Thursday, 17 Nissan 5784 / April 25, 2024
Day 481 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
Isaiah 9-10
English Standard Version
For to Us a Child Is Born
9 [a] But there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he has made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.[b]
2 [c] The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light;those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone.3 You have multiplied the nation; you have increased its joy;they rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest, as they are glad when they divide the spoil.4 For the yoke of his burden, and the staff for his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, you have broken as on the day of Midian.5 For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult and every garment rolled in blood will be burned as fuel for the fire.6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given;and the government shall be upon[d] his shoulder, and his name shall be called[e]Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.7 Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end,on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold itwith justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore.The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
Judgment on Arrogance and Oppression
8 The Lord has sent a word against Jacob, and it will fall on Israel;9 and all the people will know, Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria, who say in pride and in arrogance of heart:10 “The bricks have fallen, but we will build with dressed stones;the sycamores have been cut down, but we will put cedars in their place.”11 But the Lord raises the adversaries of Rezin against him, and stirs up his enemies.12 The Syrians on the east and the Philistines on the west devour Israel with open mouth.For all this his anger has not turned away, and his hand is stretched out still.
13 The people did not turn to him who struck them, nor inquire of the Lord of hosts.14 So the Lord cut off from Israel head and tail, palm branch and reed in one day—15 the elder and honored man is the head, and the prophet who teaches lies is the tail;16 for those who guide this people have been leading them astray, and those who are guided by them are swallowed up.17 Therefore the Lord does not rejoice over their young men, and has no compassion on their fatherless and widows;for everyone is godless and an evildoer, and every mouth speaks folly.[f]For all this his anger has not turned away, and his hand is stretched out still.
18 For wickedness burns like a fire; it consumes briers and thorns;it kindles the thickets of the forest, and they roll upward in a column of smoke.19 Through the wrath of the Lord of hosts the land is scorched,and the people are like fuel for the fire; no one spares another.20 They slice meat on the right, but are still hungry, and they devour on the left, but are not satisfied;each devours the flesh of his own arm,21 Manasseh devours Ephraim, and Ephraim devours Manasseh; together they are against Judah.For all this his anger has not turned away, and his hand is stretched out still.
10 Woe to those who decree iniquitous decrees, and the writers who keep writing oppression,2 to turn aside the needy from justice and to rob the poor of my people of their right,that widows may be their spoil, and that they may make the fatherless their prey!3 What will you do on the day of punishment, in the ruin that will come from afar?To whom will you flee for help, and where will you leave your wealth?4 Nothing remains but to crouch among the prisoners or fall among the slain.For all this his anger has not turned away, and his hand is stretched out still.
1 Peter 3:13-22
English Standard Version
13 Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? 14 But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, 15 but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, 16 having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. 17 For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, than for doing evil.
18 For Christ also suffered[a] once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, 19 in which[b] he went and proclaimed[c] to the spirits in prison, 20 because[d] they formerly did not obey, when God's patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water. 21 Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22 who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him.
ESV Readings
Scripture
Psalm 115
English Standard Version
To Your Name Give Glory
1 Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!
2 Why should the nations say, “Where is their God?”3 Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases.
4 Their idols are silver and gold, the work of human hands.5 They have mouths, but do not speak; eyes, but do not see.6 They have ears, but do not hear; noses, but do not smell.7 They have hands, but do not feel; feet, but do not walk; and they do not make a sound in their throat.8 Those who make them become like them; so do all who trust in them.
9 O Israel,[a] trust in the Lord! He is their help and their shield.10 O house of Aaron, trust in the Lord! He is their help and their shield.11 You who fear the Lord, trust in the Lord! He is their help and their shield.
12 The Lord has remembered us; he will bless us; he will bless the house of Israel; he will bless the house of Aaron;13 he will bless those who fear the Lord, both the small and the great.
14 May the Lord give you increase, you and your children!15 May you be blessed by the Lord, who made heaven and earth!
16 The heavens are the Lord's heavens, but the earth he has given to the children of man.17 The dead do not praise the Lord, nor do any who go down into silence.18 But we will bless the Lord from this time forth and forevermore. Praise the Lord!
Leviticus 21:1
Leviticus 22:1
Isaiah 26
English Standard Version
You Keep Him in Perfect Peace
1 In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah:
“We have a strong city; he sets up salvation as walls and bulwarks. 2 Open the gates, that the righteous nation that keeps faith may enter in. 3 You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. 4 Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock. 5 For he has humbled the inhabitants of the height, the lofty city. He lays it low, lays it low to the ground, casts it to the dust. 6 The foot tramples it, the feet of the poor, the steps of the needy.”
7 The path of the righteous is level; you make level the way of the righteous. 8 In the path of your judgments, O Lord, we wait for you; your name and remembrance are the desire of our soul. 9 My soul yearns for you in the night; my spirit within me earnestly seeks you. For when your judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness. 10 If favor is shown to the wicked, he does not learn righteousness; in the land of uprightness he deals corruptly and does not see the majesty of the Lord. 11 O Lord, your hand is lifted up, but they do not see it. Let them see your zeal for your people, and be ashamed. Let the fire for your adversaries consume them. 12 O Lord, you will ordain peace for us, for you have indeed done for us all our works. 13 O Lord our God, other lords besides you have ruled over us, but your name alone we bring to remembrance. 14 They are dead, they will not live; they are shades, they will not arise; to that end you have visited them with destruction and wiped out all remembrance of them. 15 But you have increased the nation, O Lord, you have increased the nation; you are glorified; you have enlarged all the borders of the land.
16 O Lord, in distress they sought you; they poured out a whispered prayer when your discipline was upon them.17 Like a pregnant woman who writhes and cries out in her pangs when she is near to giving birth, so were we because of you, O Lord; 18 we were pregnant, we writhed, but we have given birth to wind. We have accomplished no deliverance in the earth, and the inhabitants of the world have not fallen.19 Your dead shall live; their bodies shall rise. You who dwell in the dust, awake and sing for joy! For your dew is a dew of light, and the earth will give birth to the dead.
20 Come, my people, enter your chambers, and shut your doors behind you; hide yourselves for a little while until the fury has passed by. 21 For behold, the Lord is coming out from his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity, and the earth will disclose the blood shed on it, and will no more cover its slain.
Isaiah 27
Galatians 6
English Standard Version
Bear One Another's Burdens
1 Brothers,[a] if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. 2 Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. 3 For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. 4 But let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor. 5 For each will have to bear his own load.
6 Let the one who is taught the word share all good things with the one who teaches. 7 Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. 8 For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. 9 And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. 10 So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.
Final Warning and Benediction
11 See with what large letters I am writing to you with my own hand. 12 It is those who want to make a good showing in the flesh who would force you to be circumcised, and only in order that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ. 13 For even those who are circumcised do not themselves keep the law, but they desire to have you circumcised that they may boast in your flesh. 14 But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which[b] the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. 15 For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. 16 And as for all who walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God.
17 From now on let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus.
18 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers. Amen.
Dear AVI,
Baruk Ata Adonai Tzeva'ot YESHUA ELOHIM MELEK HaOlam! Wow! I have so much troubles coming at me but YOU have given me people to help me today they all come at the house to work on our present trouble thank YOU so much for YOUR grace and mercy towards me O GOD! Help me to keep my mind focused on YOU so that I am not shaken by my emotions and my own distress because of the problems O GOD build me up today do not let me fear or stray from walking the righteous path, YOUR will for me is to endure through every trial so that I have character. Help me to rise above my own ability to endure because I am YOUR Child and those who trust in YOU will never be shaken. I have accepted the fact that this world has rejected me the way BIR Cebu has rejected me and Stephen has rejected me but someone else will love me in the future because YOU are a good and loving GOD who always looks out for the best of my interest. I will keep hoping in YOU My FATHER even though my heart breaks for every second that I am here on earth, because of the many things that disappoint me but do not let it be a cause for me to be sad or be downcast, don't be downcast O MY SOUL, put YOUR hope in GOD! For YOU will cause me to praise YOU and bring glory to YOUR Name, YOU will lift me up and keep me in the center of YOUR Shekinah Glory, YOU are faithful to me even though I fail YOU, for YOU will never fail. I need a hug AVI, I need YOUR hug but YOU are not here to hug me, YOU have not given me a husband who will care for me. Please O LORD, take care of me O GOD. Give me the courage and strength to face the troubles I have today and help me to never worry because YOU are always with me, taking care of me. I need YOU always forever. My Rock, My Shield, My defender, in YOU I have everything I need. Toda for YOUR love O GOD.
Ba HaShem YESHUA HaMashiach, Amen!