March 11 Reading through the Bible Day 71

NUMBERS 15:17-16:40
MARK 15:1-47
PSALM 54:1-7
PROVERBS 11:5-6

NUMBERS 15:17-16:40
The LORD also said to Moses at this time, 18 " Give the people of Israel the following instructions: When you arrive in the land where I am taking you, 19 you will eat from the crops that grow there. But you must set some aside as a gift to the LORD. 20 Present a cake from the first of the flour you grind and set it aside as a gift, as you do with the first grain from the threshing floor. 21 Throughout the generations to come, you are to present this offering to the LORD each year from the first of your ground flour. 22 " But suppose some of you unintentionally fail to carry out all these commands that the LORD has given you through Moses. 23 And suppose some of your descendants in the future fail to do everything the LORD has commanded through Moses. 24 If the mistake was done unintentionally, and the community was unaware of it, the whole community must present a young bull for a burnt offering. It will be pleasing to the LORD, and it must be offered along with the prescribed grain offering and drink offering and with one male goat for a sin offering. 25 With it the priest will make atonement for the whole community of Israel, and they will be forgiven. For it was an unintentional sin, and they have corrected it with their offering given to the LORD by fire and by their sin offering. 26 The whole community of Israel will be forgiven, including the foreigners living among you, for the entire population was involved in the sin. 27 " If the unintentional sin is committed by an individual, the guilty person must bring a one-year-old female goat for a sin offering. 28 The priest will make atonement for the guilty person before the LORD, and that person will be forgiven. 29 This same law applies both to native Israelites and the foreigners living among you.30 " But those who brazenly violate the LORD's will, whether native Israelites or foreigners, blaspheme the LORD, and they must be cut off from the community. 31 Since they have treated the LORD's word with contempt and deliberately disobeyed his commands, they must be completely cut off and suffer the consequences of their guilt." 32 One day while the people of Israel were in the wilderness, they caught a man gathering wood on the Sabbath day. 33 He was apprehended and taken before Moses, Aaron, and the rest of the community. 34 They held him in custody because they did not know what to do with him. 35 Then the LORD said to Moses, " The man must be put to death! The whole community must stone him outside the camp." 36 So the whole community took the man outside the camp and stoned him to death, just as the LORD had commanded Moses. 37 And the LORD said to Moses, 38 " Say to the people of Israel: ` Throughout the generations to come you must make tassels for the hems of your clothing and attach the tassels at each corner with a blue cord. 39 The tassels will remind you of the commands of the LORD, and that you are to obey his commands instead of following your own desires and going your own ways, as you are prone to do. 40 The tassels will help you remember that you must obey all my commands and be holy to your God. 41 I am the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt that I might be your God. I am the LORD your God!' "16:1 ONE day Korah son of Izhar, a descendant of Kohath son of Levi, conspired with Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth, from the tribe of Reuben. 2 They incited a rebellion against Moses, involving 250 other prominent leaders, all members of the assembly. 3 They went to Moses and Aaron and said, " You have gone too far! Everyone in Israel has been set apart by the LORD, and he is with all of us. What right do you have to act as though you are greater than anyone else among all these people of the LORD?" 4 When Moses heard what they were saying, he threw himself down with his face to the ground. 5 Then he said to Korah and his followers, " Tomorrow morning the LORD will show us who belongs to him and who is holy. The LORD will allow those who are chosen to enter his holy presence. 6 You, Korah, and all your followers must do this: Take incense burners, 7 and burn incense in them tomorrow before the LORD. Then we will see whom the LORD chooses as his holy one. You Levites are the ones who have gone too far!" 8 Then Moses spoke again to Korah: " Now listen, you Levites! 9 Does it seem a small thing to you that the God of Israel has chosen you from among all the people of Israel to be near him as you serve in the LORD's Tabernacle and to stand before the people to minister to them? 10 He has given this special ministry only to you and your fellow Levites, but now you are demanding the priesthood as well! 11 The one you are really revolting against is the LORD! And who is Aaron that you are complaining about him?" 12 Then Moses summoned Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, but they replied, " We refuse to come! 13 Isn't it enough that you brought us out of Egypt, a land flowing with milk and honey, to kill us here in this wilderness, and that you now treat us like your subjects? 14 What's more, you haven't brought us into the land flowing with milk and honey or given us an inheritance of fields and vineyards. Are you trying to fool us? We will not come." 15 Then Moses became very angry and said to the LORD, " Do not accept their offerings! I have not taken so much as a donkey from them, and I have never hurt a single one of them." 16 And Moses said to Korah, " Come here tomorrow and present yourself before the LORD with all your followers. Aaron will also be here. 17 Be sure that each of your 250 followers brings an incense burner with incense on it, so you can present them before the LORD. Aaron will also bring his incense burner." 18 So these men came with their incense burners, placed burning coals and incense on them, and stood at the entrance of the Tabernacle with Moses and Aaron. 19 Meanwhile, Korah had stirred up the entire community against Moses and Aaron, and they all assembled at the Tabernacle entrance. Then the glorious presence of the LORD appeared to the whole community, 20 and the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, 21 " Get away from these people so that I may instantly destroy them!" 22 But Moses and Aaron fell face down on the ground. " O God, the God and source of all life," they pleaded. " Must you be angry with all the people when only one man sins?" 23 And the LORD said to Moses, 24 " Then tell all the people to get away from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram." 25 So Moses got up and rushed over to the tents of Dathan and Abiram, followed closely by the Israelite leaders. 26 " Quick!" he told the people. " Get away from the tents of these wicked men, and don't touch anything that belongs to them. If you do, you will be destroyed for their sins." 27 So all the people stood back from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. Then Dathan and Abiram came out and stood at the entrances of their tents with their wives and children and little ones.28 And Moses said, " By this you will know that the LORD has sent me to do all these things that I have done--for I have not done them on my own. 29 If these men die a natural death, then the LORD has not sent me. 30 But if the LORD performs a miracle and the ground opens up and swallows them and all their belongings, and they go down alive into the grave, then you will know that these men have despised the LORD." 31 He had hardly finished speaking the words when the ground suddenly split open beneath them. 32 The earth opened up and swallowed the men, along with their households and the followers who were standing with them, and everything they owned. 33 So they went down alive into the grave, along with their belongings. The earth closed over them, and they all vanished. 34 All of the people of Israel fled as they heard their screams, fearing that the earth would swallow them, too. 35 Then fire blazed forth from the LORD and burned up the 250 men who were offering incense. 36 And the LORD said to Moses, 37 " Tell Eleazar son of Aaron the priest to pull all the incense burners from the fire, for they are holy. Also tell him to scatter the burning incense 38 from the burners of these men who have sinned at the cost of their lives. He must then hammer the metal of the incense burners into a sheet as a covering for the altar, for these burners have become holy because they were used in the LORD's presence. The altar covering will then serve as a warning to the people of Israel."39 So Eleazar the priest collected the 250 bronze incense burners that had been used by the men who died in the fire, and they were hammered out into a sheet of metal to cover the altar. 40 This would warn the Israelites that no unauthorized man--no one who was not a descendant of Aaron--should ever enter the LORD's presence to burn incense. If anyone did, the same thing would happen to him as happened to Korah and his followers. Thus, the LORD's instructions to Moses were carried out.

MARK 15:1-47
Very early in the morning the leading priests, other leaders, and teachers of religious law--the entire high council--met to discuss their next step. They bound Jesus and took him to Pilate, the Roman governor. 2 Pilate asked Jesus, " Are you the King of the Jews?" Jesus replied, " Yes, it is as you say." 3 Then the leading priests accused him of many crimes, 4 and Pilate asked him, " Aren't you going to say something? What about all these charges against you?" 5 But Jesus said nothing, much to Pilate's surprise.6 Now it was the governor's custom to release one prisoner each year at Passover time--anyone the people requested. 7 One of the prisoners at that time was Barabbas, convicted along with others for murder during an insurrection. 8 The mob began to crowd in toward Pilate, asking him to release a prisoner as usual. 9 " Should I give you the King of the Jews?" Pilate asked. 10 (For he realized by now that the leading priests had arrested Jesus out of envy.) 11 But at this point the leading priests stirred up the mob to demand the release of Barabbas instead of Jesus. 12 " But if I release Barabbas," Pilate asked them, " what should I do with this man you call the King of the Jews?" 13 They shouted back, " Crucify him!" 14 " Why?" Pilate demanded. " What crime has he committed?" But the crowd only roared the louder, " Crucify him!" 15 So Pilate, anxious to please the crowd, released Barabbas to them. He ordered Jesus flogged with a lead-tipped whip, then turned him over to the Roman soldiers to crucify him. 16 The soldiers took him into their headquarters and called out the entire battalion. 17 They dressed him in a purple robe and made a crown of long, sharp thorns and put it on his head. 18 Then they saluted, yelling, " Hail! King of the Jews!" 19 And they beat him on the head with a stick, spit on him, and dropped to their knees in mock worship. 20 When they were finally tired of mocking him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him again. Then they led him away to be crucified. 21 A man named Simon, who was from Cyrene, was coming in from the country just then, and they forced him to carry Jesus' cross. (Simon is the father of Alexander and Rufus.) 22 And they brought Jesus to a place called Golgotha (which means Skull Hill). 23 They offered him wine drugged with myrrh, but he refused it. 24 Then they nailed him to the cross. They gambled for his clothes, throwing dice to decide who would get them.25 It was nine o'clock in the morning when the crucifixion took place. 26 A signboard was fastened to the cross above Jesus' head, announcing the charge against him. It read: " The King of the Jews." 27 Two criminals were crucified with him, their crosses on either side of his. 29 And the people passing by shouted abuse, shaking their heads in mockery. " Ha! Look at you now!" they yelled at him. " You can destroy the Temple and rebuild it in three days, can you? 30 Well then, save yourself and come down from the cross!" 31 The leading priests and teachers of religious law also mocked Jesus. " He saved others," they scoffed, " but he can't save himself! 32 Let this Messiah, this king of Israel, come down from the cross so we can see it and believe him!" Even the two criminals who were being crucified with Jesus ridiculed him. 33 At noon, darkness fell across the whole land until three o'clock. 34 Then, at that time Jesus called out with a loud voice, " Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?" which means, " My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" 35 Some of the bystanders misunderstood and thought he was calling for the prophet Elijah. 36 One of them ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, holding it up to him on a stick so he could drink. " Leave him alone. Let's see whether Elijah will come and take him down!" he said. 37 Then Jesus uttered another loud cry and breathed his last. 38 And the curtain in the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. 39 When the Roman officer who stood facing him saw how he had died, he exclaimed, " Truly, this was the Son of God!" 40 Some women were there, watching from a distance, including Mary Magdalene, Mary (the mother of James the younger and of Joseph), and Salome. 41 They had been followers of Jesus and had cared for him while he was in Galilee. Then they and many other women had come with him to Jerusalem. 42 This all happened on Friday, the day of preparation, the day before the Sabbath. As evening approached, 43 an honored member of the high council, Joseph from Arimathea (who was waiting for the Kingdom of God to come), gathered his courage and went to Pilate to ask for Jesus' body. 44 Pilate couldn't believe that Jesus was already dead, so he called for the Roman military officer in charge and asked him. 45 The officer confirmed the fact, and Pilate told Joseph he could have the body. 46 Joseph bought a long sheet of linen cloth, and taking Jesus' body down from the cross, he wrapped it in the cloth and laid it in a tomb that had been carved out of the rock. Then he rolled a stone in front of the entrance. 47 Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joseph saw where Jesus' body was laid.

PSALM 54:1-7
For the choir director: A meditation of David, regarding the time the Ziphites came and said to Saul, " We know where David is hiding." To be accompanied by stringed instruments.
1 Come with great power, O God, and rescue me!
Defend me with your might.
2 O God, listen to my prayer.
Pay attention to my plea.
3 For strangers are attacking me;
violent men are trying to kill me.
They care nothing for God.
Interlude4 But God is my helper.
The Lord is the one who keeps me alive!
5 May my enemies' plans for evil be turned against them.
Do as you promised and put an end to them.
6 I will sacrifice a voluntary offering to you;
I will praise your name, O LORD,
for it is good.
7 For you will rescue me from my troubles
and help me to triumph over my enemies.

PROVERBS 11:5-6
The godly are directed by their honesty; the wicked fall beneath their load of sin. The godliness of good people rescues them; the ambition of treacherous people traps them.