NUMBERS 10:1-11:23
MARK 14:1-21
PSALM 51:1-19
PROVERBS 10:31-32
NUMBERS 10:1-11:23
Now the LORD said to Moses, 2 " Make two trumpets of beaten silver to be used for summoning the people to assemble and for signaling the breaking of camp. 3 When both trumpets are blown, the people will know that they are to gather before you at the entrance of the Tabernacle. 4 But if only one is blown, then only the leaders of the tribes of Israel will come to you. 5 " When you sound the signal to move on, the tribes on the east side of the Tabernacle will break camp and move forward. 6 When you sound the signal a second time, the tribes on the south will follow. You must sound short blasts to signal moving on. 7 But when you call the people to an assembly, blow the trumpets using a different signal. 8 Only the priests, Aaron's descendants, are allowed to blow the trumpets. This is a permanent law to be followed from generation to generation. 9 " When you arrive in your own land and go to war against your enemies, you must sound the alarm with these trumpets so the LORD your God will remember you and rescue you from your enemies. 10 Blow the trumpets in times of gladness, too, sounding them at your annual festivals and at the beginning of each month to rejoice over your burnt offerings and peace offerings. The trumpets will remind the LORD your God of his covenant with you. I am the LORD your God." 11 One day in midspring, during the second year after Israel's departure from Egypt, the cloud lifted from the Tabernacle of the Covenant. 12 So the Israelites set out from the wilderness of Sinai and traveled on in stages until the cloud stopped in the wilderness of Paran. 13 When the time to move arrived, the LORD gave the order through Moses. 14 The tribes that camped with Judah headed the march with their banner, under the leadership of Nahshon son of Amminadab. 15 The tribe of Issachar was led by Nethanel son of Zuar. 16 The tribe of Zebulun was led by Eliab son of Helon. 17 Then the Tabernacle was taken down, and the Gershonite and Merarite divisions of the Levites were next in the line of march, carrying the Tabernacle with them. 18 Then the tribes that camped with Reuben set out with their banner, under the leadership of Elizur son of Shedeur. 19 The tribe of Simeon was led by Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai. 20 The tribe of Gad was led by Eliasaph son of Deuel. 21 Next came the Kohathite division of the Levites, carrying the sacred objects from the Tabernacle. When they arrived at the next camp, the Tabernacle would already be set up at its new location. 22 Then the tribes that camped with Ephraim set out with their banner, under the leadership of Elishama son of Ammihud. 23 The tribe of Manasseh was led by Gamaliel son of Pedahzur. 24 The tribe of Benjamin was led by Abidan son of Gideoni. 25 Last of all, the tribes that camped with Dan set out under their banner. They served as the rear guard for all the tribal camps. The tribe of Dan headed this group, under the leadership of Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai. 26 The tribe of Asher was led by Pagiel son of Ocran. 27 The tribe of Naphtali was led by Ahira son of Enan. 28 This was the order in which the tribes marched, division by division.29 One day Moses said to his brother-in-law, Hobab son of Reuel the Midianite, " We are on our way to the Promised Land. Come with us and we will treat you well, for the LORD has given wonderful promises to Israel!" 30 But Hobab replied, " No, I will not go. I must return to my own land and family." 31 " Please don't leave us," Moses pleaded. " You know the places in the wilderness where we should camp. 32 Come, be our guide and we will share with you all the good things that the LORD does for us." 33 They marched for three days after leaving the mountain of the LORD, with the Ark of the LORD's covenant moving ahead of them to show them where to stop and rest. 34 As they moved on each day, the cloud of the LORD hovered over them. 35 And whenever the Ark set out, Moses would cry, " Arise, O LORD, and let your enemies be scattered! Let them flee before you!" 36 And when the Ark was set down, he would say, " Return, O LORD, to the countless thousands of Israel!"11:1 THE people soon began to complain to the LORD about their hardships; and when the LORD heard them, his anger blazed against them. Fire from the LORD raged among them and destroyed the outskirts of the camp. 2 The people screamed to Moses for help; and when he prayed to the LORD, the fire stopped. 3 After that, the area was known as Taberah--" the place of burning"--because fire from the LORD had burned among them there. 4 Then the foreign rabble who were traveling with the Israelites began to crave the good things of Egypt, and the people of Israel also began to complain. " Oh, for some meat!" they exclaimed. 5 " We remember all the fish we used to eat for free in Egypt. And we had all the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic that we wanted. 6 But now our appetites are gone, and day after day we have nothing to eat but this manna!" 7 The manna looked like small coriander seeds, pale yellow in color. 8 The people gathered it from the ground and made flour by grinding it with hand mills or pounding it in mortars. Then they boiled it in a pot and made it into flat cakes. These cakes tasted like they had been cooked in olive oil. 9 The manna came down on the camp with the dew during the night. 10 Moses heard all the families standing in front of their tents weeping, and the LORD became extremely angry. Moses was also very aggravated. 11 And Moses said to the LORD, " Why are you treating me, your servant, so miserably? What did I do to deserve the burden of a people like this? 12 Are they my children? Am I their father? Is that why you have told me to carry them in my arms--like a nurse carries a baby--to the land you swore to give their ancestors? 13 Where am I supposed to get meat for all these people? They keep complaining and saying, ` Give us meat!' 14 I can't carry all these people by myself! The load is far too heavy! 15 I'd rather you killed me than treat me like this. Please spare me this misery!" 16 Then the LORD said to Moses, " Summon before me seventy of the leaders of Israel. Bring them to the Tabernacle to stand there with you. 17 I will come down and talk to you there. I will take some of the Spirit that is upon you, and I will put the Spirit upon them also. They will bear the burden of the people along with you, so you will not have to carry it alone. 18 " And tell the people to purify themselves, for tomorrow they will have meat to eat. Tell them, ` The LORD has heard your whining and complaints: " If only we had meat to eat! Surely we were better off in Egypt!" Now the LORD will give you meat, and you will have to eat it. 19 And it won't be for just a day or two, or for five or ten or even twenty. 20 You will eat it for a whole month until you gag and are sick of it. For you have rejected the LORD, who is here among you, and you have complained to him, " Why did we ever leave Egypt?" ' " 21 But Moses said, " There are 600,000 foot soldiers here with me, and yet you promise them meat for a whole month! 22 Even if we butchered all our flocks and herds, would that satisfy them? Even if we caught all the fish in the sea, would that be enough?" 23 Then the LORD said to Moses, " Is there any limit to my power? Now you will see whether or not my word comes true!"
MARK 14:1-21
It was now two days before the Passover celebration and the Festival of Unleavened Bread. The leading priests and the teachers of religious law were still looking for an opportunity to capture Jesus secretly and put him to death. 2 " But not during the Passover," they agreed, " or there will be a riot." 3 Meanwhile, Jesus was in Bethany at the home of Simon, a man who had leprosy. During supper, a woman came in with a beautiful jar of expensive perfume. She broke the seal and poured the perfume over his head. 4 Some of those at the table were indignant. " Why was this expensive perfume wasted?" they asked. 5 " She could have sold it for a small fortune and given the money to the poor!" And they scolded her harshly. 6 But Jesus replied, " Leave her alone. Why berate her for doing such a good thing to me? 7 You will always have the poor among you, and you can help them whenever you want to. But I will not be here with you much longer. 8 She has done what she could and has anointed my body for burial ahead of time. 9 I assure you, wherever the Good News is preached throughout the world, this woman's deed will be talked about in her memory." 10 Then Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve disciples, went to the leading priests to arrange to betray Jesus to them. 11 The leading priests were delighted when they heard why he had come, and they promised him a reward. So he began looking for the right time and place to betray Jesus. 12 On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread (the day the Passover lambs were sacrificed), Jesus' disciples asked him, " Where do you want us to go to prepare the Passover supper?" 13 So Jesus sent two of them into Jerusalem to make the arrangements. " As you go into the city," he told them, " a man carrying a pitcher of water will meet you. Follow him. 14 At the house he enters, say to the owner, ` The Teacher asks, Where is the guest room where I can eat the Passover meal with my disciples?' 15 He will take you upstairs to a large room that is already set up. That is the place; go ahead and prepare our supper there." 16 So the two disciples went on ahead into the city and found everything just as Jesus had said, and they prepared the Passover supper there. 17 In the evening Jesus arrived with the twelve disciples. 18 As they were sitting around the table eating, Jesus said, " The truth is, one of you will betray me, one of you who is here eating with me." 19 Greatly distressed, one by one they began to ask him, " I'm not the one, am I?" 20 He replied, " It is one of you twelve, one who is eating with me now. 21 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!"
PSALM 51:1-19
For the choir director: A psalm of David, regarding the time Nathan the prophet came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba.
1 Have mercy on me, O God,
because of your unfailing love.
Because of your great compassion,
blot out the stain of my sins.
2 Wash me clean from my guilt.
Purify me from my sin.
3 For I recognize my shameful deeds--
they haunt me day and night.
4 Against you, and you alone, have I sinned;
I have done what is evil in your sight.
You will be proved right in what you say,
and your judgment against me is just.
5 For I was born a sinner--
yes, from the moment my mother conceived me.
6 But you desire honesty from the heart,
so you can teach me to be wise in my inmost being.
7 Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
8 Oh, give me back my joy again;
you have broken me--
now let me rejoice.
9 Don't keep looking at my sins.
Remove the stain of my guilt.
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God.
Renew a right spirit within me.
11 Do not banish me from your presence,
and don't take your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me again the joy of your salvation,
and make me willing to obey you.
13 Then I will teach your ways to sinners,
and they will return to you.
14 Forgive me for shedding blood, O God who saves;
then I will joyfully sing of your forgiveness.
15 Unseal my lips, O Lord,
that I may praise you.
16 You would not be pleased with sacrifices,
or I would bring them.
If I brought you a burnt offering,
you would not accept it.
17 The sacrifice you want is a broken spirit.
A broken and repentant heart, O God,
you will not despise.
18 Look with favor on Zion and help her;
rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.
19 Then you will be pleased with worthy sacrifices
and with our whole burnt offerings;
and bulls will again be sacrificed on your altar.
PROVERBS 10:31-32
The godly person gives wise advice, but the tongue that deceives will be cut off. The godly speak words that are helpful, but the wicked speak only what is corrupt.
