February 22

Matthew 20:1-16

Laborers in the Vineyard

[1] “For the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. [2] After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. [3] And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, [4] and to them he said, ‘You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.’ [5] So they went. Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same. [6] And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing. And he said to them, ‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’ [7] They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too.’ [8] And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first.’ [9] And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius. [10] Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius. [11] And on receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house, [12] saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’ [13] But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? [14] Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. [15] Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?’ [16] So the last will be first, and the first last.”

Acts 27:1-26

Paul Sails for Rome

[1] And when it was decided that we should sail for Italy, they delivered Paul and some other prisoners to a centurion of the Augustan Cohort named Julius. [2] And embarking in a ship of Adramyttium, which was about to sail to the ports along the coast of Asia, we put to sea, accompanied by Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica. [3] The next day we put in at Sidon. And Julius treated Paul kindly and gave him leave to go to his friends and be cared for. [4] And putting out to sea from there we sailed under the lee of Cyprus, because the winds were against us. [5] And when we had sailed across the open sea along the coast of Cilicia and Pamphylia, we came to Myra in Lycia. [6] There the centurion found a ship of Alexandria sailing for Italy and put us on board. [7] We sailed slowly for a number of days and arrived with difficulty off Cnidus, and as the wind did not allow us to go farther, we sailed under the lee of Crete off Salmone. [8] Coasting along it with difficulty, we came to a place called Fair Havens, near which was the city of Lasea.

[9] Since much time had passed, and the voyage was now dangerous because even the Fast was already over, Paul advised them, [10] saying, “Sirs, I perceive that the voyage will be with injury and much loss, not only of the cargo and the ship, but also of our lives.” [11] But the centurion paid more attention to the pilot and to the owner of the ship than to what Paul said. [12] And because the harbor was not suitable to spend the winter in, the majority decided to put out to sea from there, on the chance that somehow they could reach Phoenix, a harbor of Crete, facing both southwest and northwest, and spend the winter there.

The Storm at Sea

[13] Now when the south wind blew gently, supposing that they had obtained their purpose, they weighed anchor and sailed along Crete, close to the shore. [14] But soon a tempestuous wind, called the northeaster, struck down from the land. [15] And when the ship was caught and could not face the wind, we gave way to it and were driven along. [16] Running under the lee of a small island called Cauda, we managed with difficulty to secure the ship’s boat. [17] After hoisting it up, they used supports to undergird the ship. Then, fearing that they would run aground on the Syrtis, they lowered the gear, and thus they were driven along. [18] Since we were violently storm-tossed, they began the next day to jettison the cargo. [19] And on the third day they threw the ship’s tackle overboard with their own hands. [20] When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope of our being saved was at last abandoned.

[21] Since they had been without food for a long time, Paul stood up among them and said, “Men, you should have listened to me and not have set sail from Crete and incurred this injury and loss. [22] Yet now I urge you to take heart, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. [23] For this very night there stood before me an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I worship, [24] and he said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar. And behold, God has granted you all those who sail with you.’ [25] So take heart, men, for I have faith in God that it will be exactly as I have been told. [26] But we must run aground on some island.”

Psalm 44

Come to Our Help

To the choirmaster. A Maskil of the Sons of Korah.

    [1] O God, we have heard with our ears,

        our fathers have told us,

    what deeds you performed in their days,

        in the days of old: 

    [2] you with your own hand drove out the nations,

        but them you planted;

    you afflicted the peoples,

        but them you set free; 

    [3] for not by their own sword did they win the land,

        nor did their own arm save them,

    but your right hand and your arm,

        and the light of your face,

        for you delighted in them.

    [4] You are my King, O God;

        ordain salvation for Jacob! 

    [5] Through you we push down our foes;

        through your name we tread down those who rise up against us. 

    [6] For not in my bow do I trust,

        nor can my sword save me. 

    [7] But you have saved us from our foes

        and have put to shame those who hate us. 

    [8] In God we have boasted continually,

        and we will give thanks to your name forever. Selah

    [9] But you have rejected us and disgraced us

        and have not gone out with our armies. 

    [10] You have made us turn back from the foe,

        and those who hate us have gotten spoil. 

    [11] You have made us like sheep for slaughter

        and have scattered us among the nations. 

    [12] You have sold your people for a trifle,

        demanding no high price for them. 

    [13] You have made us the taunt of our neighbors,

        the derision and scorn of those around us. 

    [14] You have made us a byword among the nations,

        a laughingstock among the peoples. 

    [15] All day long my disgrace is before me,

        and shame has covered my face 

    [16] at the sound of the taunter and reviler,

        at the sight of the enemy and the avenger.

    [17] All this has come upon us,

        though we have not forgotten you,

        and we have not been false to your covenant. 

    [18] Our heart has not turned back,

        nor have our steps departed from your way; 

    [19] yet you have broken us in the place of jackals

        and covered us with the shadow of death. 

    [20] If we had forgotten the name of our God

        or spread out our hands to a foreign god, 

    [21] would not God discover this?

        For he knows the secrets of the heart. 

    [22] Yet for your sake we are killed all the day long;

        we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.

    [23] Awake! Why are you sleeping, O Lord?

        Rouse yourself! Do not reject us forever! 

    [24] Why do you hide your face?

        Why do you forget our affliction and oppression? 

    [25] For our soul is bowed down to the dust;

        our belly clings to the ground. 

    [26] Rise up; come to our help!

        Redeem us for the sake of your steadfast love!

Leviticus 18

Unlawful Sexual Relations

[1] And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, [2] “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, I am the LORD your God. [3] You shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt, where you lived, and you shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan, to which I am bringing you. You shall not walk in their statutes. [4] You shall follow my rules and keep my statutes and walk in them. I am the LORD your God. [5] You shall therefore keep my statutes and my rules; if a person does them, he shall live by them: I am the LORD.

[6] “None of you shall approach any one of his close relatives to uncover nakedness. I am the LORD. [7] You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father, which is the nakedness of your mother; she is your mother, you shall not uncover her nakedness. [8] You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s wife; it is your father’s nakedness. [9] You shall not uncover the nakedness of your sister, your father’s daughter or your mother’s daughter, whether brought up in the family or in another home. [10] You shall not uncover the nakedness of your son’s daughter or of your daughter’s daughter, for their nakedness is your own nakedness. [11] You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s wife’s daughter, brought up in your father’s family, since she is your sister. [12] You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s sister; she is your father’s relative. [13] You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother’s sister, for she is your mother’s relative. [14] You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s brother, that is, you shall not approach his wife; she is your aunt. [15] You shall not uncover the nakedness of your daughter-in-law; she is your son’s wife, you shall not uncover her nakedness. [16] You shall not uncover the nakedness of your brother’s wife; it is your brother’s nakedness. [17] You shall not uncover the nakedness of a woman and of her daughter, and you shall not take her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter to uncover her nakedness; they are relatives; it is depravity. [18] And you shall not take a woman as a rival wife to her sister, uncovering her nakedness while her sister is still alive.

[19] “You shall not approach a woman to uncover her nakedness while she is in her menstrual uncleanness. [20] And you shall not lie sexually with your neighbor’s wife and so make yourself unclean with her. [21] You shall not give any of your children to offer them to Molech, and so profane the name of your God: I am the LORD. [22] You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination. [23] And you shall not lie with any animal and so make yourself unclean with it, neither shall any woman give herself to an animal to lie with it: it is perversion.

[24] “Do not make yourselves unclean by any of these things, for by all these the nations I am driving out before you have become unclean, [25] and the land became unclean, so that I punished its iniquity, and the land vomited out its inhabitants. [26] But you shall keep my statutes and my rules and do none of these abominations, either the native or the stranger who sojourns among you [27] (for the people of the land, who were before you, did all of these abominations, so that the land became unclean), [28] lest the land vomit you out when you make it unclean, as it vomited out the nation that was before you. [29] For everyone who does any of these abominations, the persons who do them shall be cut off from among their people. [30] So keep my charge never to practice any of these abominable customs that were practiced before you, and never to make yourselves unclean by them: I am the LORD your God.”

Leviticus 19

The LORD Is Holy

[1] And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, [2] “Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them, You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy. [3] Every one of you shall revere his mother and his father, and you shall keep my Sabbaths: I am the LORD your God. [4] Do not turn to idols or make for yourselves any gods of cast metal: I am the LORD your God.

[5] “When you offer a sacrifice of peace offerings to the LORD, you shall offer it so that you may be accepted. [6] It shall be eaten the same day you offer it or on the day after, and anything left over until the third day shall be burned up with fire. [7] If it is eaten at all on the third day, it is tainted; it will not be accepted, [8] and everyone who eats it shall bear his iniquity, because he has profaned what is holy to the LORD, and that person shall be cut off from his people.

Love Your Neighbor as Yourself

[9] “When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, neither shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. [10] And you shall not strip your vineyard bare, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the LORD your God.

[11] “You shall not steal; you shall not deal falsely; you shall not lie to one another. [12] You shall not swear by my name falsely, and so profane the name of your God: I am the LORD.

[13] “You shall not oppress your neighbor or rob him. The wages of a hired worker shall not remain with you all night until the morning. [14] You shall not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block before the blind, but you shall fear your God: I am the LORD.

[15] “You shall do no injustice in court. You shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great, but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor. [16] You shall not go around as a slanderer among your people, and you shall not stand up against the life of your neighbor: I am the LORD.

[17] “You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall reason frankly with your neighbor, lest you incur sin because of him. [18] You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD.

You Shall Keep My Statutes

[19] “You shall keep my statutes. You shall not let your cattle breed with a different kind. You shall not sow your field with two kinds of seed, nor shall you wear a garment of cloth made of two kinds of material.

[20] “If a man lies sexually with a woman who is a slave, assigned to another man and not yet ransomed or given her freedom, a distinction shall be made. They shall not be put to death, because she was not free; [21] but he shall bring his compensation to the LORD, to the entrance of the tent of meeting, a ram for a guilt offering. [22] And the priest shall make atonement for him with the ram of the guilt offering before the LORD for his sin that he has committed, and he shall be forgiven for the sin that he has committed.

[23] “When you come into the land and plant any kind of tree for food, then you shall regard its fruit as forbidden. Three years it shall be forbidden to you; it must not be eaten. [24] And in the fourth year all its fruit shall be holy, an offering of praise to the LORD. [25] But in the fifth year you may eat of its fruit, to increase its yield for you: I am the LORD your God.

[26] “You shall not eat any flesh with the blood in it. You shall not interpret omens or tell fortunes. [27] You shall not round off the hair on your temples or mar the edges of your beard. [28] You shall not make any cuts on your body for the dead or tattoo yourselves: I am the LORD.

[29] “Do not profane your daughter by making her a prostitute, lest the land fall into prostitution and the land become full of depravity. [30] You shall keep my Sabbaths and reverence my sanctuary: I am the LORD.

[31] “Do not turn to mediums or necromancers; do not seek them out, and so make yourselves unclean by them: I am the LORD your God.

[32] “You shall stand up before the gray head and honor the face of an old man, and you shall fear your God: I am the LORD.

[33] “When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. [34] You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.

[35] “You shall do no wrong in judgment, in measures of length or weight or quantity. [36] You shall have just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin: I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt. [37] And you shall observe all my statutes and all my rules, and do them: I am the LORD.”

Leviticus 20

Punishment for Child Sacrifice

[1] The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, [2] “Say to the people of Israel, Any one of the people of Israel or of the strangers who sojourn in Israel who gives any of his children to Molech shall surely be put to death. The people of the land shall stone him with stones. [3] I myself will set my face against that man and will cut him off from among his people, because he has given one of his children to Molech, to make my sanctuary unclean and to profane my holy name. [4] And if the people of the land do at all close their eyes to that man when he gives one of his children to Molech, and do not put him to death, [5] then I will set my face against that man and against his clan and will cut them off from among their people, him and all who follow him in whoring after Molech.

[6] “If a person turns to mediums and necromancers, whoring after them, I will set my face against that person and will cut him off from among his people. [7] Consecrate yourselves, therefore, and be holy, for I am the LORD your God. [8] Keep my statutes and do them; I am the LORD who sanctifies you. [9] For anyone who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death; he has cursed his father or his mother; his blood is upon him.

Punishments for Sexual Immorality

[10] “If a man commits adultery with the wife of his neighbor, both the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death. [11] If a man lies with his father’s wife, he has uncovered his father’s nakedness; both of them shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them. [12] If a man lies with his daughter-in-law, both of them shall surely be put to death; they have committed perversion; their blood is upon them. [13] If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them. [14] If a man takes a woman and her mother also, it is depravity; he and they shall be burned with fire, that there may be no depravity among you. [15] If a man lies with an animal, he shall surely be put to death, and you shall kill the animal. [16] If a woman approaches any animal and lies with it, you shall kill the woman and the animal; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them.

[17] “If a man takes his sister, a daughter of his father or a daughter of his mother, and sees her nakedness, and she sees his nakedness, it is a disgrace, and they shall be cut off in the sight of the children of their people. He has uncovered his sister’s nakedness, and he shall bear his iniquity. [18] If a man lies with a woman during her menstrual period and uncovers her nakedness, he has made naked her fountain, and she has uncovered the fountain of her blood. Both of them shall be cut off from among their people. [19] You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother’s sister or of your father’s sister, for that is to make naked one’s relative; they shall bear their iniquity. [20] If a man lies with his uncle’s wife, he has uncovered his uncle’s nakedness; they shall bear their sin; they shall die childless. [21] If a man takes his brother’s wife, it is impurity. He has uncovered his brother’s nakedness; they shall be childless.

You Shall Be Holy

[22] “You shall therefore keep all my statutes and all my rules and do them, that the land where I am bringing you to live may not vomit you out. [23] And you shall not walk in the customs of the nation that I am driving out before you, for they did all these things, and therefore I detested them. [24] But I have said to you, ‘You shall inherit their land, and I will give it to you to possess, a land flowing with milk and honey.’ I am the LORD your God, who has separated you from the peoples. [25] You shall therefore separate the clean beast from the unclean, and the unclean bird from the clean. You shall not make yourselves detestable by beast or by bird or by anything with which the ground crawls, which I have set apart for you to hold unclean. [26] You shall be holy to me, for I the LORD am holy and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be mine.

[27] “A man or a woman who is a medium or a necromancer shall surely be put to death. They shall be stoned with stones; their blood shall be upon them.”