Monday, February 9, 2015

Reading through the Word....Day 40, February 9

EXODUS 29:1- 30:10
MATTHEW 26:14- 46
PSALM 31:19- 24
PROVERBS 8:14- 26


"This is the ceremony for the dedication of Aaron and his sons as priests:Take a young bull and two rams with no physical defects. 2 Then using fine wheat flour and no yeast, make loaves of bread, thin cakes mixed with olive oil, and wafers with oil poured over them. 3 Place these various kinds of bread in a single basket, and present them at the entrance of the Tabernacle, along with the young bull and the two rams. 4" Present Aaron and his sons at the entrance of the Tabernacle, and wash them with water. 5 Then put Aaron's tunic on him, along with the embroidered robe of the ephod, the ephod itself, the chestpiece, and the sash. 6 And place on his head the turban with the gold medallion. 7 Then take the anointing oil and pour it over his head. 8 Next present his sons, and dress them in their tunics 9 with their woven sashes and their headdresses. They will then be priests forever. In this way, you will ordain Aaron and his sons. 10 "Then bring the young bull to the entrance of the Tabernacle, and Aaron and his sons will lay their hands on its head. 11 You will then slaughter it in the LORD's presence at the entrance of the Tabernacle. 12 Smear some of its blood on the horns of the altar with your finger, and pour out the rest at the base of the altar. 13 Take all the fat that covers the internal organs, also the long lobe of the liver and the two kidneys with their fat, and burn them on the altar. 14 Then take the carcass (including the skin and the dung) outside the camp, and burn it as a sin offering. 15" Next Aaron and his sons must lay their hands on the head of one of the rams 16 as it is slaughtered. Its blood will be collected and sprinkled on the sides of the altar. 17 Cut up the ram and wash off the internal organs and the legs. Set them alongside the head and the other pieces of the body, 18 and burn them all on the altar. This is a burnt offering to the LORD, which is very pleasing to him. 19 "Now take the other ram and have Aaron and his sons lay their hands on its head 20 as it is slaughtered. Collect the blood and place some of it on the tip of the right earlobes of Aaron and his sons. Also put it on their right thumbs and the big toes of their right feet. Sprinkle the rest of the blood on the sides of the altar. 21 Then take some of the blood from the altar and mix it with some of the anointing oil. Sprinkle it on Aaron and his sons and on their clothes. In this way, they and their clothing will be set apart as holy to the LORD. 22" Since this is the ram for the ordination of Aaron and his sons, take the fat of the ram, including the fat tail and the fat that covers the internal organs. Also, take the long lobe of the liver, the two kidneys with their fat, and the right thigh. 23 Then take one loaf of bread, one cake mixed with olive oil, and one wafer from the basket of yeastless bread that was placed before the LORD. 24 Put all these in the hands of Aaron and his sons to be lifted up as a special gift to the LORD. 25 Afterward take the bread from their hands, and burn it on the altar as a burnt offering that will be pleasing to the LORD. 26 Then take the breast of Aaron's ordination ram, and lift it up in the LORD's presence as a special gift to him. Afterward keep it for yourself. 27 "Set aside as holy the parts of the ordination ram that belong to Aaron and his sons. This includes the breast and the thigh that were lifted up before the LORD in the ordination ceremony. 28 In the future, whenever the people of Israel offer up peace offerings or thanksgiving offerings to the LORD, these parts will be the regular share of Aaron and his descendants. 29" Aaron's sacred garments must be preserved for his descendants who will succeed him, so they can be anointed and ordained in them. 30 Whoever is the next high priest after Aaron will wear these clothes for seven days before beginning to minister in the Tabernacle and the Holy Place. 31 "Take the ram used in the ordination ceremony, and boil its meat in a sacred place. 32 Aaron and his sons are to eat this meat, along with the bread in the basket, at the Tabernacle entrance. 33 They alone may eat the meat and bread used for their atonement in the ordination ceremony. The ordinary people may not eat them, for these things are set apart and holy. 34 If any of the ordination meat or bread remains until the morning, it must be burned. It may not be eaten, for it is holy. 35" This is how you will ordain Aaron and his sons to their offices. The ordination ceremony will go on for seven days. 36 Each day you must sacrifice a young bull as an offering for the atonement of sin. Afterward make an offering to cleanse the altar. Purify the altar by making atonement for it; make it holy by anointing it with oil. 37 Make atonement for the altar every day for seven days. After that, the altar will be exceedingly holy, and whatever touches it will become holy. 38 "This is what you are to offer on the altar. Offer two one- year- old lambs each day, 39 one in the morning and the other in the evening. 40 With one of them, offer two quarts of fine flour mixed with one quart of olive oil; also, offer one quart of wine as a drink offering. 41 Offer the other lamb in the evening, along with the same offerings of flour and wine as in the morning. It will be a fragrant offering to the LORD, an offering made by fire. 42" This is to be a daily burnt offering given from generation to generation. Offer it in the LORD's presence at the Tabernacle entrance, where I will meet you and speak with you. 43 I will meet the people of Israel there, and the Tabernacle will be sanctified by my glorious presence. 44 Yes, I will make the Tabernacle and the altar most holy, and I will set apart Aaron and his sons as holy, that they may be my priests. 45 I will live among the people of Israel and be their God, 46 and they will know that I am the LORD their God. I am the one who brought them out of Egypt so that I could live among them. I am the LORD their God. 30:1 "THEN make a small altar out of acacia wood for burning incense. 2 It must be eighteen inches square and three feet high, with horns at the corners carved from the same piece of wood as the altar. 3 Overlay the top, sides, and horns of the altar with pure gold, and run a gold molding around the entire altar. 4 Beneath the molding, on opposite sides of the altar, attach two gold rings to support the carrying poles. 5 The poles are to be made of acacia wood and overlaid with gold. 6 Place the incense altar just outside the inner curtain, opposite the Ark's cover-- the place of atonement-- that rests on the Ark of the Covenant. I will meet with you there. 7" Every morning when Aaron trims the lamps, he must burn fragrant incense on the altar. 8 And each evening when he tends to the lamps, he must again burn incense in the LORD's presence. This must be done from generation to generation. 9 Do not offer any unholy incense on this altar, or any burnt offerings, grain offerings, or drink offerings. 10 "Once a year Aaron must purify the altar by placing on its horns the blood from the offering made for the atonement of sin. This will be a regular, annual event from generation to generation, for this is the LORD's supremely holy altar."


Then Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve disciples, went to the leading priests 15 and asked, "How much will you pay me to betray Jesus to you?" And they gave him thirty pieces of silver. 16 From that time on, Judas began looking for the right time and place to betray Jesus. 17 On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus and asked, "Where do you want us to prepare the Passover supper?" 18 "As you go into the city," he told them, "you will see a certain man. Tell him, `The Teacher says, My time has come, and I will eat the Passover meal with my disciples at your house. '" 19 So the disciples did as Jesus told them and prepared the Passover supper there. 20 When it was evening, Jesus sat down at the table with the twelve disciples. 21 While they were eating, he said, "The truth is, one of you will betray me." 22 Greatly distressed, one by one they began to ask him, "I'm not the one, am I, Lord?" 23 He replied, "One of you who is eating with me now will betray me. 24 For I, the Son of Man, must die, as the Scriptures declared long ago. But how terrible it will be for my betrayer. Far better for him if he had never been born!" 25 Judas, the one who would betray him, also asked, "Teacher, I'm not the one, am I?" And Jesus told him, "You have said it yourself." 26 As they were eating, Jesus took a loaf of bread and asked God's blessing on it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, "Take it and eat it, for this is my body." 27 And he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. He gave it to them and said, "Each of you drink from it, 28 for this is my blood, which seals the covenant between God and his people. It is poured out to forgive the sins of many. 29 Mark my words-- I will not drink wine again until the day I drink it new with you in my Father's Kingdom." 30 Then they sang a hymn and went out to the Mount of Olives. 31 "Tonight all of you will desert me," Jesus told them. "For the Scriptures say, `God will strike the Shepherd,
and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.'
32 But after I have been raised from the dead, I will go ahead of you to Galilee and meet you there." 33 Peter declared, "Even if everyone else deserts you, I never will." 34 "Peter," Jesus replied, "the truth is, this very night, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times." 35 "No!" Peter insisted. "Not even if I have to die with you! I will never deny you!" And all the other disciples vowed the same. 36 Then Jesus brought them to an olive grove called Gethsemane, and he said, "Sit here while I go on ahead to pray." 37 He took Peter and Zebedee's two sons, James and John, and he began to be filled with anguish and deep distress. 38 He told them, "My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and watch with me." 39 He went on a little farther and fell face down on the ground, praying, "My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want your will, not mine." 40 Then he returned to the disciples and found them asleep. He said to Peter, "Couldn't you stay awake and watch with me even one hour? 41 Keep alert and pray. Otherwise temptation will overpower you. For though the spirit is willing enough, the body is weak!" 42 Again he left them and prayed, "My Father! If this cup cannot be taken away until I drink it, your will be done." 43 He returned to them again and found them sleeping, for they just couldn't keep their eyes open. 44 So he went back to pray a third time, saying the same things again. 45 Then he came to the disciples and said, "Still sleeping? Still resting? Look, the time has come. I, the Son of Man, am betrayed into the hands of sinners. 46 Up, let's be going. See, my betrayer is here!"


Your goodness is so great!
You have stored up great blessings for those who honor you.
You have done so much for those who come to you for protection,
blessing them before the watching world.
20 You hide them in the shelter of your presence,
safe from those who conspire against them.
You shelter them in your presence,
far from accusing tongues.
21 Praise the LORD,
for he has shown me his unfailing love.
He kept me safe when my city was under attack.
22 In sudden fear I had cried out,
"I have been cut off from the LORD!"
But you heard my cry for mercy
and answered my call for help.
23 Love the LORD, all you faithful ones!
For the LORD protects those who are loyal to him,
but he harshly punishes all who are arrogant.
24 So be strong and take courage,
all you who put your hope in the LORD!


"Good advice and success belong to me [wisdom]. Insight and strength are mine. Because of me, kings reign, and rulers make just laws. Rulers lead with my help, and nobles make righteous judgments. I love all who love me. Those who search for me will surely find me. Unending riches, honor, wealth, and justice are mine to distribute. My gifts are better than the purest gold, my wages better than sterling silver! I walk in righteousness, in paths of justice. Those who love me inherit wealth, for I fill their treasuries. The LORD formed me from the beginning, before he created anything else. I was appointed in ages past, at the very first, before the earth began. I was born before the oceans were created, before the springs bubbled forth their waters. Before the mountains and the hills were formed, I was born-- before he had made the earth and fields and the first handfuls of soil