Moses, “Is the Lord's hand shortened? Now you shall see whether my word will come true for you or not.”
24 So Moses went out and told the people the words of the Lord. And he gathered seventy men of the elders of the people and placed them around the tent. 25 Then the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke to him, and took some of the Spirit that was on him and put it on the seventy elders. And as soon as the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied. But they did not continue doing it.
26 Now two men remained in the camp, one named Eldad, and the other named Medad, and the Spirit rested on them. They were among those registered, but they had not gone out to the tent, and so they prophesied in the camp. 27 And a young man ran and told Moses, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.” 28 And Joshua the son of Nun, the assistant of Moses from his youth, said, “My lord Moses, stop them.” 29 But Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the Lord's people were prophets, that the Lord would put his Spirit on them!”
BIBLE Study Together
Psalm 4
English Standard Version
Answer Me When I Call
To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. A Psalm of David.
1 Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness! You have given me relief when I was in distress. Be gracious to me and hear my prayer!
2 O men,[a] how long shall my honor be turned into shame? How long will you love vain words and seek after lies? Selah
3 But know that the Lord has set apart the godly for himself; the Lord hears when I call to him.
4 Be angry,[b] and do not sin; ponder in your own hearts on your beds, and be silent. Selah
5 Offer right sacrifices, and put your trust in the Lord.
6 There are many who say, “Who will show us some good? Lift up the light of your face upon us, O Lord!”
7 You have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound.
8 In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.
Isaiah 51
English Standard Version
The Lord's Comfort for Zion
1 “Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness, you who seek the Lord: look to the rock from which you were hewn, and to the quarry from which you were dug.
2 Look to Abraham your father and to Sarah who bore you;for he was but one when I called him, that I might bless him and multiply him.
3 For the Lord comforts Zion; he comforts all her waste places and makes her wilderness like Eden, her desert like the garden of the Lord; joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the voice of song.
4 “Give attention to me, my people, and give ear to me, my nation; for a law[a] will go out from me, and I will set my justice for a light to the peoples.
5 My righteousness draws near, my salvation has gone out, and my arms will judge the peoples; the coastlands hope for me, and for my arm they wait.6 Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look at the earth beneath; for the heavens vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment, and they who dwell in it will die in like manner;[b]but my salvation will be forever, and my righteousness will never be dismayed.
7 “Listen to me, you who know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law; fear not the reproach of man, nor be dismayed at their revilings.
8 For the moth will eat them up like a garment, and the worm will eat them like wool, but my righteousness will be forever, and my salvation to all generations.”
9 Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord; awake, as in days of old, the generations of long ago. Was it not you who cut Rahab in pieces, who pierced the dragon? 10 Was it not you who dried up the sea, the waters of the great deep, who made the depths of the sea a way for the redeemed to pass over? 11 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.
12 “I, I am he who comforts you; who are you that you are afraid of man who dies, of the son of man who is made like grass, 13 and have forgotten the Lord, your Maker, who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth, and you fear continually all the day because of the wrath of the oppressor, when he sets himself to destroy? And where is the wrath of the oppressor? 14 He who is bowed down shall speedily be released; he shall not die and go down to the pit, neither shall his bread be lacking. 15 I am the Lord your God, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar— the Lord of hosts is his name. 16 And I have put my words in your mouth and covered you in the shadow of my hand, establishing[c] the heavens and laying the foundations of the earth, and saying to Zion, ‘You are my people.’”
17 Wake yourself, wake yourself, stand up, O Jerusalem, you who have drunk from the hand of the Lord the cup of his wrath, who have drunk to the dregs the bowl, the cup of staggering.18 There is none to guide her among all the sons she has borne; there is none to take her by the hand among all the sons she has brought up. 19 These two things have happened to you— who will console you?—devastation and destruction, famine and sword; who will comfort you?[d]20 Your sons have fainted; they lie at the head of every street like an antelope in a net; they are full of the wrath of the Lord, the rebuke of your God.
21 Therefore hear this, you who are afflicted, who are drunk, but not with wine: 22 Thus says your Lord, the Lord, your God who pleads the cause of his people: “Behold, I have taken from your hand the cup of staggering; the bowl of my wrath you shall drink no more; 23 and I will put it into the hand of your tormentors, who have said to you, ‘Bow down, that we may pass over’; and you have made your back like the ground and like the street for them to pass over.”
Ephesians 4:17-32
English Standard Version
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,[a] 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.
ESV Readings
Scripture
Proverbs 19
English Standard Version
1 Better is a poor person who walks in his integrity than one who is crooked in speech and is a fool.
2 Desire[a] without knowledge is not good, and whoever makes haste with his feet misses his way
.3 When a man's folly brings his way to ruin, his heart rages against the Lord.
4 Wealth brings many new friends, but a poor man is deserted by his friend.
5 A false witness will not go unpunished, and he who breathes out lies will not escape.
6 Many seek the favor of a generous man,[b] and everyone is a friend to a man who gives gifts.
7 All a poor man's brothers hate him; how much more do his friends go far from him!He pursues them with words, but does not have them.[c]
8 Whoever gets sense loves his own soul; he who keeps understanding will discover good.
9 A false witness will not go unpunished, and he who breathes out lies will perish.
10 It is not fitting for a fool to live in luxury, much less for a slave to rule over princes.
11 Good sense makes one slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook an offense.
12 A king's wrath is like the growling of a lion, but his favor is like dew on the grass.
13 A foolish son is ruin to his father, and a wife's quarreling is a continual dripping of rain.
14 House and wealth are inherited from fathers, but a prudent wife is from the Lord.
15 Slothfulness casts into a deep sleep, and an idle person will suffer hunger.
16 Whoever keeps the commandment keeps his life; he who despises his ways will die.
17 Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed.
18 Discipline your son, for there is hope; do not set your heart on putting him to death.
19 A man of great wrath will pay the penalty, for if you deliver him, you will only have to do it again.
20 Listen to advice and accept instruction, that you may gain wisdom in the future.
21 Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.
22 What is desired in a man is steadfast love, and a poor man is better than a liar.
23 The fear of the Lord leads to life, and whoever has it rests satisfied; he will not be visited by harm.
24 The sluggard buries his hand in the dish and will not even bring it back to his mouth.
25 Strike a scoffer, and the simple will learn prudence; reprove a man of understanding, and he will gain knowledge.
26 He who does violence to his father and chases away his mother is a son who brings shame and reproach.
27 Cease to hear instruction, my son, and you will stray from the words of knowledge.
28 A worthless witness mocks at justice, and the mouth of the wicked devours iniquity.
29 Condemnation is ready for scoffers, and beating for the backs of fools.
Proverbs 20
Deuteronomy 22:13-30
Amos 6
English Standard Version
Woe to Those at Ease in Zion
1 “Woe to those who are at ease in Zion, and to those who feel secure on the mountain of Samaria,the notable men of the first of the nations, to whom the house of Israel comes!
2 Pass over to Calneh, and see, and from there go to Hamath the great; then go down to Gath of the Philistines. Are you better than these kingdoms? Or is their territory greater than your territory,
3 O you who put far away the day of disaster and bring near the seat of violence?
4 “Woe to those who lie on beds of ivory and stretch themselves out on their couches,and eat lambs from the flock and calves from the midst of the stall,
5 who sing idle songs to the sound of the harp and like David invent for themselves instruments of music,
6 who drink wine in bowls and anoint themselves with the finest oils, but are not grieved over the ruin of Joseph!
7 Therefore they shall now be the first of those who go into exile, and the revelry of those who stretch themselves out shall pass away.”
8 The Lord God has sworn by himself, declares the Lord, the God of hosts:
“I abhor the pride of Jacob and hate his strongholds, and I will deliver up the city and all that is in it.”
9 And if ten men remain in one house, they shall die. 10 And when one's relative, the one who anoints him for burial, shall take him up to bring the bones out of the house, and shall say to him who is in the innermost parts of the house, “Is there still anyone with you?” he shall say, “No”; and he shall say, “Silence! We must not mention the name of the Lord.”
11 For behold, the Lord commands, and the great house shall be struck down into fragments, and the little house into bits.
12 Do horses run on rocks? Does one plow there[a] with oxen? But you have turned justice into poison and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood[b]—
13 you who rejoice in Lo-debar,[c] who say, “Have we not by our own strength captured Karnaim[d] for ourselves?”
14 “For behold, I will raise up against you a nation, O house of Israel,” declares the Lord, the God of hosts; “and they shall oppress you from Lebo-hamath to the Brook of the Arabah.”
Matthew 4:1-11
English Standard Version
The Temptation of Jesus
1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” 4 But he answered, “It is written,
“‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple 6 and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written,
“‘He will command his angels concerning you,’
and
“‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”
7 Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written,
“‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’”
11 Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.