Day 337 reading

Wisdom·Proverbs 23:1–12

¹When you sit down to dine with a ruler, consider carefully what is set before you, ²and put a knife to your throat if you possess a great appetite. ³Do not crave his delicacies, for that food is deceptive. ⁴Do not wear yourself out to get rich; be wise enough to restrain yourself. ⁵When you glance at wealth, it disappears, for it makes wings for itself and flies like an eagle to the sky. ⁶Do not eat the bread of a stingy man, and do not crave his delicacies; ⁷for he is keeping track, inwardly counting the cost. “Eat and drink,” he says to you, but his heart is not with you. ⁸You will vomit up what little you have eaten and waste your pleasant words. ⁹Do not speak to a fool, for he will despise the wisdom of your words. ¹⁰Do not move an ancient boundary stone or encroach on the fields of the fatherless, ¹¹for their Redeemer is strong; He will take up their case against you. ¹²Apply your heart to instruction and your ears to words of knowledge.

New Testament·1 Peter 5; 2 Peter 1

¹As a fellow elder, a witness of Christ’s sufferings, and a partaker of the glory to be revealed, I appeal to the elders among you: ²Be shepherds of God’s flock that is among you, watching over them not out of compulsion, but because it is God’s will; not out of greed, but out of eagerness; ³not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. ⁴And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away. ⁵Young men, in the same way, submit yourselves to your elders. And all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” ⁶Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, so that in due time He may exalt you. ⁷Cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you. ⁸Be sober-minded and alert. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. ⁹Resist him, standing firm in your faith and in the knowledge that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kinds of suffering. ¹⁰And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself restore you, secure you, strengthen you, and establish you. ¹¹To Him be the power forever and ever. Amen. ¹²Through Silvanus, whom I regard as a faithful brother, I have written to you briefly, encouraging you and testifying that this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it. ¹³The church in Babylon, chosen together with you, sends you greetings, as does my son Mark. ¹⁴Greet one another with a kiss of love. Peace to all of you who are in Christ.

1Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours: ²Grace and peace be multiplied to you through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. ³His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through the knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. ⁴Through these He has given us His precious and magnificent promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, now that you have escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. ⁵For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith virtue; and to virtue, knowledge; ⁶and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; ⁷and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. ⁸For if you possess these qualities and continue to grow in them, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁹But whoever lacks these traits is nearsighted to the point of blindness, having forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins. ¹⁰Therefore, brothers, strive to make your calling and election sure. For if you practice these things you will never stumble, ¹¹and you will receive a lavish reception into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. ¹²Therefore I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are established in the truth you now have. ¹³I think it is right to refresh your memory as long as I live in the tent of my body, ¹⁴because I know that this tent will soon be laid aside, as our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me. ¹⁵And I will make every effort to ensure that after my departure, you will be able to recall these things at all times. ¹⁶For we did not follow cleverly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty. ¹⁷For He received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to Him from the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” ¹⁸And we ourselves heard this voice from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain. ¹⁹We also have the word of the prophets as confirmed beyond doubt. And you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. ²⁰Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture comes from one’s own interpretation. ²¹For no such prophecy was ever brought forth by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

Old Testament·Ezekiel 43–44

¹Then the man brought me back to the gate that faces east, ²and I saw the glory of the God of Israel coming from the east. His voice was like the roar of many waters, and the earth shone with His glory. ³The vision I saw was like the vision I had seen when He came to destroy the city and like the visions I had seen by the River Kebar. I fell facedown, ⁴and the glory of the LORD entered the temple through the gate facing east. ⁵Then the Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court, and the glory of the LORD filled the temple. ⁶While the man was standing beside me, I heard someone speaking to me from inside the temple, ⁷and He said to me, “Son of man, this is the place of My throne and the place for the soles of My feet, where I will dwell among the Israelites forever. The house of Israel will never again defile My holy name—neither they nor their kings—by their prostitution and by the funeral offerings for their kings at their deaths. ⁸When they placed their threshold next to My threshold and their doorposts beside My doorposts, with only a wall between Me and them, they defiled My holy name by the abominations they committed. Therefore I have consumed them in My anger. ⁹Now let them remove far from Me their prostitution and the funeral offerings for their kings, and I will dwell among them forever. ¹⁰As for you, son of man, describe the temple to the people of Israel, so that they may be ashamed of their iniquities. Let them measure the plan, ¹¹and if they are ashamed of all they have done, then make known to them the design of the temple—its arrangement and its exits and entrances—its whole design along with all its statutes, forms, and laws. Write it down in their sight, so that they may keep its complete design and all its statutes and may carry them out. ¹²This is the law of the temple: All its surrounding territory on top of the mountain will be most holy. Yes, this is the law of the temple. ¹³These are the measurements of the altar in long cubits (a cubit and a handbreadth): Its gutter shall be a cubit deep and a cubit wide, with a rim of one span around its edge. And this is the height of the altar: ¹⁴The space from the gutter on the ground to the lower ledge shall be two cubits, and the ledge one cubit wide. The space from the smaller ledge to the larger ledge shall be four cubits, and the ledge one cubit wide. ¹⁵The altar hearth shall be four cubits high, and four horns shall project upward from the hearth. ¹⁶The altar hearth shall be square at its four corners, twelve cubits long and twelve cubits wide. ¹⁷The ledge shall also be square, fourteen cubits long and fourteen cubits wide, with a rim of half a cubit and a gutter of a cubit all around it. The steps of the altar shall face east.” ¹⁸Then He said to me: “Son of man, this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘These are the statutes for the altar on the day it is constructed, so that burnt offerings may be sacrificed on it and blood may be sprinkled on it: ¹⁹You are to give a young bull from the herd as a sin offering to the Levitical priests who are of the family of Zadok, who approach Me to minister before Me, declares the Lord GOD. ²⁰You are to take some of its blood and put it on the four horns of the altar, on the four corners of the ledge, and all around the rim; thus you will cleanse the altar and make atonement for it. ²¹Then you are to take away the bull for the sin offering and burn it in the appointed part of the temple area outside the sanctuary. ²²On the second day you are to present an unblemished male goat as a sin offering, and the altar is to be cleansed as it was with the bull. ²³When you have finished the purification, you are to present a young, unblemished bull and an unblemished ram from the flock. ²⁴You must present them before the LORD; the priests are to sprinkle salt on them and sacrifice them as a burnt offering to the LORD. ²⁵For seven days you are to provide a male goat daily for a sin offering; you are also to provide a young bull and a ram from the flock, both unblemished. ²⁶For seven days the priests are to make atonement for the altar and cleanse it; so they shall consecrate it. ²⁷At the end of these days, from the eighth day on, the priests are to present your burnt offerings and peace offerings on the altar. Then I will accept you, declares the Lord GOD.’”

44The man then brought me back to the outer gate of the sanctuary that faced east, but it was shut. ²And the LORD said to me, “This gate is to remain shut. It shall not be opened, and no man shall enter through it, because the LORD, the God of Israel, has entered through it. Therefore it will remain shut. ³Only the prince himself may sit inside the gateway to eat in the presence of the LORD. He must enter by way of the portico of the gateway and go out the same way.” ⁴Then the man brought me to the front of the temple by way of the north gate. I looked and saw the glory of the LORD filling His temple, and I fell facedown. ⁵The LORD said to me: “Son of man, pay attention; look carefully with your eyes and listen closely with your ears to everything I tell you concerning all the statutes and laws of the house of the LORD. Take careful note of the entrance to the temple, along with all the exits of the sanctuary. ⁶Tell the rebellious house of Israel that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘I have had enough of all your abominations, O house of Israel. ⁷In addition to all your other abominations, you brought in foreigners uncircumcised in both heart and flesh to occupy My sanctuary; you defiled My temple when you offered My food—the fat and the blood; you broke My covenant. ⁸And you have not kept charge of My holy things, but have appointed others to keep charge of My sanctuary for you.’ ⁹This is what the Lord GOD says: No foreigner uncircumcised in heart and flesh may enter My sanctuary—not even a foreigner who lives among the Israelites. ¹⁰Surely the Levites who wandered away from Me when Israel went astray, and who wandered away from Me after their idols, will bear the consequences of their iniquity. ¹¹Yet they shall be ministers in My sanctuary, having charge of the gates of the temple and ministering there. They shall slaughter the burnt offerings and other sacrifices for the people and stand before them to minister to them. ¹²Because they ministered before their idols and became a stumbling block of iniquity to the house of Israel, therefore I swore with an uplifted hand concerning them that they would bear the consequences of their iniquity, declares the Lord GOD. ¹³They must not approach Me to serve Me as priests or come near any of My holy things or the most holy things. They will bear the shame of the abominations they have committed. ¹⁴Yet I will appoint them to keep charge of all the work for the temple and everything to be done in it. ¹⁵But the Levitical priests, who are descended from Zadok and who kept charge of My sanctuary when the Israelites went astray from Me, are to approach Me to minister before Me. They will stand before Me to offer Me fat and blood, declares the Lord GOD. ¹⁶They alone shall enter My sanctuary and draw near to My table to minister before Me. They will keep My charge. ¹⁷When they enter the gates of the inner court, they are to wear linen garments; they must not wear anything made of wool when they minister at the gates of the inner court or inside the temple. ¹⁸They are to wear linen turbans on their heads and linen undergarments around their waists. They must not wear anything that makes them perspire. ¹⁹When they go out to the outer court, to the people, they are to take off the garments in which they have ministered, leave them in the holy chambers, and dress in other clothes so that they do not transmit holiness to the people with their garments. ²⁰They must not shave their heads or let their hair grow long, but must carefully trim their hair. ²¹No priest may drink wine before he enters the inner court. ²²And they shall not marry a widow or a divorced woman, but must marry a virgin of the descendants of the house of Israel, or a widow of a priest. ²³They are to teach My people the difference between the holy and the common, and show them how to discern between the clean and the unclean. ²⁴In any dispute, they shall officiate as judges and judge according to My ordinances. They must keep My laws and statutes regarding all My appointed feasts, and they must keep My Sabbaths holy. ²⁵A priest must not defile himself by going near a dead person. However, for a father, a mother, a son, a daughter, a brother, or an unmarried sister, he may do so, ²⁶and after he is cleansed, he must count off seven days for himself. ²⁷And on the day he goes into the sanctuary, into the inner court, to minister in the sanctuary, he must present his sin offering, declares the Lord GOD. ²⁸In regard to their inheritance, I am their inheritance. You are to give them no possession in Israel, for I am their possession. ²⁹They shall eat the grain offerings, the sin offerings, and the guilt offerings. Everything in Israel devoted to the LORD will belong to them. ³⁰The best of all the firstfruits and of every contribution from all your offerings will belong to the priests. You are to give your first batch of dough to the priest, so that a blessing may rest upon your homes. ³¹The priests may not eat any bird or animal found dead or torn by wild beasts.