Day 56 reading

Wisdom·Psalm 37:1–7

¹Do not fret over those who do evil; do not envy those who do wrong. ²For they wither quickly like grass and wilt like tender plants. ³Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness. ⁴Delight yourself in the LORD, and He will give you the desires of your heart. ⁵Commit your way to the LORD; trust in Him, and He will do it. ⁶He will bring forth your righteousness like the dawn, your justice like the noonday sun. ⁷Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for Him; do not fret when men prosper in their ways, when they carry out wicked schemes.

New Testament·Mark 4:22–41

²²For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be brought to light. ²³If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.” ²⁴He went on to say, “Pay attention to what you hear. With the measure you use, it will be measured to you, and even more will be added to you. ²⁵For whoever has will be given more. But whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.” ²⁶Jesus also said, “The kingdom of God is like a man who scatters seed on the ground. ²⁷Night and day he sleeps and wakes, and the seed sprouts and grows, though he knows not how. ²⁸All by itself the earth produces a crop—first the stalk, then the head, then grain that ripens within. ²⁹And as soon as the grain is ripe, he swings the sickle, because the harvest has come.” ³⁰Then He asked, “To what can we compare the kingdom of God? With what parable shall we present it? ³¹It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds sown upon the earth. ³²But after it is planted, it grows to be the largest of all garden plants and puts forth great branches, so that the birds of the air nest in its shade.” ³³With many such parables Jesus spoke the word to them, to the extent that they could understand. ³⁴He did not tell them anything without using a parable. But privately He explained everything to His own disciples. ³⁵When that evening came, He said to His disciples, “Let us cross to the other side.” ³⁶After they had dismissed the crowd, they took Jesus with them, since He was already in the boat. And there were other boats with Him. ³⁷Soon a violent windstorm came up, and the waves were breaking over the boat, so that it was being swamped. ³⁸But Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on the cushion. So they woke Him and said, “Teacher, don’t You care that we are perishing?” ³⁹Then Jesus got up and rebuked the wind and the sea. “Silence!” He commanded. “Be still!” And the wind died down, and it was perfectly calm. ⁴⁰“Why are you so afraid?” He asked. “Do you still have no faith?” ⁴¹Overwhelmed with fear, they asked one another, “Who is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?”

Old Testament·Leviticus 10–11

¹Now Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu took their censers, put fire in them and added incense, and offered unauthorized fire before the LORD, contrary to His command. ²So fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed them, and they died in the presence of the LORD. ³Then Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the LORD meant when He said: ‘To those who come near Me I will show My holiness, and in the sight of all the people I will reveal My glory.’” But Aaron remained silent. ⁴Moses summoned Mishael and Elzaphan, sons of Aaron’s uncle Uzziel, and said to them, “Come here; carry the bodies of your cousins outside the camp, away from the front of the sanctuary.” ⁵So they came forward and carried them, still in their tunics, outside the camp, as Moses had directed. ⁶Then Moses said to Aaron and his sons Eleazar and Ithamar, “Do not let your hair become disheveled and do not tear your garments, or else you will die, and the LORD will be angry with the whole congregation. But your brothers, the whole house of Israel, may mourn on account of the fire that the LORD has ignited. ⁷You shall not go outside the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, or you will die, for the LORD’s anointing oil is on you.” So they did as Moses instructed. ⁸Then the LORD said to Aaron, ⁹“You and your sons are not to drink wine or strong drink when you enter the Tent of Meeting, or else you will die; this is a permanent statute for the generations to come. ¹⁰You must distinguish between the holy and the common, between the clean and the unclean, ¹¹so that you may teach the Israelites all the statutes that the LORD has given them through Moses.” ¹²And Moses said to Aaron and his remaining sons, Eleazar and Ithamar, “Take the grain offering that remains from the offerings made by fire to the LORD and eat it without leaven beside the altar, because it is most holy. ¹³You shall eat it in a holy place, because it is your share and your sons’ share of the offerings made by fire to the LORD; for this is what I have been commanded. ¹⁴And you and your sons and daughters may eat the breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the contribution in a ceremonially clean place, because these portions have been assigned to you and your children from the peace offerings of the sons of Israel. ¹⁵They are to bring the thigh of the contribution and the breast of the wave offering, together with the fat portions of the offerings made by fire, to wave as a wave offering before the LORD. It will belong permanently to you and your children, as the LORD has commanded.” ¹⁶Later, Moses searched carefully for the goat of the sin offering, and behold, it had been burned up. He was angry with Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron’s remaining sons, and asked, ¹⁷“Why didn’t you eat the sin offering in the holy place? For it is most holy; it was given to you to take away the guilt of the congregation by making atonement for them before the LORD. ¹⁸Since its blood was not brought inside the holy place, you should have eaten it in the sanctuary area, as I commanded.” ¹⁹But Aaron replied to Moses, “Behold, this very day they presented their sin offering and their burnt offering before the LORD. Since these things have happened to me, if I had eaten the sin offering today, would it have been acceptable in the sight of the LORD?” ²⁰And when Moses heard this explanation, he was satisfied.

11The LORD spoke again to Moses and Aaron, telling them, ²“Say to the Israelites, ‘Of all the beasts of the earth, these ones you may eat: ³You may eat any animal that has a split hoof completely divided and that chews the cud. ⁴But of those that only chew the cud or only have a divided hoof, you are not to eat the following: The camel, though it chews the cud, does not have a divided hoof; it is unclean for you. ⁵The rock badger, though it chews the cud, does not have a divided hoof; it is unclean for you. ⁶The rabbit, though it chews the cud, does not have a divided hoof; it is unclean for you. ⁷And the pig, though it has a split hoof completely divided, does not chew the cud; it is unclean for you. ⁸You must not eat their meat or touch their carcasses; they are unclean for you. ⁹Of all the creatures that live in the water, whether in the seas or in the streams, you may eat anything with fins and scales. ¹⁰But the following among all the teeming life and creatures in the water are detestable to you: everything in the seas or streams that does not have fins and scales. ¹¹They shall be an abomination to you; you must not eat their meat, and you must detest their carcasses. ¹²Everything in the water that does not have fins and scales shall be detestable to you. ¹³Additionally, you are to detest the following birds, and they must not be eaten because they are detestable: the eagle, the bearded vulture, the black vulture, ¹⁴the kite, any kind of falcon, ¹⁵any kind of raven, ¹⁶the ostrich, the screech owl, the gull, any kind of hawk, ¹⁷the little owl, the cormorant, the great owl, ¹⁸the white owl, the desert owl, the osprey, ¹⁹the stork, any kind of heron, the hoopoe, and the bat. ²⁰All flying insects that walk on all fours are detestable to you. ²¹However, you may eat the following kinds of flying insects that walk on all fours: those having jointed legs above their feet for hopping on the ground. ²²Of these you may eat any kind of locust, katydid, cricket, or grasshopper. ²³All other flying insects that have four legs are detestable to you. ²⁴These creatures will make you unclean. Whoever touches their carcasses will be unclean until evening, ²⁵and whoever picks up one of their carcasses must wash his clothes, and he will be unclean until evening. ²⁶Every animal with hooves not completely divided or that does not chew the cud is unclean for you. Whoever touches any of them will be unclean. ²⁷All the four-footed animals that walk on their paws are unclean for you; whoever touches their carcasses will be unclean until evening, ²⁸and anyone who picks up a carcass must wash his clothes, and he will be unclean until evening. They are unclean for you. ²⁹The following creatures that move along the ground are unclean for you: the mole, the mouse, any kind of great lizard, ³⁰the gecko, the monitor lizard, the common lizard, the skink, and the chameleon. ³¹These animals are unclean for you among all the crawling creatures. Whoever touches them when they are dead shall be unclean until evening. ³²When one of them dies and falls on something, that article becomes unclean; any article of wood, clothing, leather, sackcloth, or any implement used for work must be rinsed with water and will remain unclean until evening; then it will be clean. ³³If any of them falls into a clay pot, everything in it will be unclean; you must break the pot. ³⁴Any food coming into contact with water from that pot will be unclean, and any drink in such a container will be unclean. ³⁵Anything upon which one of their carcasses falls will be unclean. If it is an oven or cooking pot, it must be smashed; it is unclean and will remain unclean for you. ³⁶Nevertheless, a spring or cistern containing water will remain clean, but one who touches a carcass in it will be unclean. ³⁷If a carcass falls on any seed for sowing, the seed is clean; ³⁸but if water has been put on the seed and a carcass falls on it, it is unclean for you. ³⁹If an animal that you may eat dies, anyone who touches the carcass will be unclean until evening. ⁴⁰Whoever eats from the carcass must wash his clothes and will be unclean until evening, and anyone who picks up the carcass must wash his clothes and will be unclean until evening. ⁴¹Every creature that moves along the ground is detestable; it must not be eaten. ⁴²Do not eat any creature that moves along the ground, whether it crawls on its belly or walks on four or more feet; for such creatures are detestable. ⁴³Do not defile yourselves by any crawling creature; do not become unclean or defiled by them. ⁴⁴For I am the LORD your God; consecrate yourselves, therefore, and be holy, because I am holy. You must not defile yourselves by any creature that crawls along the ground. ⁴⁵For I am the LORD, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt so that I would be your God; therefore be holy, because I am holy. ⁴⁶This is the law regarding animals, birds, all living creatures that move in the water, and all creatures that crawl along the ground. ⁴⁷You must distinguish between the unclean and the clean, between animals that may be eaten and those that may not.’”