Day 51 reading

Wisdom·Psalm 34:14–22

¹⁴Turn away from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it. ¹⁵The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, and His ears are inclined to their cry. ¹⁶But the face of the LORD is against those who do evil, to wipe out all memory of them from the earth. ¹⁷The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears; He delivers them from all their troubles. ¹⁸The LORD is near to the brokenhearted; He saves the contrite in spirit. ¹⁹Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him from them all. ²⁰He protects all his bones; not one of them will be broken. ²¹Evil will slay the wicked, and the haters of the righteous will be condemned. ²²The LORD redeems His servants, and none who take refuge in Him will be condemned.

New Testament·Mark 1:21–45

²¹Then Jesus and His companions went to Capernaum, and right away Jesus entered the synagogue on the Sabbath and began to teach. ²²The people were astonished at His teaching, because He taught as one who had authority, and not as the scribes. ²³Suddenly a man with an unclean spirit cried out in the synagogue: ²⁴“What do You want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!” ²⁵But Jesus rebuked the spirit. “Be silent!” He said. “Come out of him!” ²⁶At this, the unclean spirit threw the man into convulsions and came out with a loud shriek. ²⁷All the people were amazed and began to ask one another, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him!” ²⁸And the news about Jesus spread quickly through the whole region of Galilee. ²⁹As soon as Jesus and His companions had left the synagogue, they went with James and John to the home of Simon and Andrew. ³⁰Simon’s mother-in-law was sick in bed with a fever, and they promptly told Jesus about her. ³¹So He went to her, took her by the hand, and helped her up. The fever left her, and she began to serve them. ³²That evening, after sunset, people brought to Jesus all who were sick and demon-possessed, ³³and the whole town gathered at the door. ³⁴And He healed many who were ill with various diseases and drove out many demons. But He would not allow the demons to speak, because they knew who He was. ³⁵Early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up and slipped out to a solitary place to pray. ³⁶Simon and his companions went to look for Him, ³⁷and when they found Him, they said, “Everyone is looking for You!” ³⁸But Jesus answered, “Let us go on to the neighboring towns so I can preach there as well, for that is why I have come.” ³⁹So He went throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons. ⁴⁰Then a leper came to Jesus, begging on his knees: “If You are willing, You can make me clean.” ⁴¹Moved with compassion, Jesus reached out His hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” He said. “Be clean!” ⁴²And immediately the leprosy left him, and the man was cleansed. ⁴³Jesus promptly sent him away with a stern warning: ⁴⁴“See that you don’t tell anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and present the offering Moses prescribed for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.” ⁴⁵But the man went out and openly began to proclaim and spread the news. Consequently, Jesus could no longer enter a town in plain view, but He stayed out in solitary places. Yet people came to Him from every quarter.

Old Testament·Exodus 40; Leviticus 1

¹Then the LORD said to Moses, ²“On the first day of the first month you are to set up the tabernacle, the Tent of Meeting. ³Put the ark of the Testimony in it and screen off the ark with the veil. ⁴Then bring in the table and set out its arrangement; bring in the lampstand as well, and set up its lamps. ⁵Place the gold altar of incense in front of the ark of the Testimony, and hang the curtain at the entrance to the tabernacle. ⁶Place the altar of burnt offering in front of the entrance to the tabernacle, the Tent of Meeting. ⁷And place the basin between the Tent of Meeting and the altar, and put water in it. ⁸Set up the surrounding courtyard and hang the curtain for the entrance to the courtyard. ⁹Take the anointing oil and anoint the tabernacle and everything in it; consecrate it along with all its furnishings, and it shall be holy. ¹⁰Anoint the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils; consecrate the altar, and it shall be most holy. ¹¹Anoint the basin and its stand and consecrate them. ¹²Then bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting and wash them with water. ¹³And you are to clothe Aaron with the holy garments, anoint him, and consecrate him, so that he may serve Me as a priest. ¹⁴Bring his sons forward and clothe them with tunics. ¹⁵Anoint them just as you anointed their father, so that they may also serve Me as priests. Their anointing will qualify them for a permanent priesthood throughout their generations.” ¹⁶Moses did everything just as the LORD had commanded him. ¹⁷So the tabernacle was set up on the first day of the first month of the second year. ¹⁸When Moses set up the tabernacle, he laid its bases, positioned its frames, inserted its crossbars, and set up its posts. ¹⁹Then he spread the tent over the tabernacle and put the covering over the tent, just as the LORD had commanded him. ²⁰Moses took the Testimony and placed it in the ark, attaching the poles to the ark; and he set the mercy seat atop the ark. ²¹Then he brought the ark into the tabernacle, put up the veil for the screen, and shielded off the ark of the Testimony, just as the LORD had commanded him. ²²Moses placed the table in the Tent of Meeting on the north side of the tabernacle, outside the veil. ²³He arranged the bread on it before the LORD, just as the LORD had commanded him. ²⁴He also placed the lampstand in the Tent of Meeting opposite the table on the south side of the tabernacle ²⁵and set up the lamps before the LORD, just as the LORD had commanded him. ²⁶Moses placed the gold altar in the Tent of Meeting, in front of the veil, ²⁷and he burned fragrant incense on it, just as the LORD had commanded him. ²⁸Then he put up the curtain at the entrance to the tabernacle. ²⁹He placed the altar of burnt offering near the entrance to the tabernacle, the Tent of Meeting, and offered on it the burnt offering and the grain offering, just as the LORD had commanded him. ³⁰He placed the basin between the Tent of Meeting and the altar and put water in it for washing; ³¹and from it Moses, Aaron, and his sons washed their hands and feet. ³²They washed whenever they entered the Tent of Meeting or approached the altar, just as the LORD had commanded Moses. ³³And Moses set up the courtyard around the tabernacle and the altar, and he hung the curtain for the entrance to the courtyard. So Moses finished the work. ³⁴Then the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. ³⁵Moses was unable to enter the Tent of Meeting because the cloud had settled on it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. ³⁶Whenever the cloud was lifted from above the tabernacle, the Israelites would set out through all the stages of their journey. ³⁷If the cloud was not lifted, they would not set out until the day it was taken up. ³⁸For the cloud of the LORD was over the tabernacle by day, and fire was in the cloud by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel through all their journeys.

1Then the LORD called to Moses and spoke to him from the Tent of Meeting, saying, ²“Speak to the Israelites and tell them: When any of you brings an offering to the LORD, you may bring as your offering an animal from the herd or the flock. ³If one’s offering is a burnt offering from the herd, he is to present an unblemished male. He must bring it to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting for its acceptance before the LORD. ⁴He is to lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, so it can be accepted on his behalf to make atonement for him. ⁵And he shall slaughter the young bull before the LORD, and Aaron’s sons the priests are to present the blood and sprinkle it on all sides of the altar at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. ⁶Next, he is to skin the burnt offering and cut it into pieces. ⁷The sons of Aaron the priest shall put a fire on the altar and arrange wood on the fire. ⁸Then Aaron’s sons the priests are to arrange the pieces, including the head and the fat, atop the burning wood on the altar. ⁹The entrails and legs must be washed with water, and the priest shall burn all of it on the altar as a burnt offering, an offering made by fire, a pleasing aroma to the LORD. ¹⁰If, however, one’s offering is a burnt offering from the flock—from the sheep or goats—he is to present an unblemished male. ¹¹He shall slaughter it on the north side of the altar before the LORD, and Aaron’s sons the priests are to sprinkle its blood against the altar on all sides. ¹²He is to cut the animal into pieces, and the priest shall arrange them, including the head and fat, atop the burning wood that is on the altar. ¹³The entrails and legs must be washed with water, and the priest shall bring all of it and burn it on the altar; it is a burnt offering, an offering made by fire, a pleasing aroma to the LORD. ¹⁴If, instead, one’s offering to the LORD is a burnt offering of birds, he is to present a turtledove or a young pigeon. ¹⁵Then the priest shall bring it to the altar, twist off its head, and burn it on the altar; its blood should be drained out on the side of the altar. ¹⁶And he is to remove the crop with its contents and throw it to the east side of the altar, in the place for ashes. ¹⁷He shall tear it open by its wings, without dividing the bird completely. And the priest is to burn it on the altar atop the burning wood. It is a burnt offering, an offering made by fire, a pleasing aroma to the LORD.