Day 68 reading

Wisdom·Psalm 42

¹As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul longs after You, O God. ²My soul thirsts for God, the living God. When shall I come and appear in God’s presence? ³My tears have been my food both day and night, while men ask me all day long, “Where is your God?” ⁴These things come to mind as I pour out my soul: how I walked with the multitude, leading the procession to the house of God with shouts of joy and praise. ⁵Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why the unease within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him for the salvation of His presence. ⁶O my God, my soul despairs within me. Therefore I remember You from the land of Jordan and the peaks of Hermon— even from Mount Mizar. ⁷Deep calls to deep in the roar of Your waterfalls; all Your breakers and waves have rolled over me. ⁸The LORD decrees His loving devotion by day, and at night His song is with me as a prayer to the God of my life. ⁹I say to God my Rock, “Why have You forgotten me? Why must I walk in sorrow because of the enemy’s oppression?” ¹⁰Like the crushing of my bones, my enemies taunt me, while they say to me all day long, “Where is your God?” ¹¹Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why the unease within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Savior and my God.

New Testament·Mark 10:21–41

²¹Jesus looked at him, loved him, and said to him, “There is one thing you lack: Go, sell everything you own and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me.” ²²But the man was saddened by these words and went away in sorrow, because he had great wealth. ²³Then Jesus looked around and said to His disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!” ²⁴And the disciples were amazed at His words. But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! ²⁵It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” ²⁶They were even more astonished and said to one another, “Who then can be saved?” ²⁷Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.” ²⁸Peter began to say to Him, “Look, we have left everything and followed You.” ²⁹“Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for My sake and for the gospel ³⁰will fail to receive a hundredfold in the present age—houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and fields, along with persecutions—and in the age to come, eternal life. ³¹But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.” ³²As they were going up the road to Jerusalem, Jesus was walking ahead of them. The disciples were amazed, but those who followed were afraid. Again Jesus took the Twelve aside and began to tell them what was going to happen to Him: ³³“Look, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes. They will condemn Him to death and will deliver Him over to the Gentiles, ³⁴who will mock Him and spit on Him and flog Him and kill Him. And after three days He will rise again.” ³⁵Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Jesus and declared, “Teacher, we want You to do for us whatever we ask.” ³⁶“What do you want Me to do for you?” He inquired. ³⁷They answered, “Grant that one of us may sit at Your right hand and the other at Your left in Your glory.” ³⁸“You do not know what you are asking,” Jesus replied. “Can you drink the cup I will drink, or be baptized with the baptism I will undergo?” ³⁹“We can,” the brothers answered. “You will drink the cup that I drink,” Jesus said, “and you will be baptized with the baptism that I undergo. ⁴⁰But to sit at My right or left is not Mine to grant. These seats belong to those for whom they have been prepared.” ⁴¹When the ten heard about this, they became indignant with James and John.

Old Testament·Numbers 1–2

¹On the first day of the second month of the second year after the Israelites had come out of the land of Egypt, the LORD spoke to Moses in the Tent of Meeting in the Wilderness of Sinai. He said: ²“Take a census of the whole congregation of Israel by their clans and families, listing every man by name, one by one. ³You and Aaron are to number those who are twenty years of age or older by their divisions—everyone who can serve in Israel’s army. ⁴And one man from each tribe, the head of each family, must be there with you. ⁵These are the names of the men who are to assist you: From the tribe of Reuben, Elizur son of Shedeur; ⁶from Simeon, Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai; ⁷from Judah, Nahshon son of Amminadab; ⁸from Issachar, Nethanel son of Zuar; ⁹from Zebulun, Eliab son of Helon; ¹⁰from the sons of Joseph: from Ephraim, Elishama son of Ammihud, and from Manasseh, Gamaliel son of Pedahzur; ¹¹from Benjamin, Abidan son of Gideoni; ¹²from Dan, Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai; ¹³from Asher, Pagiel son of Ocran; ¹⁴from Gad, Eliasaph son of Deuel; ¹⁵and from Naphtali, Ahira son of Enan.” ¹⁶These men were appointed from the congregation; they were the leaders of the tribes of their fathers, the heads of the clans of Israel. ¹⁷So Moses and Aaron took these men who had been designated by name, ¹⁸and on the first day of the second month they assembled the whole congregation and recorded their ancestry by clans and families, counting one by one the names of those twenty years of age or older, ¹⁹just as the LORD had commanded Moses. So Moses numbered them in the Wilderness of Sinai: ²⁰From the sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel, according to the records of their clans and families, counting one by one the names of every male twenty years of age or older who could serve in the army, ²¹those registered to the tribe of Reuben numbered 46,500. ²²From the sons of Simeon, according to the records of their clans and families, counting one by one the names of every male twenty years of age or older who could serve in the army, ²³those registered to the tribe of Simeon numbered 59,300. ²⁴From the sons of Gad, according to the records of their clans and families, counting the names of all those twenty years of age or older who could serve in the army, ²⁵those registered to the tribe of Gad numbered 45,650. ²⁶From the sons of Judah, according to the records of their clans and families, counting the names of all those twenty years of age or older who could serve in the army, ²⁷those registered to the tribe of Judah numbered 74,600. ²⁸From the sons of Issachar, according to the records of their clans and families, counting the names of all those twenty years of age or older who could serve in the army, ²⁹those registered to the tribe of Issachar numbered 54,400. ³⁰From the sons of Zebulun, according to the records of their clans and families, counting the names of all those twenty years of age or older who could serve in the army, ³¹those registered to the tribe of Zebulun numbered 57,400. ³²From the sons of Joseph: From the sons of Ephraim, according to the records of their clans and families, counting the names of all those twenty years of age or older who could serve in the army, ³³those registered to the tribe of Ephraim numbered 40,500. ³⁴And from the sons of Manasseh, according to the records of their clans and families, counting the names of all those twenty years of age or older who could serve in the army, ³⁵those registered to the tribe of Manasseh numbered 32,200. ³⁶From the sons of Benjamin, according to the records of their clans and families, counting the names of all those twenty years of age or older who could serve in the army, ³⁷those registered to the tribe of Benjamin numbered 35,400. ³⁸From the sons of Dan, according to the records of their clans and families, counting the names of all those twenty years of age or older who could serve in the army, ³⁹those registered to the tribe of Dan numbered 62,700. ⁴⁰From the sons of Asher, according to the records of their clans and families, counting the names of all those twenty years of age or older who could serve in the army, ⁴¹those registered to the tribe of Asher numbered 41,500. ⁴²From the sons of Naphtali, according to the records of their clans and families, counting the names of all those twenty years of age or older who could serve in the army, ⁴³those registered to the tribe of Naphtali numbered 53,400. ⁴⁴These were the men numbered by Moses and Aaron, with the assistance of the twelve leaders of Israel, each one representing his family. ⁴⁵So all the Israelites twenty years of age or older who could serve in Israel’s army were counted according to their families. ⁴⁶And all those counted totaled 603,550. ⁴⁷The Levites, however, were not numbered along with them by the tribe of their fathers. ⁴⁸For the LORD had said to Moses: ⁴⁹“Do not number the tribe of Levi in the census with the other Israelites. ⁵⁰Instead, you are to appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of the Testimony, all its furnishings, and everything in it. They shall carry the tabernacle and all its articles, care for it, and camp around it. ⁵¹Whenever the tabernacle is to move, the Levites are to take it down, and whenever it is to be pitched, the Levites are to set it up. Any outsider who goes near it must be put to death. ⁵²The Israelites are to camp by their divisions, each man in his own camp and under his own standard. ⁵³But the Levites are to camp around the tabernacle of the Testimony and watch over it, so that no wrath will fall on the congregation of Israel. So the Levites are responsible for the tabernacle of the Testimony.” ⁵⁴Thus the Israelites did everything just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

2Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron: ²“The Israelites are to camp around the Tent of Meeting at a distance from it, each man under his standard, with the banners of his family. ³On the east side, toward the sunrise, the divisions of Judah are to camp under their standard: The leader of the descendants of Judah is Nahshon son of Amminadab, ⁴and his division numbers 74,600. ⁵The tribe of Issachar will camp next to it. The leader of the Issacharites is Nethanel son of Zuar, ⁶and his division numbers 54,400. ⁷Next will be the tribe of Zebulun. The leader of the Zebulunites is Eliab son of Helon, ⁸and his division numbers 57,400. ⁹The total number of men in the divisions of the camp of Judah is 186,400; they shall set out first. ¹⁰On the south side, the divisions of Reuben are to camp under their standard: The leader of the Reubenites is Elizur son of Shedeur, ¹¹and his division numbers 46,500. ¹²The tribe of Simeon will camp next to it. The leader of the Simeonites is Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai, ¹³and his division numbers 59,300. ¹⁴Next will be the tribe of Gad. The leader of the Gadites is Eliasaph son of Deuel, ¹⁵and his division numbers 45,650. ¹⁶The total number of men in the divisions of the camp of Reuben is 151,450; they shall set out second. ¹⁷In the middle of the camps, the Tent of Meeting is to travel with the camp of the Levites. They are to set out in the order they encamped, each in his own place under his standard. ¹⁸On the west side, the divisions of Ephraim are to camp under their standard: The leader of the Ephraimites is Elishama son of Ammihud, ¹⁹and his division numbers 40,500. ²⁰The tribe of Manasseh will be next to it. The leader of the Manassites is Gamaliel son of Pedahzur, ²¹and his division numbers 32,200. ²²Next will be the tribe of Benjamin. The leader of the Benjamites is Abidan son of Gideoni, ²³and his division numbers 35,400. ²⁴The total number of men in the divisions of the camp of Ephraim is 108,100; they shall set out third. ²⁵On the north side, the divisions of Dan are to camp under their standard: The leader of the Danites is Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai, ²⁶and his division numbers 62,700. ²⁷The tribe of Asher will camp next to it. The leader of the Asherites is Pagiel son of Ocran, ²⁸and his division numbers 41,500. ²⁹Next will be the tribe of Naphtali. The leader of the Naphtalites is Ahira son of Enan, ³⁰and his division numbers 53,400. ³¹The total number of men in the camp of Dan is 157,600; they shall set out last, under their standards.” ³²These are the Israelites, numbered according to their families. The total of those counted in the camps, by their divisions, was 603,550. ³³But the Levites were not counted among the other Israelites, as the LORD had commanded Moses. ³⁴So the Israelites did everything the LORD commanded Moses; they camped under their standards in this way and set out in the same way, each man with his clan and his family.