Day 204 reading

Wisdom·Psalm 113

¹Hallelujah! Give praise, O servants of the LORD; praise the name of the LORD. ²Blessed be the name of the LORD both now and forevermore. ³From where the sun rises to where it sets, the name of the LORD is praised. ⁴The LORD is exalted over all the nations, His glory above the heavens. ⁵Who is like the LORD our God, the One enthroned on high? ⁶He humbles Himself to behold the heavens and the earth. ⁷He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the dump ⁸to seat them with nobles, with the princes of His people. ⁹He settles the barren woman in her home as a joyful mother to her children. Hallelujah!

New Testament·Acts 18:18–19:10

¹⁸Paul remained in Corinth for quite some time before saying goodbye to the brothers. He had his head shaved in Cenchrea to keep a vow he had made, and then he sailed for Syria, accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila. ¹⁹When they reached Ephesus, Paul parted ways with Priscilla and Aquila. He himself went into the synagogue there and reasoned with the Jews. ²⁰When they asked him to stay for a while longer, he declined. ²¹But as he left, he said, “I will come back to you if God is willing.” And he set sail from Ephesus. ²²When Paul had landed at Caesarea, he went up and greeted the church at Jerusalem. Then he went down to Antioch. ²³After Paul had spent some time in Antioch, he traveled from place to place throughout the region of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples. ²⁴Meanwhile a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was an eloquent man, well versed in the Scriptures. ²⁵He had been instructed in the way of the Lord and was fervent in spirit. He spoke and taught accurately about Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John. ²⁶And he began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him in and explained to him the way of God more accurately. ²⁷When Apollos resolved to cross over to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples there to welcome him. On his arrival, he was a great help to those who by grace had believed. ²⁸For he powerfully refuted the Jews in public debate, proving from the Scriptures that Jesus is the Christ.

19While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the interior and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples ²and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?” “No,” they answered, “we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” ³“Into what, then, were you baptized?” Paul asked. “The baptism of John,” they replied. ⁴Paul explained: “John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the One coming after him, that is, in Jesus.” ⁵On hearing this, they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. ⁶And when Paul laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied. ⁷There were about twelve men in all. ⁸Then Paul went into the synagogue and spoke boldly there for three months, arguing persuasively about the kingdom of God. ⁹But when some of them stubbornly refused to believe and publicly maligned the Way, Paul took his disciples and left the synagogue to conduct daily discussions in the lecture hall of Tyrannus. ¹⁰This continued for two years, so that everyone who lived in the province of Asia, Jews and Greeks alike, heard the word of the Lord.

Old Testament·1 Chronicles 23–24

¹When David was old and full of years, he installed his son Solomon as king over Israel. ²Then he gathered all the leaders of Israel, as well as the priests and Levites. ³The Levites thirty years of age or older were counted, and the total number of men was 38,000. ⁴“Of these,” said David, “24,000 are to oversee the work of the house of the LORD, 6,000 are to be officers and judges, ⁵4,000 are to be gatekeepers, and 4,000 are to praise the LORD with the instruments I have made for giving praise.” ⁶Then David divided the Levites into divisions according to the sons of Levi: Gershom, Kohath, and Merari. ⁷The Gershonites: Ladan and Shimei. ⁸The sons of Ladan: Jehiel the first, Zetham, and Joel—three in all. ⁹The sons of Shimei: Shelomoth, Haziel, and Haran—three in all. These were the heads of the families of Ladan. ¹⁰And the sons of Shimei: Jahath, Zina, Jeush, and Beriah. These were the sons of Shimei—four in all. ¹¹Jahath was the first and Zizah was the second; but Jeush and Beriah did not have many sons, so they were counted as one family and received a single assignment. ¹²The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel—four in all. ¹³The sons of Amram: Aaron and Moses. Aaron and his descendants were set apart forever to consecrate the most holy things, to burn incense before the LORD, to minister before Him, and to pronounce blessings in His name forever. ¹⁴As for Moses the man of God, his sons were named among the tribe of Levi. ¹⁵The sons of Moses: Gershom and Eliezer. ¹⁶The descendants of Gershom: Shebuel was the first. ¹⁷The descendants of Eliezer: Rehabiah was the first. Eliezer did not have any other sons, but the sons of Rehabiah were very numerous. ¹⁸The sons of Izhar: Shelomith was the first. ¹⁹The sons of Hebron: Jeriah was the first, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, and Jekameam the fourth. ²⁰The sons of Uzziel: Micah was the first and Isshiah the second. ²¹The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. The sons of Mahli: Eleazar and Kish. ²²Eleazar died without having any sons; he had only daughters. Their cousins, the sons of Kish, married them. ²³The sons of Mushi: Mahli, Eder, and Jeremoth —three in all. ²⁴These were the descendants of Levi by their families—the heads of families, registered individually by name—those twenty years of age or older who worked in the service of the house of the LORD. ²⁵For David had said, “The LORD, the God of Israel, has given rest to His people and has come to dwell in Jerusalem forever. ²⁶So now the Levites no longer need to carry the tabernacle or any of the articles for its service.” ²⁷For according to the final instructions of David, the Levites twenty years of age or older were counted, ²⁸but their duty was to assist the descendants of Aaron with the service of the house of the LORD, being responsible for the courts and chambers, the purification of all the holy things, and the work of the service of the house of God, ²⁹as well as for the rows of the showbread, the fine flour for the grain offering, the wafers of unleavened bread, the baking, the mixing, and all measurements of quantity and size. ³⁰They were also to stand every morning to give thanks and praise to the LORD, and likewise in the evening. ³¹Whenever burnt offerings were presented to the LORD on the Sabbaths, New Moons, and appointed feasts, they were to serve regularly before the LORD in the numbers prescribed for them. ³²So the Levites were to carry out the responsibilities for the Tent of Meeting and the Holy Place, and, under their brothers the descendants of Aaron, the service of the house of the LORD.

24These were the divisions of the descendants of Aaron. The sons of Aaron were Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. ²But Nadab and Abihu died before their father did, and they had no sons; so Eleazar and Ithamar served as priests. ³With the help of Eleazar’s descendant Zadok and Ithamar’s descendant Ahimelech, David divided them according to the offices of their service. ⁴Since more leaders were found among Eleazar’s descendants than those of Ithamar, they were divided accordingly. There were sixteen heads of families from the descendants of Eleazar and eight from the descendants of Ithamar. ⁵Thus they were divided by lot, for there were officers of the sanctuary and officers of God among both Eleazar’s and Ithamar’s descendants. ⁶The scribe, Shemaiah son of Nethanel, a Levite, recorded their names in the presence of the king and of the officers: Zadok the priest, Ahimelech son of Abiathar, and the heads of families of the priests and the Levites—one family being taken from Eleazar, and then one from Ithamar. ⁷The first lot fell to Jehoiarib, the second to Jedaiah, ⁸the third to Harim, the fourth to Seorim, ⁹the fifth to Malchijah, the sixth to Mijamin, ¹⁰the seventh to Hakkoz, the eighth to Abijah, ¹¹the ninth to Jeshua, the tenth to Shecaniah, ¹²the eleventh to Eliashib, the twelfth to Jakim, ¹³the thirteenth to Huppah, the fourteenth to Jeshebeab, ¹⁴the fifteenth to Bilgah, the sixteenth to Immer, ¹⁵the seventeenth to Hezir, the eighteenth to Happizzez, ¹⁶the nineteenth to Pethahiah, the twentieth to Jehezkel, ¹⁷the twenty-first to Jachin, the twenty-second to Gamul, ¹⁸the twenty-third to Delaiah, and the twenty-fourth to Maaziah. ¹⁹This was their appointed order for service when they entered the house of the LORD, according to the regulations prescribed for them by their forefather Aaron, as the LORD, the God of Israel, had commanded him. ²⁰Now these were the remaining descendants of Levi: From the sons of Amram: Shubael; from the sons of Shubael: Jehdeiah. ²¹As for Rehabiah, from his sons: The first was Isshiah. ²²From the Izharites: Shelomoth; from the sons of Shelomoth: Jahath. ²³From the sons of Hebron: Jeriah was the first, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, and Jekameam the fourth. ²⁴From the sons of Uzziel: Micah; from the sons of Micah: Shamir. ²⁵The brother of Micah: Isshiah; from the sons of Isshiah: Zechariah. ²⁶The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. The son of Jaaziah: Beno. ²⁷The descendants of Merari from Jaaziah: Beno, Shoham, Zaccur, and Ibri. ²⁸From Mahli: Eleazar, who had no sons. ²⁹From Kish: Jerahmeel the son of Kish. ³⁰And the sons of Mushi: Mahli, Eder, and Jerimoth. These were the sons of the Levites, according to their families. ³¹As their brothers the descendants of Aaron did, they also cast lots in the presence of King David and of Zadok, Ahimelech, and the heads of the families of the priests and Levites—the family heads and their younger brothers alike.