March 10

Matthew 24:15-35

The Abomination of Desolation

[15] “So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), [16] then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. [17] Let the one who is on the housetop not go down to take what is in his house, [18] and let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak. [19] And alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! [20] Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a Sabbath. [21] For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. [22] And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short. [23] Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. [24] For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. [25] See, I have told you beforehand. [26] So, if they say to you, ‘Look, he is in the wilderness,’ do not go out. If they say, ‘Look, he is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. [27] For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. [28] Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.

The Coming of the Son of Man

[29] “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. [30] Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. [31] And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

The Lesson of the Fig Tree

[32] “From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. [33] So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near, at the very gates. [34] Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. [35] Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

Romans 7:1-12

Released from the Law

[1] Or do you not know, brothers—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law is binding on a person only as long as he lives? [2] For a married woman is bound by law to her husband while he lives, but if her husband dies she is released from the law of marriage. [3] Accordingly, she will be called an adulteress if she lives with another man while her husband is alive. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law, and if she marries another man she is not an adulteress.

[4] Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God. [5] For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death. [6] But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code.

The Law and Sin

[7] What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” [8] But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. For apart from the law, sin lies dead. [9] I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died. [10] The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me. [11] For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me. [12] So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.

Psalm 57

Let Your Glory Be over All the Earth

To the choirmaster: according to Do Not Destroy. A Miktam of David, when he fled from Saul, in the cave.

    [1] Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me,

        for in you my soul takes refuge;

    in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge,

        till the storms of destruction pass by. 

    [2] I cry out to God Most High,

        to God who fulfills his purpose for me. 

    [3] He will send from heaven and save me;

        he will put to shame him who tramples on me. Selah

    God will send out his steadfast love and his faithfulness!

    [4] My soul is in the midst of lions;

        I lie down amid fiery beasts—

    the children of man, whose teeth are spears and arrows,

        whose tongues are sharp swords.

    [5] Be exalted, O God, above the heavens!

        Let your glory be over all the earth!

    [6] They set a net for my steps;

        my soul was bowed down.

    They dug a pit in my way,

        but they have fallen into it themselves. Selah 

    [7] My heart is steadfast, O God,

        my heart is steadfast!

    I will sing and make melody! 

    [8]     Awake, my glory!

    Awake, O harp and lyre!

        I will awake the dawn! 

    [9] I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples;

        I will sing praises to you among the nations. 

    [10] For your steadfast love is great to the heavens,

        your faithfulness to the clouds.

    [11] Be exalted, O God, above the heavens!

        Let your glory be over all the earth!

Numbers 23

Balaam’s First Oracle

[1] And Balaam said to Balak, “Build for me here seven altars, and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams.” [2] Balak did as Balaam had said. And Balak and Balaam offered on each altar a bull and a ram. [3] And Balaam said to Balak, “Stand beside your burnt offering, and I will go. Perhaps the LORD will come to meet me, and whatever he shows me I will tell you.” And he went to a bare height, [4] and God met Balaam. And Balaam said to him, “I have arranged the seven altars and I have offered on each altar a bull and a ram.” [5] And the LORD put a word in Balaam’s mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and thus you shall speak.” [6] And he returned to him, and behold, he and all the princes of Moab were standing beside his burnt offering. [7] And Balaam took up his discourse and said, 

    “From Aram Balak has brought me,

        the king of Moab from the eastern mountains:

    ‘Come, curse Jacob for me,

        and come, denounce Israel!’ 

    [8] How can I curse whom God has not cursed?

        How can I denounce whom the LORD has not denounced? 

    [9] For from the top of the crags I see him,

        from the hills I behold him;

    behold, a people dwelling alone,

        and not counting itself among the nations! 

    [10] Who can count the dust of Jacob

        or number the fourth part of Israel?

    Let me die the death of the upright,

        and let my end be like his!”

    [11] And Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I took you to curse my enemies, and behold, you have done nothing but bless them.” [12] And he answered and said, “Must I not take care to speak what the LORD puts in my mouth?”

Balaam’s Second Oracle

[13] And Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place, from which you may see them. You shall see only a fraction of them and shall not see them all. Then curse them for me from there.” [14] And he took him to the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar. [15] Balaam said to Balak, “Stand here beside your burnt offering, while I meet the LORD over there.” [16] And the LORD met Balaam and put a word in his mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and thus shall you speak.” [17] And he came to him, and behold, he was standing beside his burnt offering, and the princes of Moab with him. And Balak said to him, “What has the LORD spoken?” [18] And Balaam took up his discourse and said, 

    “Rise, Balak, and hear;

        give ear to me, O son of Zippor: 

    [19] God is not man, that he should lie,

        or a son of man, that he should change his mind.

    Has he said, and will he not do it?

        Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it? 

    [20] Behold, I received a command to bless:

        he has blessed, and I cannot revoke it. 

    [21] He has not beheld misfortune in Jacob,

        nor has he seen trouble in Israel.

    The LORD their God is with them,

        and the shout of a king is among them. 

    [22] God brings them out of Egypt

        and is for them like the horns of the wild ox. 

    [23] For there is no enchantment against Jacob,

        no divination against Israel;

    now it shall be said of Jacob and Israel,

        ‘What has God wrought!’ 

    [24] Behold, a people! As a lioness it rises up

        and as a lion it lifts itself;

    it does not lie down until it has devoured the prey

        and drunk the blood of the slain.”

    [25] And Balak said to Balaam, “Do not curse them at all, and do not bless them at all.” [26] But Balaam answered Balak, “Did I not tell you, ‘All that the LORD says, that I must do’?” [27] And Balak said to Balaam, “Come now, I will take you to another place. Perhaps it will please God that you may curse them for me from there.” [28] So Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, which overlooks the desert. [29] And Balaam said to Balak, “Build for me here seven altars and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams.” [30] And Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.

Numbers 24

Balaam’s Third Oracle

[1] When Balaam saw that it pleased the LORD to bless Israel, he did not go, as at other times, to look for omens, but set his face toward the wilderness. [2] And Balaam lifted up his eyes and saw Israel camping tribe by tribe. And the Spirit of God came upon him, [3] and he took up his discourse and said, 

    “The oracle of Balaam the son of Beor,

        the oracle of the man whose eye is opened, 

    [4] the oracle of him who hears the words of God,

        who sees the vision of the Almighty,

        falling down with his eyes uncovered: 

    [5] How lovely are your tents, O Jacob,

        your encampments, O Israel! 

    [6] Like palm groves that stretch afar,

        like gardens beside a river,

    like aloes that the LORD has planted,

        like cedar trees beside the waters. 

    [7] Water shall flow from his buckets,

        and his seed shall be in many waters;

    his king shall be higher than Agag,

        and his kingdom shall be exalted. 

    [8] God brings him out of Egypt

        and is for him like the horns of the wild ox;

    he shall eat up the nations, his adversaries,

        and shall break their bones in pieces

        and pierce them through with his arrows. 

    [9] He crouched, he lay down like a lion

        and like a lioness; who will rouse him up?

    Blessed are those who bless you,

        and cursed are those who curse you.”

    [10] And Balak’s anger was kindled against Balaam, and he struck his hands together. And Balak said to Balaam, “I called you to curse my enemies, and behold, you have blessed them these three times. [11] Therefore now flee to your own place. I said, ‘I will certainly honor you,’ but the LORD has held you back from honor.” [12] And Balaam said to Balak, “Did I not tell your messengers whom you sent to me, [13] ‘If Balak should give me his house full of silver and gold, I would not be able to go beyond the word of the LORD, to do either good or bad of my own will. What the LORD speaks, that will I speak’? [14] And now, behold, I am going to my people. Come, I will let you know what this people will do to your people in the latter days.”

Balaam’s Final Oracle

[15] And he took up his discourse and said, 

    “The oracle of Balaam the son of Beor,

        the oracle of the man whose eye is opened, 

    [16] the oracle of him who hears the words of God,

        and knows the knowledge of the Most High,

    who sees the vision of the Almighty,

        falling down with his eyes uncovered: 

    [17] I see him, but not now;

        I behold him, but not near:

    a star shall come out of Jacob,

        and a scepter shall rise out of Israel;

    it shall crush the forehead of Moab

        and break down all the sons of Sheth. 

    [18] Edom shall be dispossessed;

        Seir also, his enemies, shall be dispossessed.

        Israel is doing valiantly. 

    [19] And one from Jacob shall exercise dominion

        and destroy the survivors of cities!”

    [20] Then he looked on Amalek and took up his discourse and said, 

    “Amalek was the first among the nations,

        but its end is utter destruction.”

    [21] And he looked on the Kenite, and took up his discourse and said, 

    “Enduring is your dwelling place,

        and your nest is set in the rock. 

    [22] Nevertheless, Kain shall be burned

        when Asshur takes you away captive.”

    [23] And he took up his discourse and said, 

    “Alas, who shall live when God does this? 

    [24]     But ships shall come from Kittim

    and shall afflict Asshur and Eber;

        and he too shall come to utter destruction.”

    [25] Then Balaam rose and went back to his place. And Balak also went his way.

Numbers 25

Baal Worship at Peor

[1] While Israel lived in Shittim, the people began to whore with the daughters of Moab. [2] These invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. [3] So Israel yoked himself to Baal of Peor. And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel. [4] And the LORD said to Moses, “Take all the chiefs of the people and hang them in the sun before the LORD, that the fierce anger of the LORD may turn away from Israel.” [5] And Moses said to the judges of Israel, “Each of you kill those of his men who have yoked themselves to Baal of Peor.”

[6] And behold, one of the people of Israel came and brought a Midianite woman to his family, in the sight of Moses and in the sight of the whole congregation of the people of Israel, while they were weeping in the entrance of the tent of meeting. [7] When Phinehas the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose and left the congregation and took a spear in his hand [8] and went after the man of Israel into the chamber and pierced both of them, the man of Israel and the woman through her belly. Thus the plague on the people of Israel was stopped. [9] Nevertheless, those who died by the plague were twenty-four thousand.

The Zeal of Phinehas

[10] And the LORD said to Moses, [11] “Phinehas the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, has turned back my wrath from the people of Israel, in that he was jealous with my jealousy among them, so that I did not consume the people of Israel in my jealousy. [12] Therefore say, ‘Behold, I give to him my covenant of peace, [13] and it shall be to him and to his descendants after him the covenant of a perpetual priesthood, because he was jealous for his God and made atonement for the people of Israel.’”

[14] The name of the slain man of Israel, who was killed with the Midianite woman, was Zimri the son of Salu, chief of a father’s house belonging to the Simeonites. [15] And the name of the Midianite woman who was killed was Cozbi the daughter of Zur, who was the tribal head of a father’s house in Midian.

[16] And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, [17] “Harass the Midianites and strike them down, [18] for they have harassed you with their wiles, with which they beguiled you in the matter of Peor, and in the matter of Cozbi, the daughter of the chief of Midian, their sister, who was killed on the day of the plague on account of Peor.”