February 16

Matthew 17:1-13

The Transfiguration

[1] And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. [2] And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light. [3] And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. [4] And Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” [5] He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” [6] When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were terrified. [7] But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Rise, and have no fear.” [8] And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only.

[9] And as they were coming down the mountain, Jesus commanded them, “Tell no one the vision, until the Son of Man is raised from the dead.” [10] And the disciples asked him, “Then why do the scribes say that first Elijah must come?” [11] He answered, “Elijah does come, and he will restore all things. [12] But I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they pleased. So also the Son of Man will certainly suffer at their hands.” [13] Then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them of John the Baptist.

Acts 23:12-35

A Plot to Kill Paul

[12] When it was day, the Jews made a plot and bound themselves by an oath neither to eat nor drink till they had killed Paul. [13] There were more than forty who made this conspiracy. [14] They went to the chief priests and elders and said, “We have strictly bound ourselves by an oath to taste no food till we have killed Paul. [15] Now therefore you, along with the council, give notice to the tribune to bring him down to you, as though you were going to determine his case more exactly. And we are ready to kill him before he comes near.”

[16] Now the son of Paul’s sister heard of their ambush, so he went and entered the barracks and told Paul. [17] Paul called one of the centurions and said, “Take this young man to the tribune, for he has something to tell him.” [18] So he took him and brought him to the tribune and said, “Paul the prisoner called me and asked me to bring this young man to you, as he has something to say to you.” [19] The tribune took him by the hand, and going aside asked him privately, “What is it that you have to tell me?” [20] And he said, “The Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul down to the council tomorrow, as though they were going to inquire somewhat more closely about him. [21] But do not be persuaded by them, for more than forty of their men are lying in ambush for him, who have bound themselves by an oath neither to eat nor drink till they have killed him. And now they are ready, waiting for your consent.” [22] So the tribune dismissed the young man, charging him, “Tell no one that you have informed me of these things.”

Paul Sent to Felix the Governor

[23] Then he called two of the centurions and said, “Get ready two hundred soldiers, with seventy horsemen and two hundred spearmen to go as far as Caesarea at the third hour of the night. [24] Also provide mounts for Paul to ride and bring him safely to Felix the governor.” [25] And he wrote a letter to this effect:

[26] “Claudius Lysias, to his Excellency the governor Felix, greetings. [27] This man was seized by the Jews and was about to be killed by them when I came upon them with the soldiers and rescued him, having learned that he was a Roman citizen. [28] And desiring to know the charge for which they were accusing him, I brought him down to their council. [29] I found that he was being accused about questions of their law, but charged with nothing deserving death or imprisonment. [30] And when it was disclosed to me that there would be a plot against the man, I sent him to you at once, ordering his accusers also to state before you what they have against him.”

[31] So the soldiers, according to their instructions, took Paul and brought him by night to Antipatris. [32] And on the next day they returned to the barracks, letting the horsemen go on with him. [33] When they had come to Caesarea and delivered the letter to the governor, they presented Paul also before him. [34] On reading the letter, he asked what province he was from. And when he learned that he was from Cilicia, [35] he said, “I will give you a hearing when your accusers arrive.” And he commanded him to be guarded in Herod’s praetorium.

Psalm 38

Do Not Forsake Me, O LORD

A Psalm of David, for the memorial offering.

    [1] O LORD, rebuke me not in your anger,

        nor discipline me in your wrath! 

    [2] For your arrows have sunk into me,

        and your hand has come down on me.

    [3] There is no soundness in my flesh

        because of your indignation;

    there is no health in my bones

        because of my sin. 

    [4] For my iniquities have gone over my head;

        like a heavy burden, they are too heavy for me.

    [5] My wounds stink and fester

        because of my foolishness, 

    [6] I am utterly bowed down and prostrate;

        all the day I go about mourning. 

    [7] For my sides are filled with burning,

        and there is no soundness in my flesh. 

    [8] I am feeble and crushed;

        I groan because of the tumult of my heart.

    [9] O Lord, all my longing is before you;

        my sighing is not hidden from you. 

    [10] My heart throbs; my strength fails me,

        and the light of my eyes—it also has gone from me. 

    [11] My friends and companions stand aloof from my plague,

        and my nearest kin stand far off.

    [12] Those who seek my life lay their snares;

        those who seek my hurt speak of ruin

        and meditate treachery all day long.

    [13] But I am like a deaf man; I do not hear,

        like a mute man who does not open his mouth. 

    [14] I have become like a man who does not hear,

        and in whose mouth are no rebukes.

    [15] But for you, O LORD, do I wait;

        it is you, O Lord my God, who will answer. 

    [16] For I said, “Only let them not rejoice over me,

        who boast against me when my foot slips!”

    [17] For I am ready to fall,

        and my pain is ever before me. 

    [18] I confess my iniquity;

        I am sorry for my sin. 

    [19] But my foes are vigorous, they are mighty,

        and many are those who hate me wrongfully. 

    [20] Those who render me evil for good

        accuse me because I follow after good.

    [21] Do not forsake me, O LORD!

        O my God, be not far from me! 

    [22] Make haste to help me,

        O Lord, my salvation!

Leviticus 1

Laws for Burnt Offerings

[1] The LORD called Moses and spoke to him from the tent of meeting, saying, [2] “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When any one of you brings an offering to the LORD, you shall bring your offering of livestock from the herd or from the flock.

[3] “If his offering is a burnt offering from the herd, he shall offer a male without blemish. He shall bring it to the entrance of the tent of meeting, that he may be accepted before the LORD. [4] He shall lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him. [5] Then he shall kill the bull before the LORD, and Aaron’s sons the priests shall bring the blood and throw the blood against the sides of the altar that is at the entrance of the tent of meeting. [6] Then he shall flay the burnt offering and cut it into pieces, [7] and the sons of Aaron the priest shall put fire on the altar and arrange wood on the fire. [8] And Aaron’s sons the priests shall arrange the pieces, the head, and the fat, on the wood that is on the fire on the altar; [9] but its entrails and its legs he shall wash with water. And the priest shall burn all of it on the altar, as a burnt offering, a food offering with a pleasing aroma to the LORD.

[10] “If his gift for a burnt offering is from the flock, from the sheep or goats, he shall bring a male without blemish, [11] and he shall kill it on the north side of the altar before the LORD, and Aaron’s sons the priests shall throw its blood against the sides of the altar. [12] And he shall cut it into pieces, with its head and its fat, and the priest shall arrange them on the wood that is on the fire on the altar, [13] but the entrails and the legs he shall wash with water. And the priest shall offer all of it and burn it on the altar; it is a burnt offering, a food offering with a pleasing aroma to the LORD.

[14] “If his offering to the LORD is a burnt offering of birds, then he shall bring his offering of turtledoves or pigeons. [15] And the priest shall bring it to the altar and wring off its head and burn it on the altar. Its blood shall be drained out on the side of the altar. [16] He shall remove its crop with its contents and cast it beside the altar on the east side, in the place for ashes. [17] He shall tear it open by its wings, but shall not sever it completely. And the priest shall burn it on the altar, on the wood that is on the fire. It is a burnt offering, a food offering with a pleasing aroma to the LORD.

Leviticus 2

Laws for Grain Offerings

[1] “When anyone brings a grain offering as an offering to the LORD, his offering shall be of fine flour. He shall pour oil on it and put frankincense on it [2] and bring it to Aaron’s sons the priests. And he shall take from it a handful of the fine flour and oil, with all of its frankincense, and the priest shall burn this as its memorial portion on the altar, a food offering with a pleasing aroma to the LORD. [3] But the rest of the grain offering shall be for Aaron and his sons; it is a most holy part of the LORD’s food offerings.

[4] “When you bring a grain offering baked in the oven as an offering, it shall be unleavened loaves of fine flour mixed with oil or unleavened wafers smeared with oil. [5] And if your offering is a grain offering baked on a griddle, it shall be of fine flour unleavened, mixed with oil. [6] You shall break it in pieces and pour oil on it; it is a grain offering. [7] And if your offering is a grain offering cooked in a pan, it shall be made of fine flour with oil. [8] And you shall bring the grain offering that is made of these things to the LORD, and when it is presented to the priest, he shall bring it to the altar. [9] And the priest shall take from the grain offering its memorial portion and burn this on the altar, a food offering with a pleasing aroma to the LORD. [10] But the rest of the grain offering shall be for Aaron and his sons; it is a most holy part of the LORD’s food offerings.

[11] “No grain offering that you bring to the LORD shall be made with leaven, for you shall burn no leaven nor any honey as a food offering to the LORD. [12] As an offering of firstfruits you may bring them to the LORD, but they shall not be offered on the altar for a pleasing aroma. [13] You shall season all your grain offerings with salt. You shall not let the salt of the covenant with your God be missing from your grain offering; with all your offerings you shall offer salt.

[14] “If you offer a grain offering of firstfruits to the LORD, you shall offer for the grain offering of your firstfruits fresh ears, roasted with fire, crushed new grain. [15] And you shall put oil on it and lay frankincense on it; it is a grain offering. [16] And the priest shall burn as its memorial portion some of the crushed grain and some of the oil with all of its frankincense; it is a food offering to the LORD.

Leviticus 3

Laws for Peace Offerings

[1] “If his offering is a sacrifice of peace offering, if he offers an animal from the herd, male or female, he shall offer it without blemish before the LORD. [2] And he shall lay his hand on the head of his offering and kill it at the entrance of the tent of meeting, and Aaron’s sons the priests shall throw the blood against the sides of the altar. [3] And from the sacrifice of the peace offering, as a food offering to the LORD, he shall offer the fat covering the entrails and all the fat that is on the entrails, [4] and the two kidneys with the fat that is on them at the loins, and the long lobe of the liver that he shall remove with the kidneys. [5] Then Aaron’s sons shall burn it on the altar on top of the burnt offering, which is on the wood on the fire; it is a food offering with a pleasing aroma to the LORD.

[6] “If his offering for a sacrifice of peace offering to the LORD is an animal from the flock, male or female, he shall offer it without blemish. [7] If he offers a lamb for his offering, then he shall offer it before the LORD, [8] lay his hand on the head of his offering, and kill it in front of the tent of meeting; and Aaron’s sons shall throw its blood against the sides of the altar. [9] Then from the sacrifice of the peace offering he shall offer as a food offering to the LORD its fat; he shall remove the whole fat tail, cut off close to the backbone, and the fat that covers the entrails and all the fat that is on the entrails [10] and the two kidneys with the fat that is on them at the loins and the long lobe of the liver that he shall remove with the kidneys. [11] And the priest shall burn it on the altar as a food offering to the LORD.

[12] “If his offering is a goat, then he shall offer it before the LORD [13] and lay his hand on its head and kill it in front of the tent of meeting, and the sons of Aaron shall throw its blood against the sides of the altar. [14] Then he shall offer from it, as his offering for a food offering to the LORD, the fat covering the entrails and all the fat that is on the entrails [15] and the two kidneys with the fat that is on them at the loins and the long lobe of the liver that he shall remove with the kidneys. [16] And the priest shall burn them on the altar as a food offering with a pleasing aroma. All fat is the LORD’s. [17] It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations, in all your dwelling places, that you eat neither fat nor blood.”

Leviticus 4

Laws for Sin Offerings

[1] And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, [2] “Speak to the people of Israel, saying, If anyone sins unintentionally in any of the LORD’s commandments about things not to be done, and does any one of them, [3] if it is the anointed priest who sins, thus bringing guilt on the people, then he shall offer for the sin that he has committed a bull from the herd without blemish to the LORD for a sin offering. [4] He shall bring the bull to the entrance of the tent of meeting before the LORD and lay his hand on the head of the bull and kill the bull before the LORD. [5] And the anointed priest shall take some of the blood of the bull and bring it into the tent of meeting, [6] and the priest shall dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle part of the blood seven times before the LORD in front of the veil of the sanctuary. [7] And the priest shall put some of the blood on the horns of the altar of fragrant incense before the LORD that is in the tent of meeting, and all the rest of the blood of the bull he shall pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering that is at the entrance of the tent of meeting. [8] And all the fat of the bull of the sin offering he shall remove from it, the fat that covers the entrails and all the fat that is on the entrails [9] and the two kidneys with the fat that is on them at the loins and the long lobe of the liver that he shall remove with the kidneys [10] (just as these are taken from the ox of the sacrifice of the peace offerings); and the priest shall burn them on the altar of burnt offering. [11] But the skin of the bull and all its flesh, with its head, its legs, its entrails, and its dung—[12] all the rest of the bull—he shall carry outside the camp to a clean place, to the ash heap, and shall burn it up on a fire of wood. On the ash heap it shall be burned up.

[13] “If the whole congregation of Israel sins unintentionally and the thing is hidden from the eyes of the assembly, and they do any one of the things that by the LORD’s commandments ought not to be done, and they realize their guilt, [14] when the sin which they have committed becomes known, the assembly shall offer a bull from the herd for a sin offering and bring it in front of the tent of meeting. [15] And the elders of the congregation shall lay their hands on the head of the bull before the LORD, and the bull shall be killed before the LORD. [16] Then the anointed priest shall bring some of the blood of the bull into the tent of meeting, [17] and the priest shall dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle it seven times before the LORD in front of the veil. [18] And he shall put some of the blood on the horns of the altar that is in the tent of meeting before the LORD, and the rest of the blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering that is at the entrance of the tent of meeting. [19] And all its fat he shall take from it and burn on the altar. [20] Thus shall he do with the bull. As he did with the bull of the sin offering, so shall he do with this. And the priest shall make atonement for them, and they shall be forgiven. [21] And he shall carry the bull outside the camp and burn it up as he burned the first bull; it is the sin offering for the assembly.

[22] “When a leader sins, doing unintentionally any one of all the things that by the commandments of the LORD his God ought not to be done, and realizes his guilt, [23] or the sin which he has committed is made known to him, he shall bring as his offering a goat, a male without blemish, [24] and shall lay his hand on the head of the goat and kill it in the place where they kill the burnt offering before the LORD; it is a sin offering. [25] Then the priest shall take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering and pour out the rest of its blood at the base of the altar of burnt offering. [26] And all its fat he shall burn on the altar, like the fat of the sacrifice of peace offerings. So the priest shall make atonement for him for his sin, and he shall be forgiven.

[27] “If anyone of the common people sins unintentionally in doing any one of the things that by the LORD’s commandments ought not to be done, and realizes his guilt, [28] or the sin which he has committed is made known to him, he shall bring for his offering a goat, a female without blemish, for his sin which he has committed. [29] And he shall lay his hand on the head of the sin offering and kill the sin offering in the place of burnt offering. [30] And the priest shall take some of its blood with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering and pour out all the rest of its blood at the base of the altar. [31] And all its fat he shall remove, as the fat is removed from the peace offerings, and the priest shall burn it on the altar for a pleasing aroma to the LORD. And the priest shall make atonement for him, and he shall be forgiven.

[32] “If he brings a lamb as his offering for a sin offering, he shall bring a female without blemish [33] and lay his hand on the head of the sin offering and kill it for a sin offering in the place where they kill the burnt offering. [34] Then the priest shall take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering and pour out all the rest of its blood at the base of the altar. [35] And all its fat he shall remove as the fat of the lamb is removed from the sacrifice of peace offerings, and the priest shall burn it on the altar, on top of the LORD’s food offerings. And the priest shall make atonement for him for the sin which he has committed, and he shall be forgiven.