Sunday, 13 Nissan 5784 / April 21, 2024
Day 477 Readings
Torah: Parshat Acharei, 1st Portion Vayikra (Leviticus) 16:1-17
Leviticus 16:1-17
English Standard Version
The Day of Atonement
1 The Lord spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they drew near before the Lord and died, 2 and the Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron your brother not to come at any time into the Holy Place inside the veil, before the mercy seat that is on the ark, so that he may not die. For I will appear in the cloud over the mercy seat. 3 But in this way Aaron shall come into the Holy Place: with a bull from the herd for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering. 4 He shall put on the holy linen coat and shall have the linen undergarment on his body, and he shall tie the linen sash around his waist, and wear the linen turban; these are the holy garments. He shall bathe his body in water and then put them on. 5 And he shall take from the congregation of the people of Israel two male goats for a sin offering, and one ram for a burnt offering.
6 “Aaron shall offer the bull as a sin offering for himself and shall make atonement for himself and for his house. 7 Then he shall take the two goats and set them before the Lord at the entrance of the tent of meeting. 8 And Aaron shall cast lots over the two goats, one lot for the Lord and the other lot for Azazel.[a] 9 And Aaron shall present the goat on which the lot fell for the Lord and use it as a sin offering, 10 but the goat on which the lot fell for Azazel shall be presented alive before the Lord to make atonement over it, that it may be sent away into the wilderness to Azazel.
11 “Aaron shall present the bull as a sin offering for himself, and shall make atonement for himself and for his house. He shall kill the bull as a sin offering for himself. 12 And he shall take a censer full of coals of fire from the altar before the Lord, and two handfuls of sweet incense beaten small, and he shall bring it inside the veil 13 and put the incense on the fire before the Lord, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is over the testimony, so that he does not die. 14 And he shall take some of the blood of the bull and sprinkle it with his finger on the front of the mercy seat on the east side, and in front of the mercy seat he shall sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times.
15 “Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering that is for the people and bring its blood inside the veil and do with its blood as he did with the blood of the bull, sprinkling it over the mercy seat and in front of the mercy seat. 16 Thus he shall make atonement for the Holy Place, because of the uncleannesses of the people of Israel and because of their transgressions, all their sins. And so he shall do for the tent of meeting, which dwells with them in the midst of their uncleannesses. 17 No one may be in the tent of meeting from the time he enters to make atonement in the Holy Place until he comes out and has made atonement for himself and for his house and for all the assembly of Israel.
BIBLE Study Together
2 Kings 15:32-38
English Standard Version
Jotham Reigns in Judah
32 In the second year of Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, Jotham the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, began to reign. 33 He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Jerusha the daughter of Zadok. 34 And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, according to all that his father Uzziah had done. 35 Nevertheless, the high places were not removed. The people still sacrificed and made offerings on the high places. He built the upper gate of the house of the Lord. 36 Now the rest of the acts of Jotham and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 37 In those days the Lord began to send Rezin the king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remaliah against Judah. 38 Jotham slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father, and Ahaz his son reigned in his place.
Micah 1
English Standard Version
1 The word of the Lord that came to Micah of Moresheth in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.
The Coming Destruction
2 Hear, you peoples, all of you;[a] pay attention, O earth, and all that is in it,and let the Lord God be a witness against you, the Lord from his holy temple.3 For behold, the Lord is coming out of his place, and will come down and tread upon the high places of the earth.4 And the mountains will melt under him, and the valleys will split open,like wax before the fire, like waters poured down a steep place.5 All this is for the transgression of Jacob and for the sins of the house of Israel.What is the transgression of Jacob? Is it not Samaria?And what is the high place of Judah? Is it not Jerusalem?6 Therefore I will make Samaria a heap in the open country, a place for planting vineyards,and I will pour down her stones into the valley and uncover her foundations.7 All her carved images shall be beaten to pieces, all her wages shall be burned with fire, and all her idols I will lay waste,for from the fee of a prostitute she gathered them, and to the fee of a prostitute they shall return.
8 For this I will lament and wail; I will go stripped and naked;I will make lamentation like the jackals, and mourning like the ostriches.9 For her wound is incurable, and it has come to Judah;it has reached to the gate of my people, to Jerusalem.
10 Tell it not in Gath; weep not at all;in Beth-le-aphrah roll yourselves in the dust.11 Pass on your way, inhabitants of Shaphir, in nakedness and shame;the inhabitants of Zaanan do not come out;the lamentation of Beth-ezel shall take away from you its standing place.12 For the inhabitants of Maroth wait anxiously for good,because disaster has come down from the Lord to the gate of Jerusalem.13 Harness the steeds to the chariots, inhabitants of Lachish;it was the beginning of sin to the daughter of Zion,for in you were found the transgressions of Israel.14 Therefore you shall give parting gifts[b] to Moresheth-gath;the houses of Achzib shall be a deceitful thing to the kings of Israel.15 I will again bring a conqueror to you, inhabitants of Mareshah;the glory of Israel shall come to Adullam.16 Make yourselves bald and cut off your hair, for the children of your delight;make yourselves as bald as the eagle, for they shall go from you into exile.
2 Chronicles 27
English Standard Version
Jotham Reigns in Judah
27 Jotham was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Jerushah the daughter of Zadok. 2 And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord according to all that his father Uzziah had done, except he did not enter the temple of the Lord. But the people still followed corrupt practices. 3 He built the upper gate of the house of the Lord and did much building on the wall of Ophel. 4 Moreover, he built cities in the hill country of Judah, and forts and towers on the wooded hills. 5 He fought with the king of the Ammonites and prevailed against them. And the Ammonites gave him that year 100 talents[a] of silver, and 10,000 cors[b] of wheat and 10,000 of barley. The Ammonites paid him the same amount in the second and the third years. 6 So Jotham became mighty, because he ordered his ways before the Lord his God. 7 Now the rest of the acts of Jotham, and all his wars and his ways, behold, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah. 8 He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. 9 And Jotham slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David, and Ahaz his son reigned in his place.
EST Readings
Scripture
Psalm 111
English Standard Version
Great Are the Lord's Works
1 [a] Praise the Lord!I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart, in the company of the upright, in the congregation.2 Great are the works of the Lord, studied by all who delight in them.3 Full of splendor and majesty is his work, and his righteousness endures forever.4 He has caused his wondrous works to be remembered; the Lord is gracious and merciful.5 He provides food for those who fear him; he remembers his covenant forever.6 He has shown his people the power of his works, in giving them the inheritance of the nations.7 The works of his hands are faithful and just; all his precepts are trustworthy;8 they are established forever and ever, to be performed with faithfulness and uprightness. 9 He sent redemption to his people; he has commanded his covenant forever. Holy and awesome is his name!10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever!
Leviticus 17
Isaiah 22
English Standard Version
An Oracle Concerning Jerusalem
22 The oracle concerning the valley of vision.
What do you mean that you have gone up, all of you, to the housetops,2 you who are full of shoutings, tumultuous city, exultant town?Your slain are not slain with the sword or dead in battle.3 All your leaders have fled together; without the bow they were captured.All of you who were found were captured, though they had fled far away. 4 Therefore I said: “Look away from me; let me weep bitter tears; do not labor to comfort me concerning the destruction of the daughter of my people.”
5 For the Lord God of hosts has a day of tumult and trampling and confusion in the valley of vision, a battering down of walls and a shouting to the mountains. 6 And Elam bore the quiver with chariots and horsemen, and Kir uncovered the shield.7 Your choicest valleys were full of chariots, and the horsemen took their stand at the gates. 8 He has taken away the covering of Judah. In that day you looked to the weapons of the House of the Forest, 9 and you saw that the breaches of the city of David were many. You collected the waters of the lower pool, 10 and you counted the houses of Jerusalem, and you broke down the houses to fortify the wall. 11 You made a reservoir between the two walls for the water of the old pool. But you did not look to him who did it, or see him who planned it long ago.
12 In that day the Lord God of hosts called for weeping and mourning, for baldness and wearing sackcloth; 13 and behold, joy and gladness, killing oxen and slaughtering sheep, eating flesh and drinking wine.“ Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”14 The Lord of hosts has revealed himself in my ears: “Surely this iniquity will not be atoned for you until you die,” says the Lord God of hosts.
15 Thus says the Lord God of hosts, “Come, go to this steward, to Shebna, who is over the household, and say to him: 16 What have you to do here, and whom have you here, that you have cut out here a tomb for yourself, you who cut out a tomb on the height and carve a dwelling for yourself in the rock? 17 Behold, the Lord will hurl you away violently, O you strong man. He will seize firm hold on you 18 and whirl you around and around, and throw you like a ball into a wide land. There you shall die, and there shall be your glorious chariots, you shame of your master's house. 19 I will thrust you from your office, and you will be pulled down from your station. 20 In that day I will call my servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, 21 and I will clothe him with your robe, and will bind your sash on him, and will commit your authority to his hand. And he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. 22 And I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David. He shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open. 23 And I will fasten him like a peg in a secure place, and he will become a throne of honor to his father's house. 24 And they will hang on him the whole honor of his father's house, the offspring and issue, every small vessel, from the cups to all the flagons. 25 In that day, declares the Lord of hosts, the peg that was fastened in a secure place will give way, and it will be cut down and fall, and the load that was on it will be cut off, for the Lord has spoken.”
Galatians 2
English Standard Version
Paul Accepted by the Apostles
2 Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along with me. 2 I went up because of a revelation and set before them (though privately before those who seemed influential) the gospel that I proclaim among the Gentiles, in order to make sure I was not running or had not run in vain. 3 But even Titus, who was with me, was not forced to be circumcised, though he was a Greek. 4 Yet because of false brothers secretly brought in—who slipped in to spy out our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, so that they might bring us into slavery— 5 to them we did not yield in submission even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you. 6 And from those who seemed to be influential (what they were makes no difference to me; God shows no partiality)—those, I say, who seemed influential added nothing to me. 7 On the contrary, when they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been entrusted with the gospel to the circumcised 8 (for he who worked through Peter for his apostolic ministry to the circumcised worked also through me for mine to the Gentiles), 9 and when James and Cephas and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given to me, they gave the right hand of fellowship to Barnabas and me, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. 10 Only, they asked us to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do.
Paul Opposes Peter
11 But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. 12 For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party.[a] 13 And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. 14 But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, “If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?”
Justified by Faith
15 We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; 16 yet we know that a person is not justified[b] by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.
17 But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too were found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! 18 For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor. 19 For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. 20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21 I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness[c] were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.
Dear AVI,
Baruk Ata ELOHIM YESHUA MELEK Ha Olam! O GOD! YOU are Awesome and HOLY and I thank YOU so much for comforting me after Shabbat was done because probably that was the beginning of my Shabbat after 3pm, when I was in church stressed from all my work, that my stress only ended after a decision was being made for the 3 new applicants who was given a chance by Elsie to work given that they will be under strict observation and that they will only work to be able to pay for their ticket back home. I was already working at 1pm trying to organize everything for Raquel and her quest to BIR. Then I was met with another problem while heading to church and so in church it was finally settled and I was able to rest in church talking to the ones I love, I was able to eat good food and enjoyed the company of the Saints who advised me to talk and ask Stephen if he indeed liked me but the question never comes out right. And yesterday before going to church, I already tried to set the blue bird free as a sign of my release of Stephen from my heart because the blue bird was alone without any one to love but it didn't know how to enjoy it's freedom. So the new helper caught her/him and bring it into the old home that it lived for many days. I need to find a partner for that bird but I have to know if the bird is male or female. I believe YOU are telling me to buy a yellow bird instead because opposites attract. Okay! This afternoon I will ask the helpers to do this for me. But thank YOU for letting me enjoy fellowship with the saints at church, for letting me eat good dinner and enjoy halo-halo at Quarto Hotel with my sister and cousin and last but not the least, massage in thai boran that I have been waiting to have because my body needed it and I felt so happy to work and be comforted by YOUR care and love for me. Thank YOU AVI! Today I feel much better but I am asking that YOU will deal with the 3 new applicants that are not qualified to work and make them obedient and serious at work. I ask YOU to bless Raquel's mission that it will be successful on Monday. I ask YOU to bless all that I do and I want to go work out with dance. I am also inquiring if I should let Jeward Jay work as driver/staff/dogcarer in our Finance Office. Because I don't think I trust that man anymore. But I am praying O GOD, will YOU allow him to work for us??? Do YOU want us to train him? Let YOUR will be done O GOD, I pray that YOU will guide me and lead me to the path YOU have already planned for me. I pray for Stephen, bless him and reveal YOUR Truth to him, call him, speak to him, and make him YOURS like I am YOURS. Please O GOD, have YOUR way in us. What about the chicken house of Ronnie and Eleasar?? I want to work with them but I need to fix my accounting problems first, and I want to learn accounting practical through seminars or through a teacher, pls give me one. Please O GOD. Have YOUR way in me. Help me. For I am YOURS and YOU are mine, and YOU are Faithful and True and Great in all YOU do and YOU deserve all the glory and praises and honor and worship and devotion that comes from YOUR children YOUR people.
Ba HaShem YESHUA HaMashiach, Amen!