Tuesday, 19 Sivan 5784 / June 25, 2024
Day 542 Readings
Torah: Parshat Shlach, 3rd Portion (Bamidbar (Numbers) 14:8-14:25)
Numbers 14:8-25
English Standard Version
8 If the Lord delights in us, he will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land that flows with milk and honey. 9 Only do not rebel against the Lord. And do not fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us. Their protection is removed from them, and the Lord is with us; do not fear them.” 10 Then all the congregation said to stone them with stones. But the glory of the Lord appeared at the tent of meeting to all the people of Israel.
11 And the Lord said to Moses, “How long will this people despise me? And how long will they not believe in me, in spite of all the signs that I have done among them? 12 I will strike them with the pestilence and disinherit them, and I will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they.”
Moses Intercedes for the People
13 But Moses said to the Lord, “Then the Egyptians will hear of it, for you brought up this people in your might from among them, 14 and they will tell the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that you, O Lord, are in the midst of this people. For you, O Lord, are seen face to face, and your cloud stands over them and you go before them, in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night. 15 Now if you kill this people as one man, then the nations who have heard your fame will say, 16 ‘It is because the Lord was not able to bring this people into the land that he swore to give to them that he has killed them in the wilderness.’ 17 And now, please let the power of the Lord be great as you have promised, saying, 18 ‘The Lord is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity and transgression, but he will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, to the third and the fourth generation.’ 19 Please pardon the iniquity of this people, according to the greatness of your steadfast love, just as you have forgiven this people, from Egypt until now.”
God Promises Judgment
20 Then the Lord said, “I have pardoned, according to your word. 21 But truly, as I live, and as all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord, 22 none of the men who have seen my glory and my signs that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and yet have put me to the test these ten times and have not obeyed my voice, 23 shall see the land that I swore to give to their fathers. And none of those who despised me shall see it. 24 But my servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit and has followed me fully, I will bring into the land into which he went, and his descendants shall possess it. 25 Now, since the Amalekites and the Canaanites dwell in the valleys, turn tomorrow and set out for the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea.”
Bible Study Together
Isaiah 54
English Standard Version
The Eternal Covenant of Peace
1 “Sing, O barren one, who did not bear; break forth into singing and cry aloud, you who have not been in labor!For the children of the desolate one will be more than the children of her who is married,” says the Lord. 2 “Enlarge the place of your tent, and let the curtains of your habitations be stretched out; do not hold back; lengthen your cords and strengthen your stakes. 3 For you will spread abroad to the right and to the left, and your offspring will possess the nations and will people the desolate cities.
4 “Fear not, for you will not be ashamed; be not confounded, for you will not be disgraced;for you will forget the shame of your youth, and the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more. 5 For your Maker is your husband, the Lord of hosts is his name;and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer, the God of the whole earth he is called. 6 For the Lord has called you like a wife deserted and grieved in spirit,like a wife of youth when she is cast off, says your God. 7 For a brief moment I deserted you, but with great compassion I will gather you. 8 In overflowing anger for a moment I hid my face from you,but with everlasting love I will have compassion on you,” says the Lord, your Redeemer.
9 “This is like the days of Noah[a] to me: as I swore that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth, so I have sworn that I will not be angry with you, and will not rebuke you.10 For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my steadfast love shall not depart from you, and my covenant of peace shall not be removed,” says the Lord, who has compassion on you.
11 “O afflicted one, storm-tossed and not comforted, behold, I will set your stones in antimony, and lay your foundations with sapphires.[b] 12 I will make your pinnacles of agate,[c] your gates of carbuncles,[d] and all your wall of precious stones. 13 All your children shall be taught by the Lord, and great shall be the peace of your children. 14 In righteousness you shall be established; you shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear; and from terror, for it shall not come near you. 15 If anyone stirs up strife, it is not from me; whoever stirs up strife with you shall fall because of you. 16 Behold, I have created the smith who blows the fire of coals and produces a weapon for its purpose. I have also created the ravager to destroy; 17 no weapon that is fashioned against you shall succeed, and you shall refute every tongue that rises against you in judgment. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord and their vindication[e] from me, declares the Lord.”
Isaiah 55
The Compassion of the Lord
1 “Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. 2 Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food. 3 Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live; and I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David. 4 Behold, I made him a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander for the peoples.5 Behold, you shall call a nation that you do not know, and a nation that did not know you shall run to you,because of the Lord your God, and of the Holy One of Israel, for he has glorified you.
6 “Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near;7 let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts;let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
10 “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth,making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,11 so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty,but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.
12 “For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace;the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.13 Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress; instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle;and it shall make a name for the Lord, an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.”
Ephesians 5:15-33
English Standard Version
15 Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, 19 addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, 20 giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21 submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.
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.
ESV Readings
Scripture
Proverbs 27
English Standard Version
1 Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring.2 Let another praise you, and not your own mouth; a stranger, and not your own lips.3 A stone is heavy, and sand is weighty, but a fool's provocation is heavier than both.4 Wrath is cruel, anger is overwhelming, but who can stand before jealousy?5 Better is open rebuke than hidden love.6 Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy.7 One who is full loathes honey, but to one who is hungry everything bitter is sweet.8 Like a bird that strays from its nest is a man who strays from his home.9 Oil and perfume make the heart glad, and the sweetness of a friend comes from his earnest counsel.[a]10 Do not forsake your friend and your father's friend, and do not go to your brother's house in the day of your calamity.Better is a neighbor who is near than a brother who is far away.11 Be wise, my son, and make my heart glad, that I may answer him who reproaches me.12 The prudent sees danger and hides himself, but the simple go on and suffer for it.13 Take a man's garment when he has put up security for a stranger, and hold it in pledge when he puts up security for an adulteress.[b]14 Whoever blesses his neighbor with a loud voice, rising early in the morning, will be counted as cursing.15 A continual dripping on a rainy day and a quarrelsome wife are alike;16 to restrain her is to restrain the wind or to grasp[c] oil in one's right hand.17 Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.[d]18 Whoever tends a fig tree will eat its fruit, and he who guards his master will be honored.19 As in water face reflects face, so the heart of man reflects the man.20 Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied, and never satisfied are the eyes of man.21 The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold, and a man is tested by his praise.22 Crush a fool in a mortar with a pestle along with crushed grain, yet his folly will not depart from him.
23 Know well the condition of your flocks, and give attention to your herds,24 for riches do not last forever; and does a crown endure to all generations?25 When the grass is gone and the new growth appears and the vegetation of the mountains is gathered,26 the lambs will provide your clothing, and the goats the price of a field.27 There will be enough goats' milk for your food, for the food of your household and maintenance for your girls.
Proverbs 28
Deuteronomy 27
Micah 3
English Standard Version
Rulers and Prophets Denounced
3 And I said:Hear, you heads of Jacob and rulers of the house of Israel!Is it not for you to know justice?—2 you who hate the good and love the evil,who tear the skin from off my people[a] and their flesh from off their bones,3 who eat the flesh of my people, and flay their skin from off them,and break their bones in pieces and chop them up like meat in a pot, like flesh in a cauldron.
4 Then they will cry to the Lord, but he will not answer them;he will hide his face from them at that time, because they have made their deeds evil.
5 Thus says the Lord concerning the prophets who lead my people astray,who cry “Peace” when they have something to eat,but declare war against him who puts nothing into their mouths.6 Therefore it shall be night to you, without vision, and darkness to you, without divination.The sun shall go down on the prophets, and the day shall be black over them;7 the seers shall be disgraced, and the diviners put to shame;they shall all cover their lips, for there is no answer from God.8 But as for me, I am filled with power, with the Spirit of the Lord, and with justice and might,to declare to Jacob his transgression and to Israel his sin.
9 Hear this, you heads of the house of Jacob and rulers of the house of Israel,who detest justice and make crooked all that is straight,10 who build Zion with blood and Jerusalem with iniquity.11 Its heads give judgment for a bribe; its priests teach for a price; its prophets practice divination for money;yet they lean on the Lord and say, “Is not the Lord in the midst of us? No disaster shall come upon us.”12 Therefore because of you Zion shall be plowed as a field;Jerusalem shall become a heap of ruins, and the mountain of the house a wooded height.
Matthew 6:1-18
English Standard Version
Giving to the Needy
1 “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.
2 “Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
The Lord's Prayer
5 “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 6 But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
7 “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. 9 Pray then like this:
“Our Father in heaven,hallowed be your name.[a]10 Your kingdom come,your will be done,[b] on earth as it is in heaven.11 Give us this day our daily bread,[c]12 and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.[d]
14 For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, 15 but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
Fasting
16 “And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 17 But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, 18 that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.