Thursday, 24 Nissan 5784 / May 2, 2024
Day 488 Readings
Torah: Parshat Acharei, 5th Portion Vayikra (Leviticus) 17:8-18:5
Leviticus 17:8-18:5
English Standard Version
8 “And you shall say to them, Any one of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who sojourn among them, who offers a burnt offering or sacrifice 9 and does not bring it to the entrance of the tent of meeting to offer it to the Lord, that man shall be cut off from his people.
Laws Against Eating Blood
10 “If any one of the house of Israel or of the strangers who sojourn among them eats any blood, I will set my face against that person who eats blood and will cut him off from among his people. 11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life. 12 Therefore I have said to the people of Israel, No person among you shall eat blood, neither shall any stranger who sojourns among you eat blood.
13 “Any one also of the people of Israel, or of the strangers who sojourn among them, who takes in hunting any beast or bird that may be eaten shall pour out its blood and cover it with earth. 14 For the life of every creature[a] is its blood: its blood is its life.[b] Therefore I have said to the people of Israel, You shall not eat the blood of any creature, for the life of every creature is its blood. Whoever eats it shall be cut off. 15 And every person who eats what dies of itself or what is torn by beasts, whether he is a native or a sojourner, shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening; then he shall be clean. 16 But if he does not wash them or bathe his flesh, he shall bear his iniquity.”
Unlawful Sexual Relations
18 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, I am the Lord your God. 3 You shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt, where you lived, and you shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan, to which I am bringing you. You shall not walk in their statutes. 4 You shall follow my rules[c] and keep my statutes and walk in them. I am the Lord your God. 5 You shall therefore keep my statutes and my rules; if a person does them, he shall live by them: I am the Lord.
BIBLE Study Together
Hosea 4-5
English Standard Version
The Lord Accuses Israel
4 Hear the word of the Lord, O children of Israel, for the Lord has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land.There is no faithfulness or steadfast love, and no knowledge of God in the land;2 there is swearing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery; they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed.3 Therefore the land mourns, and all who dwell in it languish,and also the beasts of the field and the birds of the heavens, and even the fish of the sea are taken away.
4 Yet let no one contend, and let none accuse, for with you is my contention, O priest.[a]5 You shall stumble by day; the prophet also shall stumble with you by night; and I will destroy your mother. 6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me.And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.
7 The more they increased, the more they sinned against me; I will change their glory into shame.8 They feed on the sin[b] of my people; they are greedy for their iniquity.9 And it shall be like people, like priest; I will punish them for their ways and repay them for their deeds.10 They shall eat, but not be satisfied; they shall play the whore, but not multiply,because they have forsaken the Lord to cherish 11 whoredom, wine, and new wine, which take away the understanding.12 My people inquire of a piece of wood, and their walking staff gives them oracles. For a spirit of whoredom has led them astray, and they have left their God to play the whore.13 They sacrifice on the tops of the mountains and burn offerings on the hills, under oak, poplar, and terebinth, because their shade is good. Therefore your daughters play the whore, and your brides commit adultery.14 I will not punish your daughters when they play the whore, nor your brides when they commit adultery; for the men themselves go aside with prostitutes and sacrifice with cult prostitutes, and a people without understanding shall come to ruin.
15 Though you play the whore, O Israel, let not Judah become guilty.Enter not into Gilgal, nor go up to Beth-aven, and swear not, “As the Lord lives.”16 Like a stubborn heifer, Israel is stubborn;can the Lord now feed them like a lamb in a broad pasture?
17 Ephraim is joined to idols; leave him alone.18 When their drink is gone, they give themselves to whoring; their rulers[c] dearly love shame.19 A wind has wrapped them[d] in its wings, and they shall be ashamed because of their sacrifices.
Hosea 5
Punishment Coming for Israel and Judah
5 Hear this, O priests! Pay attention, O house of Israel! Give ear, O house of the king! For the judgment is for you; for you have been a snare at Mizpah and a net spread upon Tabor. 2 And the revolters have gone deep into slaughter, but I will discipline all of them.
3 I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hidden from me; for now, O Ephraim, you have played the whore; Israel is defiled. 4 Their deeds do not permit them to return to their God. For the spirit of whoredom is within them, and they know not the Lord.
5 The pride of Israel testifies to his face;[e] Israel and Ephraim shall stumble in his guilt; Judah also shall stumble with them. 6 With their flocks and herds they shall go to seek the Lord, but they will not find him; he has withdrawn from them. 7 They have dealt faithlessly with the Lord; for they have borne alien children. Now the new moon shall devour them with their fields.
8 Blow the horn in Gibeah, the trumpet in Ramah. Sound the alarm at Beth-aven; we follow you,[f] O Benjamin!9 Ephraim shall become a desolation in the day of punishment; among the tribes of Israel I make known what is sure.10 The princes of Judah have become like those who move the landmark; upon them I will pour out my wrath like water. 11 Ephraim is oppressed, crushed in judgment, because he was determined to go after filth.[g]12 But I am like a moth to Ephraim, and like dry rot to the house of Judah.
13 When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah his wound, then Ephraim went to Assyria, and sent to the great king.[h]But he is not able to cure you or heal your wound.14 For I will be like a lion to Ephraim, and like a young lion to the house of Judah. I, even I, will tear and go away; I will carry off, and no one shall rescue.
15 I will return again to my place, until they acknowledge their guilt and seek my face, and in their distress earnestly seek me.
John 18:12-24
ESV Readings
Scripture
Psalm 121
English Standard Version
My Help Comes from the Lord
A Song of Ascents.
1 I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come?
2 My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
3 He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber.
4 Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand.
6 The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night.
7 The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life.
8 The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore.
Numbers 1
Isaiah 38
Ephesians 5:22-33
English Standard Version
Wives and Husbands
22 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.
25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.[a] 28 In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, 30 because we are members of his body. 31 “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” 32 This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. 33 However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.
Ephesians 6
English Standard Version
Children and Parents
1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), 3 “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.” 4 Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
Bondservants and Masters
5 Bondservants,[a] obey your earthly masters[b] with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as you would Christ, 6 not by the way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, 7 rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man, 8 knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is a bondservant or is free. 9 Masters, do the same to them, and stop your threatening, knowing that he who is both their Master[c] and yours is in heaven, and that there is no partiality with him.
Dear AVI,
HOLY is YOUR NAME HaShem YESHUA Ha Adon, Melek Ha Olam! Adonai Tzeva'ot!!! Toda raba for the time I spent with my family and bestfriend yesterday with Julie. Thank YOU for YOUR grace upon me even though I am sick today but toda for the sunshine that is on my back, toda that YOU provided for my healing and for people working for me and with me. Toda for Anacel who will close that business under my name and transfer the TIN to Mandaue, toda for Stephen who has helped us greatly with our Tax problems. Toda for everyone whom YOU have called to help me O GOD. I pray for my heart to let go of Stephen as I continue to pray for him may the feelings eventually disappear because I only want to feel passion and love for YOU because YOU are constant and faithful and YOU are my stability. O GOD, give me an accounting teacher that will teach me accounting, send me YOUR grace day after day that I have cause to praise and thank YOU. Take care of me O GOD and heal all my diseases, sore throat, stomach cramps, and colds or cough, heal every being in my organism O GOD for YOU are my health. Be my strength O GOD because YOU are my Shepherd and I continue to pray and ask YOU to give Julie and I, husbands who will not only love us but lead us to the destiny that YOU have ordained for us. I pray O GOD that YOU bless the work of my hands and all that I do in the business. I pray O GOD that YOU continue to call Stephen to be YOURS, speak to him like only YOU can and give him hunger and thirst for YOUR word and a desire for the things of the Spirit because YOU love him that is why YOU are causing me to feel pain for him, this longing I have for him is not completely mine but YOURS. So I pray that YOU will have YOUR way in Stephen Lao Yu because he is YOUR beloved and YOU have called him. I pray O GOD, that Julie and I will continue to hope in YOU, trust in YOUR perfect timing that YOU are sending us YOUR love through a man YOU have chosen for us as husbands. No matter how long or hard we will hope in YOU O GOD for YOU are great and faithful and true.
In the Name of JESUS Amen!