Wednesday, 21 Iyar 5784 / May 29, 2024
Day 515 Readings
Torah: Parshat Bechukotai, 4th Portion Vayikra (Leviticus) 27:1-27:15
Leviticus 27:1-15
English Standard Version
Laws About Vows
27 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, If anyone makes a special vow to the Lord involving the valuation of persons, 3 then the valuation of a male from twenty years old up to sixty years old shall be fifty shekels[a] of silver, according to the shekel of the sanctuary. 4 If the person is a female, the valuation shall be thirty shekels. 5 If the person is from five years old up to twenty years old, the valuation shall be for a male twenty shekels, and for a female ten shekels. 6 If the person is from a month old up to five years old, the valuation shall be for a male five shekels of silver, and for a female the valuation shall be three shekels of silver. 7 And if the person is sixty years old or over, then the valuation for a male shall be fifteen shekels, and for a female ten shekels. 8 And if someone is too poor to pay the valuation, then he shall be made to stand before the priest, and the priest shall value him; the priest shall value him according to what the vower can afford.
9 “If the vow[b] is an animal that may be offered as an offering to the Lord, all of it that he gives to the Lord is holy. 10 He shall not exchange it or make a substitute for it, good for bad, or bad for good; and if he does in fact substitute one animal for another, then both it and the substitute shall be holy. 11 And if it is any unclean animal that may not be offered as an offering to the Lord, then he shall stand the animal before the priest, 12 and the priest shall value it as either good or bad; as the priest values it, so it shall be. 13 But if he wishes to redeem it, he shall add a fifth to the valuation.
14 “When a man dedicates his house as a holy gift to the Lord, the priest shall value it as either good or bad; as the priest values it, so it shall stand. 15 And if the donor wishes to redeem his house, he shall add a fifth to the valuation price, and it shall be his.
BIBLE Study Together
Isaiah 34:1-35:10, Matthew 27:35-44
Isaiah 34-35
English Standard Version
Judgment on the Nations
1 Draw near, O nations, to hear, and give attention, O peoples! Let the earth hear, and all that fills it; the world, and all that comes from it.2 For the Lord is enraged against all the nations, and furious against all their host; he has devoted them to destruction,[a] has given them over for slaughter.3 Their slain shall be cast out, and the stench of their corpses shall rise; the mountains shall flow with their blood.4 All the host of heaven shall rot away, and the skies roll up like a scroll.All their host shall fall, as leaves fall from the vine, like leaves falling from the fig tree.
5 For my sword has drunk its fill in the heavens; behold, it descends for judgment upon Edom, upon the people I have devoted to destruction.6 The Lord has a sword; it is sated with blood; it is gorged with fat, with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams. For the Lord has a sacrifice in Bozrah, a great slaughter in the land of Edom.7 Wild oxen shall fall with them, and young steers with the mighty bulls. Their land shall drink its fill of blood, and their soil shall be gorged with fat.
8 For the Lord has a day of vengeance, a year of recompense for the cause of Zion.9 And the streams of Edom[b] shall be turned into pitch, and her soil into sulfur; her land shall become burning pitch.10 Night and day it shall not be quenched; its smoke shall go up forever. From generation to generation it shall lie waste; none shall pass through it forever and ever.11 But the hawk and the porcupine[c] shall possess it, the owl and the raven shall dwell in it. He shall stretch the line of confusion[d] over it, and the plumb line of emptiness.
12 Its nobles—there is no one there to call it a kingdom, and all its princes shall be nothing.
13 Thorns shall grow over its strongholds, nettles and thistles in its fortresses. It shall be the haunt of jackals, an abode for ostriches.[e]14 And wild animals shall meet with hyenas; the wild goat shall cry to his fellow;indeed, there the night bird[f] settles and finds for herself a resting place.
15 There the owl nests and lays and hatches and gathers her young in her shadow; indeed, there the hawks are gathered, each one with her mate. 16 Seek and read from the book of the Lord: Not one of these shall be missing; none shall be without her mate.For the mouth of the Lord has commanded, and his Spirit has gathered them. 17 He has cast the lot for them; his hand has portioned it out to them with the line;they shall possess it forever; from generation to generation they shall dwell in it.
Isaiah 35
The Ransomed Shall Return
1 The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad; the desert shall rejoice and blossom like the crocus;2 it shall blossom abundantly and rejoice with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the majesty of Carmel and Sharon. They shall see the glory of the Lord, the majesty of our God.
3 Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. 4 Say to those who have an anxious heart, “Be strong; fear not! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you.”
5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped;
6 then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy. For waters break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert;
7 the burning sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water; in the haunt of jackals, where they lie down, the grass shall become reeds and rushes.
8 And a highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Way of Holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it. It shall belong to those who walk on the way; even if they are fools, they shall not go astray.[g] 9 No lion shall be there, nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it; they shall not be found there, but the redeemed shall walk there. 10 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.
Matthew 27:35-44
English Standard Version
35 And when they had crucified him, they divided his garments among them by casting lots. 36 Then they sat down and kept watch over him there. 37 And over his head they put the charge against him, which read, “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.” 38 Then two robbers were crucified with him, one on the right and one on the left. 39 And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads 40 and saying, “You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” 41 So also the chief priests, with the scribes and elders, mocked him, saying, 42 “He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. 43 He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him. For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” 44 And the robbers who were crucified with him also reviled him in the same way.
ESV Readings
Scripture
Psalms 147
English Standard Version
He Heals the Brokenhearted
1 Praise the Lord! For it is good to sing praises to our God; for it is pleasant,[a] and a song of praise is fitting. 2 The Lord builds up Jerusalem; he gathers the outcasts of Israel.
3 He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.
4 He determines the number of the stars; he gives to all of them their names.
5 Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure.
6 The Lord lifts up the humble;[b] he casts the wicked to the ground.
7 Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving; make melody to our God on the lyre!
8 He covers the heavens with clouds; he prepares rain for the earth; he makes grass grow on the hills.
9 He gives to the beasts their food, and to the young ravens that cry.
10 His delight is not in the strength of the horse, nor his pleasure in the legs of a man,
11 but the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love.
12 Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem! Praise your God, O Zion!
13 For he strengthens the bars of your gates; he blesses your children within you.
14 He makes peace in your borders; he fills you with the finest of the wheat.
15 He sends out his command to the earth; his word runs swiftly.
16 He gives snow like wool; he scatters frost like ashes.
17 He hurls down his crystals of ice like crumbs; who can stand before his cold?
18 He sends out his word, and melts them; he makes his wind blow and the waters flow.
19 He declares his word to Jacob, his statutes and rules[c] to Israel.
20 He has not dealt thus with any other nation; they do not know his rules.[d]Praise the Lord!
Numbers 33:1-49
Joel 2:1-17
The Day of the Lord
2 Blow a trumpet in Zion; sound an alarm on my holy mountain!Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming; it is near,2 a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness!Like blackness there is spread upon the mountains a great and powerful people;their like has never been before, nor will be again after them through the years of all generations.
3 Fire devours before them, and behind them a flame burns.The land is like the garden of Eden before them, but behind them a desolate wilderness, and nothing escapes them.
4 Their appearance is like the appearance of horses, and like war horses they run.5 As with the rumbling of chariots, they leap on the tops of the mountains,like the crackling of a flame of fire devouring the stubble,like a powerful army drawn up for battle.
6 Before them peoples are in anguish; all faces grow pale.7 Like warriors they charge; like soldiers they scale the wall.They march each on his way; they do not swerve from their paths.8 They do not jostle one another; each marches in his path;they burst through the weapons and are not halted.9 They leap upon the city, they run upon the walls,they climb up into the houses, they enter through the windows like a thief.
10 The earth quakes before them; the heavens tremble.The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining.11 The Lord utters his voice before his army,for his camp is exceedingly great; he who executes his word is powerful.For the day of the Lord is great and very awesome; who can endure it?
Return to the Lord
12 “Yet even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart,with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; 13 and rend your hearts and not your garments.” Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster. 14 Who knows whether he will not turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind him, a grain offering and a drink offering for the Lord your God?
15 Blow the trumpet in Zion; consecrate a fast; call a solemn assembly;16 gather the people. Consecrate the congregation; assemble the elders; gather the children, even nursing infants. Let the bridegroom leave his room, and the bride her chamber.
17 Between the vestibule and the altar let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep and say, “Spare your people, O Lord, and make not your heritage a reproach, a byword among the nations.[a]Why should they say among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’”
1 Timothy 4
Some Will Depart from the Faith
1 Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, 2 through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared, 3 who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. 4 For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, 5 for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.
A Good Servant of Christ Jesus
6 If you put these things before the brothers,[a] you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, being trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you have followed. 7 Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness; 8 for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. 9 The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance. 10 For to this end we toil and strive,[b] because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe.
11 Command and teach these things. 12 Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. 13 Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching. 14 Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you. 15 Practice these things, immerse yourself in them,[c] so that all may see your progress. 16 Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.