February 23

Matthew 20:17-34

Jesus Foretells His Death a Third Time

[17] And as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside, and on the way he said to them, [18] “See, we are going up to Jerusalem. And the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death [19] and deliver him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day.”

A Mother’s Request

[20] Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came up to him with her sons, and kneeling before him she asked him for something. [21] And he said to her, “What do you want?” She said to him, “Say that these two sons of mine are to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom.” [22] Jesus answered, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?” They said to him, “We are able.” [23] He said to them, “You will drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.” [24] And when the ten heard it, they were indignant at the two brothers. [25] But Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. [26] It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, [27] and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, [28] even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Jesus Heals Two Blind Men

[29] And as they went out of Jericho, a great crowd followed him. [30] And behold, there were two blind men sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was passing by, they cried out, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!” [31] The crowd rebuked them, telling them to be silent, but they cried out all the more, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!” [32] And stopping, Jesus called them and said, “What do you want me to do for you?” [33] They said to him, “Lord, let our eyes be opened.” [34] And Jesus in pity touched their eyes, and immediately they recovered their sight and followed him.

Acts 27:27-44

[27] When the fourteenth night had come, as we were being driven across the Adriatic Sea, about midnight the sailors suspected that they were nearing land. [28] So they took a sounding and found twenty fathoms. A little farther on they took a sounding again and found fifteen fathoms. [29] And fearing that we might run on the rocks, they let down four anchors from the stern and prayed for day to come. [30] And as the sailors were seeking to escape from the ship, and had lowered the ship’s boat into the sea under pretense of laying out anchors from the bow, [31] Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, “Unless these men stay in the ship, you cannot be saved.” [32] Then the soldiers cut away the ropes of the ship’s boat and let it go.

[33] As day was about to dawn, Paul urged them all to take some food, saying, “Today is the fourteenth day that you have continued in suspense and without food, having taken nothing. [34] Therefore I urge you to take some food. For it will give you strength, for not a hair is to perish from the head of any of you.” [35] And when he had said these things, he took bread, and giving thanks to God in the presence of all he broke it and began to eat. [36] Then they all were encouraged and ate some food themselves. [37] (We were in all 276 persons in the ship.) [38] And when they had eaten enough, they lightened the ship, throwing out the wheat into the sea.

The Shipwreck

[39] Now when it was day, they did not recognize the land, but they noticed a bay with a beach, on which they planned if possible to run the ship ashore. [40] So they cast off the anchors and left them in the sea, at the same time loosening the ropes that tied the rudders. Then hoisting the foresail to the wind they made for the beach. [41] But striking a reef, they ran the vessel aground. The bow stuck and remained immovable, and the stern was being broken up by the surf. [42] The soldiers’ plan was to kill the prisoners, lest any should swim away and escape. [43] But the centurion, wishing to save Paul, kept them from carrying out their plan. He ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and make for the land, [44] and the rest on planks or on pieces of the ship. And so it was that all were brought safely to land.

Psalm 45

Your Throne, O God, Is Forever

To the choirmaster: according to Lilies. A Maskil of the Sons of Korah; a love song.

    [1] My heart overflows with a pleasing theme;

        I address my verses to the king;

        my tongue is like the pen of a ready scribe.

    [2] You are the most handsome of the sons of men;

        grace is poured upon your lips;

        therefore God has blessed you forever. 

    [3] Gird your sword on your thigh, O mighty one,

        in your splendor and majesty!

    [4] In your majesty ride out victoriously

        for the cause of truth and meekness and righteousness;

        let your right hand teach you awesome deeds! 

    [5] Your arrows are sharp

        in the heart of the king’s enemies;

        the peoples fall under you.

    [6] Your throne, O God, is forever and ever.

        The scepter of your kingdom is a scepter of uprightness; 

    [7]     you have loved righteousness and hated wickedness.

    Therefore God, your God, has anointed you

        with the oil of gladness beyond your companions; 

    [8]     your robes are all fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia.

    From ivory palaces stringed instruments make you glad; 

    [9]     daughters of kings are among your ladies of honor;

        at your right hand stands the queen in gold of Ophir.

    [10] Hear, O daughter, and consider, and incline your ear:

        forget your people and your father’s house, 

    [11]     and the king will desire your beauty.

    Since he is your lord, bow to him. 

    [12]     The people of Tyre will seek your favor with gifts,

        the richest of the people.

    [13] All glorious is the princess in her chamber, with robes interwoven with gold. 

    [14]     In many-colored robes she is led to the king,

        with her virgin companions following behind her. 

    [15] With joy and gladness they are led along

        as they enter the palace of the king.

    [16] In place of your fathers shall be your sons;

        you will make them princes in all the earth. 

    [17] I will cause your name to be remembered in all generations;

        therefore nations will praise you forever and ever.

Leviticus 21

Holiness and the Priests

[1] And the LORD said to Moses, “Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them, No one shall make himself unclean for the dead among his people, [2] except for his closest relatives, his mother, his father, his son, his daughter, his brother, [3] or his virgin sister (who is near to him because she has had no husband; for her he may make himself unclean). [4] He shall not make himself unclean as a husband among his people and so profane himself. [5] They shall not make bald patches on their heads, nor shave off the edges of their beards, nor make any cuts on their body. [6] They shall be holy to their God and not profane the name of their God. For they offer the LORD’s food offerings, the bread of their God; therefore they shall be holy. [7] They shall not marry a prostitute or a woman who has been defiled, neither shall they marry a woman divorced from her husband, for the priest is holy to his God. [8] You shall sanctify him, for he offers the bread of your God. He shall be holy to you, for I, the LORD, who sanctify you, am holy. [9] And the daughter of any priest, if she profanes herself by whoring, profanes her father; she shall be burned with fire.

[10] “The priest who is chief among his brothers, on whose head the anointing oil is poured and who has been consecrated to wear the garments, shall not let the hair of his head hang loose nor tear his clothes. [11] He shall not go in to any dead bodies nor make himself unclean, even for his father or for his mother. [12] He shall not go out of the sanctuary, lest he profane the sanctuary of his God, for the consecration of the anointing oil of his God is on him: I am the LORD. [13] And he shall take a wife in her virginity. [14] A widow, or a divorced woman, or a woman who has been defiled, or a prostitute, these he shall not marry. But he shall take as his wife a virgin of his own people, [15] that he may not profane his offspring among his people, for I am the LORD who sanctifies him.”

[16] And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, [17] “Speak to Aaron, saying, None of your offspring throughout their generations who has a blemish may approach to offer the bread of his God. [18] For no one who has a blemish shall draw near, a man blind or lame, or one who has a mutilated face or a limb too long, [19] or a man who has an injured foot or an injured hand, [20] or a hunchback or a dwarf or a man with a defect in his sight or an itching disease or scabs or crushed testicles. [21] No man of the offspring of Aaron the priest who has a blemish shall come near to offer the LORD’s food offerings; since he has a blemish, he shall not come near to offer the bread of his God. [22] He may eat the bread of his God, both of the most holy and of the holy things, [23] but he shall not go through the veil or approach the altar, because he has a blemish, that he may not profane my sanctuaries, for I am the LORD who sanctifies them.” [24] So Moses spoke to Aaron and to his sons and to all the people of Israel.

Leviticus 22

[1] And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, [2] “Speak to Aaron and his sons so that they abstain from the holy things of the people of Israel, which they dedicate to me, so that they do not profane my holy name: I am the LORD. [3] Say to them, ‘If any one of all your offspring throughout your generations approaches the holy things that the people of Israel dedicate to the LORD, while he has an uncleanness, that person shall be cut off from my presence: I am the LORD. [4] None of the offspring of Aaron who has a leprous disease or a discharge may eat of the holy things until he is clean. Whoever touches anything that is unclean through contact with the dead or a man who has had an emission of semen, [5] and whoever touches a swarming thing by which he may be made unclean or a person from whom he may take uncleanness, whatever his uncleanness may be—[6] the person who touches such a thing shall be unclean until the evening and shall not eat of the holy things unless he has bathed his body in water. [7] When the sun goes down he shall be clean, and afterward he may eat of the holy things, because they are his food. [8] He shall not eat what dies of itself or is torn by beasts, and so make himself unclean by it: I am the LORD.’ [9] They shall therefore keep my charge, lest they bear sin for it and die thereby when they profane it: I am the LORD who sanctifies them.

[10] “A lay person shall not eat of a holy thing; no foreign guest of the priest or hired worker shall eat of a holy thing, [11] but if a priest buys a slave as his property for money, the slave may eat of it, and anyone born in his house may eat of his food. [12] If a priest’s daughter marries a layman, she shall not eat of the contribution of the holy things. [13] But if a priest’s daughter is widowed or divorced and has no child and returns to her father’s house, as in her youth, she may eat of her father’s food; yet no lay person shall eat of it. [14] And if anyone eats of a holy thing unintentionally, he shall add the fifth of its value to it and give the holy thing to the priest. [15] They shall not profane the holy things of the people of Israel, which they contribute to the LORD, [16] and so cause them to bear iniquity and guilt, by eating their holy things: for I am the LORD who sanctifies them.”

Acceptable Offerings

[17] And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, [18] “Speak to Aaron and his sons and all the people of Israel and say to them, When any one of the house of Israel or of the sojourners in Israel presents a burnt offering as his offering, for any of their vows or freewill offerings that they offer to the LORD, [19] if it is to be accepted for you it shall be a male without blemish, of the bulls or the sheep or the goats. [20] You shall not offer anything that has a blemish, for it will not be acceptable for you. [21] And when anyone offers a sacrifice of peace offerings to the LORD to fulfill a vow or as a freewill offering from the herd or from the flock, to be accepted it must be perfect; there shall be no blemish in it. [22] Animals blind or disabled or mutilated or having a discharge or an itch or scabs you shall not offer to the LORD or give them to the LORD as a food offering on the altar. [23] You may present a bull or a lamb that has a part too long or too short for a freewill offering, but for a vow offering it cannot be accepted. [24] Any animal that has its testicles bruised or crushed or torn or cut you shall not offer to the LORD; you shall not do it within your land, [25] neither shall you offer as the bread of your God any such animals gotten from a foreigner. Since there is a blemish in them, because of their mutilation, they will not be accepted for you.”

[26] And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, [27] “When an ox or sheep or goat is born, it shall remain seven days with its mother, and from the eighth day on it shall be acceptable as a food offering to the LORD. [28] But you shall not kill an ox or a sheep and her young in one day. [29] And when you sacrifice a sacrifice of thanksgiving to the LORD, you shall sacrifice it so that you may be accepted. [30] It shall be eaten on the same day; you shall leave none of it until morning: I am the LORD.

[31] “So you shall keep my commandments and do them: I am the LORD. [32] And you shall not profane my holy name, that I may be sanctified among the people of Israel. I am the LORD who sanctifies you, [33] who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God: I am the LORD.”

Leviticus 23

Feasts of the LORD

[1] The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, [2] “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, These are the appointed feasts of the LORD that you shall proclaim as holy convocations; they are my appointed feasts.

The Sabbath

[3] “Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work. It is a Sabbath to the LORD in all your dwelling places.

The Passover

[4] “These are the appointed feasts of the LORD, the holy convocations, which you shall proclaim at the time appointed for them. [5] In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at twilight, is the LORD’s Passover. [6] And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the LORD; for seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. [7] On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall not do any ordinary work. [8] But you shall present a food offering to the LORD for seven days. On the seventh day is a holy convocation; you shall not do any ordinary work.”

The Feast of Firstfruits

[9] And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, [10] “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you come into the land that I give you and reap its harvest, you shall bring the sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest, [11] and he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, so that you may be accepted. On the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it. [12] And on the day when you wave the sheaf, you shall offer a male lamb a year old without blemish as a burnt offering to the LORD. [13] And the grain offering with it shall be two tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, a food offering to the LORD with a pleasing aroma, and the drink offering with it shall be of wine, a fourth of a hin. [14] And you shall eat neither bread nor grain parched or fresh until this same day, until you have brought the offering of your God: it is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.

The Feast of Weeks

[15] “You shall count seven full weeks from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering. [16] You shall count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath. Then you shall present a grain offering of new grain to the LORD. [17] You shall bring from your dwelling places two loaves of bread to be waved, made of two tenths of an ephah. They shall be of fine flour, and they shall be baked with leaven, as firstfruits to the LORD. [18] And you shall present with the bread seven lambs a year old without blemish, and one bull from the herd and two rams. They shall be a burnt offering to the LORD, with their grain offering and their drink offerings, a food offering with a pleasing aroma to the LORD. [19] And you shall offer one male goat for a sin offering, and two male lambs a year old as a sacrifice of peace offerings. [20] And the priest shall wave them with the bread of the firstfruits as a wave offering before the LORD, with the two lambs. They shall be holy to the LORD for the priest. [21] And you shall make a proclamation on the same day. You shall hold a holy convocation. You shall not do any ordinary work. It is a statute forever in all your dwelling places throughout your generations.

[22] “And when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, nor shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the LORD your God.”

The Feast of Trumpets

[23] And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, [24] “Speak to the people of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall observe a day of solemn rest, a memorial proclaimed with blast of trumpets, a holy convocation. [25] You shall not do any ordinary work, and you shall present a food offering to the LORD.”

The Day of Atonement

[26] And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, [27] “Now on the tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. It shall be for you a time of holy convocation, and you shall afflict yourselves and present a food offering to the LORD. [28] And you shall not do any work on that very day, for it is a Day of Atonement, to make atonement for you before the LORD your God. [29] For whoever is not afflicted on that very day shall be cut off from his people. [30] And whoever does any work on that very day, that person I will destroy from among his people. [31] You shall not do any work. It is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwelling places. [32] It shall be to you a Sabbath of solemn rest, and you shall afflict yourselves. On the ninth day of the month beginning at evening, from evening to evening shall you keep your Sabbath.”

The Feast of Booths

[33] And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, [34] “Speak to the people of Israel, saying, On the fifteenth day of this seventh month and for seven days is the Feast of Booths to the LORD. [35] On the first day shall be a holy convocation; you shall not do any ordinary work. [36] For seven days you shall present food offerings to the LORD. On the eighth day you shall hold a holy convocation and present a food offering to the LORD. It is a solemn assembly; you shall not do any ordinary work.

[37] “These are the appointed feasts of the LORD, which you shall proclaim as times of holy convocation, for presenting to the LORD food offerings, burnt offerings and grain offerings, sacrifices and drink offerings, each on its proper day, [38] besides the LORD’s Sabbaths and besides your gifts and besides all your vow offerings and besides all your freewill offerings, which you give to the LORD.

[39] “On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the produce of the land, you shall celebrate the feast of the LORD seven days. On the first day shall be a solemn rest, and on the eighth day shall be a solemn rest. [40] And you shall take on the first day the fruit of splendid trees, branches of palm trees and boughs of leafy trees and willows of the brook, and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God seven days. [41] You shall celebrate it as a feast to the LORD for seven days in the year. It is a statute forever throughout your generations; you shall celebrate it in the seventh month. [42] You shall dwell in booths for seven days. All native Israelites shall dwell in booths, [43] that your generations may know that I made the people of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.”

[44] Thus Moses declared to the people of Israel the appointed feasts of the LORD.