Wednesday, March 3, 2021

March 3 Reading through the Bible

 


LEVITICUS 27:14--NUMBERS 1:54
MARK 11:1-26
PSALM 46:1-11
PROVERBS 10:23

LEVITICUS 27:14--NUMBERS 1:54
" If you dedicate a house to the LORD, the priest must come to assess its value. The priest's assessment will be final. 15 If you wish to redeem the house, you must pay the value set by the priest, plus 20 percent. Then the house will again belong to you. 16 " If you dedicate to the LORD a piece of your ancestral property, its value will be assessed by the amount of seed required to plant it--fifty pieces of silver for an area that produces five bushels of barley seed. 17 If the field is dedicated to the LORD in the Year of Jubilee, then the entire assessment will apply. 18 But if the field is dedicated after the Year of Jubilee, the priest must assess the land's value in proportion to the years left until the next Year of Jubilee. 19 If you decide to redeem the dedicated field, you must pay the land's value as assessed by the priest, plus 20 percent. Then the field will again belong to you. 20 But if you decide not to redeem the field, or if the field is sold to someone else by the priests, it can never be redeemed. 21 When the field is released in the Year of Jubilee, it will be holy, a field specially set apart for the LORD. It will become the property of the priests. 22 " If you dedicate to the LORD a field that you have purchased but which is not part of your ancestral property, 23 the priest must assess its value based on the years until the next Year of Jubilee. You must then give the assessed value of the land as a sacred donation to the LORD. 24 In the Year of Jubilee the field will be released to the original owner from whom you purchased it. 25 All the value assessments must be measured in terms of the standard sanctuary shekel.26 " You may not dedicate to the LORD the firstborn of your cattle or sheep because the firstborn of these animals already belong to him. 27 However, if it is the firstborn of a ceremonially unclean animal, you may redeem it by paying the priest's assessment of its worth, plus 20 percent. If you do not redeem it, the priest may sell it to someone else for its assessed value. 28 " However, anything specially set apart by the LORD--whether a person, an animal, or an inherited field--must never be sold or redeemed. Anything devoted in this way has been set apart for the LORD as holy. 29 A person specially set apart by the LORD for destruction cannot be redeemed. Such a person must be put to death.30 " A tenth of the produce of the land, whether grain or fruit, belongs to the LORD and must be set apart to him as holy. 31 If you want to redeem the LORD's tenth of the fruit or grain, you must pay its value, plus 20 percent. 32 The LORD also owns every tenth animal counted off from your herds and flocks. They are set apart to him as holy. 33 The tenth animal must not be selected on the basis of whether it is good or bad, and no substitutions will be allowed. If any exchange is in fact made, then both the original animal and the substituted one will be considered holy and cannot be redeemed." 34 These are the commands that the LORD gave to the Israelites through Moses on Mount Sinai.1:1 ONE day in midspring, during the second year after Israel's departure from Egypt, the LORD spoke to Moses in the Tabernacle in the wilderness of Sinai. He said, 2 " Take a census of the whole community of Israel by their clans and families. List the names of all the men 3 twenty years old or older who are able to go to war. You and Aaron are to direct the project, 4 assisted by one family leader from each tribe." 5 These are the tribes and the names of the leaders chosen for the task: Tribe Leader Reuben Elizur son of Shedeur 6 Simeon Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai 7 Judah Nahshon son of Amminadab 8 Issachar Nethanel son of Zuar 9 Zebulun Eliab son of Helon 10 Ephraim son of Joseph Elishama son of Ammihud Manasseh son of Joseph Gamaliel son of Pedahzur 11 Benjamin Abidan son of Gideoni 12 Dan Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai 13 Asher Pagiel son of Ocran 14 Gad Eliasaph son of Deuel 15 Naphtali Ahira son of Enan16 These tribal leaders, heads of their own families, were chosen from among all the people. 17 Now Moses and Aaron and the chosen leaders 18 called together the whole community of Israel on that very day. All the people were registered according to their ancestry by their clans and families. The men of Israel twenty years old or older were registered, one by one, 19 just as the LORD had commanded Moses. So Moses counted the people there in the wilderness of Sinai. 20-21 This is the number of men twenty years old or older who were able to go to war, each listed according to his own clan and family: Tribe Number Reuben (Jacob's oldest son) 46,500 22-23 Simeon 59,300 24-25 Gad 45,650 26-27 Judah 74,600 28-29 Issachar 54,400 30-31 Zebulun 57,400 32-33 Ephraim son of Joseph 40,500 34-35 Manasseh son of Joseph 32,200 36-37 Benjamin 35,400 38-39 Dan 62,700 40-41 Asher 41,500 42-43 Naphtali 53,40044 These were the men counted by Moses and Aaron and the twelve leaders of Israel, all listed according to their ancestral descent. 45 They were counted by families--all the men of Israel who were twenty years old or older and able to go to war. 46 The total number was 603,550. 47 But this total did not include the Levites. 48 For the LORD had said to Moses, 49 " Exempt the tribe of Levi from the census; do not include them when you count the rest of the Israelites. 50 You must put the Levites in charge of the Tabernacle of the Covenant, along with its furnishings and equipment. They must carry the Tabernacle and its equipment as you travel, and they must care for it and camp around it. 51 Whenever the Tabernacle is moved, the Levites will take it down and set it up again. Anyone else who goes too near the Tabernacle will be executed. 52 Each tribe of Israel will have a designated camping area with its own family banner. 53 But the Levites will camp around the Tabernacle of the Covenant to offer the people of Israel protection from the LORD's fierce anger. The Levites are responsible to stand guard around the Tabernacle." 54 So the Israelites did everything just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

MARK 11:1-26
As Jesus and his disciples approached Jerusalem, they came to the towns of Bethphage and Bethany, on the Mount of Olives. Jesus sent two of them on ahead. 2 " Go into that village over there," he told them, " and as soon as you enter it, you will see a colt tied there that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it here. 3 If anyone asks what you are doing, just say, ` The Lord needs it and will return it soon.' " 4 The two disciples left and found the colt standing in the street, tied outside a house. 5 As they were untying it, some bystanders demanded, " What are you doing, untying that colt?" 6 They said what Jesus had told them to say, and they were permitted to take it. 7 Then they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their garments over it, and he sat on it. 8 Many in the crowd spread their coats on the road ahead of Jesus, and others cut leafy branches in the fields and spread them along the way. 9 He was in the center of the procession, and the crowds all around him were shouting, " Praise God!
Bless the one who comes in the name of the Lord!
10 Bless the coming kingdom of our ancestor David!
Praise God in highest heaven!"
11 So Jesus came to Jerusalem and went into the Temple. He looked around carefully at everything, and then he left because it was late in the afternoon. Then he went out to Bethany with the twelve disciples. 12 The next morning as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus felt hungry. 13 He noticed a fig tree a little way off that was in full leaf, so he went over to see if he could find any figs on it. But there were only leaves because it was too early in the season for fruit. 14 Then Jesus said to the tree, " May no one ever eat your fruit again!" And the disciples heard him say it.15 When they arrived back in Jerusalem, Jesus entered the Temple and began to drive out the merchants and their customers. He knocked over the tables of the money changers and the stalls of those selling doves, 16 and he stopped everyone from bringing in merchandise. 17 He taught them, " The Scriptures declare, ` My Temple will be called a place of prayer for all nations,' but you have turned it into a den of thieves." 18 When the leading priests and teachers of religious law heard what Jesus had done, they began planning how to kill him. But they were afraid of him because the people were so enthusiastic about Jesus' teaching. 19 That evening Jesus and the disciples left the city. 20 The next morning as they passed by the fig tree he had cursed, the disciples noticed it was withered from the roots. 21 Peter remembered what Jesus had said to the tree on the previous day and exclaimed, " Look, Teacher! The fig tree you cursed has withered!" 22 Then Jesus said to the disciples, " Have faith in God. 23 I assure you that you can say to this mountain, ` May God lift you up and throw you into the sea,' and your command will be obeyed. All that's required is that you really believe and do not doubt in your heart. 24 Listen to me! You can pray for anything, and if you believe, you will have it. 25 But when you are praying, first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins, too."

PSALM 46:1-11
For the choir director: A psalm of the descendants of Korah, to be sung by soprano voices. A song.
1 God is our refuge and strength,
always ready to help in times of trouble.
2 So we will not fear, even if earthquakes come
and the mountains crumble into the sea.
3 Let the oceans roar and foam.
Let the mountains tremble as the waters surge!
Interlude4 A river brings joy to the city of our God,
the sacred home of the Most High.
5 God himself lives in that city; it cannot be destroyed.
God will protect it at the break of day.
6 The nations are in an uproar,
and kingdoms crumble!
God thunders,
and the earth melts!
7 The LORD Almighty is here among us;
the God of Israel is our fortress.
Interlude8 Come, see the glorious works of the LORD:
See how he brings destruction upon the world
9 and causes wars to end throughout the earth.
He breaks the bow and snaps the spear in two;
he burns the shields with fire.
10 " Be silent, and know that I am God!
I will be honored by every nation.
I will be honored throughout the world."
11 The LORD Almighty is here among us;
the God of Israel is our fortress.
Interlude

PROVERBS 10:23
Doing wrong is fun for a fool, while wise conduct is a pleasure to the wise.